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Old 01-05-2020, 12:03 AM   #1
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Model: ACE 30.3
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Used Coach PDI fees?

We are looking at purchase a used 2018 ACE 30.4 with 7,500 miles which is about an 8 hour drive away from us. (Coach - Cordelia RV Fairfield CA / Me-San Clemente CA)
I asked for a sample bill of sale so I could see all the fees included.

Nothing whacky except for PDI.
The dealer is charging me $1,695.00
Realizing this is used, it is hard to figure out what their margin is on this unit.
I am guessing that is pretty good, so I am asking for a big discount either way.
Since they claim that they need to pay their service department for the PDI, pressing to get it free, or discounted gives me an uncomfortable feeling.

Have folks seen PDI fees on used units? If so, how much? Have you been able to negotiate this?
Thanks in advance!!

G

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Old 01-05-2020, 12:24 AM   #2
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I would never pay for a PDI new or used, it's part of the dealer's overhead to provide good customer service to complete the sale. And that price is about 4 times what I've seen others quoted.
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Old 01-05-2020, 12:32 AM   #3
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I've seen it, and higher.
Tell them no.
In California, last I checked, the only fee that is mandatorily uniform is the 'doc' fee. It has to be charged and can't be waived.

When I first saw PDI fee I was shocked. Not that they tried to charge it, but that someone would pay it.

Unless you need their financing, it's just a coach. Walk away.

Ask him for the service department invoiced expense for that coach. See what happens. Laugh and laugh, and walk.

But
You're not a deal to them, you're just an 8hr away tire kicker right now, maybe one of 30 just like you.. .this week alone.
They get pretty tired of the 'my mom is dying soon and I'm gonna have some money', 'my lawsuit is going to payoff soon' calls and 8 hours away unfortunately probably gets the same treatment as anyone else kicking tires.

I'd highball the hell out of you until you actually showed up on the lot.
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Old 01-05-2020, 12:58 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by ducksface View Post
You're not a deal to them, you're just an 8hr away tire kicker right now, maybe one of 30 just like you.. .this week alone.
They get pretty tired of the 'my mom is dying soon and I'm gonna have some money', 'my lawsuit is going to payoff soon' calls and 8 hours away unfortunately probably gets the same treatment as anyone else kicking tires.

I'd highball the hell out of you until you actually showed up on the lot.
I agree, I appear to be a tire kicker. The 8 hour away makes this all pretty awkward, makes moving forward tough. The unit does meet our goals, love the layout. We would be paying cash, which might even be less interesting to them since they can't get finance fees.
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Old 01-05-2020, 01:49 AM   #5
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I'd walk away from the deal........
And I'd tell them why!
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Old 01-05-2020, 03:10 AM   #6
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I would offer them the price I'm willing to pay minus the PDI fee. If they reduce the coast of the coach then the PDI fee is a wash.

As to the original question, dealers can charge whatever their customers are willing to pay for a PDI fee. That fee must be normal for that area or the dealer wouldn't be charging it.

Bottom line negotiate or walk, whichever is a decision that you must make.
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Old 01-05-2020, 03:31 AM   #7
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Used Coach PDI fees?

I wouldn’t care either way. It’s all the cost for the coach and they can dress it up with whatever words they want. Ask for an “out the door” price and compare that cost with the price for similar coaches online. Then you (and only you) can decide if you’re willing to close the deal at that price. Dealers sell coaches long distance all the time. Offer them a fully refundable security deposit for a firm out the door price. That will separate you from the tire kickers and a reputable dealer will do that and not give you any grief about it if you show up and find issues with the coach and ask for your deposit back. Before signing I might also ask for a short (30 or 60 day) dealer warranty if they think their PDI and prep is worth all that. They won’t give it to you but it’d be fun to poke back at that charge.
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Old 01-05-2020, 04:53 AM   #8
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I wouldn’t care either way. It’s all the cost for the coach and they can dress it up with whatever words they want. Ask for an “out the door” price and compare that cost with the price for similar coaches online. Then you (and only you) can decide if you’re willing to close the deal at that price. Dealers sell coaches long distance all the time. Offer them a fully refundable security deposit for a firm out the door price. That will separate you from the tire kickers and a reputable dealer will do that and not give you any grief about it if you show up and find issues with the coach and ask for your deposit back. Before signing I might also ask for a short (30 or 60 day) dealer warranty if they think their PDI and prep is worth all that. They won’t give it to you but it’d be fun to poke back at that charge.
I agree. If you are driving 8 hours, have them send you a signed buyers order with the RVs info and having the numbers filled in and signed by the sales manager. Until you get that, it is just talk.
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Old 01-11-2020, 07:36 PM   #9
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What is PDI?
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Old 01-11-2020, 08:22 PM   #10
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What is PDI?
Pre Delivery Inspection
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Old 01-11-2020, 08:35 PM   #11
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In the car world the mfgr pays the dealership for a new car pdi,install hub caps,ck all fluids make sure perfect condition.in used cars a dealer would include the pdi in price of veh and call it certified if it had all up to date maintenence,70% tires and brakes,good paint etc,a certified veh brings in a little more money but is usually guarenteed to not have defects,on a coach with that low miles basically they are charging you 1700 to change the oil on someone elses trade in
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Old 01-11-2020, 08:40 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by IDguy View Post
What is PDI?
Quote:
Originally Posted by rynosback View Post
Pre Delivery Inspection
Could also be called Pre Delivery Instruction as that is when the dealer should be instruction you on the use and operation of the various systems in your PC. The dealer should have already inspected the coach. The PDI Inspection part is for the buyer to Inspect and test all the systems to insure they work up to their expectations.

In any case, as a customer,as a matter of principal, I would never pay for a PDI line item on the sales invoice.
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Old 01-11-2020, 11:35 PM   #13
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We have only bought a new RV but there was no PDI fee. If they say it is for the service department are they trying to anticipate things you will want fixed before you take possession? That’s a really steep fee! Our dealer is 3 hours away and we did have to pay a $2000.00 deposit so they would hold the vehicle for us to be able to view it. We had in writing that our deposit would be returned to us if we decided we didn’t want to purchase the RV. I agree with the other posters who say you need to stand strong. Keep us posted and good luck!

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Old 01-12-2020, 01:13 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 16ACE27 View Post
Could also be called Pre Delivery Instruction as that is when the dealer should be instruction you on the use and operation of the various systems in your PC. The dealer should have already inspected the coach. The PDI Inspection part is for the buyer to Inspect and test all the systems to insure they work up to their expectations.

In any case, as a customer,as a matter of principal, I would never pay for a PDI line item on the sales invoice.
With our Wayfarer: the PDI was about fours hours, and cost us nothing!
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Old 01-12-2020, 04:35 PM   #15
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We didn't pay for a pdi on a used one we bought in Michigan or our new one in Illinois.
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Old 01-12-2020, 05:24 PM   #16
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It's been a week: I wonder if the OP made the trip this weekend?
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Old 01-12-2020, 06:16 PM   #17
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Dealers like to advertise a low price to get you interested and/or in the door. Then they try to hit you with one or more fees or add ones to restore their profit. I can understand that and it doesn’t bother me. I ALWAYS ask for an out the door price and won’t sign the “worksheet” they take back to the manager for “approval” unless it clearly says there are no additional charges. If the salesgoober didn’t write that I will. Works every time to cut through the crap.
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Old 02-08-2020, 07:38 PM   #18
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Update from the original OP:
I tried to do this 2 weeks ago, and by the time I was finished and posted, I was already logged out and lost what I wrote. DAMM! Writing if first in WORD this time.
The original unit ended up getting sold before we finalized. Lesson learned. I negotiated real hard and waited too long to give them the ‘lets go forward’
We had agreed to the following in writing…
• No PDI fee
• Allowing my own inspector access to the coach.
• Fully refundable deposit based on our inspection/test drive.

NEXT PAGE:
We ended up looking at other coaches besides the THOR ACE 30.4. We found the 30.3 had some nice trade offs.
We found a used 2019 30.3 with only about 4,200 miles. It had the 2 ACs and the auto levelers that were important to us. These are harder to find, since the used, single AC, no levelers version flood the market. These are all previous rentals with high mileage.

They also had a significant PDI and a DOC fee of $400. They were also firm on the price, since the coach was real clean, and they had only had it for 5 days
I asked for no PDI fee, told them I would pay no more than $100 for DOC fee, and needed the option of the inspection.
They pushed back on the DOC fee because then ‘everyone else would ask for it’. So I told them to take the $300 out of the price. They agreed. We also got it with no PDI fee. Fully refundable deposit. This was in writing before we made the trip out to see it.

We ended up not doing the independent inspection since it had so few miles.

We returned in less than a week to sign the papers. At delivery we spent the night on their lot hooked to their electric. They weren’t permitted to have a bunch of dumps and water for coaches they were selling.
We have the coach now, and are doing a first trip to a local campground to do a ‘shake out’ trip in a few days.

Here is another thing I learned since then… 2-6 amazon packages per day since purchase. I guess you never stop spending money.
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Old 02-08-2020, 08:26 PM   #19
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Thanks for the follow up.
So few posters(I'll not call them members)think enough of us to bother to tell us their outcome.
I'm glad you did.

Tell us what you've bought on amazon incase we've missed something.
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Old 02-08-2020, 09:39 PM   #20
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Amazon will eventually slow. Mine is now about one box per month with an average of 5 items per box.

Today’s delivery is a 2020 truckers atlas and water filters.
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