Lazy Days - FL - RV-Dreams Community Forum

cherylbrv · RV-Dreams Family Member

Lazy Days - FL

2riker2go · RV-Dreams Family Member

Check out Karen and Al's blog - they just bought a rig there.

wishuponanrvstar.blogspot.com/2014/01/new-year-big-news.html

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Some friends took two tries to get a new Winnebago Journey at LazyDays. The first was delivered from Winnebago with major issues, so they did not take it. Here is their blog from the first day of their second buying attempted, which did eventually succeed - http://rvdrivingschool.blogspot.com/2013/10/here-we-go-again.html. They are experienced buyers and did not let anyone roll them.

I also like to tell people that LazyDays is the experts on financing. If you come to buy outright, you can get a better deal somewhere else. They also like to push all the extras, like free food if you come back, and making you feel like family.

-- Edited by bjoyce on Wednesday 15th of January 2014 08:32:43 PM

cherylbrv · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks for sharing that info. I still haven't made the decision, when I'm ready in a few months, whether to search online for a rig in my price range and travel to wherever in the US it is (after paying an RV tech to inspect it) or to go to a large dealership. Based on some of the 2007 reviews here, I am a little hesitant and unsure what to do once I have the money to buy something. I do like the fact that they have a driving class and a campground where I can stay and get to know the rig first.

cherylbrv · RV-Dreams Family Member

Now more confused than ever, especially since I wouldn't have a clue to find what Dennis & Carol did. I will be learning as I go; there's so much I don't even know that I don't know about RVs. It IS a great concern that if Lazydays has certified techs, why they didn't see any of these problems before handing over the coach. Would I need to bring in my own independent tech to examine it?

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

You said "tech", not mechanic. They are not the same, techs in many places are not allowed to think for themselves, mechanics are.

Hogladyrider · RV-Dreams Family Member

cherylbrv wrote:
Now more confused than ever, especially since I wouldn't have a clue to find what Dennis & Carol did. I will be learning as I go; there's so much I don't even know that I don't know about RVs.

We have been in your shoes. I can only share with you our experiences in purchasing RV's. RESEARCH and MORE RESEARCH.

I did a spread sheet to compare models including what we were looking for and what we wanted.

I read blog after blog (still do) about how people got started, why they chose the rig they did, financial considerations. There is a TON of great information out there.

We live full time in Central FL, we are fulltimer wannabes for now. Our first RV was a TT toyhauler, KZ MXT purchased at a dealer on the west coast of Florida and it fit our needs, we had a Goldwing and two dogs and we wanted to bring the bike plus have little or no carpet. We camped in this for several seasons and then realized we wanted more living space and we would not bring the bike with us every trip.

We sold this RV on our own on line, we had NO problems selling it, we had six people banging on our door the minute the listing was posted on E Bay!

We knew we wanted a 5th wheel for easy of towing. My partner was an over the road driver for 20+ years and we had the vehicle to pull a 5th wheel. We spent weekends visiting dealers and "shopping" to see what was out there and we visited as many RV shows as possible. We knew that when the time came for us to full time we wanted to be debt free.

We came close to purchasing a Carriage until we ran into Heartland. We did not think we could afford a Big Horn it was out of reach for our budget but thru lots of research, my partner is addicted to social media and the internet, we found our rig in of all places Michigan at a dealer who has an E Bay store. After MANY telephone calls we purchased our brand new 2009 Big Horn 3600 RL via a phone call and Gary took 4 days off to drive to MI to pick it up.

That was in April 2009 and we still love our RV and we camp as often as we can. Our dogs love camping with us and I never thought I would be a fan of the fireplace in the RV, well guess what, we love it so much we purchased one for our home as well!

We are now researching a toyhauler, just looking at this point we have not decided if we really want a change, but we are a lot closer to our goal of full timing and I have lots of literature on full timing and there is still plenty we need to learn most of which will happen when we hit the road.

I would suggest you research online, read people's blogs, ask questions, join social media RV groups online. I would recommend purchasing an RV from some place other than LazyDazy.........high overhead, higher prices, but what is important is what works for you!

Susan

SnowGypsy · RV-Dreams Family Member

I would not deal with a major dealer like Lazy Days. With cash in hand, I would probably go either factory direct (sometimes they can help you with a used unit) or work directly with a seller. I know the tactics they use since we have bought 8 RVs, 3 were directly from the seller not a dealership. I always check the BBB because I believe if the person is determined enough to put their complaint in words and sign their name to it that it has value to me so I looked them up: http://www.bbb.org/west-florida/business-reviews/rv-dealers/lazydays-in-seffner-fl-6078071 and also looked at Yelp which I really don't trust but for informational purposes: http://www.yelp.com/biz/lazy-days-rv-center-seffner-2

While it is a limited amount of input, there seems to be a "theme" for the issues involved when it comes to service. If you have someone inspecting a unit, you need someone experienced. A mom and pop dealership can be a great find, like a little family owned business where word-of-mouth makes or breaks them.

cherylbrv · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks much everyone. That was my original plan, and I appreciate you all (y'all?) setting me back on the path.

The Restless Youngs · RV-Dreams Family Member

Right there with the rest!! I scoured internet sites, ebay, facebook (there's an RV classified group), PPL, rv.com, craigslist (all over the country), and a few other sites and we were able to find a fantastic deal with a very small broker/dealer in Texas. Granted, we're in PA and our coach is in Texas, and it will be one heck of a first trip....but hey, what the heck!! (We are planning on picking it up in the spring....no sense storing it in the snow!!). If you're open to, and have the time to search the internet, there are some great deals out there. Big dealers, while there are definitely advantages, have a lot of overhead to cover. Our dealer/broker is taking care of the few things we found through pre-purchase checklist just like one of the big guys would. Just my two cents.....

Selah · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have purchased two from Lazy Days and would recommend them IF they can beat or match deals you might find elsewhere. They were lowest on both MHs we purchased but others have said they got better deals elsewhere. It all depends on timing, what unit your working with etc.. Shop around. If you get a Phaeton or above at Lazy Days you stay in there Crown Club area; probably one of the nicest campgrounds in Florida. Either way, you can stay in your coach on site until your punch list is complete. You should plan on staying there anywhere from 2 to 5 days. We were there over a holiday and stayed 10 days at our request. All coaches, whether new or used, will have a list of minor things to be fixed, scratches, shade adjustments, sticky drawer, etc. Staying on site at the dealer is a big plus.
I have read a couple of rants about dealers trying to "squeeze" money out of customers by trying to sell them options and warranties and such. That's there job whether it's Lazy Days or Davis, or any dealer, also depends on the salesman. So ignore those rants.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Cheryl,

I for one will urge caution with the idea of buying direct from a factory, or even pick up at the factory yourself. Unless one is knowledgeable about the RV's one could end up paying more and not having an experienced person to do a good PDI of the RV. I also have an issue with buying from a large dealership. In our case, our purchases have been from either private individuals or smaller, family owned and operated dealerships.

Over on another forum, I read where someone cautioned against buying from "any" dealership in Florida. Unfortunately, that was only a short while ago that I read that, so I don't know why the individual felt like he did. However, they did really caution against America Choice RV in Ocala, FL.

Good luck.

Terry

SnowGypsy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Terry: What I was thinking along the lines of factory direct was that what I have seen (we are looking at smaller TTs that sell factory direct & what I seen years ago at New Horizons) that owners often trade "up" either in size or innovation. Those owners being satisfied enough with their units return for another. That was my train of thought. Generally, the manufacturer does this as a convenience to the customer buying new and doesn't really want to hang onto the units which is an expense to them.

Best luck, I think, with service is small mom & pop and with used without a warranty, you can pick and choose who you want to do the work. A warranty is good for usually 2 years some a little more but that time goes fast and seriously, warranting such an expensive item for only a couple of years doesn't say much for the faith they put in their product in the first place and too often, they know how long it will be before problems develop because I often read about the unit just running out of warranty and now.........but, some dealers are decent enough to help out in that case and those are the gems that are out there and not that common.

And, Cheryl, if I were wanting a motorhome, lower budget, I would look at Tiffin Allegro. The factory is in AL. When we stayed in AL in one park for 2 years, we saw people coming in with new, older and used units. Not a lot of complaints. Since they manufacture quite a few, they are out there. I know that you might be limited by location and I know how frustrating that is since being in KS....................... Nothing good to say about that.

I do recommend this book and it is available in Kindle and such and might be available through your library:

http://www.amazon.com/Buying-Used-Motorhome-money-burned/dp/1479365386/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389964578&sr=8-1&keywords=Buying+A+Used+Motorhome

-- Edited by SnowGypsy on Friday 17th of January 2014 07:07:11 AM

-- Edited by SnowGypsy on Friday 17th of January 2014 07:17:54 AM

Hdrider · RV-Dreams Family Member

We just purchased a new RV from Lazy Days and even though the RV had issues of it's own Lazy Days has stepped up to the plate and worked with us very well.
If you have a specific RV in mind and it's something late model finding a used one can be a challenge but with good timing it can be done.
For us as traveling fulltimers it was hard to be in one place and to establish a relationship with a dealership so they would keep a eye out for a rig for us. So we simply contacted dealerships that are thought to be competitive in the market and had them give us prices. As it turned out Lazy Days was right there with the best of them.
We travel so there is a good chance we would never be back to any dealership we bought from so price was king.
Like I mentioned, we have had a rough time with the unit we ought however Lazy Days has bellied up and are making things right in a big way, even though it took a little doing and patience. So we can't complain a bunch about Lazy Days except they could be better organized.

cherylbrv · RV-Dreams Family Member

Although we did have a few specific models in mind, I think our budget will be far less than we originally hoped. Most likely we will have to be a lot more open minded and search for a rig that falls within our price range first. I'll ask more questions as I get closer to having to make that decision -- when I can determine if I'm looking for the best price on a specific model, or just the best price of anything I can afford.

jrzygrl64 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Cheryl,

Bill and I bought our 5th Wheel at Crossroads Trailers near Vineland, NJ. Our salesman was Eddie and he was great. The owner, Dena was great. They still have it and are doing things for us, we hope to bring it home by early to mid February.

Check them out they arent too far fro you. Let me know how you makd out.

Kelly

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

Identify a safe budget......then search out whats available within those limits.......you will be amazed if you keep a wide search and open eyes.....

goofing off the last 2 days I found several DP's under 20k.......1 under 15k

cherylbrv · RV-Dreams Family Member

There may be a chance we can work with a budget of $50-75. Not enough for a 5'er and a good truck, but I'm sure we can find some good MHs in that range. Time will tell.

I'll keep ya'll posted, but it looks like yet another wrench may be thrown into our plans. I'll know more by the end of next week.

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

Many dealerships have onsite hookups, an attached campground, or an arrangement with a nearby campground for new owners to stay at least the first night free. They know that you will have questions, and they want to be close by when you have them. We bought our mpg TT from a small local dealership that has a campground attached to the dealership. They gave us one free night there and strongly urged us to use it that first night. We did. We bought the TT in December, so it got dark pretty early, but they got us all hooked up, led us to the campsite, made sure we knew (more or less, anyway) how to operate things, and left us with a phone number to call if we ran into any problems. We didn't, and left early the next morning. When it came time to sell the mpg to buy the Foretravel they handled the consignment sale for us. They have worked on both the mpg with small warranty issues and on the Foretravel at our expense. All work was done well and at what I thought was a fair price.

SnowGypsy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Cheryl: Oh, no, not another wrench! I hope it turns out to be a false alarm. I think you'll be surprised when you actually get out there after your budget is set. I think you'll have choices and be able to find something more decent than you think. Trucks are expensive! That is what makes the motorhomes a better deal if you don't already have a truck and are on a budget. Many times we have looked at trucks but just couldn't part with that much cash and then you have the taxes and insurance at top rates for something newer. Reliable is good and something decent looking. I was looking at motorhomes online today and the prices and the number available is awesome like never before in years and years. Told my husband today that I sure hope when your house hits the market that it sells quickly and he hopes so too. You have the power of many behind you and when the timing is right, everything will line up and come together. The old "Hurry up and wait."

Jo And Craig · RV-Dreams Family Member

Here's another story about Dave and Diane's experience at Lazy Days. (They are fulltimers.) Just thought I would share it with you... for what it's worth.

http://daveanddiane.wordpress.com/

cherylbrv · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks for sharing the link. Really surprised that it was a new Tiffin though!

WestWardHo · RV-Dreams Family Member

It's interesting to me that many recommend not buying from a large dealer and on hindsight I'd have to concur. We had an awful large dealer experience but others have had good experiences such as Howard and Linda if I recall correctly.

When we traded our Big Country for our Trilogy the large dealer never inspected it, just set the price based on the year make and model and it went immediately on their lot for sale. If there had been problems they wouldn't have known it. I'm guessing buying from an individual allows you to really get their measure and lots of time to learn about their experiences and how to operate everything. We also believe that this is a great opportunity for RV Inspectors to help.

We've been told by a small mom and pop dealer that DRV doesn't like consumers picking up their own rigs because of the hassles.

Sherry

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Tiffin is known for their after sale support, not for their original build quality. Some friends took two tries to get a Tiffin Phaeton, they also ended up waiting another month or two (I can't remember) for a replacement. I have heard about the same issue with a Winnebago Tour, the top of the line, the first was delivered with unrepairable defects and had to be reordered. Don't take delivery, ie., pay them, until you are happy.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

WestWardHo wrote:
It's interesting to me that many recommend not buying from a large dealer and on hindsight I'd have to concur. We had an awful large dealer experience but others have had good experiences such as Howard and Linda if I recall correctly.

When we traded our Big Country for our Trilogy the large dealer never inspected it, just set the price based on the year make and model and it went immediately on their lot for sale. If there had been problems they wouldn't have known it. I'm guessing buying from an individual allows you to really get their measure and lots of time to learn about their experiences and how to operate everything. We also believe that this is a great opportunity for RV Inspectors to help.

We've been told by a small mom and pop dealer that DRV doesn't like consumers picking up their own rigs because of the hassles.

Sherry

That last comment kind of goes along with an earlier comment that I made. A lot of buyers have no idea as to what is needed when inspecting their new unit and thus cause longer delays in the "pick up" stage because they are asking so many questions. Many of those would have been better answered and demonstrated by a dealership that could have the unit hooked up to all utilities for a proper demonstration. I also suspect that a lot more companies than just DRV don't like customers picking up their own rigs.

Terry

Bill and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

Having been physically present during factory deliveries at different RV manufactures I can tell you it depends on the company. Some factories that permit, or encourage, on-site delivery actually have people specifically tasked with explaining and answering any and all questions to the purchaser’s satisfaction as well as “training” the purchaser in the operation of their new rig. Some actually encourage you to stay on-site with utility connections, or in the area your choice, so that any problem can be corrected right away by the people who built the unit. And they have a stock full of parts right there. No shipping required. Kind of reduces waiting time.

Some factories don’t like to be “bothered” by customers after the purchase and have said so. Others welcome them.

As always: “It just depends.” There is no universal answer. It's nice to have choices.

Hdrider · RV-Dreams Family Member

Yep,, while here we have seen and heard of issues with every single brand that Lazy Days sells. That's not on Lazy Days but on the manufactures. There is a Entegra that has been here longer than us getting things fixed and a American Coach that is very close.
Being here and talking with the owners of many brands is sure a eye opening experience.
As far as us being switched out it is all Lazy Days at this point that is stepping up. Tiffin has not been involved other than having some techs from the factory look at our rig. So at this point Lazy Days is the one that has stepped up. But I know Tiffin stands behind there product. Our trade in was a 2007 Tiffin that we bought new in 07 and we had such good luck with we figured we would just stick with them.
Like mentioned,, never drive away until things are all fixed if possible. If we had driven off I'm sure things would have been a lot tougher to work out.

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have a large dealership near us that handles nearly every brand you can think of. When we were shopping for the mpg we stopped in there a couple of times to look at their used trailers. Each time we were there we ran into different people. They are also a large new and used car dealership, and it seems that the used car sales people are often sent over to the RV side for a day or two. The sales people didn't know anything about any of the rigs other than what was on their price sheet. We almost decided never to set foot on their lot again.

One weekend they advertised a big Open House, complete with manufacturers reps to answer questions. We decided to give them one last chance, so we went down. By sheer chance we ran into the one man in the whole operation who actually knew something about RVs. He took the time to answer our questions, and more importantly, he asked questions about what we wanted to do and our experience. We soon found out that others knew about him, too, and he was quite busy.

Unfortunately, we learned more about the dealership chain, and what we learned made us decide that we would never set foot on anything connected to that outfit, so we didn't buy there.

There are other stories about other dealerships that had financial issues, leaving customers making two payments for months on end, so it is important that one do all of the investigations possible before getting involved in any serious discussions.