by vreihen » Wed Jun 15, 2011 7:03 pm
When I first started looking to buy an enclosed car hauler at around this time last year, the first thing that I discovered is that the CT industry is really hurting due to the economy. Factories that used to have acres of trailers waiting for delivery or shipping pickup were down to skeleton crews, and their storage yards were empty. Both name brand and no-name manufacturers were clubbing each other over the head for every sale, and new trailers were selling for less than used ones on eBay and locally.
I have not looked since early last fall to see if things have improved, but I'm inclined to guess that they haven't changed radically since last summer. If a local trailer dealer has inventory on their lot, it probably isn't going anywhere and they may be paying finance charges on it. I would walk in the door with printouts of an eBay or other "factory direct" web site's quote for a no-name trailer, factor in $1.50/mile for delivery from Elkhart, Indiana or south Georgia, and see how close to that price they can get. (I don't know where the CT/RV manufacturing hubs are west of the Mississippi.) Decide whether the price difference is worth being able to see/touch the trailer in person to you, versus having to buy it "blind" online.
In my own case, the dealer was sitting on my Featherlite for 2 years, and wanted to get it off his books bad enough to let me have it for steel trailer prices. The same trailer model but 5 years older was selling used online for more than I paid for a new leftover, and the dealer even had a financing deal with a local bank that beat my credit union's new car loan rate never mind unsecured personal loan pricing.
One last suggestion is that if you're going to shop hard and live near Elkhart or south Georgia, it may be worth the drive there to look at some of the no-name trailers and see if you like the construction or features. There are plenty of online trailer dealers with no overhead selling almost wholesale if you're willing to pick up at the factory.....
Well, you know what I mean! Thanks a whole lot! 
