Oldtrick
Active VIP Member
Pretty easy to puff out your chest and brag about charity work when you've just stroked someone for $10G on a simple travel trailer.
toyhauler question
- Thread starter arff
- Start date
goodngrubby
Active VIP Member
No doubt. If I can save as little as 2 grand by heading south, I'm gone. Most of the dealerships get their trailers form the states, so why not cut out the middle man and go get it myself? I don't mean to offend anybody, but the dealers don't seem too willing to give me 2 or 3000 for nothing, why should I do it for them?
posnick
Active VIP Member
the thing you guys dont understand is that there is a cost to doing business and we pay more for product than the US dealers do. sure, the guys in the states can sell for a few hundred over cost...what do they care. it was easy money and they will never see you again.
we cant match their pricing because we have OVERHEAD!!! they don't need your business to stay in business. anything you buy from them is bonus $$$ in their jeans.
so what happens when you find your trailer in the states for 5K less? you take time off work, drive south, fuel, hotels, partying along the way. you get home and managed to save a couple grand. awesome!! then you go out on your first trip and the fridge dies or the wall seperates or the roof leaks....who is gonna fix it? there is no local dealers left to do the repairs because you tried to save a little $$$ and local dealers are forced to close and now you have a broken RV and no one to fix it.
goodngrubby....what would your local dealer say when you bring them your sportsman with an issue that is keeping you from camping and they ask you where you bought it? you tell them "in the states"...do you really believe they will push their own customers back to fit you in or will they take of their own customers first and squeeze you in when they have time?
How much is customer service worth???
this dosn't just apply to rv's or sleds...it applies to all business.
When you buy your $6000 turbo kit...how much do you think they are making on it? enough to say in business...plain and simple
thats my 2 cents
goodngrubby
Active VIP Member
Like I said before, I really didn't mean to offend anyone, but when it all boils down to the bottom line, I would sooner put a few bucks in my pocket than someone else's. I don't think that anybody is any different. Don't get me wrong, I do believe in supporting local business, as I own my own company, but when there are many thousands of dollars at stake, you have to do what you have to do. I bought my Sportsman locally last year (privately, mind you), mainly because I couldn't pass up the deal. I have brought back a couple of vehicles from the states and yes, I did save thousands by doing so. I agree that local dealerships of any kind need local support, but for the most part, they need to sharpen their pencils and make it worth while for people to shop there. I mean let's be honest, if Dealership X had a unit for sale for $69,000 plus tax, plus doc fees, plus pdi and freight, and you could go buy the same unit that was only used once for less than half, no tax, would you lose sleep at night worrying that the dealership was going to broke if you didn't buy their trailer?
mudboy
Active VIP Member
What ever makes the buyer happy. He is the one spending the $$$ I personally would drive any where in Alberta for the right deal. A lot of dealerships need to realize that they need to make the customer happy not themslves and that is what it seems like. It is amazing when you get 2 dealerships in a bidding war for your money how much they are able to reduce the price. I have first hand expirence on this. I drove away towing the new trailer a happy customer
Oldtrick
Active VIP Member
"we cant match their pricing because we have OVERHEAD!!! they don't need your business to stay in business. anything you buy from them is bonus $$$ in their jeans."
You're kidding right?
I guarantee you I didn't buy mine out of the back of a van. Went to a big Dealership, real tin bldg probably just like yours. Real Service dept., Trailers on the lot and a parts Department too. I think that represents OVERHEAD.
IMO,
make a call, compare for yourself and you'll find out exactly what you can save to see if its right for you.
Just don't fall for the local warranty threats, you'll be amazed at what can get auth with a phone call.
You're kidding right?
I guarantee you I didn't buy mine out of the back of a van. Went to a big Dealership, real tin bldg probably just like yours. Real Service dept., Trailers on the lot and a parts Department too. I think that represents OVERHEAD.
IMO,
make a call, compare for yourself and you'll find out exactly what you can save to see if its right for you.
Just don't fall for the local warranty threats, you'll be amazed at what can get auth with a phone call.
posnick
Active VIP Member
"we cant match their pricing because we have OVERHEAD!!! they don't need your business to stay in business. anything you buy from them is bonus $$$ in their jeans."
You're kidding right?
I guarantee you I didn't buy mine out of the back of a van. Went to a big Dealership, real tin bldg probably just like yours. Real Service dept., Trailers on the lot and a parts Department too. I think that represents OVERHEAD.
IMO,
make a call, compare for yourself and you'll find out exactly what you can save to see if its right for you.
Just don't fall for the local warranty threats, you'll be amazed at what can get auth with a phone call.
ok..look at it this way....i have a tin bldg....i sell you a 500,000 motorhome and you live 25 hrs away...if i make 300 from the sale im happy cause all i have to pay for is utilities. i dont need a big shop or techs or equipment cause i will never see you again. who cares if you have problems. i dont have to have a service dept to take care of you cause i will never see you again.
now, i sell the same motorhome to someone local....i need to make more than 300 profit because i need a service dept, techs, equipment etc. what i am trying to make clear here is without local support we cant afford to keep our service depts going. you think service depts are big money makers? hmmm... I can guarantee you I will never bump my own customer to service someone that bought in the us and i dont know ANY RV dealer that would. that is called supporting our customer. I don't have a problem with people saving money...just keep it in our own country.
i am sure wherever you bought yours had a full service dept. the difference is the money you spent there is pure profit. they dont need to invest any of that profit into servicing you.
i've been doing this a long time and i have seen people happy they bought crossborder and some people that kicked themselves for it.
I will agree with one thing you said. "make the call and see if its right for you"
Oldtrick
Active VIP Member
Keep it in our Country? - you must be selling Vangaurd then because it is, oops, was the only CDN unit, with exception to some Jazz that were made here. Guess no one wanted them anymore eigther though due to price point.
Its gonna be interesting for the CDN dealers and they had better brace for a very slow late '10 and '11 for sales when the $ goes over par. It seems like it takes that barrier for people to finally wake up and shop around.
Its gonna be interesting for the CDN dealers and they had better brace for a very slow late '10 and '11 for sales when the $ goes over par. It seems like it takes that barrier for people to finally wake up and shop around.
Transporter
Active VIP Member
Going to have to agree with OldTrick. Where is Okanogan trailers now???? Check out trailer prices in Ohio, well worth the drive and get a bit of a holiday out of it too. I might have been born at night but it wasnt last night. Prices are so inflated up here it makes me sick. Does a 100 000 foot showroom sales office make better products?? Nope. Everybody wants to make the quick buck up here and rip everyone else off.
kimwin
Active member
18000 lb trailer do the math???????????????????????????????????? 3 x 5200 =15600 lbs, right or am i wrong.....
Crash
Active member
I bought a unit from the States last year and had it delivered to the border. I drove across the border picked it up and was through customs in about 15 minutes. The savings was close to $10,000 including my fuel/hotel/GST. I had the Canadian inspection done at Canadian Tire which is pretty easy, considering they sell the same unit locally. I also had a considerable amount of warranty work done locally with no issues. Would do it again in a heartbeat.
08summit
Active VIP Member
Whats the big deal with warranty work?? Are you dealers pretending it comes out of your pocket?? The manufacture pays for the warranty work and pays the DEALER for the labor...So it sure would be stupid of you to turn warranty work away just because the unit wasn't purchased from you. I purchased my unit locally (but if I can save a few grand on the next one will buy stateside) and have had it serviced on both ends of this country and in the U.S. through dealers I never purchased from and all were more then willing to do the work as they were getting paid (and probabely well) from the manufacture. If you are purchasing a high end unit the savings can easily be $15 - $20,000 dollars which is well worth the trip south to me....Just my 2 cents.
Rammit07
Member
If the dealerships here aren't willing to compete then go South, its easy to import & most warranties are as good as the paper there wrote on, almost everything in an RV is covered under manufactures waranty, if you contact them directly which your better off in most cases they'll cover there product. It wasn't long ago when buying Diesels or big block trucks & our dollar was 65 cents they would tell us the sticker price is the price take it or leave it, because the Yankies were scooping them up. Now that the dollar is closer to Par, all we here is support your local dealership.
Transporter
Active VIP Member
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