[Seabeck]

I'm looking for advice on how to best trade in my recreational vehicle (fifth wheel RV) towards a new 4Runner. To make a long story short, my wife and I bought a new 5th wheel two years ago as a comfortable place to live while we saved money and built our house with cash. It turns out the county rulers consider this a horrible crime against humanity, so we had to abandon that option.

Fast forward two years and our house is almost finished. We are finally going to be able to move out of our fifth wheel (and rv park) into our new home.

Originally, we had planned on selling the rv ourselves to get a better price, but our only vehicle was totaled by a tree earlier this month (pictures in this thread), so we decided now was the best time to buy our 4R.


I've confirmed with two local dealerships that they accept RVs as trade-ins. The first dealership mentioned that the trade-in value would reduce our sales tax which is a big advantage. The internet rep at the second dealership was even more helpful. She happily gave us a quick estimate of the trade-in value which, fortunately, will cover over half of the purchase price (assuming they don't try to pull a completely different number out of their hat when we move ahead with the trade-in & purchase).


Here are my questions:

How should I approach trading in the RV?

Should I get multiple dealerships to make offers on the trade-in value? (I have a feeling there is far less wiggle room with an atypical trade-in like mine) Or should I just get two offers to make sure the first estimate was fair?

How will this affect my ability to haggle over the 4Runner's price? I'm thinking I'll have to jump on the trade-in offer right away. So will I need to establish the 4Runner's price first?

Also, we have two requirements for our new 4R. We need (err, perhaps want) a V8 and we really need the third row seating option which is not very common in the northwest.

So it looks like we might very well need to order our 4Runner which might in turn limit our ability to get the purchase price closer to the invoice...


Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[MAC4Runner]

It's just like trading in a car. Make sure you seperate the two negotiations. Good luck!

[Seabeck]

Originally posted by MAC4Runner
It's just like trading in a car. Make sure you seperate the two negotiations. Good luck!

Then does that mean I should establish the price of the 4Runner before discussing the RV? Or vice versa?

I've never traded a vehicle before. Actually, this 4Runner will be my second vehicle (not including my parents cars that I drove while at home).

[Uneek]

I haven't done a trade-in before. But people who I've spoken with that has, say negotiate the price of the new vehicle first. Then work the numbers on the trade-in, so you're not lowballed on the trade-in. Also, know what your trade-in is worth (obviously the dealer will be lower than that number), you can get numbers from kbb.org. Some also have said, don't even mention that you're trading in a vehicle until you get to numbers that are workable. Of course, by taking that route, if you get an up front sales rep, they might not like dealing with you because you're already lying to them.

As mentioned above, by keeping the two vehicles seperate, you know exactly where you stand.

[Seabeck]

Originally posted by Uneek
I haven't done a trade-in before. But people who I've spoken with that has, say negotiate the price of the new vehicle first. Then work the numbers on the trade-in, so you're not lowballed on the trade-in. Also, know what your trade-in is worth (obviously the dealer will be lower than that number), you can get numbers from kbb.org. Some also have said, don't even mention that you're trading in a vehicle until you get to numbers that are workable. Of course, by taking that route, if you get an up front sales rep, they might not like dealing with you because you're already lying to them.

As mentioned above, by keeping the two vehicles seperate, you know exactly where you stand.

Uneek,

Thanks for the advice. I had a feeling that was the way to approach the problem. I just felt the rv trade-in was so atypical that there might be something special to watch out for...

[jharris2]

Originally posted by Seabeck
Uneek,

Thanks for the advice. I had a feeling that was the way to approach the problem. I just felt the rv trade-in was so atypical that there might be something special to watch out for...

I've also had dealers use edmunds.com or kbb.com as their basic trade-in value source, but they lowered the value by changing the condition of the car (say, from excellent to fair condition). Just watch out for this trick, too.

[jeober]

Sorry to hear about the troubles with the 5th wheel plan and the accident.

I think your decision going with the temporary 5th wheel trailer will be an expensive lesson but you are picking a great next vehicle.

Be prepared for low trade in on the trailer. I'm surprised an Toyota dealer would do this.

This might give an ideal of market worth. Good luck:
www.nadaguides.com

[Seabeck]

Originally posted by jharris2
I've also had dealers use edmunds.com or kbb.com as their basic trade-in value source, but they lowered the value by changing the condition of the car (say, from excellent to fair condition). Just watch out for this trick, too.

John, Thanks for the suggestion. I'm pretty sure we'll be closer to the middle of the scale. Once we get into our house, it'll be a lot easier making the rv spotless. At least, as close to being spotless as possible after living in the rv for two years.

If the dealership already has us interested in a specific 4Runner at an established price, we can probably keep them from lowballing us too much... Assuming they're not willing to lose our business over a little more profit on the trade-in.

[Seabeck]

Originally posted by jeober
Sorry to hear about the troubles with the 5th wheel plan and the accident.

I think your decision going with the temporary 5th wheel trailer will be an expensive lesson but you are picking a great next vehicle.

Be prepared for low trade in on the trailer. I'm surprised an Toyota dealer would do this.

This might give an ideal of market worth. Good luck:
www.nadaguides.com

jeober,

We are reaching the end of the road as far as our house and rv saga...so I just focus on the light at the end of the tunnel.

Plus, I wasn't going to be able to get a new 4Runner for several years until that tree fell on our car. So I'm actually pretty happy about that. I'll be real happy when we finally drive away from the dealership!

Regarding the temporary 5th wheel trailer---the original plan would have been would have been rock solid had we lived in another, free-er county. We planned to use the rv as a house on our acerage, and then we would use it as a cabin later even farther out in the woods. Apparently those days are long gone for people who live along the coasts and near major cities.


Regarding the trade-in. Both dealerships I've contacted (Toyota of Seattle & Heartland Toyota) said they'd take bids from the rv buying market. So they won't be directly taking possession of the rv, but will be acting more as a mediator. And at this point, we'd much rather go that route than trying to sell the rv ourselves. Plus, the trade-in value will reduce the purchase price, so we'll be saving on sales tax which we couldn't do if we sold the rv ourselves.

[NailaM]

I’m in Wenatchee and have a 2023 Anniversary Edition 4Runner with only 6k miles on it. I’m looking to trade for/towards an RV or sprinter van. Not sure what you have but I’m in the beginning of researching the same conundrum, but in reverse!