How to get the best price on a Fleetwood Popup?

[67L48]

Just got back from my local Fleetwood dealer:  Loveland RV.  They had "window stickers" in all of their pop-ups.  They were laying on a table that clearly showed the Fleetwood MSRP, any options, destination charge, etc.  Funny how that immediately added a sense of credibility to the organization.

I drove 45 minutes away to buy my F-150 last year because the local place wouldn't deal.  My dad, also drove past his local dealer to one 30 minutes further away for the same reason.  This is economic theory at its best.  Perfect information, supply & demand, and availability all drive to a true market price.  Obviously, though, it's apples and oranges.  There are a zillion Ford dealerships and a child can find invoice, MSRP, and X-Plan (special pricing) pricing on all models.

I've bought 4 new cars in 10 years and never haggled.  I've paid around $3-400 over invoice, before incentives/rebates.  You just walk in, you know what you want, you know what you should pay, and the dealer either takes it or leaves it.  Very easy.  I've never bought an RV before.

For me, I have a local Fleetwood dealer and maybe three more in a 3 hour radius.  No Starcraft dealer within a 1.5 hour radius, even though Fort Collins is 140K people and Loveland is 70K.  One Palomino dealer. The Jayco dealer is about 45 minutes away, near Denver.  Much different scenario here.  

If my local dealer on Fleetwood doesn't like my deal, I have to drive close well over an hour to get to the next place. My bargaining position is not the same. If I wanted a Starcraft, there's pretty much only one dealer in the state.

Some Econ grad student ought to do a thesis on the auto industry consumer buying model and then a contrast to the RV industry.

[wynot]

Just got back from my local Fleetwood dealer: Loveland RV. They had "window stickers" in all of their pop-ups. They were laying on a table that clearly showed the Fleetwood MSRP, any options, destination charge, etc. Funny how that immediately added a sense of credibility to the organization.
 

When "my" dealership had window stickers, they were not created by the factory, they were created "in-house".  Needless to say, you could see the huge discount that the dealership was going to give you "off list".
 
My neighbor, who is buying a new low middle grade 5th wheel found a $12,000 difference in price on the same model, equipped the same way.

[67L48]

Just for reference, the model I recall the best was a 2006 Fleetwood Utah.  The bottom line price was ~$13,200 from a base of ~$11,500. Had the optional furnace, LP tank cover, something else I can't remember, around $600 destination charge, ~$350 dealer prep charge, and that was about it.  I wasn't smart enough to bring a pen to write it down.

A comparably equipped Utah at Peco is $10K.  So, figure in the 10-20% off of list for the local dealer and the out-the-door price is $10,500 - $11,900.  Sounds about right to me.

But, point taken, just because there's a piece of paper that looks like a window sticker doesn't mean that it's legit.