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With your help, we've ordered a 2018 27' Tommy Bahama
This is a follow-up to the “Request Feedback on Tommy Bahama Options” thread. Because I’ll be discussing more than just what options we selected, thought it best to begin a new thread.
First, again, thanks to everyone who offered feedback/recommendations on that thread. They were invaluable.
Yesterday, we put an order in for a 2018 27’ TB, with one A/C, the 3-awning package (but manual awnings; did not go for power main awning), a backup camera, and the standard gas oven with separate microwave. The decision to go with one A/C instead of two is contrary to the consensus we received, but as discussed at some length in the previous thread, we think it’s best for us, and we’ll have to live with that decision. The trailer should arrive by late March/early April. We intend to install flexible solar panels on it later (that will take a road trip, as you’ll see in a moment).
Many of you offered suggestions/recommendations regarding sales and service, so I wanted to provide feedback on how we used that information. Because I consider sales and service to be two separate domains, here’s how the buying process went:
To our surprise (because of what we’d heard and read), we ordered the AS through RV Solutions here in San Diego (the area we live in), because they actually beat three other California dealers’ lowest offers. However, I don’t think we would’ve gotten to that price (about 20% below MSRP) without your feedback and recommendations.
--The most important first step was the recommendation to check out the website for Tampa RV (Tampa, FL), because I could download the MSRP sheet on a TB 27’, showing the base price and all option prices (keeping in mind these are all MSRP). It was crucial to have this information in hand before starting any negotiations by phone or in-person. While you may know of other RV web sites that show a rig’s “sticker” cost for base and options, none of the ones in California do – I suspect you have to ask for one or show up in person to see one.
--Armed with that information, over the past several days, I called three CA dealers: Bay Area Airstream Adventures (BAAA) in Fairfield, Toscano RV in Los Banos, and Sky River RV in Paso Robles. I spoke to all of them at least twice. All three sales reps were courteous and professional. In particular, Dave Morse at Toscano RV seemed very down-to-earth, a guy you’d have a beer with. Nick Turner at BAAA was very knowledgeable. I was surprised, however, that BAAA would not come down much from their opening offer.
--I was able to use their lowest offers to negotiate a lower price from RV Solutions ("Tex" was the rep we interacted with (very professional and courteous), but as you already know, his boss was the real decision-maker on price). As was discussed in previous thread, had to make them believe I could care less about their “if you buy elsewhere you won’t get priority for servicing” veiled threat. It was the only leverage I had – that I’d walk out and buy elsewhere (and I would have done so). I may not have gotten them down as much as those of you who are more experienced at this, but at the end of the day I felt like I got a fair deal. And I felt like the other three CA dealers would not go any lower.
--To reiterate, we did not buy off the lot – no CA dealer had a 27’ TB with the exact options we wanted (and all of them had the power main awning – an option we didn’t want). We had to have them agree to modify a “pipeline” order (an order they probably placed in the past month or two). All of them agreed to do so.
That’s it for the moment. Will discuss my experience with their service departments (I called all four of them, more than once) in my next post on this thread. I found the differences in perspective and flexibility very interesting.
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