Long Distance Buying? - RV-Dreams Community Forum

earthmommy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Long Distance Buying?

53 Merc · RV-Dreams Family Member

PM Waggintails. He bought an RV without seeing it, but he bought from a recommended dealer. They went from Corpus Christi to OK on a hunch and it turned out good. They did not front any money, but Rollin Retreats is owned and operated by some real deal people, so it was exactly as advertised.
I would surely be leery of a free delivery. It costs some real money to pull or drive an RV. (ask me how I know this)

RickandJanice · RV-Dreams Family Member

We live in Ohio and bought our current unit in Maryland. Did allot of e-mail back and forth requesting pictures and answering questions. Then talked several times to salesman on the phone. Then also researched the BBB for any complaints before making an offer. We picked up our unit in person because we were also trading our old one in as part of the deal. I think this also helped because the dealer also had to trust us. We also signed an agreement that if we found anything wrong upon arrival, we could cancel the deal without any penalty. After all of that, we have to say we were happy with the sale, PDI and overall deal but when we needed service after the sale several weeks later and were actually in the area of the selling dealer, we found out that they were more about sales than service, but you can get that at a local dealer too. Just local dealers have more to lose if they don't give local customers good service. We were buying a new unit, so did not have as much to be concerned about as you would with a used one, and we did have the option of canceling if we did not like something we saw, which I considered very important to get in writhing before accepting their offer and they were very willing to do.

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

First of all, I don't have any experience in buying something as expensive as an RV long distance, so what I'm about to say is based only on what I've learned over the past year or so of research.

Some brands have owners' clubs with volunteer inspectors. These people are generally pretty familiar with the quirks of that particular brand and know where the trouble spots generally are. Since we will be buying a used coach when the time comes, that's one of the filters we're using to narrow down our brand choices. If a dealer is involved, and won't allow my inspector to inspect the coach, then the deal is off.

A "free delivery" isn't really free, as 53 Merc points out. It costs money to move any sort of RV from one place to another. The seller simply factors the cost of that move into the selling price. That may or may not be a good deal for you; that's something you will have to decide for yourself.

From what I've seen with our own local dealer and heard about others, the local dealer will generally take care of people who bought from him first, then other paying customers, and finally warranty work. For those who are full-timers, going back to the dealer may or may not be feasible. We're not going to necessarily buy our full-time coach from the same dealer we bought our mpg from, but he will certainly be in the running IF he has something that we're interested in. In other words, we're more interested in buying the right coach than buying something from the local dealer just because we've already established a relationship with him.

earthmommy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks for the info. I figured the free shipping thing probably is just figured into the cost or some other sort of fee that magially materializes out of nowhere. I'd prefer to purchase locally but I have seen some beautiful rigs at reasonable prices in other states, so I'm keeping that open as an option. Hopefully when we find the right unit it will be local or at least at a driveable distance.

I'm really interested in the brand clubs...what brands have groups like that where someone might go and inspect for us?

NorCal Dan · RV-Dreams Family Member

DeMartini RV here in California will deliver coaches anywhere in the country. They don't do it for free however...last time I asked I belive they charged $3k to the east coast.

rvingft · RV-Dreams Family Member

RV Anywhere is a mobile RV service company we used. They just opened another branch in Florida. http://rvanywhere.net/ We used their Kansas City, MO branch when were were in that area, and we were satisfied with Mike's service.

You may also be able to find someone who is a Certified RV Inspector - there is a link to that somewhere, Terry on this forum may be able to help with that.

I recommend you GET AN INSPECTION from someone, before you purchase, especially if buying used.

RVPAINTER, on this blog is on his way as we speak to pick up a brand new NEXUS RV this week in Indiana, and he has shared much of his research on why they chose this new company to build their his and Melissa's first RV. I am REALLY looking forward to his reviews of their new Class C for fulltiming.

Another really good resource for determining WHICH RV brand to buy is the independent rating organization rv.org You pay a membership fee for either trailers or mobile homes, and then can get a rating from 1 to 100 based on many criteria. RV.org does not take advertizements, so they are independent and will not even rate a poorly designed RV, of which there are MANY on the market. Each brand has it's fans & detractors, so it can get REALLY confusing in your search, if you base your decision solely on Club members' reviews.

What ever you choose, remember that the research CAN be half the fun ... don't get bogged down on the many, many choices in RVing that available to us. GO RVing!

Edit by moderator: Activated link. Terry

-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Sunday 1st of April 2012 09:07:16 PM

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

earthmommy, the brands that I know that have volunteer inspectors are Airstream, Foretravel, and Wanderlodge. There probably are others, but those are the ones that I know of. The best way to find them, other than someone telling you directly, is to search the owner forums of those brands that interest you.

earthmommy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks for the info!

BigDogsolo · RV-Dreams Community Member

Yes.... we purchased our motorhome from Lazy Days which was 1400 miles away (they are in Tampa area).

We did look in several "away" areas.

It helps to know what you want. There are firms or people in areas that will do a pre-inspection for a fee if you find a serious candidate and you can get the pricing that you might like in bigger RV markets.

In the case of Lazy Days, our experience was First Class. They are one of , if not THE largest dealer in the country (we bought a pre-owned). They also do a serious inspection process and will not let you leave till all or any issues are brought to standards.

Once we found what we thought we wanted, we got a preliminary verbal inspection with photos. When we put a deposit down, any final committment was based on our personal visual inspection upon arrival and a second choice as backup. As it turned out, we purchased our Back up choice,

I would also recommend that any used RV you purchase, you consider an extended warranty. Things do and will go wrong.

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

"I would also recommend that any used RV you purchase, you consider an extended warranty. Things do and will go wrong." The alternative to that is to keep back a reserve ($5-10,000 is often recommended) and take care of your own issues. If you are buying a fairly new coach, say less than five years old, you might be able to get an extended warranty. If you are looking at a 20-25 year-old coach (as we are) extended warranties are non-existent.

-- Edited by kb0zke on Sunday 20th of May 2012 07:36:14 PM