How did you find your used Trailmanor?

Hi Nick,
I think I just got lucky finding this one and I heard that if you see a trailer sitting on a dealer's lot for more than 3 months that you can bet he's anxious to sell cuz he's paying interest on a loan so that's the best time to negotiate. At first, I thought I wanted the 3023 because of the two couches thinking that it would accommodate our whole family better, but my kids are all getting older and probably won't always want to go with us, so I guess we started thinking down the road that we would only need space for three of us. We needed the queen bed cuz my husband is 6'-3" or we may have considered the 2619, too. The couches in all of them are narrow and very firm because they are used for sleeping purposes, but how often does one spend sitting inside unless it's raining, anyways. Also, we weren't sure if we wanted to pull one any longer than 20 feet. I remember requesting a brochure for a TM a few years ago and it said the prices started at 18k and up. Only two years later it now says 24k and up - that's quite an increase in two years! We figured we better jump on the bandwagon before they get any higher.

Linda

That really sounds good for an new trailer, my friend went to the RV show in Tampa Fl and spoke with more dealers wanting to sell low due to high inventory.

I found mine on the internet and made the deal over the phone (many pictures and inquiries first) but made an great deal I think $11,500.00 for an 2001 3326 KING in good shape. The fun part was driving to Buffalo NY from Daytona beach Fl and back, boy does it pull nice I passed all kinds of 5ers and TT going thru the mountains just because it weights so little for it's length.

Good luck and happy camping

Bob

List Price is 40% over Dealer Cost. Same for TM installed options.
Don't ask me how I know this.
Add dealer prep, battery,freight, fuel surcharge, and paperwork.

Linda,

I don't want to burst your bubble, but something I seriously considered was the tire issue (just enter Marathon or blow out in the quick search). Before, I was indifferent...actually looked for 2720s but after reading about all the problems with the 14" tires, I decided to look for models with the 15" tires. Although the resourceful people on this board have come up with creative ways to get around this issue, the last thing I would want to do after spending $25K on a brand new TM is to have to install a lift kit and upgrade the tires. Maybe you can use this to negotiate a lower price or ask the dealer to upgrade the tires to 15" as part of the package. Just my two cents.

Originally Posted by janthony

Paul, When you say the dealer initially offered you 10% 'off the top,' are you referring to dealer asking price? MSRP? (Aren't they usually pretty much one and the same?) And how does one go about finding invoice prices for TMs? It seems to me that it's a well kept secret. Judy

Judy, Linda, and all,
MSRP is the price listed on the factory-supplied price list. At the time, the dealer price was the same as the factory MSRP.

If you want to do the exercise to find out if the price you have negotiated on the current new model, not a used unit, check out the NADA guide (www.nadaguides.com) and price last year's model, including all the options you are considering adding to your new unit. The price NADA provides will give you 2 pieces of important information. (1) You will find out how much depreciation is factored in the minute you drive the unit off the lot, and (2) with the exception of the inflation factor, you will learn what the year-old price is. From that you should be able to tell whether or not the deal is as good as you think it is.

It is not an accurate tool to determine what the dealer's cost from TM is, but it should give you enough information about what you are willing to offer.

The price you get when you build a unit on TM's website is the full MSRP (no discounts). I haven't purchased a new TM for 10 years (and don't currently own one), and I have no idea what the current pricing is. Linda, my strategy would be, if the dealer is willing to sell you a $36,000 trailer for $25,000, I would "test him" by offering $22,500 and see what the reaction is. You have nothing to lose, and it could result in getting the unit for a lower price. The worst thing the dealer could say is, "sorry, $25,000 is as low as I can go." If so, you know you've done your best.

Originally Posted by LifeIsGood

Public education - now that is quite a business, huh? Linda

Yes it is. It is a multi-billion dollar/year business, and includes everything the teachers need in the classroom for instructional purposes, to buying school buses to construction of the buildings in which instruction takes place. My staff typically handled, or distributed contracts averaging $25,000,000 annually duriing my last 13 years (1986-99).

Hey Paul,
Thanks for your advice! The 25k was his bottom line and I feel it is a fair price (the dealer makes a little somethin' and I save a little somethin'). BTW, I had checked out the NADA guides before negotiating, plugging all the options in for an '07 2720SL and found that the price still came out to be 27k so even w/the huge depreciation it is still above my selling price. Looking at prices for these things throughout the country via dealers' websites, rvtraderonline, ebay, etc., etc., I feel that this price is the best I'm going to find. We found even at the RV shows in our area the price was much higher for a lot less. Can I ask why you are not a TM owner anymore but are a site sponsor here? Linda

Kent,
Did you base your decision on the 14" Marathon tires strictly from this site or did you find stats elsewhere, as well? Since I have been reading this forum (and it hasn't been that long) there seems to be a wide array of circumstances that could be causing these blowouts. I see that some say they've had these tires on for 5 years w/no problems. Then I read some are driving 75-80 mph. Some might be overloading their trailers or maybe not maintaining their tire pressure as well as one might think. I am hoping we will be one of the lucky ones who won't have any problems w/them (send good thoughts our way, please), cuz it's too late now - we've already put a deposit. Has anyone started a thread for asking how many TM owners have had problems with the 14" Marathons? Thanks for your two cents.
Linda

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Paul_Heuvelhorst

If you want to do the exercise to find out if the price you have negotiated on the current new model, not a used unit, check out the NADA guide (www.nadaguides.com) and price last year's model, including all the options you are considering adding to your new unit.

NADAGuides is a good site. But just to be really clear, when you are clicking the little boxes for "Options", be sure you click only the boxes for true options. The list of checkboxes is long, but many / most of the items are standard equipment, not options. For example, air conditioner is an option. Furance is standard. If you click the checkbox beside "Furnace", it artificially inflates the price.

Bill

Linda,

I found this site to be very informative and although I have not conducted any independent research, I have no reason to doubt the veracity of the information posted about the tires. Here's what I think based on what I've read:

14" tires (strictly based on numbers) do not give a whole lot of performance flexibility. There may be times when you are forced to push your tires to its limits....speed, weight, crappy road. Although I can't say definitively about the prevalence of this problem, it seems like it occurs much more on 14" tires vs. 15" tires. I can't remember who posted it, but someone backed this up with numbers to show why this was the case.

Having said all that, people have posted many ways to reduce your risk - everything from upgrading to 15" tires to changing tire brands. I just think it's something you should consider. Personally, I would not feel comfortable pulling at TM with 14" factory tires on a long distance trip.

Again, I didn't mean to burst your bubble. I think TMs, overall, are great and you should be excited about owning one. But I do think they have a problem with their 14" tires.