Help with Price - 2021 Mini Winnie 26T

[CrazyRussian]

First time RV buyer looking for some help with a price.

Trying to get 2021 26T and there is one available right now in Ohio. General RV is offering it to me for $96k, they are saying MSRP is $128,121. Do you guys think $96k is a good price? is it too high? how much more negotiating room do I have? I can negotiate the hell out of a car, no experience with RVs.

I heard before to get at least 30% off MSRP, this is 25% off and they don't really want to negotiate because inventory is so low.

What do you guys think? Good Deal? or try to get it to at least $90k???

[rizz321]

Hey CrazyRussian,

I just purchased my first RV and did A LOT of research. I'm located in Florida and I got my 24F Vita for about $77K. It's a Mercedes chassis and perfect for my small family. Most places online had this listed in the $90's.

The problem you're going to have now is that RVs are flying off the lot. I did a quick search and I see that the Florida dealers around me have your Minnie 26T listed for $99k at the lowest, and higher. Looking at the RV, it has a lot of cool stuff mine does not have. It seems like a great RV!

When I went to go look at mine, other people were looking at it and I had to pull the trigger. If you love it, get it. It seems like a good price to me based off what I see dealers selling it for. Are you willing to let it go for a couple of thousand dollars? This is something I asked myself when I tried to negotiate on mine. $6k over 20 years (if you're doing that type of loan) is $25 a month to put it in perspective.

I will say that at the dealership they tried to sell me a bunch of warranties and what not. You should ask your dealership about the roadside coverage they are going to pitch. My dealer significantly dropped the price on it below what the company advertised online. I got it because it covered unlimited mileage towing, and all the coverages covered ME and my WIFE.
Meaning to say if I'm borrowing a friends car, I can still get roadside assistance on that vehicle because I'm the driver. The paint protection they do at the dealership MAY be worth it, consider it. I did not do it but my wife hates me for it. The other warranty stuff they pitch may or may not be for you, do the math. I did not get that stuff.

Also, my dealership tried to get me to buy accessories there. I don't know about your dealership but it was all expensive. Buy EVERYTHING from Walmart and Amazon IMO. If you can't wait, most Walmart's have that stuff in stock at the store. Water filters, hoses, all that stuff.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

[DavidM]

You might want to wait until the dead of winter when no one is thinking about RVs. Prices should drop.

I suspect you are paying at least $5K more than you would have paid 3-4 months ago. But if you want it now......

David

[rk911]

how badly do want it? offer 90 amd see what happens. are you prepared to follow thru and purchasemif your offer is accepted?

[CrazyRussian]

Thanks everyone for a response. I just got a call from Vegas RV and they will have a unit in 2 weeks and willing to negotiate, their asking price is $102k but he understands that someone else is selling for $96k and he is willing to go down.

My question was, if 90s is the right price. Do you guys think if I wait until winter it will be in 80s???

again, being a first time buyer, I'm sure they will try to sell me bunch of stuff, like the first person mentioned above. I'm only really wondering if you guys think I need extended warranty??? I used to work for GoodSam Club back in 2008 when it was HQ in California and I know we had ton of people buying it, but I knew nothing about it. Do you guys use extended warranty? is it worth it? I know RVs have issues, should I get it on my own or buy from dealer if they offer.

[rk911]

if you can wait till winter prices should be lower but demand for RVs at this time is sky high and that that demand may likely keep prices high. my advice is don't be in such a rush.

extended warranties: no such thing unless offered by factory thru the dealer. you're likely referring to an extended service contract offered by third parties thru the dealer. search that term on this forum, rv.net and irv2.com for tons of posts and opinions. me? a few people make out while the vast majority don't. lots and lots of gotchas. we elected to self insure by taking the $ we would have spent on the contract and used it instead to create a maintenance and repair fund. we add $X to that fund each month. works well for us.

[CrazyRussian]

Thank you for all the good info. If I get a brand new rv and maybe put on 10k miles on it a year, how often do you see it breaking? I know first year is bumper to bumper coverage, after that would you say $1000 a year or $5000, what should someone who is part time expect?

[rk911]

that's unknowable. but IMO, in general, the quality control on new RVs is horrendous. the forums are chock full of stories about poor QC. we bought a new MH in 2015 and have had over 30 different issues ranging from major problems involving the slides to annoying things like the microwave oven door not latching and the windshield shades dropping a bit each time we'd hit a rough spot on the road. virtually all were factory issues that our dealer fixed. most were not warranty elegible (warranty = 12-mos). but we started our maintenance and repair fund when we bought our first MH in 1986 so we had the $ to pay for the repairs.

annual maintenance? depends on how much you can or want to do yourself. i used to do a lot of routine maintenance maintenance back in the day but not so much these days. i'm pretty anal when it comes to routine maintenance...oil changes, this that and the other. i can check if you want a precise number but i'd guess i spend about $1000 p/y on maintenance.

reality is that you're going to have problems. hopefully they'll be minor problems but thanks to America's smooth-as-glass roads and less than thorough quality control at the factory you will have problems. but you'll also have a warranty if you buy new but you may have trouble getting your dealer...any dealer...getting you into service in a timely manner. and many, many service contracts have lotsa gotchas in the fine print they use to deny claims.

not trying to be a downer but that's reality for a lot of owners. but in the 32-years we've been doing this RV thing we've had waaaaay more good times than bad...even with all of the issues with our MH. our dealer...Barrington RV in Bartlett, IL...has been super in getting us in and out. virtually everything they've fixed has stayed fixed.

best advise?

- choose your dealer carefully. find out, if you can, average wait time for a service appointment (hint: don't ask the sales critter).

- bargain...bargain...bargain.

- any promises the sales critter makes needs to be in writing. if it isn't written down it never happened.

- check EVERYTHING as soon as possible after delivery and preferably during your walk-thru with the dealer. every switch, motor, light, TV, radio, slide, jack. literally everything.

you're buying a house on wheels. treat the purchase like it's the first or second most expensive thing you own cuz it likely is.

good luck to you.

[JBP]

The dealer is one of the most important considerations i think. Also how close are you to him.
My winnebago dealer 10 miles from me stop handling Winnebagos. The next nearest deal 290 miles away. This is a real problem for getting warranty work done.
On price usually take the MSRP 75% to 80% is usually good on new coach then you will usually have to add the delivery cost on. But they are in high demand now. I would ask Winnebago what MSRP is on the coach that you are looking at. Their price will include all options factory installed. Get vin no.

[LuvWildlife]

If you want to camp now, buy it.

Google the reviews of your model. That will take you to forums with experience. You will read a lot of unreal complaints, but understand the ones online are just that, and there are thousands who have had minor or no problems.

The best way to protect yourself from sales scams is to just say NO. The dealer comes in low on the RV because he plans to make up for the loss by adding thousands of $$$ on the asking price.

It’s a lot of decisions to make. But realize you can get outside protection cheaper, yearly. Transferring the warranty to a new buyer doesn’t always happen either. So if you want to sell, or downsize there is a big money loss on extended warranties.

The other protection is to know your RV well, take an interest in how things work, and remember most RV problems are because of owner mistakes. Have fun. It’s a blast!

[CrazyRussian]

I kept negotiating and got it in Ohio for $90,600. Will be picking it up end of next week.
Now i just need to drive it from Ohio to California.
Thanks everyone for giving good feedback and I will definitely check the hell out of the rv before I take possession of it to make sure everything works.

[68SILVER]

Rule be of thumb. There is a around forty percent markup. That doesn't mean they can discount that much. The dealer incurs a lot of cost stocking it.