Six Advantages to Buying New
From: Jeff Radich
There are many
benefits to buying new. For starters, you are the first to sleep in the bed and
use the facilities, you have a full warranty from the manufacturer, and the
financing allows for lower percentages and longer terms.
I admit it…I love
that “new car” smell. I love being the very first person to live in the RV,
sleep in the bed, and use the sink. It’s important to me. Let’s face it; when
you buy new, you are the very first one to use and occupy your RV.
If you purchase a
new RV, you will not have to put up with previously tainted conditions, as your
new unit will smell fresh as a rose. I love the clean, pristine smell of my new
RV.
Factory-to-consumer
rebates are offered by the manufacturer to entice you, the customer, to buy
their products and move their inventory. On RVs they can be quite substantial,
running from $1000-$10,000 or more. Usually the dealer subtracts the rebate
from the purchase price, so you can pay less sales tax. It also puts you ahead
later when you go to resell your RV.
Because the
rebate is from the manufacturer and not the dealer, it does not affect the
price or the MSRP. In the same vein, another way the manufacturer tries to win
customers is by lowering the annual percentage rate (APR) or offering very low
interest loans (1-3%) that are way below the rate you could get anywhere else.
On the other
hand, factory-to-dealer incentives are cash rebates the manufacturer gives to
the dealer when an RV is sold. If you know about these incentives, you might be
able to use them to negotiate a better price. For example, if the manufacturer
will pay the dealer $5000 for selling a unit, you can use this information to
negotiate a smaller profit margin on your end of the deal.
When you buy new,
you are in a better negotiating position with the dealer. That is because he
has unlimited access to any particular model, so if he makes a low profit
margin on one, he can make it up on the next sale of the identical model. There
is nothing unique about a new RV that can’t be duplicated in another of the
same make and model.
The dealer knows
this, and they know that you can go to any other dealer who handles that
particular manufacturer and model and try to make the same deal. Rather than
let that happen, they are much more likely to take a low-ball offer than to
make no deal at all.
When you go to
finance a new RV, you are apt to find much better terms on your loan. For one
thing, the interest rate you get will be substantially lower on a new model
than on a used model. You will also find that the terms are much more flexible
and that you can extend the payments over a longer time period (typically 20
years on a new rig as opposed to 15 years on a used rig), which lowers your
monthly payments. This savings in interest helps offset the higher price that
you pay for your new RV.
All new RVs come
with a manufacturer’s warranty. Basically this means is that if anything goes
wrong with any of the systems or features in your RV within the period of the
warranty, the manufacturer will fix it. The average RV warranty term, which
includes bumper-to-bumper coverage, is 24 to 36 months or 24,000 to 36,000
miles, whichever comes first, although you might find some manufacturers who
offer longer terms and some who only cover 12 months.
Individual parts
and systems on the RV, such as appliances or the roof, have longer warranty
periods. The longer warranty indicates that the manufacturers have a higher
degree of confidence in the reliability of their products. They are saying, in
essence, that they don’t anticipate any costly problems with any of the units
they manufacture.
I recommend that
you give serious consideration to the length of the warranty period for the RV
you are thinking of purchasing. If it is for two to three years, it reflects
that your RV is solid. If it only has a one-year warranty, the manufacturer
does not have much confidence that something will not go wrong.
Of course, once
the warranty expires or if you purchase a used model, you can purchase policies
to extend the warranty if you desire. However, these policies are expensive and
complex, and it’s important to read the fine print to be sure it covers what
you have been told it covers.
With a new RV,
you have the peace of mind that your new unit is what it claims, that the mileage
is true, that no systems have been run into the ground, and that it has not
been previously misused or improperly maintained.
When you buy a
used RV, you are taking the chance that the unit you buy is a lemon or that the
party who sells it to you has misled or even lied to you about aspects of its
life and condition. You don’t have to worry about that with a new RV.
While you pay
more for a new RV, you can save money with factory rebates, better interest
rates and financing terms, and reduced repair costs, should anything go wrong
while it is still under warranty. Because it is new, you don’t have to worry
about getting the proverbial lemon. And best of all, you are the very first one
to occupy and use your RV.
Jeff Radich is a
professional research writer and active RV enthusiast. |
