Best Time to Buy
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Topic: Best Time to Buy
Posted By: 4Papa
Subject: Best Time to Buy
Date Posted: 31 Jul 2017 at 2:07pm
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Hello to (future) fellow Podders. I'm in the active market for a Pod (178, 179 or 180) and am wondering if waiting for the fall season is better to buy in terms of price. Logic suggests that waiting until the camping season is over (northeast U.S.) will afford the best prices, but maybe not. Maybe the RV industry doesn't work that way. Part of me wants to think it doesn't , so I can buy now (late July) without remorse and take advantage of another two to three months Pod camping this year. OTOH, I can wait two, three months if I'm likely to save a couple, few thousand dollars. OTO-other-H, it may all just come down to the individual deal made regardless of season. What say you and thanks in advance. |
Replies:
Posted By: Richand Cindy
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2017 at 8:06am
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Good News. RV buying is not like car buying. There are no end of year clearance sales in the summer to get rid of the 2017 models and make room for the 2018. That does not mean an individual dealer will not have sales. The only time there are "authorized" sales from the manufacturer are between August and March when there are the large RV shows (Raleigh NC show is end of August, Tampa is January). At these shows there is dealer pricing marked on all RVs and these are usually the best prices. I have never seen these prices lowered except if there is a single dealer who for whatever reason has to sell at cost or even below but this is extremely rare and I do not know of anyone who bought at that price so cannot say if it is real. That being said if you want one now go to a wholesaler (such as Couch's nation). Their prices are LOWER than the RV shows. They currently are selling 180/179 for 14,9/15.1. I would then try to bargain your way with your local dealer to get close to that price as possible. Our dealer was $500 over Couch but he was 100 miles away. Our "local" dealer was thousands over and would not budge. Keep in mind most local dealers will not perform warranty work if you bought the RPOD somewhere else. Forest River has big brochures that says BUY LOCAL with 11 bullet points why you should buy local. Good luck ------------- OLD 2017.5 RPOD 180 + 2015 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk NEW: 2018 Passport Elite 23RB + 2017 Ram 1500 Diesel |
Posted By: Leo B
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2017 at 8:09am
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Ditto!! ------------- Leo & Melissa Bachand 2017 Ford F150 2021 Vista Cruiser 19 csk Previously owned 2015 Rpod 179 2010 Rpod 171 |
Posted By: 4Papa
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2017 at 2:33pm
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Thanks, Richard! Big help! And Leo for responding and ditto-ing! I'm about equidistant from two dealers (Long View in CT and Dufour's in MA), each about an hour to get there. Not great things being said about Long View on this forum but they have twice the stock. Dufours gets a lot of love from forum Podders but not as much to see. I'll visit Long View first to get a sense of what model works best for me, given their stock and Dufours to hear where they land on price. Knowing I'm stuck with one or the other for warranty work means I should have a look-see and questions re their service departments. |
Posted By: ToolmanJohn
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2017 at 6:05pm
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Each RV dealership has a "captive audience". There are usually no other dealers of the same models nearby. So they don't move much on price, because travel trailers are not a necessity, they're a luxury. But if a trailer has not moved in a while, they definitely will want to deal. That being said, when I bought my 177, I drove over 700 miles to pick it up at Couches,. Unfortunately I did run into a needed warranty repair right away, and the local dealer (who would not budge on price) refused service. OK then. Couchs sent me to Long View RV, who at the time did not sell Pods, but other Forest River models. It took Long View TWO attempts and over a week of waiting to get the problem solved (water heater element gasket...). That was just poor diagnosis. Ultimately, my Pod was trouble free for the remaining years I owned it. All very minor stuff I solved myself. Easy to do water sanitization and winterization. I don't know if there is a best time of year, but travel trailers are always discounted well below MSRP. No one should pay near MSRP. ------------- 2017 ATC 7X20 Custom Toy Hauler 2013 R-Pod 177 (SOLD) 2013 VW Touareg TDI |
Posted By: Richand Cindy
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2017 at 6:29pm
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By coincidence Longview was one of the dealers we contacted both by phone and email. When I mentioned Couch's price I never heard from them with a quote. If you decide to buy local and agree to pay more I would still recommend waiting them out for a better deal. I know that Longview still had Green models left when the Blue ones hit the market so they did come down on the advertised price on RV Trader. Stoltzfus in Adamstown PA may be a four hour drive for you and that is where we bought from.
------------- OLD 2017.5 RPOD 180 + 2015 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk NEW: 2018 Passport Elite 23RB + 2017 Ram 1500 Diesel |
Posted By: mjlrpod
Date Posted: 02 Aug 2017 at 2:05pm
I've looked at pods on both lots. Longview rubbed me the wrong way, I wont say anything cause i dont have much nice to say. I looked at couch, as rich recommended, and added the shipping cost. I then went to dufours. I think they were 2 or 3 hundred higher than couchs shipped price. Since i dont want to drive a full day to get service, i thought 2 - 3 hundred was a reasonable rate. I would try waiting till the R.V. show in boston, usually in january, that 2 - 3 hundred might go away. ------------- 2017.5 Rp-172 2020 R-pod 195 2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl I'll be rpodding |
Posted By: 4Papa
Date Posted: 02 Aug 2017 at 3:22pm
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Long View came in at $17K for a 180. They do boast a Lifetime Warranty on major parts and the dealer is a member in something called "Priority RV Network". A bit surprising is the premium they're asking for the 180 given the large stock on hand (and presumably, volume) that they do. I'll visit Dufours and see what they come up with. If I'm still looking through fall, I might wait until January to see what's what in the Boston show. |
Posted By: crooked pod
Date Posted: 02 Aug 2017 at 3:43pm
Well we also looked at longview in ct and a dealer in Port Jervis Ny. And as you said they won't budge on there price.Then we checked out Pete"s Rv in Burlington Vt and Bingo saved thousands it was well worth the 5 hour drive. We love our R-pod 178
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Posted By: 4Papa
Date Posted: 03 Aug 2017 at 3:07pm
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Richard Cindy: Would you know if the prices quoted for the 179/180 ($5.1K/$14.9K) at Couch's are for fully optioned out units? I'm trying to compare apples to apples (including factoring in distance). Also, are most Pods shipped to dealers with full options? I've seen nothing so far with just standard features. |
Posted By: Richand Cindy
Date Posted: 03 Aug 2017 at 6:05pm
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Couch's prices are for all options except the bike rack and include propane fill and battery. They deal in bulk and only make a couple of hundred. Most dealers will not come close to those prices but you never know some will take $500-$1,000 over Couch in order to make a sale. After all they can order as many as they want. They may not deal on an RPOD on the lot if they are financing them, but it costs them nothing to put in an order and sell at cost if they wanted. There is no requirement from Forest River on what price to sell it at only that they do not advertise low prices (some dealers ignore anyway) ------------- OLD 2017.5 RPOD 180 + 2015 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk NEW: 2018 Passport Elite 23RB + 2017 Ram 1500 Diesel |
Posted By: mjlrpod
Date Posted: 03 Aug 2017 at 6:35pm
Be careful of longviews so called "lifetime warranty". You HAVE TO pay for a warranty check up every year, about 200 bucks, in order to be covered. That's the part they told me, who knows what they DIDN'T tell me. ------------- 2017.5 Rp-172 2020 R-pod 195 2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl I'll be rpodding |
Posted By: Richand Cindy
Date Posted: 03 Aug 2017 at 7:26pm
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The lifetime warranty is actually from a company called Warranty Forever. Most parts are covered (heater, AC radio, TV) but not the RV itself (only the door handles and hinges). So the common things that happen to RPODS (delamination, leaks, decals coming off, etc ) are NOT covered. You have to have the RPOD taken to the selling dealer every year for a $150-$200 check. No check up No more warranty. It is worth it if is thrown in for free but many dealers use the "free" warranty to charge a few thousand more for a car (yes they mostly sell to car dealers) or RV and when you say but your price is more than x dealer, they say but the "free" lifetime, everything included, no deductible warranty is worth thousands. I have yet to see a dealer that offers both low prices and Warranty Forever, usually they are the high priced ones since they have to pay a fee to Warranty Forever for every RV/car sold (they cannot pick and choose so even if you do not want it they have to pay for it. If they sell 100 RVs they must buy 100 policies even if 50 people never want it and don't fill out the paperwork. We did not think it was of value for us when we purchased our RPOD and preferred a lower price and skipped the free warranty dealer. ------------- OLD 2017.5 RPOD 180 + 2015 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk NEW: 2018 Passport Elite 23RB + 2017 Ram 1500 Diesel |