Finally its here. Picked up our new SAQ365:(

[supercab79]

Boy after a long wait we were able to go and pick up the new camper. As usual the dealer experience was just terrible. The PDI what a joke. You really have to laugh that there is no mechanism in place to police or monitor these dealerships. Anyway after a painful walkthrough and paperwork fiasco I finally have it home and out of the hands of knuckleheads and have two of major repairs completed and now onto the cosmetic corrections. What a headache but at least its home.

However this floor plan layout is awesome.

[RoadTrip]

Congrats! Our walkthru was just as humorous. We're first time owners, so the 20 minutes it took seemed normal to us. :/

If you're first-timers also, let me reassure you that just like everybody says, you'll just learn all about it on your own anyway. We've had ours 4 months now and are really getting pretty comfortable.

Of course that's after **finally** finding the 2nd grey water tank under the shower, figuring out the furnace on our own after freezing for two nights and finding out that our "one owner used" previously was a rental!

Hope you have as much fun with less drama than us!

[Terier]

Originally Posted by supercab79

Boy after a long wait we were able to go and pick up the new camper. As usual the dealer experience was just terrible. The PDI what a joke. You really have to laugh that there is no mechanism in place to police or monitor these dealerships. Anyway after a painful walkthrough and paperwork fiasco I finally have it home and out of the hands of knuckleheads and have two of major repairs completed and now onto the cosmetic corrections. What a headache but at least its home.

However this floor plan layout is awesome.

About that "As usual the dealer experience was just terrible" comment - was there signs of trouble ahead of time? How did the purchasing part go?

Sorry to hear about receiving a poor PDI. Not that this will help you any but I received a really good inspection and walk through. Wish you could have too. Like you said at least its home now and you start to enjoy it.

[rattleNsmoke]

Don't feel bad. I bought 'The Beast' from an Airstream dealer that did not stock fifth wheels. So the mechanic, wifey and I fumbled our way thru the PDI. We prodded and pulled handles, levers, knobs and switches until we understood somewhat what everything did. Even then it's a learning curve getting it all sorted out while camping. What helped was a plentifull amount of Jack Daniels.

[supercab79]

This was our first brand new purchase of an RV. We had waited for about 7 years to find a floor plan that was so good that I was willing to come out of our Holiday Rambler for. I had wanted a Holiday for quite sometime and when I finally found a pre Monaco Holiday I was thrilled. It was clean, well maintained and best of all no SMELLS. That was from a Holiday dealer and the purchase was a nightmare but it was used and the dealer was an hour and a half away so any warranty work turned into a hassle and was mediocre at best so I learned quickly that it was just easier to do the repairs myself. So fast forward to this September at Hershey and there it was the Sandpiper 365SAQ WOW a great floor plan, tons of room, great features and a good price point to boot. The dealer that was selling them was only about an hour away and one of my best friends had bought from them in the past with only a few problems mostly from them being ho hum about things. Anyway I figured we were buying a camper not moving in next door to the salesman, who was dry at best. But during the build process I started to notice the dealer was all but absent, it was aggravating to get any answers from them and they were pretty clueless about the Sandpiper line as a whole. So I started to deal directly with the factory and that eased a lot of frustration. So the build competition date comes and goes and nothing from the dealer, I call the factory because the camper was due to be delivered during hurricane Sandy and being right in the eye of the storm I was concerned that it would get damaged in transit, However the factory tells me that the camper left on time and should have been at the dealers for almost a week now. At this point I start to figure out the this dealer is not a bad dealer but as I said before just very Ho Hum about things. I ask to come and pick it up and they tell me that it has to be in a week and a half they are backed up with deliveries and the Sandpiper mechanic who does the PDI's isn't available until then. We show up this Saturday and find out that the Sandpiper expert was off that day and we were directed to a super nice guy but totally clueless and all kidding aside he had never seen or been in a 365SAQ before, after about 20 mins of complete awkwardness and fumbling he puts the awning out in 35+ MPH winds with the remote and it nearly rips off the side of the camper. Thank God I was next to the control panel inside and started rolling it back in immediately. Holy Cow these operations are clueless and almost dangerous at times. I would love to share all the other comical events of the day but this post is to long already.

But like I said before my expectations of dealers and PDI's aren't that high to begin with so Thank God it's out of there hands and home where it can be maintained and cared for properly.

[bakken]

That was one reason we were very careful to pick a good dealer to buy from. Coates, just north of Minneapolis, is a family-owned dealership and they couldn't have been better to deal with.
We could have dealt with the losers nearby, but I would rather drive 500 miles than put up with a dealer who couldn't care less if I bought from them or not. Well, that is until they found out I was serious about driving 500 miles to avoid them!

[Terier]

To the three of you guys:

Wow....your transactions and PDIs couldn't be any more different than what I went through. I had the complete opposite experience from beginning to end. Even now I have a great relationship with my dealership and service department.

[golfmedik]

Glad it's finally here Marc! Our dealer walk through went pretty well on both of our rigs in the last two years. However, once you start using the 365, you'll forget all about that experience! When we bought our 355, it came down between two campers. The 355 and the Cedar Creek. The Cedar Creek had a floor plan similar, but not as open in the bunkroom. We went with the 355. Then bought the 365 when the kitchen was flipped around. Still absolutely love the floor plan. I know now there are a couple of others out there with similar floor plans, but other than a bad fridge, sofa covering and of course the 'other' matter, we have been extremely happy with our 365! When we pulled into Pirateland in Myrtle Beach this year, we had several people want to look at the rig. One due to its size, but most had never seen an outside kitchen like the ones on these rigs. Yes, they are finally becoming more popular, but it is still a conversation piece every where we go.
Congrats on getting it in! I hope it came just like you wanted. Here's to many years of great camping and safe travels!

[supercab79]

.First thanks Golfmedic for the well wishes. Second even with the few problems and dealer headaches this unit is great Forest River hit a homerun with this floor plan. OUR KIDS LOVE THIS THING ALREADY My son has been giving guided tours to all the neighborhood kids and hes only 7 my 3 yr old daughter is bugging me to have a back yard sleep out in it, but it got cold quick here in Pa and we even had snow lat week. Well like I said before this is going to be a long winter. Come on Spring 2013....
Thanks Marc

[golfmedik]

One thing I might suggest, is taking a look at the fold down bunk near the rear bath. If you really look at it, and take the mattress off, you will see how the hinges are on the bunk. If the kids get a little rambunctious and jump down on it or, push off it to climb up it, the hinge could come out of the wood as it uses the outside edge as a fulcrum and puts pressure on the hinge. This has been mentioned on here as well as the other forums. A simple way to stop this from happening is make two(or three if you wish) supports out of 2x2s or 2x4s the height of the bottom to the bunk(when down) to the floor. Put some hinges on them and when the bunk folds down, so do they. When the bunk is up, the braces are up out of the way on the bottom of the bunk. Someone, either here or on Rv.net, has pics of theirs done this way. I've yet to do it as my son sleeps on the other side of the camper, although we have to caution his friends to be easy when getting in and out of the fold down bunk. A great mod, very simple and is very inexpensive to do.
Good luck my friend and glad you finally got her home!

[RVChick]

What a beautiful RV!!! Your children will recall stories of camping with you when they grow up!! Have a great time in your new RV!!! Hurry up spring!!

[Pchop365]

We Picked Our 365SAQ in Early April @ Gilett's Interstate RV in East Lansing MI, and the Walk-thru was very Informative, (I even Video-taped it for further reference). We keep a Disc in the TV Cabinet, if Further Instruction is Necessary. We were there about an hour doing Paperwork/Walkthru, and any Questions were answered, and I was Confident I knew enough about the rig to do most things. I wa sGiven my Sales rep's Personal Cell # and Instructed to call "Anytime" if I had any Questions. We had a Few Glitches on the Madien Voyage (Mich-Tenn-VA Beach-Home) but nothing I Couldn't fix/handle. We (my wife and i) travel with 3 big Dogs (2 German Shepherds, and a Belgian Shepherd) and a Cat who Thinks she's a Dog. The Only Issue with the Kitty,was she Dissappered the First Morning and we Found her UNDER the Front Bed, down where the Slide Mechinsim is. After removing the screw and lifting the Plywood cover, she was under there LAUGHING @ us. We Promptly Plugged the small hole, and she doesn't not hide there anymore! All in All I am Impressed with this Unit, and This Dealer>

[golfmedik]

I'm glad you like it! We sure do!

[KenNJ1]

Golfmedik that is a great idea. I have the 365SAQ currently on order and upon arrival I will look at your idea. That sounds like a very worth while item for my to do list. One question I have is, does anyone have phone numbers I can call at Forest River ? I was hoping to get a little quicker response to a couple items that I have asked my dealer about. The Website does not offer any contact information but rather points you back to the dealer. Any insight would be helpful.
Thanks