New Trailer Purchase

rvlife_65996fc2e1ae7

Advanced Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2021
Messages
32
Location
Oconomowoc WI
Question regarding a new purchase walk-through. How do you verify the Solar panels are hooked up and working when doing the walk through? Since the walk through will be done indoors. Another question. When buying a new trailer has anyone had to pay extra for the batteries? Shouldn't they be included?
 
If you look at the Victron solar charge controller, if it is receiving power from the panels, there will be LED lights illuminated and/or flashing.

As for batteries, manufacturers do not install batteries from the factory (just like they don’t fill propane tanks). Dealers do that and typically put the smallest/cheapest battery they can get away with in there and also don’t fill the propane to capacity to save $. The cost is usually baked into the “dealer prep” fee they tack on.
 
Again, the dealer provides the propane and batteries. Sometimes they include a start-up kit (sewer hose, water hose and tank treatment) none of which are included from the factory, but more often than not, you have to buy those yourself.

The dealer added items are not free, they are included in the line item for “dealer-prep”. When we were shopping, I had one dealer try to charge $1,495 for their prep and walkthrough. It is often negotiable though. I ended up going with a different dealer and we got the extra charges down to $50 for the docs (it was out of state so I just needed a transporter tag) and $350 for the prep and walkthrough. That included filled propane and a single lead acid battery (I was switching to lithium anyway). We spent 2-3 hours on the walkthrough (ours was indoors), and I was on the roof, rolling around underneath on a creeper, up on a ladder, crawling inside the passthrough, etc. We didn’t leave until WE were satisfied.
 
Sounds like a ploy Camping World would do. .... As stated above, campers do not come from the factory with batteries or propane tanks. That's all dealer prep and should be included in that line item "Dealer Prep." If you are being charged a separate line item for the batteries .... well ..... if they are screwing you over now, what kind of customer service and warranty work are you going to get after the sale? If it's Camping World, stop right now and find a different dealership. You have your red flag. Follow your instincts now. ......
 
Sounds like a ploy Camping World would do. .... As stated above, campers do not come from the factory with batteries or propane tanks. That's all dealer prep and should be included in that line item "Dealer Prep." If you are being charged a separate line item for the batteries .... well ..... if they are screwing you over now, what kind of customer service and warranty work are you going to get after the sale? If it's Camping World, stop right now and find a different dealership. You have your red flag. Follow your instincts now. ......


The highlighted above are generalizations that run contrary to reality. There are tons and tons of satisfied CW customers (including myself) - as their ranking as the largest RV dealer in the U.S. attests to.

Each CW dealership is managed by a local GM that either takes care of customers....or not. There are very good CW dealerships and some that aren't so good. The up side is that every CW dealership has a reporting chain that extends well beyond the GM at any dealership and the company is in fact customer oriented as they have been with me many times over the years.

As far as the batteries, propane etc. - those items are going to be added to the price of the RV at some point because they don't come from the factory with them. Some places give you the price of the RV as it will come to you with a total price that will include a battery and full propane tanks (nothing is free). To me that is the simplest way but others break out everything giving a RV price, propane, propane tanks, battery(s)....right down the line. To compare you then obviously have to add all that up to compare it with the other "total" price. In my experience the dealers that start trying to break everything out start including all kinds of upselling items you don't want or need which puts me off before we get started. Tell them what you want and insist on that vs letting them tell you what they are going to give you. If you want upgraded batteries now might be the time to have that done if you can work a deal with the sale - if they are a condition of the sale they might be more inclined to cut pricing.
 
Keep in mind that in the recent past, Keystone has been offering lithium batteries as an option on SOME of their brands and the SolarFlex 600 and SolarFlex 1200 packages DO, in fact, come with "Keystone factory installed" batteries.

So, depending on whether your specific trailer was ordered with Lithium batteries installed "at the factory" or "FLA/lithium batteries installed at the dealer" will vary....

Essentially, if your trailer has the SolarFlex 600 or 1200 package, you DO have factory installed batteries and if your trailer has DragonFly batteries, they were "factory installed" while if your trailer has FLA or any other brand of lithium battery (other than DragonFly), then your batteries were installed at the dealership.....

As for Camping World, as Danny stated, there are some good locations and some not so good locations.... I've purchased from Camping World in Houghton Lake, Michigan with excellent results and superior after sale warranty service... At the same time, I've heard people complain that the same location "sucks".... So, some customer satisfaction vs customer dislike is very likely to be individualized by their perception as much as it is by actual "good or bad transactions".....
 
Take your time don't l r t them rush you when there done tell okay we want some time by ourselves and check everything even if it takes 2 hr once you leave the lot and get it home and find something wrong good luck getting it fixed. Take something to plug in to the outlets to make sure they work on solar then check to make sure it works connected yo shore power have them plug the camp we in. I got misled when we bought our cougar 22mls I assumed the solar was all ready to go. Not the case shame on me
 
Mine came with one lithium battery ( I added a second) and 2 full propane tanks....

They also threw in a Curt WDH.
 
I am looking at the 2025 Cougar 25MLE and have never had solar before and always received batteries and full 30# LP on previous trailers

This was always part of the negotiating process for me on all the trailers we've ever purchased.
Both upgraded/filled from the advertised size they were trying to offer.
The first trailer we ever bought I talked them into the leveler hitch and sway bars installed at the already negotiated price or it wasn't going to be finalized.
:whistling:

If larger propane tanks would fit, I need them.
If they had 50ah batteries I always asked for more to close the deal.
Sales people generally hate dealing with others that have been in the sales field also.
:LOL:
 

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