While picking up my new Kwikee step, I had a chance to spend some time with the Parts Manager (and part owner) of my local RV dealer (which is a great place to do business).

His sales are down 50%, which is considerably better than most. He said that Monaco shut down its Wildwood (FL) Service Center. His brother, the dealership GM, was off at the Las Vegas RV Dealers Convention, the only one of three national shows for dealers not cancelled.

Country Coach, Weekend Warrior, and Big Foot have joined Alfa and National in shutting down.

Winnebago has temporarily ceased all production, and is closing one of its plants. Stock is down from a 2004 level of $30.37 to $0.63 currently. The NYSE will likely delist it. Fleetwood ($0.07) has already been delisted.

Coachmen shut down and sold its assets to Forest River, a Warren Buffet company.

Shipments of all RVs in 2008 peaked in April at 30,100. December dropped to 6,000. 2008 was down 30+% compared to 2007.

And we all drive coaches that are from a defunct company that closed 10 years ago. Will any of the coaches built by the most recent companies that have just folded be around in 10/20/30 years from now like a BARTH. If you take away the b and the h you still have a piece of art. All who wander are not lost. Keep on Barthing.

And yet I gaurantee I can walk in to RV
World of Nokomis tomorrow with my pest control uniform on and be the only customer they've seen all day, and still be totally ignored by every salesman in the place.
The last time I was there to look at a Wonderlodge they advertized in the paper, I saw a salesman not doing anything at all, but when I said "excuse me" he suddenly had something very important to tend to and said "be right with you" and walked out the back door of the showroom never to be seen again. I was ther by myself for a half hour and never did get the attention of a salesman. And they wonder why they haven't sold anything in weeks!

I work @ Featherlite Coaches and although we are not closed the plant is sure quite these days compared to just a year ago. But we are still open.

quote:

Originally posted by Danny Z:
And yet I gaurantee I can walk in to RV
World of Nokomis tomorrow with my pest control uniform on and be the only customer they've seen all day, and still be totally ignored by every salesman in the place.
The last time I was there to look at a Wonderlodge they advertized in the paper, I saw a salesman not doing anything at all, but when I said "excuse me" he suddenly had something very important to tend to and said "be right with you" and walked out the back door of the showroom never to be seen again. I was ther by myself for a half hour and never did get the attention of a salesman. And they wonder why they haven't sold anything in weeks!

When I was with Shell Oil, a collateral duty was dealing with fuel oil dealers. One had a huge banner on the wall behind his desk:

"Business goes where it's wanted, and stays where it's appreciated"

Good advice, and that's how my little country insurance agency used to kick the butts of the big downtown ones.

This might be a little of a thread drift, but, Tere and I have been shopping for a used SUV, like a Tahoe, Highlander, Pilot for about two weeks. None of these are known for their fuel efficiency, except the Highlander is at least respectable. Everywhere we go, the dealers have their cars priced up to 50% above Kelley Blue Book, show no interest whatsoever in doing much negotiating. We'll probably buy from a private individual. I am beginning to think that this whole mess, the financial institutions collapse, the banks in the toilet, the car manufacturers on the dole, even the local car dealers, it's all one big con to line up at the trough for a part of the multi-trillion dollar give away. There has been and probably never will be any accountability for any of it. We, our children, our grandchildren, and our great grandchildren, will be paying for this all of their lives, assuming that the United States will even exist that long. Our country, i.e,, our government has become so arrogant that they think we will continue to exist as a viable country no matter what they do. They do not realize we are at the very brink of a collapse that will make the Depression look like a walk in the park.

Having been on the other side of the issue in my early career days, I can present a different theory.

Consumers have turned buying autos into such a price related "I stole it" game, we have forced dealerships into a mode where they have low class, lowly educated, uncaring, unprofessional, sales staff. We caused it folks!

Next time you hear someone brag about how they bought a car/boat/RV at below cost ask them if they expect to get any service when that dealer is bankrupt! Next time you are tempted to travel 50 miles away from your hometown dealer to get the "best price" recall this. Next time you "believe" you got a better price when in fact you paid more by the high-pressure, big dealer psychological tactics, remember this post.

And Danny, send Suzy in first!!!

quote:

Originally posted by noble97monarch:
Consumers have turned buying autos into such a price related "I stole it" game, we have forced dealerships into a mode where they have low class, lowly educated, uncaring, unprofessional, sales staff. We caused it folks!

So... what was the catalyst? What brought this to the forefront? Did we really cause it? Are you trying to tell me that salesmen don't have a coffee clutch with the flip side conversation of how I got this much more?

Back in the day... Consumers Union started to "Educate" the common folks because there was rampant, and well documented, abuse by car dealerships. Since the Internet has come into its own, there is even more educated folks who would rather keep their hard earned money than give it away to a "Mega-Dealer".

There is absolutely nothing wrong with going where your money will take you the farthest. It's up to you to decide how much the dealerships service department is worth to you. Myself? I go where I get both... great service and pricing. It's just that simple.

I am doing everything I can to buy from my local Chevy/Ford dealer. But when they are asking 30/40 percent above Kelley Blue Book, and won't budge, claiming "they have more than that in it", it is just insulting and causes me to look elsewhere until I find people who are willing to make a fair profit. So far, that has been exclusively 'private parties'. BTW, Cheri, I don't cause people to be 'low class, uneducated, etc'. In fact I know a lot of car/truck sales people who are professional, educated, honest, people. They don't set the prices. The boss does that. And as we have seen on Wall Street, Detroit, banks all across America, some, perhaps many, of the 'bosses' have become greedy, dishonest, lying people. Look at the Merrill Lynch guy that gave out billions of dollars of bonuses just before BOA took they over. Look at Madoff. Look at the auto execs who pay themselves ludicrous salaries and then complain about union wages. These people are common thieves and crooks. In fact I find that the poor and uneducated, are generally more honest than the rich. Maybe that's why they're poor(or rich). I'm so POed that I'm just not going to say anything more about it.

First of all, I need to clarify it's not Cheri, but Corey expressing these controversial opinions.

I agree wholeheartedly that everyone should weigh their needs and make a decision on "best value" to them. I was trying to make a point that is so often not interjected that it is a double sided equation. I'm also guessing that Barth/BMW/Mercedes/etc. owners are more intellectual about weighing the factors as quality of service is important.

Are all auto salesman of low intellect, certainly not, but I'm here to tell you the level of intellect and associated values has gone way down since 30 years ago when most car dealerships were locally owned and operated. I didn't intend to preach, just represent an alternative viewpoint.

Cheers,
Corey