Comparing Dealers

You've settled on a specific model — say a 2022 Entegra Aspire 44R. You've found three of them at different dealers across the southeast. Price matters, but so does how far you'd have to drive, how long the RV has been sitting, and how the dealer behaves during the sales process. Here's how to organize that comparison.

Setting Up the Comparison

For each of the three RVs, create a separate entry in your garage. Even though they're the same model, they're different physical RVs:

RV	Dealer	Location	Listed Price
2022 Entegra Aspire 44R #1	Sunshine RV, Tampa FL	847 miles	$289,000
2022 Entegra Aspire 44R #2	Camping World, Concord NC	312 miles	$299,000
2022 Entegra Aspire 44R #3	General RV, Ocala FL	791 miles	$295,000

Differentiating Identical Models

Since all three are the same year/make/model/floorplan, use these fields to tell them apart:

• Mileage — even the same model year will have different odometer readings
• Exterior color — enter it so you can visually distinguish them
• Stock number — always enter this; it's the dealer's unique reference
• Notes on each listing — "This is the blue one" or "Has the Stonewall interior"
• Images — upload at least one distinctive photo for each

Tracking Prices Across Dealers

Now track weekly for all three:

Week 1:

• Tampa: $289,000 (unchanged)
• Concord: $299,000 (unchanged)
• Ocala: $295,000 (unchanged)

Week 2:

• Tampa: $289,000 (unchanged)
• Concord: $294,000 (dropped $5K)
• Ocala: $295,000 (unchanged)

Week 3:

• Tampa: $285,000 (dropped $4K)
• Concord: $294,000 (unchanged)
• Ocala: $289,000 (dropped $6K)

After three weeks, a picture emerges:

• Tampa has the lowest price and is still dropping
• Concord made one adjustment and stopped
• Ocala made a bigger single drop — maybe responding to competition

Using Distance as a Factor

Sort your garage by distance. The Concord dealer is 312 miles away versus 791-847 for the Florida dealers. Is the $6,000 difference between Concord ($294K) and Tampa ($285K) worth the extra 500 miles of travel? Consider:

• Fuel to drive there (and back if it's a one-way trip to pick up)
• Lodging if it's a multi-day trip
• Sales tax differences between states
• Dealer willingness to deliver

Add these considerations to your listing notes so you have everything in one place.

Observations Tell the Story

Use observations to record dealer interactions:

• Feb 10: Called Tampa dealer. Salesperson was knowledgeable, said RV has been on lot for 4 months.
• Feb 12: Emailed Concord — got an auto-reply. Not encouraging.
• Feb 14: Called Ocala. Manager said they'd consider "reasonable offers." Felt like they want to move it.

These notes turn your comparison from pure numbers into a complete picture. Price is important, but so is the experience of dealing with the seller.

Making Your Decision

After a few weeks of tracking, you can make a data-driven decision:

Factor	Tampa	Concord	Ocala
Current Price	$285K	$294K	$289K
Price Trend	Dropping	Stalled	Dropped once
Distance	847 mi	312 mi	791 mi
Time on Market	4+ months	Unknown	~2 months
Dealer Responsiveness	Good	Poor	Good

The "right" choice depends on your priorities. But the point is: you're making that choice with real data instead of gut feeling.

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Use the same observation cadence for all

Check all competing RVs on the same day. This ensures your data is comparable — you're comparing apples to apples on the same date.