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m.hony · 06-23-2013, 04:05 AM

I think the varying MSRP maybe is to make the purchaser think they got a better deal than they really did. Financing through Good Sam online ends up being Bank of the West. That's the route I went- after being denied the loan application submitted to Bank of the West by the dealer. After being denied, the dealer told me he had other customers who had been denied, but we're able to get financing online. Go figure. Being denied a loan would not have been the end of the world, though. I owed 11-12k on my other trailer. I would have just waited, which is what I originally planned to do.

gsdiva · 06-23-2013, 11:48 PM

I have a 2013 Serenity 30ft on hold. It was on the lot almost a year. Will be buying it this week. Am getting about 20 percent off MSRP.

PharmGeek · 06-23-2013, 11:58 PM

What does "hold" mean?

gsdiva · 06-25-2013, 12:27 AM

We agreed on a price on the phone and they have approved financing with one of their companies for me at 4.9. Because it is such a large purchase, I told them I wanted to see it in person before making the deal so I am driving to see it on Tuesday. As long as everything looks ok I am signing the deal then. They have already put it down as SOLD on their website.

m.hony · 06-25-2013, 05:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsdiva

I have a 2013 Serenity 30ft on hold. It was on the lot almost a year. Will be buying it this week. Am getting about 20 percent off MSRP.

Woohoo!

PharmGeek · 06-26-2013, 07:11 AM

gsdiva....yay!

Im glad you are sharing this because there is a unit that I too am looking at at a dealer "nearby" - but I will not be able to compare it with another model in person for another month. I may actually take your same course and attempt to negotiate such a "hold" deal .

I am hoping I get more than 10% off MSRP though

- I could live with 10% off for a 2014 model...guess I will need to see how it goes...luckily I have a number of dealers I can buy from and drive to for the purchase so I can shop around...

CONGRATS! Pics soon we hope

gsdiva · 06-27-2013, 12:36 PM

The deal is DONE!! Drove to St Louis from Texas Tuesday and looked and bought the Serenity on Wednesday! Am having it delivered to Texas, still need to get a vehicle strong enough to tow it! I got 20 percent off, but like I said it is a new 2013. I don't think the dealers will come off of a 2014 that much yet, but I could be wrong. The people at Bill Thomas Camper sales were great, very friendly and helpful.

kscherzi · 06-27-2013, 12:56 PM

I looked online and spoke with dealers across the county that had in-stock models with options I wanted (2013 model). I then contacted my local dealer and offered the same price for the best deal I found nationwide. They matched it then ordered it from the factory. I think it was close to 18% off MSRP. It took 4 months from order date to pickup. Got it this last Memorial day. I've gone over the trailer now with a fine tooth comb and I would say the build quality is quite good.

terry.morrow · 06-27-2013, 01:18 PM

Bought a new 2012 international signature from dealer and got 20% off because it was on lot a year. I also wondered if sticker was accurate but based on what I see for sale, I think I got a good price. Plus it just so happens it was the exact AS I wanted.

PharmGeek · 06-27-2013, 02:33 PM

Excellent - good to know you all!

I think I will be putting in for my deal hopefully quite soon! There are a few lots with the bunkhouse model 2014 still on lot and it is a good time to get some good offers for one of them.

Congrats on new purchase and your sharing of you numbers is appreciated !

mstephens · 06-27-2013, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsdiva

Am looking to buy a new 2014 27-30 foot serenity. The 30 ft is listing at 94,000.00. How close to sticker price should I expect to pay?

We bought our AS new in 2013. We paid 82% of MSRP (e.g. 18% discount) and they took a small 2012 SOB in trade at retail price (we followed the sale of it on their site).

There's a lot of profit in these things as you can expect. The volume is low, and it takes a big outfit to sell and service these. I think our dealer had 30 employees. That is a LOT of overhead to cover.

I did a simple email shopping routine. I chose 3 dealers who were A) close enough for me to drive to in a day; B) had full service capability; C) had a lot of inventory. Then I emailed them my requirements by model, options and so on, along with a target price and asked them to give me a best price, and a trade in price for my SOB.

Two tried to wiggle and dodge around with no firm price commitment. "C'mon down and we'll talk." No thanks. The other was willing to commit immediately. One of them had a $500 dealer prep charge, two of them had $0 dealer prep. I tossed out the $500 guy, and made one more negotiation with each of the others. They both then committed to a price, and came down further, and the winner was $2G lower than the loser. The rest looked equal, so that was it. I went the next day and we bought the trailer with no further haggling. I was very happy with the dealer and modestly happy with his people. There were one or two small hurdles regarding the SOB trade-in, but in the end, the owner made good on the original offer, and everyone was happy.

I did it that way, because it is a looong drive between dealers. If you get to one, and don't think the deal is good, you really have a two day experience to get to the other dealer. The email route shortened all that. Not everyone would be comfortable doing that, but it worked well for us.

Good luck! You will love the trailer whatever you pay.

50KIP · 06-27-2013, 04:18 PM

In 2009 I paid 77 percent of sticker price at the dealer after much dickering. I used Bates RV's advertised prices in Florida as base for bargaining, although I was buying on West Coast.

PharmGeek · 06-27-2013, 05:09 PM

Ugh - hate haggling - will do it same over email though as my drive will also be long

mstephens · 06-27-2013, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PharmGeek

Ugh - hate haggling - will do it same over email though as my drive will also be long

Me too. Some like it though. I don't have a compelling need to get the very last dime out of anyone. So, for me, the email style reduced all the haggling to a minimum. Each guy knew they were in a pool of three bidders, and so they were pretty motivated to offer at least a decent price, if not the rock bottom price.

PharmGeek · 06-27-2013, 07:53 PM

Well I just reached out to 5-6 dealers to fish for prices on 2013 (if they had them) or 2014 bunkhouse models - here we go

allenkelley · 06-27-2013, 08:13 PM

I purchased our 2008 28 ft International new and negotiated a 17% discount without much effort.

mstephens · 06-28-2013, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PharmGeek

Well I just reached out to 5-6 dealers to fish for prices on 2013 (if they had them) or 2014 bunkhouse models - here we go

GREAT! Good luck to you and I hope you enjoy the new trailer.

kscherzi · 06-28-2013, 10:28 AM

The other consideration is options. For example, since I special ordered I added the awning package. Not only can the dealer heavily discount the options, but shipping is already included in the base trailer purchase price. A friend added the awning package later and it cost nearly twice what I ended up paying, I think shipping was significant.

switz · 06-29-2013, 06:08 AM

By ordering a unit, you can specify the options you want as well as the ones you do not want. Many dealers load options that are good for the dealer's profit but the customer may not want.

Unfortunately, I only have access to the Classic price sheet since I ordered the 27FB model. I was able to omit the microwave and gain 1/3 more pantry storage space. I could not use the microwave when boondocking. I could omit the convection microwave oven and stay with the gas oven as the convection microwave requires 120Vac electricity.

As a side note, in an emergency with no power in the coach, the gas cooktop and the oven could intermittently generate some heat.

I did select the 1,000 watt inverter so the wiring is in place if I ever decided to upgrade that device. I also selected the second AC with 50 Amp service, but loose the rear Fantastic Fan. There may be a workaround for that after the unit arrives.

I omited the Airstream $2,950 106 watt solar option (two 53 watt panels) as I plan to install a 300 watt system that is priced around $3,750 which includes the proper wire sizes and equipment.

There is also a $3,551 power patio awning option that I did not select.

Interestingly, the incremental MSRP cost from the 27FB to the Model 30 Classic was about $3,012 and from there to the Model 31 Classic was an additional $1,080.

Note that anyone that orders a new unit should require the dealer to provide the Airstream Factory 2014 Retail Pricing form dated 4/30/2013 and then they can actually see the MSRP of the coach and the options. Knowing the actual retail prices will enable one to determine the value of their deal. MSRP should be the same nationwide. The dealer's cost might be different if there is a slideing purchase cost discount based upon purchase volume.

As a side note, all dealers pay the same freight charges per trailer regardless of their location. Airstream is one of the few companies to do uniform freight charges so there is not a competitive advantage freight wise by being the local dealer in Ohio versus being the dealer in Los Angeles.

By ordering the awning package (streetside and rear) installed at the factory on the Flying Cloud and International models, you do not pay the freight and dealer installation costs to have those items retrofitted.

If a person is considering ordering a unit, I suggest going to the factory website and downloading the appropriate 2013 parts manual and reviewing those areas where you might want to make changes. We looked at the 31' models in the Flying Cloud, International and Classic and could not exchange the the microwave for drawers in the kitchen if we chose the gas oven. The parts catalog showed no drawer base was available.

YMMV