Advice for "almost" new owner

[G&BOlsen]

Hello,
My wife and I are about ready to take the plunge on a new 2015 White Hawk 27'DSRL. Haven't signed papers yet, but most likely will tomorrow afternoon. I think we're getting a pretty good buy - $25,000. with a couple of options packages. Also requested dealer keep oem tires and put one D-rated Goodyears. We'll pay an extra $350 for the Goodyears, but I want the better load rating of the D-rated tires. Any suggestions on what to request, expect, demand before we commit to this TT?
TIA.
Glen & Beverly Olsen

[nunyadamn]

I see MSRP is $33000 on Jayco's website. Minus 30% would be $23000. Your $25000 is not bad, but there might be a little more meat on the bone in that deal. Depends on dealer and maybe location. If there is snow on the ground, I would shoot for lower.

To answer your question about other stuff, sky's the limit. I would for sure get a good hitch with that price. If you think you will need it in the future, get dual AC or at least 15k AC if only needing one. If you think you need it, see about a rear carrier - they are expensive after the fact. You might want aluminum wheels.

[oldmanAZ]

Welcome to the forum and hope you get the trailer at a price you are happy with.

[spoon059]

Nice floorplan, I like it!


I would encourage you to get a quote from RVdirect.com. They offer really good pricing on Jayco's so you can get a low price quote from them and take it to your local dealer and see if you can bring them down. I got a quote for 36% off Jayco's MSRP. My local dealer came within $300, so I bought local.


For options, here is my advice;
Its very cheap to upgrade to 15K AC now. I would do it. If you don't need that extra cooling power, you don't have to use it. If you need it and don't have it... it costs a LOT of money to upgrade after the fact.


The Glacier package is pretty inexpensive. The extra insulation really helps in cold and hot camping trips. Hard to turn that down for $120 or so.


I like the idea of the freestanding chairs instead of the dinette. If you have no intention of using the dinette as a bed, look at the freestanding chairs and see if you like it. I'm a tall guy, never found the dinette to be comfy. You can't easily slide across the seat and I am too tall to "scoot" across. I feel cramped and too close to the table in the dinette too. Freestanding chairs makes it feel like a more normal table.


Electric stab jacks are quite slow and have a lot of moving parts that can break. They can also we expensive to replace. I prefer manual jacks with a Camco adaptor and a drill. Faster, less to break and cheap to replace if you need to.


I don't really like the bumper mounted grill. You can buy a nice portable grill for less money and place it wherever you want. With the bumper mount, you are stuck behind the camper without a lot of light. With portable you can be under the awning if it rains and have light if its dark out.


My current trailer and my Jayco (on order) have 30 lbs propane tanks. Its nice having 50% more capacity for cooking or heating. One "drawback" is that you can't just swap out tanks at your local propane place... you have to get them refilled. Its usually cheaper to get refills and you have that extra capacity.


Great idea upgrading the tires. Having that reserve of load capacity is always comforting!


Anyway, when I option out your trailer like I mentioned the MSRP is $34,840. If RVdirect gives you a quote with a similar discount to mine it would be $22,646 and you would have to pick it up from your local RVdirect dealer.


If it were me, I would try not to pay much more than $23K (plus tax and tags) for that rig. Now, in the grand scheme of things $25K isn't a bad price at all... I just think the dealer can come off his price a little. Not sure where Baxter is located, but I ordered my trailer in Pennsylvania at the end of January. It was about 15 degrees out and there was 4" of snow and ice covering the lot. Needless to say, there wasn't too much competition for a salesman that day. Even though I got a fair quote via email, they took another $100 off when I went in to the dealer simply because my wife mentioned that we had a cheaper quote online. They were appreciative for the sale and willing to drop the price even though I had come in with a check in hand. I wasn't going to walk away over that difference in price and wasn't really even trying to haggle.

[Nighthawk 96]

Welcome to the forum!

As you can see in our signature we have a 27DSRL. Great trailer for a couple.

Get the 15k air and the glacial package. Also you can do without the electric stab jacks

I would get Maxxis D rated tires instead of the Marathons.

I still have the made in China tires but intend to up grade to Maxxis. There are a lot of tire threads on this forum and others.

I also have the table and chairs option, since a fixed dinette is too constraining for me; I am 6' 185lbs. Wife is is only 5'1". Our experience on this comes from our 26BH

We take only two chairs.

I would try to get trailer from a good dealer as dealers are not required to honor warrantee work if trailer is not bought from them.

Also check in the towing section to be sure your tow vehicle is up to the task.

Good Luck!

[G&BOlsen]

Thank you all for your insight. I am in rural MN, so not a lot of dealers to chose from in order to buy local. I will follow suggestions and request 30lb propane tanks, 15K ac, etc. I will mention some of the prices I am getting off the internet, but in reality my options are pretty limited if the local dealer refuses to budge on price. Still, the dealer has a good reputation (Hilltop RV) and so far the folks have been very pleasant to work with. We'll see how this all turns out.
Glen

[spoon059]

At the end of the day, its not about getting the best price... its about getting a price that you are happy with. Next year you won't really care about the little bit of money you may have left on the table. If you are happy with the trailer and using it and enjoying it, it will be worth the extra $2000.


Who cares, pay what you are willing to pay.

[MommieMara]

I was able to get a slide topper thrown in as part of my negotiations. Just something to dig for once they won't budge on price anymore.

[Nighthawk 96]

Don't think you need 30lb tanks, just adds to the tongue weight on your truck. I think Jayco went with 20lb tanks because you can swap them out a Walmarts and lots of other places along the road. If you are going to do a lot of cold weather camping in might be good to have them.

[jamaddox]

I got the rear grill for mine. I have not used it yet and might use a different grill anyway but my dealer was not positive that I would get the gas connection if I did not get a rear grill. I have a different trailer but I did get the underbelly and glacier package

[jayfowler]

Thompson Family RV in Davenport, Iowa might be a good place to look. We bought our Whitehawk from them and we made a 5 hour drive to this dealer to pick it up and was well worth the trip. They usually have several White Hawks in their inventory. We dealt with Kent Matthews who was very knowledgable on the White Hawks.

http://www.thompsonfamilyrv.com


Other things you will have to consider that adds to the cost is the extended warranty they will try and sell to you. So I would recommend doing some research on that prior to going in to sign your final paperwork.

[NW Cat Owner]

Originally Posted by spoon059

I like the idea of the freestanding chairs instead of the dinette. If you have no intention of using the dinette as a bed, look at the freestanding chairs and see if you like it. I'm a tall guy, never found the dinette to be comfy. You can't easily slide across the seat and I am too tall to "scoot" across. I feel cramped and too close to the table in the dinette too. Freestanding chairs makes it feel like a more normal table.

Not sure where Baxter is located (snip)

I'm the exact opposite regarding the dinette vs the freestanding table. I'm 5'10" with a 34" inseam, so the legs are long. I have a heck of a time getting under the table and always bang myself on the lip underneath. I've not had any problems in the dinettes in the motor homes, TT and 5w's I've looked at.

Hey G&BOlsen - my dad (Norv) lives in Brainerd and his late girlfriend (Lorraine) was from Baxter (she died last April). I know your neck of the woods a bit. If you go to any of the senior dances around there, you might have met him at some point. He goes to a bunch of 'em. (But heck if I know how old you two are! You might be just as bored as I was at the one I went to.)