1st Time Rv Buyer


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philg

New Member
We are in the process of purchasing an rv. Our research has not been able to answer some or our questions.

#1 :cool:
We live in the northern North Dakota/Minnesota area, about 4 1/2 hours north of Minneapolis/St Paul, Mn. We were quoted a price of 14k for a 25' Coachmen travel trailer...
Is there a rule of thumb on trailer prices?? We've been quoted prices but we're not sure if they're reasonable. Can someone give us advice/ guidance/help on the pricing game..Any tips on the negotiating process would be greatly appreciated..

#2[8)
There are so many different brands out there..Any input on the better quality brands ??

#3
We have a ford explorer(eddie bauer edition) 4.0 v-8 awd/4wd with a gvwr of 5340.We are not clear on the towing formula.

We are looking at 2 coachmen travel trailers...the first, which has a base weight of 3783 & a gvwr of 5840/25'3" and the other one having a base weight of 4429 & a gvwr of 6420..Can our vehicle handle either of the two trailers?

Any help would be greatly appreciated..Thanks in advance for your help ;)
 
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Will Daniels

New Member
1st Time Rv Buyer

Hi,Phil:Most reputable manufacturers and their dealers will give you the "sticker" price of any trailer. Coachmen is a good brand,also consider Jayco and Sunline. All have websites and toll free numbers.Discounts on new models of 15-20% are common. More on leftover models. You might also consider Trail-Lite which has heated holding tanks. I assume your explorer has the 4.6 v8 not the 4.0 v6 which is rather anemic. Even so,you should stick to something that has a GVWR of no more than 5000-5500#. Neither of the trailers are safely suited to your vehicle. SUV's are not particularly good for towing because of the short wheelbase. The "base" weights you refer to are probably stripped units without accesories like a/c,micro,propane tanks,battery etc. which could add hundreds of extra weight. Something with a dry weight of 3500# should be OK. Have you looked at some of the new hybrids ? Also consider adding an extra transmission cooler. Will.
 
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