New Scamp or Casita - Is haggling possible?

[doubleoevan]

I probably know the answer to this already, but with Scamp having actual inventory and short lead times (not sure if Casita is in the same place), and the overall RV market declining, is haggling on the price of a new build possible with either Scamp or Casita?

Prices massively increased through the pandemic, and it seems a bit of a price correction wouldn't be out of the question. I saw a price sheet for Scamp inventory where there were discounting 2024 models, but not 2025s.

Has anyone had experience of even heard of getting a discount? Clearly this wasn't remotely possible over the last few years, but things seem to have changed.

[Escape 15A]

Your best bet is to figure out what you want in a trailer. The drive to the sales center of the brand you want. Come with cash or have it available when you are there. Negotiate one on one with the sales associate and be ready to pull the trigger.

It is best not to do it here as none of us are able to impact price.

Bill

[Mister_Bevilaqua]

In this day and age, when buying from a dealer or manufacturer for that matter, cash is no longer king. They make more money off of your borrowed money so coming in as a cash buyer isn't likely to wow them or push for a better deal as they will ultimately make less money off of you.

We are finally starting to see some decent discounts on last years models of some of the major brands that are sold at dealers but I have yet to see anything other than the small standard incentives being offered on current model year trailers. For instance, Oliver went from direct sales only to a dealer network last year and now I am seeing discounts as deep as $15K on their Elite II ($90-115K trailer) at a local dealer but only on left over '24 models in inventory.

In recent years Casita hasn't had much in way of available inventory to sell on the lot, most trailers available are in some stage of the build phase and available only because the original buyers cancelled their order.

[Jon in AZ]

As you’ve noticed, Scamp sometimes discounts spec units in inventory, depending on how long they’ve been sitting. They tend to be the priciest deluxe configurations that sell the slowest and mostly 16’ers. Casita often runs some pretty good promotions during the slow winter season, typically free or discounted upgrades, but occasionally a reduction in the base price.

Negotiating an individual factory custom order? Never heard of it. I’m not optimistic, but you can always ask.

I haven’t bought a brand new vehicle or RV since 1990. If you like to dicker, there’s always that.

[ShelbyM]

I prefer "negotiate." "Haggling" has such trashy implications. Never hurts to ask but let them know you are ready to sign. Come across as a Lookie Lou and they'll likely not be bothered.

[jerrybob]

Originally Posted by ShelbyM

I prefer "negotiate." "Haggling" has such trashy implications. Never hurts to ask but let them know you are ready to sign. Come across as a Lookie Lou and they'll likely not be bothered.

I prefer the word "negotiate" vs "haggling" as well......especially when dealing with my wife.

[ldsharp]

According to a utuber (

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OAHuQrVB4c

) who recently ordered one, Casita had a "sale" last month. Same base price (which they may have reduced a bit since the pandemic high prices) but they were offering some free options - Mach 8 AC, furnace, etc. If you are ready to put down a deposit, they may extend that sale (or not...).

[Mister_Bevilaqua]

They usually have some sort of incentive(s) that change monthly or at least quarterly. Some are better than others in terms of dollar value.

[Eldorado]

Don't get your hopes up. At present Casita is offering an awning and high lift axle when you order. It would difficult to order over the phone.

Scamp sales model ? Not familar with it. Dealing with dealers is easier because they are "own" the inventory.
Figure out what trailer you want by visiting owners of those models.
Decide new? Used?
Do you want it immediately? Or order and wait.
Pickup locally or at factory?
and your budget.

We like our casita. We made a trip of the pickup. We had some modifications done at Little House . It was a blast. Good Luck

[Sunnyfalls]

Casita has ALWAYS had some free option offering when ordering one of their trailers. Casita only does direct sales so there are no dealers to negotiate price. There is typically a long lead time between ordering and picking up your trailer in Rice Texas. You can also have the trailer delivered wherever you desire for more cost. It may be possible to get reduced cost on a trailer that someone canceled. We found Casita trailers to offer the most for the least cost when compared to Big Foot, Escape and Oliver trailers. Casita trailers are much lighter weight than these other trailers too. We consider the Casita Liberty model to be best suited for couples camping and for making personal modifications as it has a north-south king sized sleeping area which enables going to bathroom in middle of night without disturbing your partner and it has a wide enough aisle for dining without having to play footsies like the Independence model. And the Casita bathroom is a wet bathroom and located at the entry door making it more practical for camping than a dry bathroom that can only be reached by walking through the trailer. Our 2023 Casita pickup trip photos and subsequent modifications may be found here if interested:

https://www.borstengineeringconstruc..._2023_Trip.pdf

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

[67 Carl]

We are in the process of buying a Casita Liberty Deluxe and will likely pull the trigger tomorrow. I also wondered if we could negotiate, and to be honest, still not sure!

As mention above, they usually have some promotions going on that includes a few free options. When we started looking at the start of April the promo items were (list price) a furnace ($499), Mach 8 A/C ($1499) and a rear hitch ($299). So, approximately $2300 of optional items.

Recently, they modified the promo and now it's the A/C ($1499), Awning ($1499) and High lift Axle ($299), which equates to roughly $3300. So that is an increase of about $1000 in promo value.

We didn't want the awning, so we were able to apply the awning cost as a credit towards other options we did want. So in that way, you can lower your cost. Can you get more? I'll find out tomorrow. It doesn't hurt to ask...


Edit to add - thanks @sunnyfalls for the pdf. Full of good mods, the first one of which we'll do is the custom mattresses and I'll build a similar beside cabinet to go in between for storage. Our cat does not like to be in a moving vehicle, so she stays at home.

[Sunnyfalls]

Originally Posted by 67 Carl

We are in the process of buying a Casita Liberty Deluxe and will likely pull the trigger tomorrow. I also wondered if we could negotiate, and to be honest, still not sure!

As mention above, they usually have some promotions going on that includes a few free options. When we started looking at the start of April the promo items were (list price) a furnace ($499), Mach 8 A/C ($1499) and a rear hitch ($299). So, approximately $2300 of optional items.

Recently, they modified the promo and now it's the A/C ($1499), Awning ($1499) and High lift Axle ($299), which equates to roughly $3300. So that is an increase of about $1000 in promo value.

We didn't want the awning, so we were able to apply the awning cost as a credit towards other options we did want. So in that way, you can lower your cost. Can you get more? I'll find out tomorrow. It doesn't hurt to ask...


Edit to add - thanks @sunnyfalls for the pdf. Full of good mods, the first one of which we'll do is the custom mattresses and I'll build a similar beside cabinet to go in between for storage. Our cat does not like to be in a moving vehicle, so she stays at home.

Congratulations! We consider the Liberty model to be best for couple's glamping and for making trailer modifications. The Independence is a close second but the narrow aisle resulting in having to play footsies when dinning in the trailer during bad weather didn't work for us. We knew that we would be getting comfortable custom designed mattresses for each of our desired individual firmness levels from Mattress Insider and that we needed to create a cat bathroom/storage cabinet. This storage cabinet and entry closet that Gayle designed provides us with more storage capacity then we need. Gayle also wanted a toilet heated bidet seat, 240VAC 3500 Watt Induction Cooktop and electric(240VAC 6500 Watts)/propane tankless water heater too. So we are no longer campers...we are glampers...with three cats...

You will be far better off with a Keder Rail Awning than the Casita afterthought aerodynamic performance killing Fiamma awning. We recommend putting the awning on both the driver and passenger sides for maximum flexibility and use the existing penetrations that Castia trailer used for the upper storage components. Then you can leave your windows open when it rains, improve absorption refrigerator efficiency and reduce the need for air conditioning in hot weather.

We have the high lift axle and AC. Those plus the Andersen WDH and 23 gallon potable water tank (modified to 25 gallons) were included in our 2023 purchase base price...after we asked... We often fill our 25 gallon tank to reduce tongue weight when loaded for long distance, long duration dry glamping to remote locations which is largely what we do...like to Costa Rica from Southern Oregon every year. We developed these calculators to determine trailer weight and balance and effect of Anderson WDH tensioning:

https://www.borstengineeringconstruc...alculator.html

https://www.borstengineeringconstruc...alculator.html

Glad you found our Los Gatos Casita writeup useful. We have had many folks contact us at our website to say thanks or ask questions when doing similar Casita trailer modifications. And for sure...cats have different personalities and best not to try and change them...

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

[daveandalice]

I chuckle when I see an up charge of $299.00 for the "High Lift axle option while in reality it is the same price for all of the variations of the Dexter #9 torsion axles, the high lift is a function of the starting angle of the pivot arm with the spindle.
Same exact components, just assembled differently.
22 degrees down, 10 degrees down, 0 degrees down, etc.

There's two camps on the awning, the folks that love the simplicity and ease of use of the Fiamma awning when set up and staked down properly and the folks that love installing a Keder rail awning themselves and enjoy it greatly.

On the water tank, the larger tank is considered a upgrade from 16 to 23 gallons but it robs valuable storage space and most of us typically travel with only 8-10 gallons and if planning on extended boondocking you can carry a few water totes.

We thought we wanted an Independence and ended up going with a Liberty Deluxe and really enjoy the additional aisle space.

[Sunnyfalls]

Originally Posted by daveandalice

I chuckle when I see an up charge of $299.00 for the "High Lift axle option while in reality it is the same price for all of the variations of the Dexter #9 torsion axles, the high lift is a function of the starting angle of the pivot arm with the spindle.
Same exact components, just assembled differently.
22 degrees down, 10 degrees down, 0 degrees down, etc.

There's two camps on the awning, the folks that love the simplicity and ease of use of the Fiamma awning when set up and staked down properly and the folks that love installing a Keder rail awning themselves and enjoy it greatly.

On the water tank, the larger tank is considered a upgrade from 16 to 23 gallons but it robs valuable storage space and most of us typically travel with only 8-10 gallons and if planning on extended boondocking you can carry a few water totes.

We thought we wanted an Independence and ended up going with a Liberty Deluxe and really enjoy the additional aisle space.

While the 23 gallon tank does take up more space in this passenger side storage compartment, this storage compartment is not convenient to access from inside the trailer as our mattress would have to be first removed. So from day one, we have only accessed this compartment using the passenger side exterior hatch and we have only just stored our dirty ramps and wheel chocks in this compartment anyhow.

When we upgraded our power capability from 30A 120VAC 3600 Watts to 50A 120/240VAC 12,000 Watts using a detachable shore power cable, we created more space by not having the cable stuffed in this space. The tankless water heater only uses about 1/3 the space that the tank water heater used too. We then added a larger exterior hatch to better access this new huge space.

And when we added this larger hatch, we also added an outdoor cold/hot water faucet to the passenger side adjacent to the trailer entry door which we use as an outdoor dish washing station and outdoor cowboy/girl shower after snorkeling, etc.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

[daveandalice]

I quickly got tired of having to lift mattresses to access items under the beds so I installed some access hatches, it's so nice to have the water heater door open downwards versus the factory door that you had to hold open with your head to check on the water heater, water pump, etc.

As several of us have done (idea thanks to Casita Greg) I got rid of the mouse door and installed a larger one near the power cord receptacle where I keep the electrical adapters and other small items.

[Sunnyfalls]

Originally Posted by daveandalice

I quickly got tired of having to lift mattresses to access items under the beds so I installed some access hatches, it's so nice to have the water heater door open downwards versus the factory door that you had to hold open with your head to check on the water heater, water pump, etc.

As several of us have done (idea thanks to Casita Greg) I got rid of the mouse door and installed a larger one near the power cord receptacle where I keep the electrical adapters and other small items.

Yep, we got the larger hatch idea from Casita Greg as well. We only access the under berth storage space from our exterior hatches and we don't have much need for any of that space given our huge aft storage cabinet. We use water leak detection sensors wherever there is any plumbing that interfaces with our RV Whisper system to minimize needing to check those areas. We got rid of the obnoxious Casita OEM battery disconnect switch and use an aircraft style guarded switch that controls a SSR. We have Anderson connectors on our LiFePO4 battery too. Using either disconnect approach eliminates all parasitic battery drain.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

[AC0GV]

Originally Posted by doubleoevan

Prices massively increased through the pandemic, and it seems a bit of a price correction wouldn't be out of the question. I saw a price sheet for Scamp inventory where there were discounting 2024 models, but not 2025s.

Has anyone had experience of even heard of getting a discount? Clearly this wasn't remotely possible over the last few years, but things seem to have changed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMM7Z5gGD58

[67 Carl]

We made the deposit yesterday, so it's official! It will be ready the first week of June, however we won't be able to pick it up until mid-July. Jobs getting in the way.

These are the options we... opted for.

I had a last-minute idea, and I don't know if was a good idea or not. We didn't want the TV package, but plan on using Starlink at some point (damn job). I thought to add the Cable Ready option for $40. This gets a watertight coax port from the outside to the inside. I can remove the coax fitting and utilize the port for Starlink. What do you all think - genius or "yeah, that's not gonna work"?

[Sunnyfalls]

Originally Posted by 67 Carl

We made the deposit yesterday, so it's official! It will be ready the first week of June, however we won't be able to pick it up until mid-July. Jobs getting in the way.

These are the options we... opted for.

I had a last-minute idea, and I don't know if was a good idea or not. We didn't want the TV package, but plan on using Starlink at some point (damn job). I thought to add the Cable Ready option for $40. This gets a watertight coax port from the outside to the inside. I can remove the coax fitting and utilize the port for Starlink. What do you all think - genius or "yeah, that's not gonna work"?

Congratulations again!

I can tell you we got everything on your list except the awing and aluminum wheels for just under $24K when we ordered our Liberty in 2022. Many of the items on your list were just included in the base price and not broken out as separate items. And we had to wait 7 months before our Liberty could be picked up in March 2023.

I think your Starlink plan will work fine. We put all our added ports through the Casita floor (e.g., our solar panel power port, Starlink Internet port, etc). We haven't used TVs for years. We stream 4K and use ambient light tolerant projection technology in our homes and our Casita trailer. In our Casita trailer, we project our desired programming via a light-weight, portable, tiny soda-can sized HD Nebula Capsule Projector onto a light-weight and portable 40 inch Tecdigbo Projector Screen that we can easily hang in our Casita when being used.

Our Starlink Wi-Fi router and satellite dish power module were placed in our Casita trailer driver side bench seat storage area and can be powered from an added 120VAC 20A electrical receptacle outlet fed from either our added Inverter or from Shore Power, or powered from an added 12VDC 30A SAE power port.To connect our Starlink Wi-Fi router and satellite dish we fabricated an externally detachable cable by using and cutting the provided Starlink cable and we added a RJ-45 cable receptacle located on Casita trailer driver side, below the floor, and near the rear bumper where we use our 20' telescoping mast for the Starlink Dish. To accomplish this, we used a Neutrik NE8FDPU-TOP RJ-45 Receptacle, a Neutrik SE8FD-TOP Sealing Kit and a Neutrik NE8MX-B-TOP RJ-45 Connector which uses this Lichtenstein company's low cost, robust, IP65 water resistance rated, externally detachable cable approach that is highly favored by the professional music industry.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

[67 Carl]

Originally Posted by Sunnyfalls

Congratulations again!

I can tell you we got everything on your list except the awing and aluminum wheels for just under $24K when we ordered our Liberty in 2022. Many of the items on your list were just included in the base price and not broken out as separate items. And we had to wait 7 months before our Liberty could be picked up in March 2023.

I think your Starlink plan will work fine. We put all our added ports through the Casita floor (e.g., our solar panel power port, Starlink Internet port, etc). We haven't used TVs for years. We stream 4K and use ambient light tolerant projection technology in our homes and our Casita trailer. In our Casita trailer, we project our desired programming via a light-weight, portable, tiny soda-can sized HD Nebula Capsule Projector onto a light-weight and portable 40 inch Tecdigbo Projector Screen that we can easily hang in our Casita when being used.

Our Starlink Wi-Fi router and satellite dish power module were placed in our Casita trailer driver side bench seat storage area and can be powered from an added 120VAC 20A electrical receptacle outlet fed from either our added Inverter or from Shore Power, or powered from an added 12VDC 30A SAE power port.To connect our Starlink Wi-Fi router and satellite dish we fabricated an externally detachable cable by using and cutting the provided Starlink cable and we added a RJ-45 cable receptacle located on Casita trailer driver side, below the floor, and near the rear bumper where we use our 20' telescoping mast for the Starlink Dish. To accomplish this, we used a Neutrik NE8FDPU-TOP RJ-45 Receptacle, a Neutrik SE8FD-TOP Sealing Kit and a Neutrik NE8MX-B-TOP RJ-45 Connector which uses this Lichtenstein company's low cost, robust, IP65 water resistance rated, externally detachable cable approach that is highly favored by the professional music industry.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

When the time comes I will be referencing your setup. For a while it will be parked ar my in-laws house and will use their WiFi. In fact, I'll be utilizing other mods you detailed in your pdf.

Regarding the awning - we didn't get it. It was one of the free promotion items and we didn't want it. We used the $1499 cost as a credit for other things, like the 25 gallon water tanks and 3-way refer. Notice the quantity column on the spreadsheet.

Also, whenever I think of the name Butterbean it makes me laugh. I'm sure there's a story there.