2016 Oliver Trailers Base Price Increase. - Fiberglass RV
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Old 09-21-2015, 10:05 PM   #1
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Name: John
Trailer: 2015 Oliver Legacy Elite II 23' 6"
New York
Posts: 87
2016 Oliver Trailers Base Price Increase.

Hi everyone, I just received the 2016 info on the 2016 base prices for a new Oliver 18' 5" ($45,500) & the 23' 6" is now $48,500. This might be old news to some, but I heard the rumor a few months back not thinking too much of it. When we bought our 23' 6'' back in Jan 2015 the base price was $41,000. That's a $7,500. increase now for the Legacy Elite II. The upgrades & add-ons still have the same prices. I guess now no one will question if the Oliver has reached that top dog status for being the No. #1 luxury egg at least price wise. Even with the price increase we still would have made the same choice. I just hope this does not impact their sales in a negative way. I'd hate to see Oliver close their doors again, they really do make a outstanding product. On the positive side .... good for those who were fortunate to have been able to buy an Oliver before the price increases, which now makes ones future resale prices that much better.
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Old 09-22-2015, 02:52 PM   #2
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Trailer: 23 foot Oliver Elite II
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We just got under the price increase. They went up in August I believe. We pick ours up October 7th
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Old 09-22-2015, 03:31 PM   #3
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Trailer: 2015 Oliver Legacy Elite II 23' 6"
New York
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Nice .... Now you know your trailer is worth $7500. more when you drive it of the lot.
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Old 09-22-2015, 04:30 PM   #4
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Name: Bill
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Price increase

For what its worth - back in July while taking a tour of the factory, I was told that one of the reasons for the price increase was that the cost of product liability insurance for EACH unit produced was $5,000.
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Old 09-23-2015, 12:03 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by topgun2 View Post
For what its worth - back in July while taking a tour of the factory, I was told that one of the reasons for the price increase was that the cost of product liability insurance for EACH unit produced was $5,000.
That is absolutely bizarre!
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Old 09-23-2015, 11:12 AM   #6
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$5000 insurance policy

Is that a mafia thing.
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Old 09-23-2015, 11:33 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by topgun2 View Post
For what its worth - back in July while taking a tour of the factory, I was told that one of the reasons for the price increase was that the cost of product liability insurance for EACH unit produced was $5,000.
I think they need to find a new insurance agent. How can Scamp sell a trailer with similar liability risks for $10,000? Surely half the retail price cannot be insurance. I suspect the tour guide was blowing smoke. Or perhaps Oliver makes only 3 or 4 trailers a year. It is always easy to damn lawyers and insurance companies, not that it isn't often justified. The numbers in this case seem suspect. There are likely good reasons for a price increase, but those reasons are not easy to put across in a sound bite.

Or maybe I could order a fleet of Scamps now and look for a $5000 increase next year. I could flip them for a tidy profit.

John
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Old 09-23-2015, 11:34 AM   #8
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Trailer: 2015 Oliver Legacy Elite II 23' 6"
New York
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Originally Posted by mbbear View Post
That is absolutely bizarre!
When we picked up our trailer last April, Robert said at that time each trailer leaving their factory had $3500. added on the base price for insurance.
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Old 09-23-2015, 11:41 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by John Cole View Post
Nice .... Now you know your trailer is worth $7500. more when you drive it of the lot.
Yeah, but only if they find someone willing to pay that.
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Old 09-23-2015, 11:53 AM   #10
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Trailer: 2015 Oliver Legacy Elite II 23' 6"
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Yeah, but only if they find someone willing to pay that.
Supply & demand, if you want an Oliver & you got the bucks they will sell and we all know depending on where you live good fiberglass trailers do not stay on the classifieds to long.
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Old 09-23-2015, 12:11 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by John Cole View Post
depending on where you live good fiberglass trailers do not stay on the classifieds to long.
Apples and oranges. Used FGRVs in the sub-5K, 10K, or 15K range versus new 48K Olivers is not a fair comparison. There are a lot more people looking for a good used inexpensive egg than there will ever be buying Olivers. No Oliver bashing intended, I am sure they are great units (for those that can afford them). I hope to be able to afford a tour of their factory someday.
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Old 09-23-2015, 12:43 PM   #12
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The folks who bought in 2008 are even further ahead in the game

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...tml#post346264

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...tml#post346239
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Old 09-23-2015, 01:52 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by John Linck View Post
I think they need to find a new insurance agent. How can Scamp sell a trailer with similar liability risks for $10,000? Surely half the retail price cannot be insurance. I suspect the tour guide was blowing smoke. Or perhaps Oliver makes only 3 or 4 trailers a year. It is always easy to damn lawyers and insurance companies, not that it isn't often justified. The numbers in this case seem suspect. There are likely good reasons for a price increase, but those reasons are not easy to put across in a sound bite.

Or maybe I could order a fleet of Scamps now and look for a $5000 increase next year. I could flip them for a tidy profit.

John
The factory liability cost per trailer that is passed onto the end user comes down to the number of units made. Scamp makes far more trailers in a year than Oliver does thus the per unit cost of factory liability insurance is going to be less.
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Old 09-23-2015, 03:18 PM   #14
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Name: Steve
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What can a $41 K 19 Ft Oliver do that a $30 K 19 ft Escape cannot ? Like an Airsteam there may be some status value but status is not worth an additional $11 K in my book. Oliver is a nice trailer but I can't justify the cost. This is not a criticism. of Oliver owners just my opinion.
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Old 09-23-2015, 04:01 PM   #15
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Trailer: 2013 ParkLiner
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Originally Posted by topgun2 View Post
For what its worth - back in July while taking a tour of the factory, I was told that one of the reasons for the price increase was that the cost of product liability insurance for EACH unit produced was $5,000.
I'm only guessing - and please remember I'm operating on the basis of pure ignorance here- that product liability was never a consideration with ParkLiner. Perhaps that is what led to their demise. If they were not insured, the costs for retrofitting battery boxes (at least for those who were able to have it done), modifying wheel wells and correcting other assorted problems could have eaten up all the profits. On the other hand, I've been wrong before- could easily be happening again
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Old 09-23-2015, 04:21 PM   #16
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Originally Posted by Carol H View Post
The factory liability cost per trailer that is passed onto the end user comes down to the number of units made. Scamp makes far more trailers in a year than Oliver does thus the per unit cost of factory liability insurance is going to be less.

That's why I jokingly mentioned that perhaps Oliver was making only 2 - 3 trailers per year. Still insurance premiums must be proportional to the number of units rolling down the road. So any one trailer of any brand must have a similar risk of claim and need a similar amount of insurance. The product liability number crunchers need a certain fee to come out and calculate the risk, then they must add an increment for each trailer sold. After the initial year the increment makes up all the premium.

OTOH - Perhaps Oliver experienced some million dollar claims and that put their rates far higher. Or perhaps the $5000 number includes health insurance for all their employees and unemployment insurance, fire insurance, etc. $5000 for liability just seems too high, way higher than my brother-in-law's Corvette Stingray premium. I doubt GM pays more liability insurance than the driver.


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Old 09-23-2015, 06:00 PM   #17
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I purchased my Ollie back in '08 and I'm quite sure they spent quite a bit more on it than I paid as part of their learning curve, production process improvements, as well as my asking for items they had never contemplated before such as solar panel and cell phone booster, etc.

Then, shortly thereafter the economy took a dive and their production took a hiatus for a few years until things started to turn around two years ago, (without laying off workers, I might add. They put them to work on different fiberglass products during the slow years)

One of the reasons I went with this company was that I had the fortunate chance to meet one of the patriarchs of the Oliver family, Jim, who showed me a trailer and shared with me their concept of caring for employees. They were by far one of the best employers in this rural area of Tennessee, and offered a complete benefits package for their employees to include a cost sharing savings plan which the company even made contributions for the few workers who did not feel they had the means to put in their own monies.

I realized I paid top dollar for the trailer and feel blessed to have been able to do so at the time. So yeah, top notch family with a top notch vision for a trailer to last a lifetime, and a heart to consider its employees as a part of the family. I have over 98,000 miles on my Ollie and it still looks like it rolled out of the factory last month.

Over my travels, I've camped with many hundreds of fellow fiberglass owners and we all cherish our rolling palaces and enjoy the great outdoors with a smile on our face and a joy in our heart. From the 35 year old Bolers and Trilliums, to the dependable and stalwart Casitas, or the wonderful new Escape fifth wheel. Price be da#*ed. That's not the important part. Get out there and have fun!

Isn't that what it all about?
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Old 09-23-2015, 07:15 PM   #18
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Over my travels, I've camped with many hundreds of fellow fiberglass owners and we all cherish our rolling palaces and enjoy the great outdoors with a smile on our face and a joy in our heart. From the 35 year old Bolers and Trilliums, to the dependable and stalwart Casitas, or the wonderful new Escape fifth wheel. Price be da#*ed. That's not the important part. Get out there and have fun!

Isn't that what it all about?
EXACTLY Pete! I hope no one who owns an all-molded-towable is a snob.. they are ALL good!
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Old 09-23-2015, 07:22 PM   #19
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2016 Oliver Trailers Base Price Increase.

Amen, they all top-notch😀


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Old 09-23-2015, 08:09 PM   #20
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Hello from the Plant,
All great observations, statements and comments. I want to make a hopefully brief reply as I sit on the couch at home watching Survivor Island (Yes, it is TIVOED or whatever)

Topguns $5,000 statement is a bit higher than the actual cost back then. We may have miss informed him at the time or whatever no worries, I just want to clarify. The $3,500 was the actual cost at one point in the 2014 restart which, yes, it was high as well. With the increase in sales and other factors this has been reduced considerably and is now in line with similar cost of product liability insurance for auto manufacturers and other similar products.

The above mentioned other factors are cost we incur per unit that we feel adds value, safety and confidence in our product:
RVIA Certification: Look it up. We have 6 unannounced visits a year to insure we are conforming to their standards to be listed by them. They demand ANSI codes be met just like a county or city government requires when building a new home. Electrical components are all UL or equivalent listed. Wire gages meet ANSI specs based on amp load per line etc. Plumbing is all UPC or equivalent certified. Lots of hoops and testing to be RVIA Certified and we pay for all the cost of those six annual visits.
NATM Certification- They visit twice a year and insure we are in compliance with DOT guidelines concerning DOT approved lighting, proper tire data info for load capacities to mention a couple of areas.
While we would be more than willing to compare our original frame construction against ANY other trailer manufacturer on the market, for the 2016 model we are introducing a newly designed A- Frame construction with a custom, extruded for us only structural piece of aluminum. More details to come. It is intended to with stand a much more rugged use over 20 years of boon docking while traveling the back roads with the 18 inch ground to frame clearance. This has been designed and 3rd party tested to wrap up every aspect of our build process to back up the “Legacy” aspect of the trailer.

Legacy (leg-uh-see), noun -
in families, an object that is handed down from generation to generation

I have read that the industry norm for stick built and motor homes from a manufacturer’s standpoint is designed for a 5 year existence. Do not know if this is true or not, maybe someone can research this for accuracy.
I am not including other fiberglass trailers in the above generalization as we all know that be a Casita, Scamp, Escape, ParkLiner or one of the other fiberglass cousins we are all in another class of quality over the others.

Sorry but I did intend to be brief originally.
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