In this 19-minute video from RVbusiness.com, recorded on Feb. 5, three RV dealers talk about the current retail sales market, and the challenges they face. In general, the dealers say that today’s buyers are taking more time and being more cautious in making a buying decision.
The dealers are still selling RVs, but the effort to sell them is more challenging than the last two years.
One significant challenge is selling the many 2022 models that remain on their lots. Dealer Jason Friesen of Winfield, British Columbia, reports that he has heard that the inventory of some Canadian dealers is as high as 60 percent. With 2023 models now on the market, it’s important those dealers move out the old stock. Read between the lines and that means greater bargaining power for RV buyers willing to buy last year’s model.
Another notable development, the dealers agree, is the increasingly younger age of new RV buyers. They believe that’s a good thing because these newbies have decades ahead of them when many will likely purchase additional RVs. Dealer Ken Eckstein of Mount Comfort RV in Greenfield, Ind., said he was surprised to see an increase in older first-time buyers, as well.
Arizona dealer Rob Crist worries that buyers of the cheap, lesser-quality RVs he and other dealers were forced to sell during the Pandemic to satisfy demand may be so dissatisfied with their RV experience that they leave the market entirely.
“I think the biggest two clouds over the immediate future in our industry are the quality of the units we put out the last two years as an industry and the pricing of what we’re charging for our stuff today,” said Eckstein.
The dealers agree that when interest rates begin to lower, the sales of RVs should pick up again.
Click the video to play it.
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They are correct on the quality issue souring buyers. I bought a new Forest River trailer in 2020 after having saved for years so I could buy in cash and find a floorplan our family liked. It has been a wholesale piece of trash with everything from plumbing to structural to axle and brake issues from the day it rolled off the lot. It is currently sitting on a dealer lot (for months) waiting to get defective frame welds repaired. There is no way you could talk me into buying another one of these junk heaps unless it had an unconditional, all-inclusive 5+ year warranty and the dealers found a way to get rid of the 6 month wait times for repairs. The dealers know these units are crap, and they pretend that they aren’t when they sell them to buyers. The large volume dealers have to push back on the manufacturers, and that is the only way this will get better.
Thank you for summarizing the video (in case I didn’t take the additional time to watch it) and for informing me of the channel’s existence. I don’t sell RVs (or I surely would have known of the channel already), nor will we buy another any time soon (if ever again), but I strongly wish to stay current on the industry. I want to have reasonable, informed expectations when I deal with the industry. This is just the sort of thing that gets me closer to that ideal, just as subscribing to RV Travel’s many newsletters does. Thank you!
Thank you, Neal. We appreciate you! Have a great day. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Hubby wants to trade in our TT & get a 5th wheel. We are very motivated and have spoken to five different dealers. They don’t want to budge on their prices, even for last year’s model. We are looking at $60,000 for a 2022 year 27 foot 5th wheel and if we traded our two year-old excellent condition travel trailer in, we would take a 30% hit. Guess we are sticking with what we have.
Thanks for this (I’ve subscribed to that channel). Two things stood out for me. First, there was no mention by any of the dealers about massive customer dissatisfaction with the service and repair end of the dealer experience and how that bad press effects dealer sales. Second, I was taken aback by how much interest rates influence RV sales, considering that without a huge down payment, almost every RV loan will end up with the buyer upside down. It appears the industry is driven by a lack of impulse control over common sense.
Whine!! Whine!! RV Dealers are starting to sound like Car Dealers!! Sorry Sports Fan’s but think you forgot to look in the Mirror. You are more than Order Takers!!
Well when you see dealers selling used RVs for well over their brand-new price, even 5+ year old ones for near one equal to price of current new one, you’d be very careful about any purchase too.