0002 - Games Do Not Become Us

Once we found the fifth wheel model we wanted, I Google'd it and kept clicking links until my eyes started to cross and the search term lost its meaning - not in the way a word repeated over and over again begins to sound foreign, but because Google eventually runs out of relevant results (or is that just me? have you ever tried it? pick a word and repeat it 20-30 times and let me know).

Every time I found a dealership that sold a 36RE with the features we wanted, I requested a quote. In my experience, RV dealerships are a lot like used car dealerships, they love to play games... and I don't. Only three of the dealerships quoted me a price... out of twenty. The rest said they couldn't send the price in an email because it was too low, or they asked me to call them, or they requested my phone number so they could call me. Those dealerships never heard back from me.

Some things I learned...

• Many dealerships post a price that doesn't include freight, prep and document fees, so make sure you ask what that price does include because those fees can add another $2k to the cost of your RV. When I say freight, I mean the cost to ship it from the manufacturer to the dealership, much like the destination fee that an automobile dealership would charge. Shipping to you will be extra (if applicable), and don't forget the sales tax.

• Prices vary wildly. Our fifth wheel had an average MSRP of around $75k. About half the dealerships online reduced the price to $67k, and the other half hovered between $55-57k. We got ours for considerably less - and we didn't have to haggle. It pays to do your research. Generally, you can find an RV for around 28% below MSRP if you are willing to shop around, at least at this point in the year; I've heard that July is also a good time to buy as that's the end of the model year for RV manufacturers. Make sure you compare the features too, if the dealer has installed additional options then the RV is going to cost more - but it's only worth more to you if you care about those options.

• Be willing to walk away. You've heard it before, and trust me - it's true. I was probably $2,500 away from making a deal with a local dealership for a Keystone Montana, but the salesman wanted to play games. He would walk away to talk to his manager and come back with a deal so good he couldn't believe he could offer it to me at that price... but it wasn't what we wanted to pay. He asked what we would buy it for today - they like to throw that phrase at you - 'what would you buy it for today?' and 'here's what we'll do for you', so we made an offer and he came back about $7k too high. I walked away because he insulted my intelligence. Went home and searched for that model only to find that the very same dealership was offering that very same RV for only $2.5k above our offer. At that point I was about $4.5k worth of pissed off. The salesman called me two days after we bought the Cedar Creek to see if I was still interested. The answer was a resounding no.

• Step inside an actual RV. We saw several we thought we liked online, but the one I thought was the front runner turned out to be a dud. Going to a dealership and looking around really helped us focus our search. It's incredibly difficult to specify all of the features you want in a search string, and there are tons of manufacturers out there... you can spend as much or as little as you want. Visiting a dealership is the only way to really get a feel for size and features... after that, the internet is your best friend, if nothing else you can play one dealer against another to see who wants your business more (as long as you're reasonable).

• Don't forget about the R-values. If you are going to be somewhere really hot or really cold, you need the proper amount of insulation.

• Think about how you're going to use the RV. We will be living in ours so we needed a floorplan that would give us a private space when my stepson, or anyone else, comes to visit; I wanted a bathroom that was a room unto itself, not one that was inside the master bedroom or one that didn't have a door between the two. We decided we liked the entertainment center to be in the front or the back of the RV, not on the side, so that when we're in the living area, our focus is away from the kitchen and dining rooms and it feels more like a separate room. We liked the open feel of a freestanding table and chairs versus the solid banquette-style dining area. Those became our absolutes. And then we discovered self-leveling jacks and that became an absolute. And L-shaped kitchens... and fireplaces... so we soon became very, very picky and were lucky to find an RV at all!

• Don't tell the bank that you're going to live in your RV. It makes them nervous. Apparently a lot of people are buying RV's then not paying for them, and the banks can't find them to repossess. One bad apple spoils the whole party.

In the end, we bought our fifth wheel from Gillette's Interstate RV in Lansing, MI. Of all the dealerships, they had the best price, and they also stood out from the crowd. Kim sent prices and pictures of available RV's, and she patiently answered all twenty of my questions (promptly, I might add). There was no hard sell, no games. Even with the cost of shipping our CC to Houston, we still saved well over $10k off the average sales price. The financing was also easy. I was concerned about our ability to get a loan since we have bought quite a few things recently with the truck and the land and now an RV. I explained that we had the ability to pay, but our debt to credit ratio probably wouldn't seem appealing to a bank right now. Cindy knew of a lender that doesn't look at debt to credit, they look at credit score and payment history, so getting a loan was easy. Gillette has taken care of everything without having to be reminded (rare in my experience), they overnighted the loan documents, they set up the shipping according to my schedule. I couldn't be happier, so if you're looking for a recommendation or a place to start, there you go.