Frac999 wrote:

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I have thought about buying a new 5er from dealers that are alot cheaper but not anywhere close to my location. Has anyone had any experience in buying one you cannot physically see other than pictures or have them do a walk through with you but have to wait until its delivered to you?  It kind of makes be nervous to think maybe it wont match up with your pickup.

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I am with you, I am a "Touch & Feel" person.

I know lots of people had bought RVs without seeing them first and have been very happy.

Of course there have been some people that have bought this way and things did not go as well.

Even though we bought from a "RV Wholesaler" we did see the unit before signing the line and we did the PDI and delivery at the Dealer.

We have not been back to the Dealer since our purchase, we have had a few minor warranty items that have been taken care of by other dealers without any problem.

For us, keeping as much money as possible in our pocket was important so we could live our Dream!!!

Robert

 

-- Edited by Rob_Fla on Sunday 23rd of December 2012 06:05:03 AM

We're in the same situation, flying to visit family, will be visiting a dealer next week. Nervous? A little, but at at the same time have seen several of the same manufacturer locally but like the floor plan of a unit that is close to our daughter's place so we'll be visiting while "on vacation".
We haven't bought the new truck yet, waiting until we buy the right 5'ver.

We saw the floor plan we liked at our local dealer(in Colorado)but wanted a different color scheme.They found what we wanted in Texas and we committed to it sight unseen.The dealer(Great Outdoors RV,Greeley,Colo)covered the transportation costs and we took possession 2 weeks later.

One of the "pet peeves" that is discussed frequently on RV forums is that when one buys from the local dealer there is better warranty service than when one buys from a distant dealer. To a certain extent, that is understandable. The factory doesn't pay the dealer what he gets from his customers, so some of that overhead needs to be made up from sales. On the other hand, if a dealer is an official dealer for a brand, then he ought to take care of any warranty issues for any customer. What about someone who has an issue while traveling? Should they be put off for several weeks just because they happened to have a problem quite a distance from their home?

Some of the big-name discount dealers have been accused of having little in the way of a service department. They don't have the expense of a true service department, so they can sell for less. Personally, I wouldn't buy from such a place. We purchased our mpg from our local dealer. We did get some prices from the cut-rate places so we had some idea of what the minimum should be, and our dealer knew we had those numbers. We got a fair deal.

Keep in mind, too, that when you buy from a distant dealer you get to may for the transportation directly. For example, our Mountaineer gets about 20 mpg without the trailer, and 10 with. If I buy from a place 500 miles away, it will cost me 25 gallons of gas to get there and 50 to return. At $3.00/gallon that's $225. Add another $100 for a night in the hotel when I arrive, and some for food, and a night in the campground coming home, and it can easily top $500. If you are looking at a larger trailer it can be even more expensive.

Lucky Mike wrote:

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HHHHmmmm............If you are fulltiming it wont matter if you buy it local or long distance..........I would make sure your purchase had a good warranty and alot of authorized servicers.

 

I think buying local only would apply if you are planning to keep your purchase local , Im not saying just run out but I have seen prices vary upwards of 5000 dollars and dealers that price at NARDA Standard......yet a trip to the factory will save 30%.

Even used units can vary by thousands of dollars just by the state or region there in.............

The internet can let you see everything you can see in person without making the trip....................................

 

Just remember your local dealer can stop servicing warranty work anytime they feel its nessecary ,sometimes the MFG doesnt feel they need to pay to fix there problems at an affoedable rate , that is why some dealers dont offer it

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MIke,

I will pretty much agree with all you have said except for the one line bolded above.  When looking at a new or used RV online, you are at the mercy of the one taking the picture.  For instance, when I went to look at the Dynamax Trilogy models that some were interested in, I found that one model had features that the other one did not have, even though they were of the same size, weight and most amenities.  Those were basic features like the water manifold and the inputs for the television.  None of the things I saw in person were visible in any place I had looked online.

While I have always wanted to see what I buy with most things, that experiece mentioned above really reinforced the idea of seeing in person anything that one considers a major purchase.

Terry

I find that by using the internet during a purchase it opens alot of doors

1) it can give you a virtual tour of a rig to give you a basic look as to what it is.

2) you can get concentrated photos on trouble areas

3) as Dave said if you are now really interested.....Hire an RV inspector/ Tech. to go out and look at it and give you a professional opinion.............I would rather lose a couple bucks to a proper inspection than place a deposit and lose it!!!!

it can save you alot of ground time, and at the same time give you buying leverage locally........no dealer wants to hear his price has been beat greatly and see a customer walk away..........the internet is a wonderful tool


some of my rigs I have bought 1200 miles away......160 bucks for a train ticket and Im there..... dealer always has sent someone to pick me up........I pay for my rig and drive it home(Class a).........or make arrangements for transport.


A little creativity and rational thought into a purchase goes a long way!!!!!!!!

Here is a post by a dealer on the EVERGREEN Owners Forum, it may help.

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Here are my thoughts -

1. I propose that the most important part of the relationship is the
acquisition, delivery ( the process where you have your walk-through and take
care of business) and first year of ownership. That is the time you will have
the most interaction with the Dealer. It doesn't seem you have much of a choice
with your closest Element Dealer being 4.5 hours away.

I would suggest sizing up the dealership personnel during your discovery stage
to gauge their overall attitude toward follow up and follow through. A rigorous
PDI inspection of your trailer before delivery should catch most factory issues.
I would recommend staying in the trailer for 2 nights immediately after the
delivery on the dealership premises or in a nearby campground so if any issues
pop up they can be remedied before a 9 hour round trip return is needed.

We have 4 spots here specifically for that purpose with hookups as many of our
customers are from out of town. Just last week we had a customer from Oregon
take delivery here. He stayed for 1 night after taking delivery, found a couple
of punch list items that did not manifest themselves during the PDI and we took
care of them on the spot and he was off and running.

You have very little control over where your next billet or post will be. Many
dealers will help transient customers who have just come into their area with
much more eagerness than someone who lives in their area and bought elsewhere.
We are very close to Camp LeJeune, MCAS Cherry Point and New River and Fort
Bragg. We see MANY military families come and go and do everything we can to
help them.

Again - I would focus on the acquisition, delivery and initial warranty period
as you have SOME control over who you buy from. Once Uncle Sam decides to
re-assign you you have NO control where that's going to be, so focus on the
thing you CAN control.

The car business model and the RV business model is different, mainly because
the franchised car dealer MUST service anyone under warranty REGARDLESS of where
they bought. It's in the franchise agreement. RV dealers are NOT franchised
and have NO connection or responsibility to the manufacturer other than to
maintain stocking levels. We are all 100% privately owned and call all of our
own shots when it comes to who we do business with.

Hopefully that explains the issue of service. There's a lot more to it but
those are the Cliff's notes.

I wish you well in your search for your RV. If I can be of further help you
know where to find me.

Best regards,

Bill Mirrielees
General Manager, Howard RV Center
www.hrvc.com

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CCC

On this subject- hope someone can help us understand our situation- we bought from an out of town dealer, whom we worked with for several months placing the order & so forth. Before I continue I should clarify that it is our first 5th wheel & we went full time- crazy I know.... We made the 6 hour trip before ordering, spoke to other customers, all feed back was excellent. We took delivery & stayed in their lot overnight, took a shower & realized the shower door was installed out of plum (door popped open). Dealer agreed to replace door. We moved on because we were in the north & frankly every issue we mentioned to the salesman, he had a glazed look in his eyes & referred us to service. Now we know the whole shower unit is how of plum, with everything level there is a puddle in the shower. We truly have a long list of problems. We are going to the manufacturer in the spring, which is totally out of our way... Does anybody have suggestions ? Thank you!!!!