Trade in question

[sjkelly328]

We are purchasing a new fifth wheel next month and trading in our current one. They have already given us an amount on our trade, sight unseen.
Our refrigerator just went out this week. It’s going to cost over $2000 to fix it. My question is do we go ahead and fix it or take a chance and just trade it in as is and not say anything hoping they don’t catch it and take money off our trade?
Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks.

[sjkelly328]

Wanted to let y’all know that we did tell the dealer about the fridge not working. We got and estimate to have it fixed and they took that amount off the trade in value. We were ok with it because they were going to have to completely pull out the fridge (double doors) and pull it into the living room to fix so we didn’t want to take the chance of something else being torn up. We now have our new Pinnacle and it’s been good so far.

[partsman01]

Well my story is similar, traded in two fifth wheels we had to buy another at a place up here called O'connors, and they gave me a price over the phone, sent a guy to look them over and he found a soft spot on the back wall of one of them, but he said it was okay, they would honor the price, so it may work out for you.

[Splashers3]

Dtank - in my case you don't know what you are talking about.....1.)I had to replace the tires because I had one blow out sitting in my driveway and I could not risk a blowout while traveling from MD to Ohio....the damage would have killed the deal and who know what would have happened as far as an accident goes.

2.) This specific dealer DID reduce their original offer to a friend of mine when they inspected his rig when he got there...he had to re-negotiate - as it was he still lost $1700, down from over $3K they wanted to reduce it by.

I will agree, they probably kept my new tires for another rig.

[sgfrye]

RAS43 wrote:
Prior 2 answers--X2!!

x3
karma is real

[Dtank]

Splashers3 wrote:


......they were impressed at how good our 10 year old was...including new tires - but, they didn't give us any more.

If you trade it in broke, don't be surprised if they lower their offer.

Good Luck.

".....they were impressed at how good our 10 year old was...including new tires (they told you what you would like to hear) - but they didn't give us any more"..:S

As the previous poster stated - it will more than likely go to auction - and the new tires were a waste of *your* money! If the dealer really liked them, they may have ended up on another trlr!

Whether you trade it in "broke" - or "how good it was" - unless it's junk - the offer will be the same.....and no matter what the trade-in value, you have no negotiating position on the new unit.

New unit cost comes down - trade value does the same.

If it's in reasonably nice condition, sell it yourself! You will be money ahead, and a new owner will be happy also!

.:C

[allen8106]

They will fix it at cost or may not fix it at all since it's likely the trade will go to auction.

The reason they give a trade value sight unseen is because they always give wholesale auction price.

[Splashers3]

When we were looking for our new 5th wheel, and were trading in our old 5th wheel one of the potential dealers said right away that if they needed to replace the tires because they were old, they were going to reduce their offer by $500....they already offered the least of the 3 dealers we were working with.

When we finally closed the deal via email, I found out that from another RVer that if this dealer found anything wrong, they would reduce their previous agreed upon offer.....they had a guy on our rig's roof before we got out of our truck.....they wanted to see that the major systems worked......they were impressed at how good our 10 year old was...including new tires - but, they didn't give us any more.

If you trade it in broke, don't be surprised if they lower their offer.

Good Luck.

[bpounds]

I would not repair it or replace it.

I would be honest.

I would wait until after my PDI, when they have the docs ready to sign, and tell them then "oh by the way". You will be in a much better negotiating position. Either party can still walk away, but it will be more painful for them than for you. Odds are fair that they will just let it go. They know they will still make money on the deal. And they expect a certain amount of unknowns like this.

[Walaby]

I hope OP comes back and lets us know the outcome.

Mike

[neal10a]

We can always use more honesty these days---

[BobbyvCOLO]

I would disclose it to the salesman and see what it does to the deal if anything. If it's more than you can deal with, walk away. I'm sure they are counting on the sale and will work with you to get your business.

Karma is alive and well. If it were me and I didn't tell them about it I would have trouble sleeping. I would also have a hard time going back to that dealership for any warranty work.

[DogTrainer]

Do what they would do...trade it in and when they call you then ask them to schedule a appointment three months out and then when they show up tell them it is fixed and then when they pick it and it doesn't work then they can schedule another time to fix it or tell them to call the maker of the unit and work with them.

eventually they will give up....like we do.

[pyoung47]

4x4ord wrote:
I'd be honest. If they were up front with you they could show you how they doesn't work and expect the deal to go through unaltered.

I agree with this poster. Every time that I've dealt on an RV with trade, they aren't caring to see your trailer. Part of that is the fact that they don't want you to get out of their clutches. The other part is that you are actually giving them your trailer and paying for the new one. If you are paying more than 75% of the actual list (that's hard to find) on the trailer, less the value of your RV, you are getting gouged, but if you have lived a few years, traded cars, tractors, or houses, you already know that.

[4x4ord]

I'd be honest. If they were up front with you they could show you how they have an inflated sale price so they can lead you to believe they are allowing you a fair price for your trade. In actuality they are likely giving you next to nothing for your trade and they have allowed a significant amount of money in the deal to put your trailer through their shop to fix what needs fixing. I'd tell them the fridge doesn't work and expect the deal to go through unaltered.