Quote:
Originally posted by Debbie
Our dealer charges almost $400.00 to go over the
trailer and make certain everything is filled and that
it is ready to travel. Is this what all dealers do at
the time of purchase or is this a negotiable expense?
Debbie
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Debbie,
My dealer did not have a prep charge. Our trailer was preped, cleaned and Walbernized. He has sites at his dealership and we were invited to spend the night. Any problems would be corrected the next morning. Not only did we get the grand tour of our trailer, but the fridge was on and in it was a bottle of cold champaign.
Is the $400 justified? I guess you need to compare prices and see. Obviously a dealer can easily build the $400 into his selling price and never have an extra charge. Negotiate with other dealers and see if his price +$400 is in line. If not, let him know and see if he will negotiate further.
In regards to your pricing question, that's a grey area. I've been told by others that in negotiating for any RV you should make your first offer at 25% below sticker. My dealer refused my offer stating that Safari's didn't have the profit margin of the Classic line (I guess that 25% may have been acceptable if it had been a Classic). We ended up at 18%. Final prices also depend upon time of year, demand, how long the unit has been on the lot etc. Obviously some folks have done better than 25%.
I also did not take the Safari that was on his lot (2001 unit built in July 2000). I saw some defects in the unit (he said he would correct them) but I said I would rather have a new build unit. I also wanted to add some options that I felt would be better handled at build time rather than retrofit to an already built trailer. I placed the order in mid March 2001 and the trailer was delivered 6 weeks later. It's manufacturing tag showed it was built on April 14th and was one of the last of the 2001's built.
Hope all this helps.
Regards,
Jack
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