Negotiating a new caravan purchase

Hi Garbage

You will get an even better discount if you choose second hand (so long as you can find what you want of course). Usually comes with extras previous owners may have added, and any teething problems that may have occurred sorted out.

Motherhen

Second hand at the moment are hard to sell so thats your best bet. unless of course you cant find exactly what you want. i just traded a 3 yr old Jayco on a new Crusader.the dealer gave me almost what i payed for it new but 3 or so months earlier it was about 5k more than i payed for it. i would have done it sooner but was waiting for some finances to come thru. even new they are pretty good,i think the deal i got was good so all parties happy. they even sold my trade in the next day so they were even happier as they have an off road version of ours in the yard but are struggling to move it.

Hi Recyclable,(not garbage,LOL) I went to the Penrith show today and the amount of SOLD signs I saw on caravans was amazing. This was over a large variety of brands too. They mostly seemed to have show specials with optioned up vans at standard van prices so I am not sure if this would still occur if you went to their yard but it would definately be worth your while pricing from a few retailers. Regards,Bob

Hi Garbage

Depends on a lot of factors, when i went through this last year what i wanted to buy was in demand. So it was a sellers market. I managed to get about 5% discount overall. There isn't a lot of margin on new vans so i negotiated on the accesories, i was going to buy them anyway, and what i got off equaled about 5% on the whole lot.
I also had cash so i was able to buy unconditionally, It goes a long way as it gets the interest up in the salesman.

Look at the big picture, not just the sticker price of the van, throw in the mix finance, insurance, accesories. Get all your pricing, and hold back on some items, add them as you need to offer incentive.

Don't be afraid to state a price you will pay - dont be ridiculous though, and be prepared to negotiate. Allow yourselve time, it will take a couple of hours to get the best deal. It is like fiishing, you have to play with the salesman and keep his interest. It once took me 2 hours to just to do the trade in deal on a car( then I had to do the deal on a new one).

Set your target price and be prepared to walk.

Alan

I did see a post here or elsewhere in recent months from a van buyer - said he saved thousands by going to a second dealer in the same city (might have been Perth - Coromal / Windsor home base) - the second dealer wanted the sale more I guess. If you can convince them that you purchase is imminent, discounts are usually 'found' somehow.

A windsor rapid is a popular van and not the best to pick for a discount. They also hold they resale value very well. You might look at Paramont Duet as this is a copy of a Windsor Rapid. Jayco expander is however a very poor version of the same principal. (I can see expanda owners writing already).

Caravan show price is usually the best you can get.

Look at where they are made. The previous post about Coromal is trus as they are made in Perth and have to freight them over east. Adds cost, so you can get a better price there. The same with Jayco by going to Melbourne. Go direct to the factory and see if you can buy one there.

If there is a waiting list for one and there are many vans that do, forget the discount.

Hi we purchased a 2007 windsor rapid 471 offroad about 3 months ago that had been with the original owners since new, had the original receipt for $34900. Had everything left in it, all plates, hoses, awning walls etc and optioned to the hilt and were lucky enough to see it first day on trading post 1 hour after listed and picked up a bargain for $23500. We did keep our eyes on Trading Post, Ebay, Pickles, Fowles and RV Point for about 2 months though so we knew as soon as we saw a good buy to jump straight away and with cash. If you aren't planning to use it immediatly it pays to keep a close eye on these sites and be prepared to drop everything if you do see a bargain as it is certain that somebody else will get there quick if serious. Turned out to be a divorce sale which is sad, but they had to sell to finalise the division of assets so took the first offer. Drove off with it there and then and can not be happier with the purchase.

As a follow up to the previous look at the 2007windsor rapid 501 that is on the ManheimFowles website that goes to auction wednesday 22nd as it mentions hail damage with not alot evident.