We found the perfect RV floor plan we want. It's a Forest River Sunseeker at a dealer here in town. Not a fly-by-night. One that's been around a while & has three locations. The salesman was nice, not pushy. We don't want to buy til late fall. It may be gone by then. So we have to keep our options open. If we bought it now, six months of our warrantee would be over before we could take off late fall (first snow bird season). I wouldn't mind buying the perfect one now & using it but husb feels he has no time to use it til he retires.
That dealer said we could store it free til we needed it but we hate to make payments on something we're not using.
Today we went to a Camping World (and I don't know if that forum is run by Camping World) just to look, and had a horrible pushy salesman. He didn't have the model we like but kept saying he could get something similar, make us a deal, etc. I found him so offensive I walked out to the car. Hounded us relentlessly. I said we'd like to look around on our own & he stuck to us like white on rice, never shutting up.
My ques is, he told us by buying at Camping World we would be better off because we could stay overnight free at any Camping World & buying from them, we could get service anywhere in the US if we had a problem, whereas we couldn't do that from another dealer.
I find that hard to believe.
If you join Good Sam, can you stay overnight free at Camping World anyway? I couldn't tell from the Good Sam website. If you buy a new Forest River & it breaks down in another state, aren't you able to get assistance at another location? I just felt like this guy was a real BS'er but husb was thinking he was right. I would rather give our business to the nicer non-pushy dealer.
The Sunseeker is a popular Class C. You shouldn't have any problem finding one when you get ready to buy..I had a 31' and it was a great rig. You can take your rv to any rv dealer and have it worked on if they can get it in for you.. Most have Ford or Chev. running gear on them and you can go to any dealership and have it worked on..
2003 Four Winds Infinity 37'
2011 Lance 855
3.5# Minpin named Darcy
Ford F250 Super Duty
As I understand, some dealers do not like to provide warranty service if you purchased out of state and returned home with a unit. The local dealer whom we purchased from is a member of "Route 66" which as I understand is a network of dealers. I don't know if they would help out with warranty work.
I do know that when we purchased our MH, I think I only had one return trip to the dealer for warranty repair. And it was a very minor thing that I was almost embarrassed to return to them for.
I have never heard about staying overnight at a CW. I do know that where the closest one to us is located, the town has an overnight ban. Doesn't allow any overnight parking at anyplace other than a campground.
Maybe someone else has experienced purchasing from CW and can comment better.
If they don't have one on the lot, could you not order the exact unit you want from nice guy when it is closer to retirement?
Good luck with retirement. We have almost given up on that happening with us.
I would buy from the non pushy dealer. He is far more likely to offer you excellent service. If you are concerned about warranty, then purchase an extended warranty.
If I understand you correctly the non pushy dealer is willing to put the warranty "on hold" for six months until you physically remove the RV from his lot. That's great service already!
A few camping worlds allow overnight stays unless service work is going to be done.
#1 I have always camped at CW for free and never bought any RVs from them. I don't think that has changed.
#2. I don't know about the warranty on Forest River products. When I bought my Alpenlite 5Ver, I didn't know at the time, all warranty work on the Alpenlite 5Ver, not appliances, had to be done by an Alpenlite dealer. The problem was there were only a few dealers around the U.S. I suspect that is one reason Alpenlite went out of business.
#3. I would check with Forest River. Ask them who can make warranty repairs on their RVs. Keep in mind Appliances are handled by the manufacture of that appliance, such as furnace, water heater, gas range, microwave, A/C etc. Forest River would handle the repairs on the way the box was put together. Like if your roof leaks or your slide out falls off etc.
#4. Pushy salesmen. The older I get the more annoyed I get with pushy salespeople. However, always beware. There are some soft talking very personable salespeople that will use their super personality to suck you in. Listen to what each sales person has to say, then check out what they say before you buy. For example: I would call that camping world management and ask them if I had to pay for camping at their store if I didn't buy a RV from them.
#5. I had a local Ford dealer that I had bought from several times before tell me they changed their policy. If I wanted to order out a new vehicle I had to put a $100 deposit on a vehicle. He told me he would return the deposit if I changed my mind before the vehicle was shipped. I wrote that in the memo area. Two weeks later I found the PU I wanted on another lot for a better price. I called up the dealer and told them I wanted my deposit back. They put me on hold for what seemed like a long time. The manager came on the phone and told me my deposit would be waiting for me when I came in. The next day the salesman called me cussing me out and called me about everything I had ever heard before. They fired him for taking a deposit he wasn't supposed to take.
Sorry about your salesperson experience. We try to do our best but sometimes we miss the ball.
As far as service, I believ ethe salesperson was stating that unlike other Rv dealerships, we have locations all over the country that are available to serve you in case yourun into trouble. No one else has that benefit. As for warranty work, usually only Forest River dealers can offer you warranty service work on your Forest River. That is generally the policy with most manufacturers.
While not all our locations have hook ups for over night stays, most of our Camping World locations will let our members stay overnight as long as they can accomodate the space.
We appreciate the opportutiy to earn your business.
I have been to many CampingWorlds as they tend to have what I need for the MH when I need it. Some are great. Portland CW truly saved me. Denver area I remember as very helpful. The people at San Diego area CW were very knowledgeable when were were there. That said, employees can do a lot of damage to a company. My local CW is understaffed and rather useless. Obviously, you met a salesman who would do better in a used car or used appliance store.
Camping for free, overnight, is dependant on the community rules, and our local CW is not permitted overnight camping. Most warranty work on an RV is appliance related, and can be accomplished at the appropriate appliance repair center. Pushy salespeople make it rather obvious that they will say anything to get a sale...see if they will put it in writing on the contract BEFORE you sign...yeah right.
Personally, if I found the floor plan that was "perfect" I would purchase now. There will be many months when the RV is sitting unused, and you feel payments are being wasted. But in the long run, at least for my family, the time spent using the RV well makes up for the time it sits and gathers sunshine.
Finding the best floorplan for your family needs is by far better than finding something "close" later.
JMHO
Happy Trails.
I had a similar experience at the camping world in Santa Clarita, Ca. I'd been on the hunt for a newer 33-38 foot fifth wheel toy hauler with a seperate garage for a good 7 months and did my homework prior to visiting them. I wanted to spend $25-$30k on a used unit that was a few years old. The salesman told me that I wouldn't find what I was looking for and said I was being a bit too optomistic. He proceeded to show me units that he had in my price range just to prove to me what the current market offers in my price range for the size of unit I wanted. The units were older than what I was looking for, very worn looking units that I would never consider buying at any price, much less $25k. He kept pushing me to get into a new Fuzion for roughly the same payments that I be paying on a used $30k unit. I'm an ex car finance guy and I new his math wasn't adding up. He proceeded to tell me that he gets customers in all the time who bought their units elsewhere then come to get them serviced at Camping World...and they get turned away because they didn't buy it there. Needless to say I knew this guy was full of himself and was just looking for a customer he could shove into a new unit he had on the lot.
A month later I bought my 2007 Keystone Raptor 3712TS for $27,500 from a private party. This guy took emaculate care of this thing and it looked and smelled new. Some of the mattresses still even had the plastic on them. The guy threw in the sliding hitch, RV cover, brand new tires with roadhazzard warranty from America's Tire, and a fully transferrable warranty on the RV good until May of 2014. I went back to Camping World with my new rig in tow to buy a few camping supplies for our maiden voyage...and guess who was standing on the point? Yep...you guessed it...that salesman from the month prior...I didn't intend for it to turn out the way it did...but after I told him about the deal I found for myself...I could see the dollar signs evaporating from the top of his head into the sky....it was precious. Hopefully he will take his future customers more seriously and treat them a little better...but that's probably being "a bit too optomistic."
I guess bashing a saleman for doing his job in one thread wasn't enough so you started another. See the thread "RV Dealer - is what he said true?" I saw in one of your previous posts you work(ed) in a call center. Doesn't that make your depiction of RV salespeople as despicable scum kind of like the kettle calling the pot black? That Camping World salesman did exactly what he was supposed to do, try to sell you an RV. He offered to find the rig you wanted, gave you reasons to buy from Camping World and you feel like he violated you. What should they have done, told you they didn't have the rig you wanted, tell you there is no reason to ever buy from Camping World and then walk away from you so you wouldn't feel they were being pushy? If I managed that Camping World sales department, I wouldn't be upset with the salesperson, I would probably use them as an example of how a salesperson should handle a customer. BTW, if the other dealer was so great, and the rig so perfect, why the heck were you out shopping other dealers anyway? Me thinks there is more to the story.
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