Your rights during PDI

[nick1236]

I'm going to be taking delivery of a 2018 Salem Cruise lite 263BHXL here shortly and I was wondering what rights the buyer has during PDI.

What happens when you eventually find a problem during your PDI walkthrough?

Can a buyer refuse to take delivery during PDI if there are major problems that need to be taken care of?

can the purchase be cancelled even though a purchase contract was signed?

I have bought several used trailers before, I was younger and didnt care if the water heater was broke but now I have a family and things need to work.

I have searched all over these forums and have downloaded and printed several PDI checklists. I plan on bring inspection tools to go over things during my walkthrough. I'm just worried, after reading so many horror stories on here, finding something severely wrong and then having to wait months to have it fixed.

Thank you for your input.

[Reverse_snowbird]

Our dealer tried to get us to sign the final contract and then they would fix the warranty items.

Since we were paying more for the unit than we paid for our first house.... we said that we would not sign the final papers until the items were fixed. We said we'd come back the next day or whenever it was fixed. Needless to say, repair people magically appeared and ALL things were all fixed in a couple of hours... including generator not firing, stove not lighting, etc.

We were prepared to lose our deposit and they knew it. They had our credit approved and like the attorney told us when we did the same thing on a walk through for our home purchase.... they had our loan approved and it was easier for them to fix the items than go through the sales process with someone else.

[Gumpster808]

Some of ours were fixed even before we did the real PDI. Door was damaged and new one in place between when we originally looked and when we went for the Official PDI.

We did the PDI then inspected again when the items were corrected that we found.

Only after we were happy with that did we do any of the final finance paperwork.

With the money we pay for these things personally I’d rather lose the few hundred deposit than get something with a bunch wrong.

Once you are out the door it is harder to get things scheduled and corrected. That is not meant to be a “get out the popcorn” statement [emoji3]

Normally contracts have a right of cancellation also which could come into play.

Good luck.

[Cowracer]

Don't sign anything without PDI if you can help it. (If you are ordering one, it's hard not to). If you have to sign, draw up a document saying final acceptance is dependent on physical inspection of unit and rejection of unit at inspection will cancel contract. Sign it, have the sales manager sign in and keep a copy in a safe place.

Be VERY wary if they won't sign. NEVER NEVER NEVER accept a "Just take it and we'll fix that later" situation. Remember, once they have your money, their motivation to make you happy drops to almost zero

Good luck.

Tim

[nick1236]

Originally Posted by Cowracer

Don't sign anything without PDI if you can help it. (If you are ordering one, it's hard not to). If you have to sign, draw up a document saying final acceptance is dependent on physical inspection of unit and rejection of unit at inspection will cancel contract. Sign it, have the sales manager sign in and keep a copy in a safe place.

Be VERY wary if they won't sign. NEVER NEVER NEVER accept a "Just take it and we'll fix that later" situation. Remember, once they have your money, their motivation to make you happy drops to almost zero

Good luck.

Tim

We found this trailer at an RV event near us. I spent a good 2 hours or so walking around, looking at things while we were there. Nothing seemed out of normal at the time but obviously we didn't get a chance to check the function of stuff, just general build quality. We ended up putting a deposit down and signed a purchase agreement.

At this point I know the trailer is pretty much ours, I'm just wondering that if I find something wrong during PDI, and they can't fix it there, can I delay delivery untill it is fixed? Or do I have to take delivery and then schedule to have them warranty the problems later?

thanks.

[Mars]

I too would also recommend you do not accept delivery of the unit until all of the items are fix. An unhappy customer walking around the lot is a good motivator to get your hit list fixed. If they can't fix it while you wait be ready to just leave it.

[rlocicero]

We are lucky to have a dealer in Palmyra who is real good at customer service, Family RV. They will go out of their way to satisfy the customer. The technician went thru the complete trailer before our PDI and made the necessary adjustments and tweaks to get it ready. We found only two small issues requiring parts. They were very inexpensive ($8.00) so I decided to buy them and install them myself. A 1/2 hour job instead of a round trip and a day.

[DrLewie]

A reputable dealer will fix the problems before or after PDI and delivery. That's what the warrantee is for. I just purchased a new 5er 150 miles away from home. Found nothing on the PDI but a couple of items turned up on a post-delivery shake-down cruise at a campground near the shop. The dealer knew we might be coming back to have any found issues taken care of and they planned their schedule on that possibility. The tech even gave me his cell # so I could call him with any questions or issues after we headed home. Of course the question remains...how can you tell if the dealer is reputable? Do your research, read reviews, and keep your fingers crossed.

[5picker]

We ordered our last unit so we HAD to sign a buyers agreement and give a deposit.
With that we also had a document drawn up (by the dealer) stating final purchase would be contingent upon PDI/Customer inspection. It was also agreed we'd lose our deposit if WE decided it wasn't acceptable or able to be fixed to our satisfaction.

When we bought units off the lot, we never signed anything or gave money until PDI/final inspection satisfied our needs.

As mentioned, many dealers (not all) will drop you like a hot potato once you leave the lot with your new unit.

[NH Traveler]

Our new 2019 Rockwood 2606 that we bought in April passed its inspection with flying colors and we love it, But we've blown a fuse somewhere, I guess, and now the furnace won't start and the stove light and fan won't go. And the DC light in the kitchen won't work. We bought it in SC, drove it home to NH. Sitting scratching our heads trying to find a fuse. Doesn't seem to be any of the fuses in the fuse box. My husband is pretty good with electrical things and he hasn't been able to find it. Not too panicked as it has a warranty and an extended one, too. Just hoping not to have to take it an hour away from here to Camping World's nearest location. Moral of the story: even if everything is fine on inspection, things happen. Still love it -- so well laid out, so beautifully appointed.

[vinmaker]

A PDI is always a good idea if you can.

I bought my POP UP (both actually) on-line from a distance. Needed to pay for it first to get the title, then I could get my registration and plates. I was then able to drive over and pick it up with my new trailer plate.

Worked out pretty smooth. Just send them a big bank check and then go pick it up.

[Philkaty]

So we got a 2017(made 2016) Forester 3051s. Love all the new toys on it. There were things wrong with it and 99% are fixed now. If we get another RV after this one will do more research on the dealer and go over it with a fine tooth comb. First RV was a used one from another dealer and was happy with the whole thing, should have gone back there, but we chose a dealer closer to us.

[Papa Rich]

Just went through this very situation on a New Wolfpack toyhauler. I have bought new before and guess I was lucky and my good dealers took care of stuff after the sale. That being said I should have been concerned on this last unit when the sales department had me finalize the paperwork before doing the PDI. This unit was a display which we knew going in and needed to be cleaned up and checked before delivery. The sale person assured me that this would be all taken care of when we picked it up. Items that I noted on just a walk through before the sale was told they would be taken care of. After signing the paper work we went to inspect the camper and found you could write you name in the dirt on the blinds on the slide. as well as the screen walls for the patio deck. The garage floor was filthy as well as the floor in the living area. There was a big puddle under the sink from a improperly installed drain. All the penetrations in the underpinning had big holes that needed taping up which I had noted before the sale and was suppose to be fixed. These are just a few of the things wrong. Unfortunately the weather was turning bad and we had a 75 mile trip home we decided that most of the stuff I would take care of. What I didn't catch was a bent tongue jack. When I brought this to their attention I was pretty much told once it left the lot it was on me. It took two months and many nasty emails to get this resolved. The rest of the stuff I will or have fixed myself. This is by far the worst dealer I have ran across. I will never buy anything from Gateway RV in Collinsville Il again.

[NCBBA11043]

We were in a similar situation 3 years ago. We ordered a unit from the local RV Show, so signed an agreement and put down a deposit. When it came time for delivery, we made sure we did the PDI / walk through before signing the acceptance contract. There were a few minor things, but we signed off. If there was anything major, I would have walked away. I'd lose my deposit, but save the $45,000 I would have paid for a defective unit. As it was, it took 6 months for them to correct the minor issues that we made sure we noted on the acceptance paperwork. Some items took 3 visits. Either they never fixed it, or did a horrible job. If you refuse acceptance, you might be out a few bucks, but now the dealer has a unit he has to sell, and has to find a spot to put it. If they are as busy as ours was, that would cost them a few bucks.

[kwolrley]

Originally Posted by nick1236

I'm going to be taking delivery of a 2018 Salem Cruise lite 263BHXL here shortly and I was wondering what rights the buyer has during PDI.

What happens when you eventually find a problem during your PDI walkthrough?

Can a buyer refuse to take delivery during PDI if there are major problems that need to be taken care of?

can the purchase be cancelled even though a purchase contract was signed?

I have bought several used trailers before, I was younger and didnt care if the water heater was broke but now I have a family and things need to work.

I have searched all over these forums and have downloaded and printed several PDI checklists. I plan on bring inspection tools to go over things during my walkthrough. I'm just worried, after reading so many horror stories on here, finding something severely wrong and then having to wait months to have it fixed.

Thank you for your input.

We did 2 PDI's the first is when we sat down and put a deposit..I took pictures of everything created a work order list and a detailed powerpoint. I gave them 10 days to make all corrections while I shopped interest rates..then went back for a final walk through and sign off before taking delivery. I made it clear, in writing that no papers would be signed wothout complete approval.

[nick1236]

Luckily the dealer we are buying from is literally 15 mins from my house.

[Rookiewood]

Originally Posted by Reverse_snowbird

Our dealer tried to get us to sign the final contract and then they would fix the warranty items.

Since we were paying more for the unit than we paid for our first house.... we said that we would not sign the final papers until the items were fixed. We said we'd come back the next day or whenever it was fixed. Needless to say, repair people magically appeared and ALL things were all fixed in a couple of hours... including generator not firing, stove not lighting, etc.

We were prepared to lose our deposit and they knew it. They had our credit approved and like the attorney told us when we did the same thing on a walk through for our home purchase.... they had our loan approved and it was easier for them to fix the items than go through the sales process with someone else.

X2

We made a deposit on our Rockwood 8311WS and it had 2-3 "little things" to fix before delivery.
To make it short it took them 4 months to get everything fixed, first it was FR not sending the parts, then sending the wrong ones...
Just remember that the factory warranty starts the day you take it home, in other words if you take it home and then it is the shop for 4 months you only have 8 months (out of 12) to make sure nothing else needs to get fix.
My 2 cents.

[270S]

Originally Posted by vinmaker

A PDI is always a good idea if you can.

Not to pick you out, but 100% wrong I unfortunately learned. The PDI is your one and only chance to get it right. After that expect NOTHING. Fix it or walk, that simple as one that found 70+ items later and FR fixed NOTHING!

[Semperfi24]

Originally Posted by NH Traveler

Our new 2019 Rockwood 2606 that we bought in April passed its inspection with flying colors and we love it, But we've blown a fuse somewhere, I guess, and now the furnace won't start and the stove light and fan won't go. And the DC light in the kitchen won't work. We bought it in SC, drove it home to NH. Sitting scratching our heads trying to find a fuse. Doesn't seem to be any of the fuses in the fuse box. My husband is pretty good with electrical things and he hasn't been able to find it. Not too panicked as it has a warranty and an extended one, too. Just hoping not to have to take it an hour away from here to Camping World's nearest location. Moral of the story: even if everything is fine on inspection, things happen. Still love it -- so well laid out, so beautifully appointed.

Have you checked the GFCI outlets? There is always one, and I have seen situations where people find there is a second GFCI outlet that they didnt know was there, and that turned out to be the culprit to their issues. Maybe that isnt it, but thought I'd mention it.

[Cypressloser]

The term "PDI" as it is used here confuses me.
At least in the equipment/heavy machinery business the PDI (Pre Delivery Inspection) is done by the dealer before the sale is finalized, which includes fixing all existing damages/problems (if any), preparing the equipment for use (adding fluids, greasing, etc.) and testing all systems.
At the time of delivery the dealer does a walk through/orientation, with the dealer which comes after the PDI. The buyer has the opportunity to check/inspect/test the unit and make the dealer aware of things that might have been missed during the initial PDI and the buyer can demand to have these things addressed before he or she signs the release forms.
The problem is that some dealers try to charge the customer for the PDI but don't do a thorough job doing it and then tell the buyer 'We'll take care of it under warranty', this is complete BS, it should have been done during the PDI before the buyer has to go through the warranty claim process.
This, and cleaning is part of the prep work and cost of doing business.
Having said this, almost everything is negotiable.

Now, what rights do you have? If you are taking delivery of a million dollar motorhome you obviously need more time for your walk through as if you were buying a pop up. If anything appears to be broken or not operating as it should be simply don't sign the final contract and have it fixed before you do - within reason.
Be aware that everything that needs to be done after the sale will be done under warranty and needs to be taken to the manufacturer for approval, makes matters slightly more complicated and takes time obviously. Plus, some dealers really drag their feet once they have your money and you are out of sight. So, unless you know who you are dealing with make sure you keep some kind of leverage.

Who would take delivery of a new truck that has a scratch in the paint, why would it be any different with an RV?