Best way to order a Winnebago?

circuitloss · 02-12-2021, 03:59 PM

Hello everyone! I'm looking for some basic advice on purchasing a new RV.

So I'm pretty sure I want to buy a Class B Winnebago (a Travato probably) in the next 12 months. I've never purchased an RV before, and unlike buying a regular car, there just aren't many Winnebago dealers to choose from.

For example, in my area (Phoenix, AZ) there is only one dealer listed on Winnebago's web site in the PHX metro area and another in Prescott.

Has anyone purchased a new Winnebago? What is the best way to get a decent deal on a new one with so little competition among dealers? Am I just going to pay sticker price on this?

Any advice would be appreciated.

mumkin · 02-12-2021, 04:57 PM

Basically your dealer in Arizona is La Mesa... Phoenix, Mesa, and Tucson. Winnebago has traditionally sold for 25-30% off MSRP. BUT... the Class B market is hot right now, so they may not need to do as much discounting.

As to price competition, in normal times, one checks out deals around the country. But I will warn you that if you want to do service at La Mesa, they will take months to give you an appointment for warranty work if you didn't buy it from them.

I would head over to the one nearest to you and check out what they have on the lot. Discuss ordering, time lines for delivery, and prices. Then go home and ponder. At that point, I would probably call Lichtsinn RV, a dealer right near the Winnebago factory and compare their stories. They have a reputation of having good prices and probably the best contact with the factory.

https://www.lichtsinn.com/

There is also RV Trader where lots of dealers list any inventory to do some comparing.

Good Luck with your search.

circuitloss · 02-12-2021, 05:07 PM

Thank you for the response.

I think saying it's "hot" right now may even be an understatement. According to the rep at La Mesa I talked to they literally don't have any Class Bs on the lot. Like, not even one. There are some at an RV show, but he told me that the RV market is the hottest he's seen in 30 years.

About Lichtsinn, with delivery fees would ordering through them make any sense?

jgmarcotte · 02-12-2021, 10:47 PM

Hi
If you are new you should look at many vidéo on you tube the blogger are comparing different brands. I can suggest to look at ultramobily on you tube he is evaluating right now a class b with and European look panoramic RV.com but you have to be patient because they have order two years in advance.

KitsapEra · 02-12-2021, 11:14 PM

Man, this is probably the worst time in memory to be buying one, particularly new, for the obvious reason. If you can hold off at all I'd recommend it. I think the "smart money" is betting that about 12 months after we reach herd immunity there will be a tremendous buyers market for slightly used RVs. And to add insult to the normal first-year depreciation, right now you are probably going to pay close to full list vs 75% or so of list as is normal. That adds up to a huge amount of $$$ on something the price of a new Travato.

circuitloss · 02-13-2021, 12:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KitsapEra

Man, this is probably the worst time in memory to be buying one, particularly new, for the obvious reason. If you can hold off at all I'd recommend it. I think the "smart money" is betting that about 12 months after we reach herd immunity there will be a tremendous buyers market for slightly used RVs. And to add insult to the normal first-year depreciation, right now you are probably going to pay close to full list vs 75% or so of list as is normal. That adds up to a huge amount of $$$ on something the price of a new Travato.

I can wait about 12 months. Maybe I'll try and grab a slightly used one next winter.

Snowy · 02-13-2021, 02:48 AM

At the Jacksonville RV show, National's show pricing for all the Bs, including Travatos, was about 30% off MSRP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5W8yjprZZQ

People have recently been buying Coachman Beyonds at 30% off. I do know that many report that Travatos, which usually go for about 30% off MSRP, have been selling higher than that in these COVID times, maybe 20% off MSRP.

Although the market is so hot that it is hard to get a new rig, perhaps the prices are not as bad as the dealers would have you believe.

magicbus · 02-13-2021, 12:33 PM

We counted only 3 Class B units in the dealer lots driving Rt 95 from Massachusetts to Florida. Very different from the half dozen on each lot the previous year.

kmessinger · 02-13-2021, 06:36 PM

I recently ordered a new Travato (2022) from La Mesa. This is my second Travato from them. The service in this area is great and also the service from another dealer I did not by from is great. (Hint: when in for service at a dealer you did not buy from, ordering pizza for the entire crew will put you in a favored customer status.)

I went to my service manager at La Mesa and asked her who is the best salesman to deal with and then called him. We came to a agreement on price with the expected discount and on a generous trade value. Delivery is sometime in May so I have until then to rob a bank to pay for it. Meantime, I am driving my trade around.

The 2022 Travato has some major changes that make it worth waiting for. I also got the option for the fourth battery module from Volta Power Systems. My middle name is "I hate generators."

Lichtsinn is great btw. I get parts from them. The delivery charge is $1295 as I recall and they are flat-bedded in to La Mesa now not driven like before.

Yes, I agree that there will be a lot of slightly used models up for sale in 2022-2023 but how much is the wait worth?

There is a group on FB, Travato Owners and Wannabes that you can learn a lot from and they used to have a buyer's guide in their documents that was helpful.

My advice, go for it. You're burning daylight waiting to hit the road.

See you down the road,
Keith

https://www.winnebago.com/owners/on-the-road-again

mumkin · 02-14-2021, 05:10 AM

I highly doubt that you will find anyone who didn't purchase from La Mesa who has much good to say about their service department - even for warranty work on models that they are dealers for. And buying them pizza would be expensive and unlikely to change their corporate rules. LOL

I bought all of my rigs from my local MN dealer. But I had two warranty issues come up in AZ with my two Roadtreks - one for each. Scheduling each took months... then the first they lied about what was wrong... and tried to charge me for the warranty issue that took them so long because obviously they didn't know what they were doing. (I had told them that the Balmar controller needed to be adjusted for the 2 AGMs. A few minute job that took them 5 hours to not fix...) I had to call Roadtrek warranty at the factory from the service desk... and he told me to hand the service guy the phone, and the bill disappeared. I just had to live with the problem until I got back to MN and my dealer up there fixed it in minutes. The second situation a few years later was even more ridiculous.

Sadly common treatment from this company. I know some really nightmare stories about the California La Mesas that happened to friends.

kmessinger · 02-14-2021, 05:36 AM

No, the pizza was for Manteca Trailer and RV. They are closest to me and sold my Sportsmobile Sprinter a few years back.

My dealer experience goes back years. The worst was breaking down in a Holiday Rambler class A. Had to fly everyone home from Albuquerque and then go back and get it weeks later. Circa 1976.

I have found with most dealers you love 'em or hate 'em and that can change in the click of a torque wrench.

But for every bad experience there is a good one or two and that's how they stay in business.

Sorry about your experience

coss370 · 02-14-2021, 04:36 PM

Just call every dealer in the surrounding Area and ask for the best price. I ordered mine 1500 miles away, got close to 30% off. I ordered it and got it in 6 weeks last quarter. It did help I took one of the dealers incoming allocation.

TheMatrix · 02-18-2021, 01:26 AM

We had a negative experience with a La Mesa sales manager. The sales manager was rude and arrogant during our price negotiation for the Class B we were ready to purchase from them. We walked out and made the purchase from another dealer with a great experience from start to finish. After that one experience with that La Mesa sales manager, I would never give them my business.

rboegh · 02-18-2021, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by circuitloss

Hello everyone! I'm looking for some basic advice on purchasing a new RV.

So I'm pretty sure I want to buy a Class B Winnebago (a Travato probably) in the next 12 months. I've never purchased an RV before, and unlike buying a regular car, there just aren't many Winnebago dealers to choose from.

For example, in my area (Phoenix, AZ) there is only one dealer listed on Winnebago's web site in the PHX metro area and another in Prescott.

Has anyone purchased a new Winnebago? What is the best way to get a decent deal on a new one with so little competition among dealers? Am I just going to pay sticker price on this?

Any advice would be appreciated.

We purchased a Solis 59PX in Oct and my advice would be to go see the models you are considering and do research on Youtube etc to narrow it downwould to what you may consider (Travato, or Solis) then go to each model FB sites (they will accept you after an hour or so request) and search or ask questions around prices paid for various option packages. We did this and it saved us a ton as List price on our rig was $120K and they were asking $109K and we ended up at $93K and $600 in RV store shopping credit..... you said you have some time, so I would use it to make a good call. Now the market has cooled a bit since fall, but it will pick up with spring around the corner so timing is important to getting max for min.

Good luck!

bobcat66 · 02-18-2021, 05:09 PM

We live in Mesa and bought our Travato from Lichtsinn. Stayed in their "campground" lot for a couple nights to make sure all was well. A couple minor things were taken care of right away. The only issues since have been Dodge-related; a bad chassis battery, rear door lock acting up and a TPMS sensor...all covered under warranty by the local Dodge dealer. I will use an independent service shop in the area for any coach issues that I can't resolve vs. going to LaMesa. This is based on the experiences of my RV friends who have gone there.

KYRuss · 02-18-2021, 05:11 PM

We bought a new 2017 Era 70A from Shafer RV in Delta, OH (30 miles west of Toledo). The Shafer's are nice, simple, honest, no nonsense farmers that have an RV dealership in a corn field, literally. MSRP was $129,000, we paid $97,000. So glad we bought when we did because the MSRP on the Era is now 50 plus grand higher now. It's a long way from Arizona but check them out nonetheless. Their website clearly shows how much they mark them down.

DetroitRed · 02-18-2021, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgmarcotte

Hi
If you are new you should look at many vidéo on you tube the blogger are comparing different brands. I can suggest to look at ultramobily on you tube he is evaluating right now a class b with and European look panoramic RV.com but you have to be patient because they have order two years in advance.

Isn’t it a bit disingenuous for you to be saying «*they*» instead of «*we*» about Panoramic, since you are part of the company?

teck13 · 02-18-2021, 06:36 PM

I live in NorCal and ordered and picked my Travato K up at Lichtsinn in Iowa. Great experience. There are a few good dealers across the country who don’t play games and who are honest in their dealings with customers but select carefully. The internet is your friend here. Horror stories about most dealers. My trip back was super fun and let me break-in the engine properly. Depending on what brand and model you purchase expect anywhere from a 10% to a max of 30% off list price. Probably less right now due to insane demand for camper vans.

David Pouliot · 02-18-2021, 07:23 PM

I want to say don't just look in your area. I bought mine 1200 miles from home. I got a uber from the airport to the dealer and had the fun trip of driving my new toy home
. I saved almost 20k even with the expences

Quote:

Originally Posted by circuitloss

Hello everyone! I'm looking for some basic advice on purchasing a new RV.

So I'm pretty sure I want to buy a Class B Winnebago (a Travato probably) in the next 12 months. I've never purchased an RV before, and unlike buying a regular car, there just aren't many Winnebago dealers to choose from.

For example, in my area (Phoenix, AZ) there is only one dealer listed on Winnebago's web site in the PHX metro area and another in Prescott.

Has anyone purchased a new Winnebago? What is the best way to get a decent deal on a new one with so little competition among dealers? Am I just going to pay sticker price on this?

Any advice would be appreciated.

coss370 · 02-18-2021, 09:38 PM

Yeah, its pretty much MSRP here in California vs 20-30% elsewhere.

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