Current discount to list price when placing order for Newmar diesel pushers?

[turbopilot]

Anyone care to share actual experience with the discount to list price when placing an order for a Newmar DP. Historically I have seen it in the 20% to 30% range. Just curious given the current slow down in sales about how motivated dealers are to cut price on a custom order.

 

[sheridany]

Even with the discounts that might be available, the retail price of newmar coaches (and other manufacturers too) has gone up considerably with the King Aire at around 1.6MM as an example.

 

[Rich W.]

It always comes down to price or terms - you rarely get your choice of both. If you’re paying cash, write them a check for 70% and if they balk, leave it with them and let them stew on it. If they are helping with financing and/or you have trade, that complicates things. When I was shopping new, I received three email offers and one local offer at 71% without asking. That was in 2020 and things have changed, but I see it becoming a buyers market again.

 

[turbopilot]

It always comes down to price or terms - you rarely get your choice of both. If you’re paying cash, write them a check for 70% and if they balk, leave it with them and let them stew on it. If they are helping with financing and/or you have trade, that complicates things. When I was shopping new, I received three email offers and one local offer at 71% without asking. That was in 2020 and things have changed, but I see it becoming a buyers market again.

Thanks. I was looking at cash only, no trade. I have heard of others coming in at 29% discounts in the past for a clean deal but I have not seen any recent experience. My first shot with a local Newmar dealer was to get 16% off a 2024 custom order with a clean, cash deal. Given market circumstances that appeared to be a non starter. Not sure I am going to do this. I timed my last Newmar DP so it only cost me around 20k to use it for 4 years: bought low and sold high. I do sense the market is approaching a low point in the cycle right now even though prices have significantly inflated since 5 years ago when I last purchase a Newmar DP.

 

[jaydee325]

I hope I'm not breaking any rules for posting a link to another forum. So here goes.

Brett Davis, owner of NIRVC, put up a post HERE. See thread #33. He discusses at length margins and marketing strategies and how customers can work a deal. This post dates to last November, but is always relevant depending on market conditions. I don't necessarily agree with everything he says, but everything he says is certainly worth consideration to your own circumstance.

 

[Rich W.]

Some very good points. I feel fortunate that I am not a “normal” coach buyer/owner and I’m pretty sure I’ll own this coach until I’m done with RV’n and then I’ll give it away, so I wont be affected by a lot of the woes detailed in that discussion.

Brett obviously has experience and inside information far beyond us mere mortals, but I think I liked this statement the most:

”Fact: the cost per year of ownership if you buy new and sell at 5 years, buy 5 year old used and sell it at 10 years, or buy a 10 year old coach and sell it at 15 years… they all cost the same per year to drive. Yes, on a new coach you put more dollars out up front, but you also get more dollars back when you sell it used. The net is between the two is the amount I’m talking about across all three periods.”

That will mean different things to different people and it’s a bit of a generalization, but its a nice thought to keep in the back of your mind as you’re considering all the other variables, not the least of which is the fact that owning an older high end coach might be more enjoyable and trouble free than being responsible for keeping a newer, more modern (and complex) unit on the road.

 

[Rd1]

The online listing for new 23s have all been advertised with the full list price. Very recently, some of the new 23s are advertised online with 23-27% of the list. The 24s, as I understand, are just starting to ship. It'd be harder to get a decent % off. Besides, unless you get lucky, its best to wait 2-3mo for the early production warranty issues to hit the factory service or dealers, so the production team has a chance to correct production. Dec-jan 'maybe' a better time to consider custom order. By then, there will be more of the 24s on the lot, plus lots of new 23s still around.

As for paying cash, that certainly is the right way. However, if you advertise that to the dealer upfront, you are not likely getting the best deal. Dealers often get some good kick backs from financing option. Hence, they are likely to give you a better discount. Negotiate based on the financing maybe a better approach. If the financing rules have no penalty for early pay-off, you can consider that. However, most financing nowadays have some penalty for early pay off, which makes financing a no go. However, you can try the financing approach to find out what the best deal maybe, then offer the cash purchase. If the dealer is not agreeable, then at least you know what the 'best' deal maybe, then try another place.

As for the economy, as one blog calls it, the 'drunken sailors' are busy spending money (mostly service industry), so higher inflation , higher/longer rates are here for now. If you are getting info from mainstream media, they are just promoting BS and wishful thinking for lower rates. Ain't gonna happen anytime soon. The economy HAS to slow down for the inflation/greedflation to drop. The 2% inflation rate isn't just for the domestic audience. It is also for the integrity of the dollar as a reserve currency, which is a far more consequential issue. Very late this year, or early next year,maybe a time to gauge where things are headed. YMMV

besides, you can invest that money in CDs or Tbills in place of an overpriced RV for now with 5+%. In place of a 600k RV for 6 mo, that can net some 14k, give or take. additional discount!

 

[turbopilot]

I hope I'm not breaking any rules for posting a link to another forum. So here goes.

Brett Davis, owner of NIRVC, put up a post HERE. See thread #33. He discusses at length margins and marketing strategies and how customers can work a deal. This post dates to last November, but is always relevant depending on market conditions. I don't necessarily agree with everything he says, but everything he says is certainly worth consideration to your own circumstance.

Thanks for that link. What a good primer on the economics of owning these coaches. $200k dealer markup buried in a $600k coach is simply amazing. Even more surprising Brett seems to suggest a $16k fee to place an order on a coach with a MSRP of $600k is the target. All that suggests 30% off of MSRP should be what you pay to place a custom order for a Newmar. Does this make sense?

 

[turbopilot]

Update. Thanks for the comments. I placed an order for a 2024 NADP 3543 with NIRVC in Dallas. It will be on a FreightLiner chassis with a December 2023 estimated delivery date. I took delivery of one of the first NADP 3343's in October of 2017. The first year of ownership was pretty rough but it looks like many of the issues I had back then have been dealt with during the intervening years. The process at NIRVC came down about the way Brett Davis indicated in his post last December. For the last few years I have been moving about in an all electric Airstream trailer. There is a lot to like about that experience but time to move on.

 

[Buster]

Congrats on pulling the deal together. Hope you enjoy this one a lot more.