Buying a New Motor Home – How to Go About It

When you are shopping for a brand new motor home, whether its a Class A or C, there will be many questions that you’ll want answers to before making a final decision. The method presented here is a recommended approach on how to discover all the information needed and a means to get all your questions answered when buying your dream motor home.

The first thing to keep in mind is that its possible, but unlikely, that the local recreational vehicle dealer in your area will be the dealer that you ultimately buy your new motor home from. The two biggest reasons for this are lack of availability of the brand that you want, and failure by the dealer to negotiate price to your satisfaction.

Because of this, you have to be prepared to expand your search for an RV dealer that can meet your terms to at least a regional and perhaps even a national level.

In any case, start the process of new motor home shopping by keeping a list of things you definitely want included on your new coach. A second list that has all your questions about any possible new motor home should also be kept. Both of these lists will surely have items added and possibly deleted as you go through the process. Your list of questions will be long, as everything from drive train to interior color selection issues will need to be investigated.

So, where do you go for all the answers that you’re going to need to make an informed decision on which brand of new motor home is right for you? The following five resources will help to get you the answers that you need.

1. Shows
Attend a few big RV shows where different makes and models of motor homes can be seen. This is a fairly low pressure way of starting to get a feel for what you like and don’t like. Spend extra time in the ones that strike your fancy, and imagine yourself living in it. After attending a few shows, you’ll have narrowed your choice of manufacturers down to only a few.

2. Online Forums and Research
Use the internet to get more information. Join forums that are related to particular RV brands that you’re interested in. The forums are great in providing answers on a wide range of topics. Dealer reviews will also be available online.

3. Dealers
Once you have gotten your brand choice down to a couple, visiting dealers that carry those brands is important. You may have some remaining questions that only a dealer can answer, and you are naturally going to want to take a test drive in the model of your choice.

4. Current Owners
There’s nothing better than talking to current owners of the brand of unit that you’re interested in. These people will give you the straight story of the good, the bad, and even the ugly of the rig that they own.

5. Factory Visit
If your intention is to order a custom built coach, a visit to the factory can some times be the deciding factor between two different manufacturers. In any case, there’s nobody that knows more about a coach than the people that build them, so its a great place to get any remaining questions answered.

Once you’ve decided on the make and model of motor home that you want, the next task is to get the best deal possible when purchasing the unit. There’s a lot of room for negotiation from the MSRP. You can achieve 25% off of the MSRP and maybe a bit more on a new motor home. Again, if the dealer nearest you won’t negotiate to this level with you, start contacting other dealers until you find one that will meet your terms.

When you’ve made the purchase and taken delivery of the coach, you now need to spend some time in the rig and make sure that there are no issues with the unit that need to be fixed. There’s almost undoubtedly something that you’ll discover that needs dealer attention by spending a few days in the rig. Your dealer will gladly work with you to fix any issue that you bring to their attention.

By: Ed Simon