bill321
Colorado
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Joined: 02/28/2008
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I am purchasing a new TT from a "quote unquote" wholesaler and all this talk lately of not being able to get warranty work done by local repair shops has me worried.
I tried to work with the two local dealers initially.
I explained that I wanted to keep the money in the local economy and that I would rather deal locally. The first dealer gave me the impression that I was just a waste of his time and would only come down $300 off the price the MSRP. The second dealer actually worked with me and was very nice. However he was only able to come withing $4500 of the wholesale price. I offered to meet him half way and split that $4500 difference but he was not able to budge any further according to his Sales Manager.
So to make a long story short I am driving out of state to pick up a new travel trailer in the next couple of weeks. I know the local guys need to make a profit too and I wish that I could have purchased from them.....believe me ...I do. I tried to deal locally but the $4500 I saved meant being able to afford the TT or not.
Anyway...back to my point.
I am purchasing what I think is "good name" that comes with two year warranty. I consider myself fairly handy and can repair minor stuff(with help from you all). So if I luck out and don't have to have any major warranty work done in the first 2 years will I still get the same "run around" from the local guys when I am paying for work out of my own pocket after the warranty has expired?
I hope that I haven't made a big mistake as I don't want my first TT to be a bad experience.
Bill321
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Crazy_2
New Maryland New Brunswick
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$4500 will buy you a lot of warranty work.
Unless your are very unlucky, I think you will be ahead of the game at the end of 2 years.
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davidj54
South Alabama
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If you can fix the minor things you'll be fine. Anything major will probably need to go back to the factory anyway. The chance of you needing the warranty is slim. After the waranty expires most places are more than glad to take your money no matter where you bought it.
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SemperFiCop
USA
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Joined: 10/19/2007
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Good for You,
You made the Right Decision.
If the Local Dealer wants to go "Out of Business"
that is the "Local Dealers" Problem,
Not Yours... 
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havedreamwilltravel
Southern California
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If your handy as you say, then chances are you'll be able to fix anything that does go wrong.
And yes, RV dealers typically won't service what they sell and that's the norm. So you are taking a chance on that. Only exceptions i've seen is if your traveling - most places are happy to help those stuck on the road far from home with something major. Warranty work does not hardly even pay the salary and overhead of an RV dealer so you kind of can't blame them for only working on the trailers that they sold. I've never had a problem with the idea though some do.
I think you'll be fine. If it's the brand I think it is since only a couple offer a two year warranty, I own one of those brands and we've not had to take it in for anything in the almost 2 years we've owned it - it has been perfect and the couple little things that were needed (fuse box beauty cover tabs broke) I was able to have the parts ordered and shipped to me (under warranty) and did it myself.
Also, many of the appliances have manufacturer warranties by the maker and those will still be going after your trailer's warranty expires. In that case, they'd send someone out to you or tell you where to go as they have their pre-approved repair places (i.e. - refrigerator, microwave, stove etc.)
Enjoy your trailer! At least you tried to work with the local guys but $4500.00 is a lot. Ours got to within $500.00 (I think it was - I know it was close) so we went with them.
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Dixonmatco
Santa Rosa, California
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Your question is kind of 2 part..
Yes, warranty work will be a problem. Small adjustments and repairs you will have to do yourself or pay an independant to repair. $4,500 pays for lots of these type of things.
Any major repairs will require you to transport the TT to a repair center for the out of state wholesaler, or to the factory.
After warranty repairs (or other non-waranty service or additions) will be no problem. All dealers repair shops and independant repair shops survive on customer pay repair work.
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smkettner
Southern CA
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Many of the individual components have a manufacturers warranty.
You can often get new parts etc direct from the manufacturer.
While you are picking it up, be very thorough with the walk through and test every item. Then camp locally there a couple days to give you time to find defects. Retest every item, run the slide in/out each day, hook it up and drive around etc. Then you will be close by to get something fixed at the wholesaler. Most things show up pretty quick.
$4500 does pay for a lot of repair.
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tvman44
Southwest Louisiana
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Most dealers will service even if they did not sell it but might put units they sold ahead of yours as they feel they owe their loyality to those that bought from them.
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George H
Washington
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Remember that those who have had problems tend to be much more vocal than those who have not needed service (or who have had good service).
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Jim4929
Roanoke, VA
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A page or so back there is this thread "Trailer pickup failed on first attempt - things missing " There are a lot of bad dealers out there who are local to someone. Paying the extra thousands of $$ is not going to guarantee that you will get a local dealer who will treat you well. I was told by a local dealer "go ahead and buy from someone else I won't service it". When it came time to buy, he didn't even get a chance to make a quote. I went 200 miles away to buy the same unit the local guy had on his lot. The people I bought from are GREAT and worth the trip. Also next door to the local guy there is another dealer. He did not carry the models I wanted and he said he would be grateful for my service business. I would not have hesitated to buy from a wholesaler. Don't let a "local" dealer blackmail you with the service line. If he is like my local dealer I wouldn't trust them to change a light bulb.
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