FL RV supershow in tampa, question

[tealboy]

Any of you been to this massive show near Tampa, perhaps Brandon. Have heard it is one of the. Ingest in best in the country. Giving thought to driving from Orlando about 1.5-2 hrs to ck it out but wondered what you all think of it. Have never been to any such show and don’t have an rv. Still not ready to buy but thought it would be fun to look around plus good weather.

[agesilaus]

We were there yesterday too and the crowds were really bad. My biggest gripe was that you could not tell where the heck you were are any one point. I am an excellent map reader and even looking at the provided map left me lost. The issue was the lack of landmarks or street signs. There were none. And with the massive crowds and all the hundreds of RV's looking exactly alike you never knew your location.

So we left not knowing if we saw everything that we might have been interested in. The other irritation was the large number of people driving little 3 wheel vehicles, that didn't make the mob any easier to deal with.

There were some apparently very low prices on 5th wheels. Large units listed at 30-40K

The 'what are those people thinking of' moments were those people carrying or pushing their dogs around this mob scene. We even saw a couple of people pulling rather large, maybe 6 foot wagons with dogs in them. The dogs were all on the small side too. A few tried to bring their dogs on leads and that didn't seem to work very well. The poor critters just could not deal with the large crowds milling around. Leave your dogs behind like we did.

[tealboy]

Well, I went yesterday. Many good suggestions above including bears den where he says bring lots of patience, big crowds, etc. I enjoyed it a lot but did in some ways wonder why I paid $26 for parking and admission to fight the crowds when I could go to lazy days and see enough units to satisfy my curiousity given their size and huge display of different uunits and it is free. With that said, for me, it was just over an hour drive and while some units I couldn’t even get into given crowds, I still enjoyed.

Mostly looked at class A and 5ers. Not ready to buy, wrong time in my life w work and don’t have a place to put it, and not paying for storage but had fun dreaming. As far as class a goes, which felt most right to me, my favorites were tiffin phaeton xsb with the glide ride and the entegra aspire both 40 feet with 450hp diesels and priced around 300k. Certainly there were most expensive units that were nicer but in terms of the realm of possibility, I might be able to swing a unit in the upper 200,s to 300, maybe.

Also looked st Newmar and American coach. Newmar seemed a little more expensive for what you got. American coach and a higher end winny were nice but didn’t like the European style of the winny. Loved the larger glass panes which was less on the class a vs 5er

Anyway, just dreaming but lots of sold units so plenty of buyers.

[Bears_Den]

The admission is $10 dollars which gives you a 2 day pass. As stated, it’s at the fairgrounds at I4 and Rt 301. I’m heading there Saturday with no intention of buying a new rig but just enjoy looking around. Bring lots of patients because it gets crowded and there are a lot of people who act as tho they’re the only ones there. Lots of seminars and things to see in the exhibition halls. To me it’s worth the price of admission and a good chance to see all makes and models in one place. Enjoy.

[soren]

Been there three or four times. It's a pretty impressive place. If you are just looking, it's a great resource. If you are buying, you better do your homework beforehand, or you're in danger of getting really screwed. One year we were serious about a specific trailer, and sat down to get a firm price on one, at one of the local mega-dealers who had a big presence there. The salesman proceeded to treat me, (with decades in the hobby, and 6-8 RV purchases already) like a moron who was waiting to be robbed. He started by writing the list price of the unit on the sales order, but quickly wrote a new order up, with a 20% discount, when I questioned if he really thought I was dumb enough to pay list for a travel trailer? Five minutes later we got up and walked, when he asked for a deposit to "hold" a unit that we, #1, hadn't even come close to agreeing on a price for. #2 Had never seen, and #3 they couldn't find, and was "probably, definitely, supposed to be" at their dealership, down the road on I-4. He tried to tell me that we couldn't leave the show, and drive to the dealer to see the trailer, unless we gave him a deposit. He then called me for the next YEAR, hoping to do business.

Bottom line? The show can be a valuable tool as you shop for an RV. In many cases "show discounts" are a joke, and aggressive, even unethical, sales tactics are not unheard of. Have fun ,but be careful.

[bighog01]

Try to have in mind one class of rv that you wanna see. Fifth wheel, travel trailer, etc...there is no possible way to see everything. It is a massive show. Lots of fun and a lot to see. One ticket gets you in for two days.

[agesilaus]

tealboy wrote:
Any of you been to this massive show near Tampa, perhaps Brandon. Have heard it is one of the. Ingest in best in the country. Giving thought to driving from Orlando about 1.5-2 hrs to ck it out but wondered what you all think of it. Have never been to any such show and don’t have an rv. Still not ready to buy but thought it would be fun to look around plus good weather.

It's at the Tampa Fairgrounds unless they moved it this year. There are a LOT of dealers, you can tour every kind of RV and they have a area in the center building with smaller vendors. Parking is $6 IIRC and there is a fee to get in. It's a good place to educate yourself. Just remember when the salesmen's lips are moving, then they are lying...most of the time anyway. They also run some seminars/talks but it seemed like there weren't as many last year.

They claim that they have extra special bargains because of manufacturer rebates at the shows. I have no idea how true that is. So Caveat Emptor

We plan to go Saturday

[DutchmenSport]

Never been to the "Tampa" show, but been to several in Indiana. Go with an open mind and go with no expectations, and go just to have a good time jumping in and looking a massive amounts of campers, and you'll love it!

You can do the same thing at any dealership, window shop the RV, but the advantage to a "show" is the massive numbers, RV dealerships, and manufacturers represented there. You learn a lot ... even if you already own an RV.

[Lwiddis]

Go but don’t try to see every RV. Isolate the manufacturers, RV types, price and size. Look at those alone and take brochures only for the ones that interest you. If you seem to like Cs then rent one for a week.