Suggestions for Delivery Process

BostonRVer · 08-05-2019, 08:14 AM

Hi all,

I have been obsessing to buy a Travel Trailer for as long as I can remember. Finally going to do it this Summer/Fall. I know I might need to buy way out of state (i live in Northeast) if I want to get the best price. I don't have time to drive and pick it up and tow it back so I will probably just pay for delivery.

Can everyone give me their own personal experience/suggestions on how they went about doing this - particularly in regards to ensuring when the trailer shows up in their driveway there isn't anything that needs fixing?

I am currently looking at RVWholesalers.. I was thinking of flying over to sign the papers, and inspect the unit (PDI?) Spend a couple of days there to make sure they fix everything on the spot and then fly home and wait for it to be delivered? Does that sound like a good plan? I had spoken to one of the salesmen there , Mitch Eilerman, he told me most customers don't fly over to inspect the trailers since they do their own PDI and make sure it is ready for customer pickup but that he's happy to accomodate. Again, not knowing what I don't know, just wanted to get an idea of what everyone else who delivered their trailer thought.

Thanks in advance for your help!

formerFR · 08-05-2019, 08:26 AM

questions:

- if you're spending the money to 'fly over', and possibly additional fees for 'delivery'... would you not be able to spend the same overall monies closer to home, and save yourself some 'concern' and headache?

- who is 'RV Wholesalers', and are they 'internet' sales only, or a 'physical' dealer?
- how, when, and how 'much' is the delivery to you? Is it to you personally, at your home? From 'where' is it being delivered from?

- would you not want to 'drive down' and just pick up and return with the trailer yourself?

**Flybob** · 08-05-2019, 08:28 AM

Every dealer will tell you they do their own PDI, yet you will almost always find something they missed or overlooked. If you absolutely can not tow it home. going there to inspect it is a good idea. Depending on what you find wrong, it may not be able to be repaired in "the few days" you are there. The other issue is insuring the transporter will care for it like it was theirs. They get paid to get it from one place to another period. You need to do due diligence on the transporter as some are good and some are not. I would also look at the numbers carefully. If the remote deal only saves you a little money it may be a better choice t by local. RVW. has good prices, but once you add in the cost of travel to do PDI, and transporter you may be close to the local dealer.

formerFR · 08-05-2019, 08:31 AM

from the 'check to make sure everything is ok' perspective, if that's you're real concern, a new Trailer or RV or motorhome comes with a warranty. That's your 'protection' for any issues you may find when it arrives, or during the first initial year of ownership - it matters not whether that happens at the dealership, during transport, during delivery, or just while you are using it.

And any dealership, service center, repair shop, or mobile RV tech can do that.

BostonRVer · 08-05-2019, 08:35 AM

Thanks guys for the quick response.

- Yeah time is the issue , I can't be away from home for more then a couple of days. The closest dealer to me would still be 3 hours away even if they could match pricing - destination fee. Typically most of the Northeast dealers I have reached out to are at least 4k or 5k higher.

Anyone have any experience getting a trailer delivered from RVW?

BostonRVer · 08-05-2019, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by formerFR

from the 'check to make sure everything is ok' perspective, if that's you're real concern, a new Trailer or RV or motorhome comes with a warranty. That's your 'protection' for any issues you may find when it arrives, or during the first initial year of ownership - it matters not whether that happens at the dealership, during transport, during delivery, or just while you are using it.

And any dealership, service center, repair shop, or mobile RV tech can do that.

Totally understand and expect repairs and warranty work will happen with any trailer, I just didn't want warranty issues right after taking ownership of it haha.

**bikendan** · 08-05-2019, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by formerFR

questions:

- who is 'RV Wholesalers', and are they 'internet' sales only, or a 'physical' dealer?
- how, when, and how 'much' is the delivery to you? Is it to you personally, at your home? From 'where' is it being delivered from?

RVW has been around for years and, along with RV Direct, were the original internet RV "wholsalers" that changed the public's method of shopping for RVs.
The co-owner is Dave Durnell and is a Forum member.
Yes, RVW is a "physical" S&B dealer.
RVW will also meet you anywhere in between, for delivery.
If it were me, as close as you are, I would go there to pick it up. You're fortunate to live so close. We had to make a 4000 mile roundtrip to the Midwest, to pick up our new HTT, since we live on the West Coast.

OP, have you checked out RV One? They've been RVW's main competitor for years and have locations in the Northeast. They sell both Rockwood and Flagstaff.
They are used to matching or beating RVW's prices.

jboczek · 08-05-2019, 02:46 PM

We bought a trailer from Pete's RV in northern Indiana and had it delivered to Southern Illinois. It cost us 10% less than the same trailer at our closest dealer, even after delivery. We trusted Pete's to deliver a trailer with no big problems and that's what we got. I've fixed a couple small things which I would have done even if we had bought it local. When it got delivered, the driver had us look over the exterior of the trailer and sign a paper that there was no damage and said that was all he was responsible for, nothing on the interior. We had a good experience, not saying all would be like ours. Like I said, even if we had bought local, and local was about 70 miles away, I still would end up fixing most things myself rather than tow it to the dealer. We would do it again.

hereIam · 08-05-2019, 03:28 PM

I bought my trailer 5 years ago from RVW and had it delivered. I am in Winnipeg,Manitoba, Canada and the same trailer would have cost me $5000 more to buy locally. For me too it would have been about 2000km round trip. I didn't have time so I had it delivered to Grand Forks and picked mine up there. That was only a half day drip vs many days to go there and then drive back. I have not had warrantee issues or any other serious issues. It was very easy dealing with them and I would buy from them again.

BostonRVer · 08-05-2019, 04:59 PM

Thanks for all the advice guys! I only have the weekends for driving so that's not enough to drive to Ohio and back even if it was in one day.

Glad to hear you guys had good experiences with delivery. I'm going too double check locally before I consider RVW

BostonRVer · 08-05-2019, 05:00 PM

I haven't gotten a quote yet but I know they work freight into their price, a little cheaper then what my delivery cost would be. I'll hit them up too for pricing

tjay · 08-05-2019, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BostonRVer

Thanks guys for the quick response.

- Yeah time is the issue , I can't be away from home for more then a couple of days. The closest dealer to me would still be 3 hours away even if they could match pricing - destination fee. Typically most of the Northeast dealers I have reached out to are at least 4k or 5k higher.

Anyone have any experience getting a trailer delivered from RVW?

We had our Vibe Travel trailer delivered from RVW with no issues. It was delivered to our driveway here in RI We had the opportunity to do a complete inspection before accepting delivery. The spare tire had come off during the trip and they sent new one immediately. The only problem you might find is a dealership to have any warranty work done. They set us up with Camping World who im not fond of. Fortunately the local dealership (Arlington RV)will take it in for warranty service whenever necessary. I wouldn't hesitate to buy from them again if the savings were worth it.

sunnman · 08-05-2019, 07:52 PM

I would recommend buying from a local dealer. Ask around and see who’s best after the sale. If you buy from another dealer and need service work done - especially warranty - you will go to the back of the line and wait. Sales makes them money, not warranty work. That’s why you see people complaining it took 3 months to get their rv services.

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