After driving a thousand miles trying to find a used unit and looking at every dealership, We have just about decided to buy from RV Direct. How did you like the company? When you live three states away and want to get warrantee work done, how are you treated by the dealerships you didn't buy from? Do they send you to various places to get work done on various parts within the trailer like the water pump, fridge, air concditioner, etc? I'm hoping to drive off into the sunset with everything working but doubt it will stay that way. I will have to buy the hitch from them and have it installed when I pick the unit up.
My pick thus far will be a Rockwood 2603S. Is the flat screen option a good one or would I be better off going out and buying my own TV?
We had a very good experience purchasing from RVD. They delivered what they promised when they promised it and at the agreed upon price which was thousands below local dealers best offer. We have had no occasion to have any warranty work done on our Rockwood in the 15 months we've owned it but I would have no problems getting it done from local dealers but I would NOT receive priority scheduling like their own customers would get. For the record, you wouldn't get that from ANY dealer when you didn't purchase from them whether it's RV Direct or some other stick and mortar dealer. Good luck and enjoy the Rockwood, it's a great brand. / Skip
Well, every time I post this someone gets offended and starts flamming me....OH WELL, I'm doin' it anyways!
Myself and several other NH dealers are taking a stand against the Internet RV dealers and refusing to do warranty work on units purchased from them. (The above mentioned company is one of them) The manufacturers don't pay enough on warranty to be worth the trouble, and knowing service could be difficult to get may discourage people from buying at prices that us dealers can't possibly compete with! It may also open the eyes of the manufacturers to remember the dealer network that has supported them for years before these wholesalers came along!
Let's face it, if you all buy from the wholesalers, the dealers you want to do your service are going to slowly die off. We just lost one (this week) here in NH.
I would love to support my local dealers but when mark ups reaches 30 to 40 %, the buyer is taking it in the skivvies. Its the same thing when you go to buy a new car. You have to play the game of "Lets make a deal" while the salesman trys to "Hit a Homerun", as they say in the business. Would a dealer be willing to show me what he paid for the trailer and how much the dealership is making on the deal? I doubt it. We expect everyone in the business to make money and I'm sure RV Direct makes money. Its just how much money is the big question. Thinking of all the vehicles and other toys I've bought over the years, I would have easily bought twice as many if it wasn't for all the game playing that goes on.
We got a quote of $17,645 two months ago from RV Direct on a Jay Flight 31BHS picked up at one of their locations.
So I called up my local "mom & pop" Jayco dealer to see what he would do. Turns out he had one on sale for $17,850. I called him up a few days later, said I had my financing in place with my credit union and was buying today. I told him I wanted it delivered to my seasonal campsite 15 minutes away and what was his best price. He dropped the price to $17,500 and agreed to delivery and setup for no additional charge.
Just for comparison, I then called a large Jayco dealer in Minneapolis. He also had a 31BHS in stock, but wanted almost $20,000 for it. I mentioned what my local dealer was asking, and at that point he basically wanted to end the conversation.
My little local dealer can make a profit at a price similar to RV Direct, so no reason others can't.
John, the lovely wife, plus the 3 kids. 2007 Jayco Jay Flight 31BHS - Parked at the Seasonal Site Previous setups...
2002 Ford Explorer V6 pulling 2000 Trail-Lite Bantam B19
1997 Chevy Blazer pulling small Coleman popup
that was my worry,, buying sight unseen and warranty work. I must have got lucky, the dealer I bought from beat all the online prices. I said this was the best price that I have found,went online with him to show him,,he played with the calculator for a minute,then asked me if I brought the check book "lol" he then showed me a price, $ 600.00 less,the whole thing took 10 min. I did ask the dealer about warranty with online purchases,,, the dealer said they do not have to warranty on any unit bought from the wholesale places "but" he said anyone on the road camping that's passing through he always will, but if your local your winter work,,,, "he said some under stand others never will" thought that was about the best straight forward of a statement that I have herd on that subject
Although I am a dealer, I never include comments trying to solicit business.
I do make industry inclusive comments, but nothing directly relating to this dealership. Even though some have tried, I have never even identified the business name or location. I believe I provide a side to the forums that the RV user may not see or be aware of.
I also do my best to help people with tech troubles. Let's face it, some of the suggestions from "fellow campers" are, although not intentionaly, far from accurate! In that aspect, I believe being a 30+ year service tech is helpful to these forums. Would you rather get my input on a service problem, or the weekend warrior in the next campsite?? (no insult intended for weekenders) He (or she) may be an excellent accountant, business manager, or carpenter, but as far as RV service issues go, do they really have the right answer?
There are LOTS of other dealers and factory reps on here too! I know 2 factory service reps, for a major player in the biz, that post (& lurk) here.
Anyways, this is way off topic, but I felt I should explain.
I will be buying from an Internet wholesaler. Here is why. My "local" dealer is selling the unit I will buy for $5,000 more than I will be paying. He is unwilling to come down on his price. His local reputation for service is lousy. The dealer from NH obviously reads the forum and surely reads the horror tales about the service RV owners receive....they are all "LOCAL" to someone. Being local does not guarantee quality service. I know nothing of the NH dealerships, but I am not going to be blackmailed by a local dealer who wants me to pay 5 to 6 thousand more for the privilege of paying a dealer to service my vehicle. On a side note there is another local dealer who doesn't offer the make I am buying and he said he would love to handle any repair work, even if I didn't buy from him. Guess he figured it out...it's better to make a little money than none at all. Maybe dealers should band together and try to insure quality service.
[quote=CamperTech]
The manufacturers don't pay enough on warranty to be worth the trouble, and knowing service could be difficult to get may discourage people from buying at prices that us dealers can't possibly compete with!
Do the manufacturers charge different prices to different dealers? When we bought our Jayco just last month, we tried hard to purchase from our local dealer, they just would not be realistic, so we ended up purchasing from a dealer 100 miles away and saved several thousand dollars. I can drive the 200 mile roundtrip for service several times and still be money ahead. Although we didn't purchase from a "wholesale" dealer, next time I could very easily purchase from one of them.
As far as not doing warranty work because they didn't purchase from you, I hope you don't travel far from home. What if you bought your RV in Florida and traveled to California and needed some work done somewhere along the way? What if the auto dealers do the same thing, I bet you'd look at it differently.
I understand what you're saying about the manufactureres not payint enough for warranty work and the dealers slowly dying off but everyone better WAKE UP, the internet is here to stay and is a strong, powerful tool. Dealers have been able to charge what they have for years because no one knew of the "wholesale" dealers so people paid their local dealer prices, now the local dealers don't like to see people buy from "wholelsale" dealers because they say they can't sell at the lower prices. I think they don't [u]want[/u] to because they haven't been forced to for many years, now the internet is forcing them to do business differently and they're not making as much money, BOO HOO. You've been taking it to the people for years, now the tables are turning and you don't like it.
That's more than I've ever said on any forum before and it's just my .02. Just tired of hearing dealers cry about not making enough money, how much is enough? Im not knocking CamperTech, as I do value his information, but RV dealers as a whole.
Note: Due to invalid formatting, all formatting has been ignored.
Offline
Online
