Everyone wants a good deal when purchasing a recreation vehicle (RV). It’s quite natural because RVs are expensive so buyers always welcome discounts on the price or services. Is there a best time to buy an RV when you can negotiate the prices and save a great amount of money?
Yes, there is. You will need negotiating skills and solid buying strategies to get to reduce a good amount on the price tag. Plus, you will need to make the purchase at the right time. If you are ready to leap into RVing with your own motorhome, you should figure out the best time of year to buy a travel trailer.
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When Is the Best Time to Buy an RV?
Buying a motorhome requires you to shell out a big amount of money. So, you should do proper homework to find out the right time for such a purchase. The best time of year to buy an RV is:
During an RV Trade Show
RV and camper shows are an excellent place to strike a deal on new units. The dealers don’t attend the event just to display new trailers, but to sell them so much so that they are willing to offer significant discounts. The dealerships do not want to spend money on transporting these vehicles back to their showrooms.
You can utilize this situation with some calculated risk. Spend the first few days looking around, talking to people, and learning about the models. Then, make a list of the rigs you deem as the best options. Make your move on the final day when the dealers are likely to offer incentives and reduce prices. Don’t buy a trailer displayed with a ‘Show Sale’ sticker. You should check the real price from the manufacturer’s website to see if the price is special or not.
Trade shows are the place for potential business deals. So, people from various industries attend them for networking and business purposes. Talk to aftermarket vendors about the care and maintenance of RVs. They also know which vehicles last longer and which ones will start showing problems on early days.
At the End of the Sales Season
This is another best time of year to buy an RV. Like auto dealerships, RV dealers also work on a monthly and yearly sales schedule. They have a sales quota to meet by the end of each month or year. Dealers will want to sell some units at discounts when the sales cycle is closing. In most parts of the United States, the RV season ends at the middle of the fall. So, you may nab a deal before the cold weather settles in.
During the Mid-Winter
The sales of recreational vehicles drop during the winter months. It becomes easier to negotiate a deal out of the dealers if you go to the showroom in the middle of winter. This is the best time to buy an RV because the salespeople will be keen on making new sales even if that requires offering massive discounts.
The whole scenario will be different when the weather warms up. The same dealership where you received a red carpet reception in the winter will ask you to wait in the line for an hour just to talk to a salesperson. Make the purchase when the dealer is desperate for sales.
Before the Release of New Models
Most manufacturers release new models in spring. Dealerships want to clear out their old stocks to make way for new units. You can negotiate steep discounts if you visit their showrooms at the end of winter.
Do this only if you don’t have any qualm about purchasing an older RV model. Many people are so invested in maintaining their status quo that they can’t even think about buying anything other than the latest models. However, the difference between a current model and the next one is nothing but cosmetic or a few changes in features unless the manufacturer has announced a complete overhaul or the launching of a new generation model.
Check out these similar RV guides!
When Fuel Prices are High
You might be wondering how it could be the best time to buy an RV when the gas price is soaring. Towing a motorhome means your car is guzzling fuel like a monster. Will that be a good time to make a purchase?
Well, many people want to sell their units this time because they find the rising gas price a burden. Plenty of well-maintained, just-a-few-years-old units become available in the moment of panic. If you have planned earlier, you can grab a good, well-maintained unit. Even if the gas price is high, the extra cost will never exceed the expenses of staying in hotels or any B&B.
When the Fall Comes
This is the best time to buy a used RV. Many families prefer to sell their old units before the release of new models. Besides that, most people don’t want to winterize their RVs or pay for the storage unit rent and other upkeep costs during the cold months. Start looking at the beginning of the fall if you want to purchase a second-hand trailer.
Many RV models don’t have a high resale value, and many owners just want to offload the old unit for either buying a new model or quitting RVing. If you have adequate knowledge about RVs and good negotiation skills, it is possible to save a few thousand dollars.
One good place to shop for such units is storage facilities. Many people want to get rid of their rigs at the end of winter because of the additional expenses they are paying for a vehicle they rarely use.
Be careful when buying a used rig and always check if the documents are authentic.
The Bottom Line
Doing proper homework is the right way to stay ahead of your game. When you are waiting for the best time to buy an RV mentioned above, figure out everything regarding the type of rig you want to buy, your budget, and the best dealer to make a deal.
It must be Fall when the new models are released the older ones go on sale
RV shows usually have awesome pricing!
Hershey Pa. Has the biggest R.V.Show in the country and that was the best place ever to get great prices. I think it is in Sept. I bought mine there.
We bought ours in August and it very hard to find one because they were getting sold before we could get to the dealership or persons house. We bought a used 2011 Coleman. We got lucky it’s was in great shape. But Be careful and inspect with a fine tooth come. I know a lot of people with horror stories of unseen damage after purchasing.
We got ours between Christmas and New Years. Dealer wanted to make final sales to hit his numbers and we got our toy hauler at a wholesale price.
If you buy it between the years transition (2019/2020), you can pay 2019 prices and get a 2020 rig.
If used then the fall. They don’t want to pay storage all winter so the prices are better.
I don’t know if this will help or not but we were looking at 2 units that were 90,000 and 95,000 on the dealer lot. At the RV Show they were listed at 65,000. At the dealer’s open house they were 42,000 and 48,000.
We bought during a camper show in January. Our exact model increased by $3K after the show. Our salesman said it best during the cold months because the dealership offers more incentives.
End of season! We got ours two seasons ago and bought the last 2016 but 2017’s were out! we got it for a huge discount!
End of the year but keep in mind if you are good at negotiating any time of year works. All RV’s are marked up by 30% so they can always mark down by that much. It depends on the sales rep etc.
Many family sell their RV for buying the new that family sell the RV in the cheap price. Thank you for the post.
Feb. When new rv dealers show is. Only rv dealers can attend 20k rv to u cost them 15 and even less if they buy more than one! buy in the fall before everything slows down October perfect!