Buying a new Airstream advice

[Aaron P]

Hello, all....I am a new member to Air Forums. I live near Washington, DC and have visited the closest AS dealer in Thornton, Va., Airstream of Virginia, and looked at a number of Flying Cloud trailers. I am interested in a 19CB Tommy Bahama model they have. I was wondering what advice you may have on negotiating the price. What tactics and approach do you use? I am on my own, no spouse or children, so I really don't need anything bigger or more expensive. I'm also not terribly interested in searching the web to get a few hundred $$ cheaper deal. I'm not interested in full-time RV living. Any advice you can give for the first-time buyer would be appreciated. Thanks.

[YippieKiYa]

Most folks are seeing 20% off list, so don’t hesitate to ask for more and see where you land. Call a couple other nearby dealers and ask them for quotes with similar options. Colonial is a few hours from you, but I’d definitely call them for a quote. I’d also see what extras you can or will receive from the dealer, such as starter kits, lock kits, etc, and make sure these are added into the offer. Get everything In writing. Skip the extended warranty and fancy wax jobs. Negotiate your hitch into the deal, if needed. Take the offers from the other dealers into your local dealer and give them first right of refusal. Be prepared to walk if you don’t get what you want, and be prepared to drive somewhere to get the best deal. I agree, a few hundred doesn’t offset a drive, but a few thousand might.

Don’t hesitate to ask for crazy stuff (accessories, options, extra TB bedding/towels). They might say yes. Get to your number, and “I’ll take it right now if you can toss in XXXXX.”

Search the forum using the blue search box on the website and you’ll find some great info, too.

[Aaron P]

YippieKiYa,
Thanks for your reply. I already have a quote via email from AS of Va., and I've looked at the same model on Colonial's website. Their price is only a couple of hundred less. In my opinion, not enough to warrant the drive to NJ. That seems to be the next closest AS dealer to me. If I did negotiate a better price from a dealer a distance away, how would they handle that? Do they deliver, or would it be up to me to drive my TV to them to pick it up? As you can tell, I'm a newbie to all this, so any advice is appreciated.

[YippieKiYa]

You’d likely want to go get it and go through the orientation process with them, so you’d consider the travel expense as part of the overall cost. A good orientation will take hours (there’s a lot of great threads here that describe how-to and what to look for).

[SeaLevel]

We traveled from South Florida to Colonial to get ours, and it was worth it. I doubt they are showing their best price on the web site.

[OTRA15]

You might want to read the following thread in making your assessment of the best dealer, even if Colonial is further away.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f44/...ia-177365.html

If you take the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, and go up the Eastern Shore, the trip to NJ is not all that bad, if the dealer there is the right one to take care of your investment.

Good luck!

Peter

PS -- At this time of year, it is pretty much a seller's market, but you might get 20% off list. All supply and demand at the time when you are willing to write the check.

[vintageracer]

Originally Posted by Aaron P

I was wondering what advice you may have on negotiating the price. What tactics and approach do you use?

Bend Over.

Grab Ankles!

[PKI]

Research the forum for information on the model and options that are appropriate for your RV lifestyle. That is not a weekend effort, but rather all your spare time for two to six months. It's worth visiting a large dealership to see the models in person. Best tactic is to define what you need and will be happy to own, use and maintain. The videos on the internet help answer questions, identify new questions and become familiar with the Airstream product.

How to negotiate? No bending over required. Sit down at your computer and send RFQs for the AS you want to 5 or 6 dealers in your area. Your area includes the dealers within a 1000 miles. Look for dealers who are running sales. But best of all, look for the unicorn perfect coach that is lightly used.

Good Luck with your hunt. Hope to see you down the road in a shiny coach. Pat

[PecanMan5]

No dealer junk fees!

[Rgentum]

Forget asking "How much is this?"

Do your homework contacting other dealers until you arrive at a price that's comfortable to you. Then contact your local and other dealers telling them, "I'll pay you $X for a [whatever]" and stick as close to your price as you can. Just do your homework thoroughly enough so you can convince yourself that your price is fair to both you and the dealer --- as in no ridiculously low offer that makes no sense; they gotta make a profit to stay in business. Be reasonable and little assertive and you should get your trailer at or very close to your price.

I shopped for a new Ram several months ago, and in the process talked with numbers of sales managers about it. They all agreed that the Internet has changed the market significantly. Now, they are besieged with buyers who have used the Internet to determine exactly how much a product costs the dealer, what factory incentives the dealers have in selling the product, how much profit the dealer will make at any price, etc., etc., etc. The buying and selling game has become much, much more transparent in the last few years. Do your homework and take advantage of it.

[cegardner]

Before buying, go to Colonial in NJ. Best pricing and amazing service. Compare compare. You will get the best quote from Colonial. Remember, some other guy will always profess to have gotten a better deal. To us, it isn’t always the bortom line. It includes the hitch, bike racks, cameras. The only way to compare is to have an exact list of what you want and get quotes for the exact products and add ons. We drove a 1000 miles to purchase our most recent AS. At colonial

[akjam]

Can't argue with much of the advice above but one thing to keep in mind is after sale service. Getting warranty work done on your new AS is not like your car or truck. The first question most service centers will ask if you call up for an appointment is whether you brought from them. If not, the wait for an appointment can be much longer. You may get a better price from a far away dealer but you might also need to go back to that dealer to get anything serviced in a timely manner.

Just one more thing to consider.
Jim

[HeadWest]

As others have said, buy from the dealer where you want to have it serviced. Look into the service departments on your closest dealers, some are great others not so much. You want a dealer that does good work, will get you in for service quickly, go to bat for you with Airstream if there is a warranty problem, and that will do a great PDI and orientation on your new Airstream. I had a great purchase experience a few years back and did not negotiate price. I did my homework on what people were currently paying and had a very clear understanding of appropriate price at that point in time. I told the dealer that I would not negotiate, just tell me your best price and if it is inline I’ll buy, otherwise I’ll go elsewhere. They gave me a price that was almost exactly what I expected to pay and all was fine. There was no nonsense on doc fees, extended warranties or the like.

[SEWandSo]

Just something to consider: Airstream of VA is owned by Camping World, and there is no way to directly contact the Airstream office other than going through the Camping World office. It can be extremely frustrating at times.

[OTRA15]

See the thread linked in Post #6 for more details.

Welcome to the forum, SEWandSo!

Peter

[Blackdog06]

I'd also recommend Colonial. We looked at trailers both places and greatly preferred Colonial.

And it's a fun trip on the Lewes-Cape May Ferry!

[PatLee]

If you're brand new to RVing, the orientation that dealers provide when you pick up your trailer is very important. Colonial gives a 3-hour orientation which I think underestimates a newbie's ignorance - I say this, because I was in your position 13 years ago when I bought a 19' Bambi new. Most of the orientation ended up centering on teaching me how to hitch and unhitch and trailer so that I could do it when I got home (I too am single). Haydocy offers a much more extensive, all-day orientation. They're in Columbus, OH but the drive home with it would be a good newbie experience.

[Escape_Plan]

Aaron, welcome to the Forums. I now live in Clifton, VA - not far from you in Bowie and neither of us are that far from AS of VA in Thornburg. If I were in the market to buy another new Airstream, I would make the drive to Colonial in New Jersey. I bought my Airstream from Safford RV from Ken and Wanda before they both retired and the dealership is now owned by Camping World. The service has changed dramatically. Oh, they're still friendly as long as you're buying. I posted a few weeks ago about an experience I had trying to get some minor warranty work done and the first recommendation that I was given was, "call Jackson Center, they'll mail you the parts and you can fixit yourself." So, I did call Jackson Center and after trading a couple emails I have a confirmed appointment that meets my schedule. Bottomline: you're spending a lot of money on trailer, don't be quick to discount Colonial in New Jersey because its a few hours away. From Bowie, Colonial is only about 1.5-2.0 hours further away driving than Thornburg. Figure a 4-5 hour difference in round trip to save a few hundred dollars. If the cost savings is $300, that's 60 bucks an hour for your efforts.