Prep Fee Charge

Knucklehead · 06-30-2013, 04:47 AM

Am looking at a fuzion310 from campingworld in knoxville. the dealer wants to charge 695.00 for a battery full propane tank and a new owner walk thru. if i understand what i have read on here keystone pays the dealer for this and to correct any problems (like how can you find any thing wrong without a walk thru) can any one provide infomation on this and proof that keystone pays for this thanks for reading and your answers enjoy the forum have learned awole lot thanks again Burt

Bob Landry · 06-30-2013, 05:00 AM

Good luck getting any information about this or anything else from Keystone. I would look at the "out the door" price and if it is agreeable to you do a deal. How the dealer handles his in-house accounting is of no consequence to a buyer. I would certainly shop around and go in armed with some numbers before I just blindly wrote a check based on good faith, especially with Camping World. They don't have the best reputation for either sales or service.

Essness · 06-30-2013, 05:45 AM

It always drives me a little nuts when dealers, (cars, furniture, rv's, etc.) Add charges like this to your deal. All thatmeans to me is that they need more money out of the deal.
I had a car dealer that shook my hand and said we have a deal and then added a 800.00 additional line for delivery to the deal

that just aint gonna happen.
I asked him how this came about, he said, "lets face it, if we didnt get the car here you wouldnt be here trying to buy it." I said, "exactly!"

He didnt get the irony, I didnt buy the car.

billb800si · 06-30-2013, 06:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knucklehead

Am looking at a fuzion310 from campingworld in knoxville. the dealer wants to charge 695.00 for a battery full propane tank and a new owner walk thru. if i understand what i have read on here keystone pays the dealer for this and to correct any problems (like how can you find any thing wrong without a walk thru) can any one provide infomation on this and proof that keystone pays for this thanks for reading and your answers enjoy the forum have learned awole lot thanks again Burt

========================

You need to do the research. Get on the Internet and contact other dealers who sell the trailer you want. Request a quote that includes everything (taxes- delivery- plates- prep etc...) . Now you have a final price. Compare the final prices and determine which dealer you want to buy from. Buying local is best if the price is decent. Remember travel time expenses can be troublesome if you need warranty work done after the sale.
Do allow your preferred dealer a last chance to outbid your best quote. We just bought a 2014 Cougar High Country 321RES trailer and saved $$$$ thousands by doing this. Granted it took a lot of my time but it was worth it.
ALWAYS be polite and courteous.
Happy trails,

therink · 06-30-2013, 06:29 AM

X2 what others said. Dealers do receive a pdi/prep allowance from manufacturers. It is the bottom line $ that counts. Do your research and you will get a fair price.
And have fun doing it. Happy trails.
Steve

Knucklehead · 06-30-2013, 06:57 AM

thanks for the info people this seems to be a hard model to find my local fuzion dealer acording to keystone does not even stock a single fuzion ! i live in northwest tn this is the cloest dealer tous that has one and has made a lowest offer what if i take my battery and tanks put his tanks in tradein
thanks again for your replies Burt

**JRTJH** · 06-30-2013, 06:58 AM

I totally agree, the bottom line is the final deciding factor as far as price goes. There are other considerations such as dealer reputation, service department availability, etc, but the dollars paid should be a very important deciding factor.

We are currently in the process of buying a new fifth wheel. The Camping World location where we bought our Springdale also wants to add a $695 PDI to the bottom line, in addition to $695 for shipping (in addition to the factory shipping which has already been added) plus a reduced trade in for our current RV.

The fifth wheel is located at CW in Akron OH and is currently listed for $24,995. By the time the local CW gets done, the RV (with my trade) bottom line is $33,759. There is a local dealer (privately owned family business) about 35 miles away in the opposite direction who quoted me an OTD price that's about $6,000 less than CW's bottom line. Their service department seems to be as good or better than CW (I have no complaints about the Houghton Lake CW service department) but the bottom line does the "talking" for me this time.

I have no clue how the dealer is going to write up the contract at closing, none of the quotes or acceptance and special order documents have an itemized cost breakdown. It's not important to me if he sells the trailer to me for $1.00 and charges me $28,999 in PDI charges or if he sells me the RV for $29,000 and throws in the PDI for free.... Either way, it's the bottom line that matters. I do know that I'm not signing any final sales documents until AFTER the PDI and I'm satisfied that the RV meets my expectations.

**JRTJH** · 06-30-2013, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knucklehead

thanks for the info people this seems to be a hard model to find my local fuzion dealer acording to keystone does not even stock a single fuzion ! i live in northwest tn this is the cloest dealer tous that has one and has made a lowest offer what if i take my battery and tanks put his tanks in tradein
thanks again for your replies Burt

Using your current tanks and battery won't save much (if any at all) Remember, propane tanks require NDI inspection and using your old tanks will cut some time off that inspection date, plus your battery is older than the new one he'll install (but yours may be a better or more durable). Typically wholesale price on a group 27 battery is below $50 and propane costs about $2 a gallon at wholesale so you're talking less than $65 in dealer cost to use your battery and propane tanks. That's really not even enough savings to pay for packing them IMHO......

theeyres · 06-30-2013, 08:04 PM

I, too, agree with the Out The Door price. I don't care how the dealer writes it up but I'm always clear that the price I'm quoted will include everything except license and registration. Quoting a price, then adding on PDI, document fees, etc. is just a way to jack the price up.

Devildogmom · 07-06-2013, 04:34 AM

Some dealers charge for it and some don't. There is a dealer in Wayland, MI who charges $1000.00. Needless to say, we drove a little farther to Muskegon and found a dealer who didn't charge anything. When I asked the Muskegon dealer about it, they said they never charge the customer for PDI fees.

Essness · 07-06-2013, 07:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Devildogmom

Some dealers charge for it and some don't. There is a dealer in Wayland, MI who charges $1000.00. Needless to say, we drove a little farther to Muskegon and found a dealer who didn't charge anything. When I asked the Muskegon dealer about it, they said they never charge the customer for PDI fees.

That's cause they're smart about it. You paid for it but not as a seperate line item that appears to be engineered just to pi** off potential customers.
I know I've paid it, but never as a line item on the deal.

**JRTJH** · 07-06-2013, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Essness

That's cause they're smart about it. You paid for it but not as a seperate line item that appears to be engineered just to pi** off potential customers.
I know I've paid it, but never as a line item on the deal.

That is correct LOL Paying $30,000 for an RV seems "OK" but paying $29,000 for an RV and seeing the dealer add $1000 for a PDI suddenly makes the deal a "ripoff" Hmmmmm

Like you, I don't much care how the dealer itemizes the top lines, it's the bottom line that really matters. If you're happy with that, who cares if he charges nothing for the PDI, or charges $2500 for the PDI?????

Knucklehead · 07-06-2013, 06:08 PM

thanks for all yalls replys as an update have all but signed the dodded line for a 297se any pros or cons from the many people on here thanks Burt

Pmedic4 · 07-08-2013, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billb800si

========================

You need to do the research. Get on the Internet and contact other dealers who sell the trailer you want. Request a quote that includes everything (taxes- delivery- plates- prep etc...) . Now you have a final price. Compare the final prices and determine which dealer you want to buy from. Buying local is best if the price is decent. Remember travel time expenses can be troublesome if you need warranty work done after the sale.
Do allow your preferred dealer a last chance to outbid your best quote. We just bought a 2014 Cougar High Country 321RES trailer and saved $$$$ thousands by doing this. Granted it took a lot of my time but it was worth it.
ALWAYS be polite and courteous.
Happy trails,

When looking at our current RV, we found we liked the layout of the 291RLS at one dealer. Of course they quoted us a price, and we checked around for prices from other dealers, and discussed our trade-in, a THOR - Sunset Trails TT. A second dealer quoted us a price for the 291RLS, and and the amount of our trade-in. The price was about the same, but the amount of our trade-in was quite a bit lower. When we asked, his comment was, Sunset Trails are made by THOR, and THOR RVs don't hold their value.

We could only wonder if he realized that Keystone RV's are also owned by THOR Industries? Between the two models, amenities are the same, appliances/AC/Heater are the same, and we really don't see any difference in quality of manufacturing, and really both could improve some.

So, check around, and think of service!

Essness · 07-08-2013, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRTJH

That is correct LOL Paying $30,000 for an RV seems "OK" but paying $29,000 for an RV and seeing the dealer add $1000 for a PDI suddenly makes the deal a "ripoff" Hmmmmm

Like you, I don't much care how the dealer itemizes the top lines, it's the bottom line that really matters. If you're happy with that, who cares if he charges nothing for the PDI, or charges $2500 for the PDI?????

This is oddly true

most of my expiriences with any sort of charge for pdi, or prep, freight, etc. Have generally been a add on to the already negotiated price.
Which of course leads me back to the conclusion that they didnt have enough built into the deal or they're just trying to get more out of it.

**JRTJH** · 07-09-2013, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Essness

This is oddly true

most of my expiriences with any sort of charge for pdi, or prep, freight, etc. Have generally been a add on to the already negotiated price.
Which of course leads me back to the conclusion that they didnt have enough built into the deal or they're just trying to get more out of it.

I saw that years ago in negotiations for almost anything from cars to boats to RV's. Back in the early '80's, I started negotiating from the bottom line. Now when I go into a salesman's office, I tell him "up front" that all our discussions will be from the "bottom line figure". I explain to him that I want the "out the door price with everything included, no add-ons after he gives me a price. Some balk at that, I just tell them that's my rule, it's my wallet, my rules. They usually laugh and say OK. A couple have said their sales manager doesn't allow that kind of negotiations. Those dealerships, I've found, are most often the ones that add on itemized lists of upcharges after the negotiations are finished. They add PDI charges, Prep charges, Inspection fees, Handling fees, Documentation fees, Warranty Registration fees..... The list goes on and on. Like you, I think those kind of "tactics" are a money grab and for the most part, "engineered to P*** off the buyer.

If the dealer doesn't or won't give me the bottom line, out the door price, I find a dealer that will. There's no reason to be shafted by a dealer with "secret add-ons" any more than there's a reason to buy the "elixir" from a "snake oil salesman"