RoadTrek's EcoTrek

[booster]

What is with the discoloration on the crossbeam of the bed? It looks like someone was welding on it.

[wincrasher]

Looks to me that it is shiny metal and what you are seeing is a reflection of the camera man.

[mumkin]

Originally Posted by gerrym51

could'nt the tire go under the sofa bed?. or is that only in 190,210

I expect that they will deliver it to my dealer with the tire under the sofa, but storage has been arranged as I need that space for... stuff. When I go south for the winter, I carry lots of... stuff.

[mumkin]

I just noticed that the sales sheet no longer includes the cherry cabinets for the Zion... only white and ebony. I have called my salesman requesting copies of the new sales sheets once he gets one.

[BobB]

Originally Posted by mumkin

I just noticed that the sales sheet no longer includes the cherry cabinets for the Zion... only white and ebony. I have called my salesman requesting copies of the new sales sheets once he gets one.

Cherry is in the base cost (on price sheet at top, it says "cherry stain"; the others are options. With the exception of the Bright White paint, which is NC, everything on the price sheet, below the base description with a $86,931 price is an option.

[wincrasher]

Silly that one color of veneer would carry a different price than another.

[booster]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

Silly that one color of veneer would carry a different price than another.

They will always charge extra is the think people want it, and will pay more for it. Actual cost often has nothing to do with selling price.

[BobB]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

Silly that one color of veneer would carry a different price than another.

Booster is right - actual cost may well have nothing to do with selling price.

Cabinets are standard, i.e. in the base MSRP, and they had to choose some type of veneer as standard. Can't price everything as an option. Would not be amusing to tell customer that cabinets are standard, but the veneer costs extra.

If you check the entire RT line, cherry is the standard, on almost every vehicle. Exception is TS Adventurous where the only choice is Ebony and on 210 where bamboo is not an upcharge (but is on other vehicles - go figure :roll eyes

[mumkin]

I don't like their cherry cabinets at all... so it figures that they are the standard. I can't read that attachment which is why I called my salesman to email me one. Especially after the first new 190 that I saw on a lot in AZ had the veneer peeling off in 3 different places. I did get spoiled by the solid wood of my Libero.

[BobB]

Originally Posted by mumkin

I don't like their cherry cabinets at all... so it figures that they are the standard. I can't read that attachment which is why I called my salesman to email me one. Especially after the first new 190 that I saw on a lot in AZ had the veneer peeling off in 3 different places. I did get spoiled by the solid wood of my Libero.

Mumkin,

Jim at RT must have read your question/comment on the cabinets. Here is response from the RT FB post:

"Some good folks have written to me to ask why different colours of wood on cabinets cost different amounts. There are two parts to this explanation. And one of them is cabinet doors, and the other cabinet plywoods. Cabinet doors that are made from rare woods like solid cherry are more money. And yet the plywoods covered in cherry vinyl are much less than other colours because of the popularity at Roadtrek. The combination of these two is much less money than other colours and as such we make it standard. Why is white more money on a Zion for instance? Because the colour is much lower volume. Let's say we pay 70 dollars for a sheet of cherry covered plywood. We pay 170 for the white covered type. And white doors are painted, not stained. That's more expensive process and has more waste. Same with darker colours. Lower volumes of hard wood and plywoods.
Hope that helps people understand."

Now others may still say RT is charging whatever they can charge, I think RT is like almost all manufacturers in tracking and analyzing their cost of business -- they know what everything costs. I don't think they just pull prices out the of the air. Now whether or not the additional $1,092 for the white or ebony on a Zion is worth it or has some "market fluff" in it is another question.

Given the option pricing, the heavy discounting from MSRP, and the varying amount of discounting amongst dealers, I find it very difficult to really figure out what the true cost of any RV really is (unless I went DIY). The transparency of cost that exists in the car world just does not exist in the RV world, sad to say.

[mumkin]

I suspect that he was answering wincrasher, not me. The thing is that it is hard to know if "most people" would order the cherry or they are taking it because it is the one that doesn't cost more. Of course the only way to find out is to pull that cost out of the base cost and charge for all choices. Their markdown isn't that much. Most people get 14-15% off and that is certainly in the large mark-ups in the options. (as I mentioned in the other thread about the Onstar "option" that one is forced to buy on the Chevy platform) That said, I have nothing against both Roadtrek and my dealer making money. I would prefer that both of them stay in business. It is just the lack of transparency that upsets many people.

[gerrym51]

remember my question about autostart stuff.

i got this quote from technomadea.


The discharge curve of lithium batteries (especially relative to lead acid) is essentially flat – meaning that a 20% charged battery will be providing nearly the same output voltage as an 80% charged battery. This prevents any issues caused by the “voltage sag” common to lead acid as they discharge, but does mean that any battery monitor or generator auto-start dependent upon voltage levels will likely not work well at all when monitoring a lithium bank.

am i not understanding this-this was my question about the inverter reading and autostart reading

[booster]

If the autostart is triggering off of voltage, and the voltage holds too high for too long, the autostart won't start soon enough.

Several of the generator auto starts work off of state of charge instead of voltage , tied in to the inverter/charger, so those would work fine with the lithium, I would think. They probably can do the same for the van autostart.

[mumkin]

Could overcoming this be why there is a delay getting it to work with the Chevy and Zion?

[gerrym51]

Originally Posted by mumkin

Could overcoming this be why there is a delay getting it to work with the Chevy and Zion?

i would say no.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by gerrym51

i would say no.

Then why the delay? Is it a bad business plan to announce something you cannot deliver? And if not, then what is the delay?

[booster]

Originally Posted by Davydd

Then why the delay? Is it a bad business plan to announce something you cannot deliver? And if not, then what is the delay?

Very possibly Roadtrek started releasing information the lithium battery stuff and other new items earlier than planned due to their loss of the #1 sales spot. The timing was very close.

[BobB]

Originally Posted by booster

Very possibly Roadtrek started releasing information the lithium battery stuff and other new items earlier than planned due to their loss of the #1 sales spot. The timing was very close.

And Pleasure Way just announced/started adding 200ah Lithiums to their 2016 vehicles (as standard I think). That could be in response to RT or maybe it was in the works for awhile at PW and rumors got to RT, forcing them to tip their hand earlier?

Will be interesting to see how Winn responds.

[gerrym51]

ah-conspiracy theorists even here.

july/august start of new model year. voltrek was ready for sprinter models currently the biggest seller.

new year-new features-new price

[wincrasher]

Yep, I'd agree they are a bit reactionary right now. Maybe there are some issues implementing it on Promaster & Chevy, who knows?