Luxury Coach Builder Takes Dim View of Industry Pricing Tricks
Foretravel, Inc., builders of Nimbus and Phenix high-end motorhomes says it will make its dealers leave leave, "confusing and misleading" inflated price stickers off its rigs.In a news release, Foretravel's president, Lyle Reed, says, "The RV industry's pricing structure is commonly known for inflated MSRPs." Dealers commonly blow the price way up, then give a buyer a seeming "bargain" by quickly reducing the price during negotiations. Foretravel says starting with 2009 models, they are changing their approach from a Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price to a Manufacturer's Straight Forward Pricing(MSFP) beginning with their 2009 Models. "We want our suggested retail prices to reasonably reflect their actual selling prices," the company release says. It should be noted that the Phenix model starts at a MSFP of $449,000.
If such an approach were true on an industry-wide basis, perhaps buying an RV would be a bit less like shopping for trinkets on the Mexican frontier.
Mexican street scene: retro traveler on flickr.com
Labels: Foretravel, rv industry practices, RV prices
posted by Russ and Tiña De Maris at
2/08/2008 09:15:00 AM
4 Comments:
LOL, Thanks Foretravel on behalf of the 1/10 of one percent of the RVers who will purchase motorhomes in the half million dollar price range.
By
alur, at 3:41 AM, February 23, 2008
Every little bit helps. I deal with RV buyers from all over the RV world on a daily basis. The confusion and resulting frustrations they share are not going away or lessening as I hoped would happen with the growth of the Internet over the ten years since I left the active RV selling arena.
In fact, it may be getting worse. I watched in bewildered amazement last year when Winnebago took their archive information off their website! I figure that act extinguished a couple of thousand established links to their website not to mention leaving more than a couple of years worth of current, loyal owners at a loss for information when time comes to sell their coachs and upgrade. Very short sighted on their part.
Then there are companies like Jayco who I commend for allowing shoppers and customers to price out their dream RV online with the full list of options available. Why? I suspect they are protecting themselves from tricky dealers playing with pricing. Winnebago, Fleetwood and the Monaco divisions all send a detailed window sticker along with every coach they build. Unlike the car industry, the RV dealers have the option of displaying the MSRP sticker or not.
Just last week a Florida customer called about a leftover Fleetwood class a the dealer swore they could not find the original list price for. Can you believe that? The dealer is part of a large chain we are all learning to distrust and hate and they apparently think this is a good way to do business.
The RV industry thrives on their lack of information and the way dealers are able to distort what little there is. As RV shoppers, the only way we have to compare their products is by MSRP ( manufacturer Suggested Retail Pricing) and a vague hope that one $100,000.00 motorhome is comparable to another or the $50,000.00 fifth wheel price point is a reliable standard.
The real problem I see emmerging, as the baby boomers flood the market, is the drastic increase in mark-ups as the RV industry salivates and gets ready to plunder this prize. Just since the first of January, I have documented markups on coachs ranging from 25% to 67%. And the higher one was for a $90,000.00 fifth wheel!
By
- RVDave, at 11:00 AM, February 23, 2008
At a recent RV show in California the wife and I were looking at a new 5th wheel, the MSRP was posted on the counter. $78K and some change. After a short conversation with sales rep. the price had fallen to the low 60's. As we were leaving the sales rep. stated there was still room to deal. Sure makes you wonder about more than price, if they are misleading you up front what are they going to do to you when you require warranty work or service?
By
Anonymous, at 5:31 PM, February 25, 2008
I have been advising friends and fellow R.V.ers for years to offer 70-75% of MSRP when buying a motorhome or 5th wheel. For years their offers have been accepted on new current model year rigs. This would seem to make a joke (if not a lie)out of MSRPs.
By
Anonymous, at 8:20 PM, February 26, 2008
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