Question for those who bought their camper online

[ParrishCamper]

We are purchasing our camper from an online dealership who also has several locations throughout the US. Once completed it will be delivered to their dealership closes to us.
My question is did you sign all your paperwork before even seeing the camper? If we sign the bill of sale and all the other paperwork then we are stuck w/ a camper we never have seen. What if there are problems during the pdi? We would have to take the camper home and then setup a time to have it fixed vs being able to leave the camper and not sign the paperwork until the pdi problems are fixed.

[Wiscampsin]

Once you sign you're at their mercy. Wait until your are completely satisfied. Fax the dealer your PDI checklist so they know what you expect and they can take care of things beforehand.

[WFD]

We have done it twice..except ours was not an online wholesaler but rather dealers who do alot of online business. The latest one, we ordered before Christmas and we are going down to pick up on Mar 31st.
The dealer required $1000 deposit to place the order, and had us sign the purchase agreement as well as the sheet listing all the options we requested. Dealer agreed to us bringing a Bank draft with us when we go down to pick it up. Gives us the ability to see the trailer and do the PDI prior to handing over the draft. If there are issues, then they can fix it right there and then if they want the draft.
This dealer does a ton of online business, particularly with Canadians, and as they told me many times, they cant afford to have a muddy name all over the internet. An acquaintance of ours bought a trailer off this dealer a few years ago and the dealer rolled out the red carpet for them when they arrived to get their trailer. They said far better treatment than any of our local dealers offered them.

I guess my question would be: Are you buying new or used...if used than there would be a whole other set of questions that would have to be satisfied in my mind prior to signing anything. In my mind there is a big difference in buying sight unseen between new and used....not so sure I would do it on a used unit.

Rick

[Too Tall]

Can you share who your dealer is, I'm in the market for a new RV now and would appreciate a recommendation.

[WFD]

Too Tall...who is your question addressed to?

[ParrishCamper]

We are buying new and not thru RVW.
But 2 things are bothering me.
1. I have seen pics online of peoples camper at their PDI and seen some huge issues. I don't want to have to take the camper home and then travel all the way back with it for them to fix it. If I haven't signed for it I would think they would be more willing to address issues right away.
2. We signed a buyers order/purchase order which listed the agreed upon price and all the options we opted for. Now I get the bill of sale and the price is $300 less. But the bill of sale doesn't list any of the options. So my question is did an option not get installed??? I have never heard of any dealer just dropping $300 off the agreed upon price.
Yes, we put a deposit down when ordering and we also have more money to put down on the camper. The online dealer wants me to send a bank check w/ the remain down payment along w/ the all the paperwork they sent. If I do this I would have nothing to get them to address our issues or concerns.

[bikendan]

we bought our Roo from House of Camping, outside of Chicago, which was 2000 miles from us.
the only "online" we did, was finding the trailer. all the negotiations were done by email, phone and fax. so not sure what you mean by "bought online".

we did not sign anything until we showed up. i do think we put a $1000 deposit on it, but can't remember if it was refundable or not.

[WFD]

I should have clarified in my earlier post...we...like bikendan...used the internet to find our best deal and research but in the end had numerous phone conversations and email exchanges with the dealer. We were comfortable with the floorplan of the trailer and general build of the trailer as we were able to physically see one like it at a local dealer.

Rick

[GlacierGus]

ParrishCamper. Buying through an internet dealer is a trade off. Pro-you get the good price. Negative-there is little or no customer service. You are on your own. I purchased my 2109 through RVW, paid the deposit and signed the purchase agreement over the internet. That went very smoothly. While I waited for delivery, if I called with questions, rarely could I get an answer or return call. However, when the TT actually arrived at the dealership, I had a very thorough and complete PDI. Again, pros and cons.

As far as warranty repair work, I found a dealership that was willing to do the work, that sometimes is a problem. They charged their regular rate (higher), collected the warranty rate RVW was willing to pay (lower), and I paid the difference. I only had one warranty issue so this worked for me. You can not be assured that all dealers will be willing to do the work if you did not purchase from them. Don't expect dealers to be willing to do the work for what RVW wants to pay.

But again, it all worked for me. If you want everything to be exact and guaranteed, possibly you should pay the higher price and have a dealer that you have a relationship with. Buying over the internet is not for everyone. If you buy from an internet dealer, despite the web site declarations, it becomes more of a do-it-yourself situation.

My experience with RVW was mostly positive. The purchase price was great. I was wiling to take the risk. If you want a risk adverse situation you may want to consider a local dealer.

Good luck with your purchase.

[Too Tall]

Originally Posted by WFD

Too Tall...who is your question addressed to?

WFD, you. Just wondering if you could give me a recommendation on who's got some good prices. RV Direct is who I've been talking to about a Flagstaff and Rockwood.

thanks

[Too Tall]

Originally Posted by GlacierGus

ParrishCamper. Buying through an internet dealer is a trade off. Pro-you get the good price. Negative-there is little or no customer service. You are on your own. I purchased my 2109 through RVW, paid the deposit and signed the purchase agreement over the internet. That went very smoothly. While I waited for delivery, if I called with questions, rarely could I get an answer or return call. However, when the TT actually arrived at the dealership, I had a very through and complete PDI. Again, pros and cons.

As far as warranty repair work, I found a dealership that was willing to do the work, that sometimes is a problem. They charged their regular rate (higher), collected the warranty rate RVW was willing to pay (lower), and I paid the difference. I only had one warranty issue so this worked for me. You can not be assured that all dealers will be willing to do the work if you did not purchase from them. Don't expect dealers to be willing to do the work for what RVW wants to pay.

But again, it all worked for me. If you want everything to be exact and guaranteed, possibly you should pay the higher price and have a dealer that you have a relationship with. Buying over the internet is not for everyone. If you buy from an internet dealer, despite the web site declarations, it becomes more of a do-it-yourself situation.

My experience with RVW was mostly positive. The purchase price was great. I was wiling to take the risk. If you want a risk adverse situation you may want to consider a local dealer.

Good luck with your purchase.

How do you like that 2109S, I'm looking at that one and the 2104S. Any major problems?

[WFD]

Too Tall....we are dealing with All Seasons RV in Muskegon, MI...they provided the best price on a Rockwood 5th wheel...Wana RV in Shipshawana, IN was a very close 2nd...
Thing to keep in mind folks when buying online is that...lets assume you do not get the extended warranty...it comes with a 1 yr warranty. If you are like many of us...you will use that trailer till fall than put it in storage till next spring. When you take it out of storage next spring, your warranty will be over...so in essence your warranty is quite short. If I am saving 1000's...I am not going to get too hung up on it.
Our last trailer... we saved close to 10,000 by not buying from a local dealer...we had one issue go wrong that I just paid to have fixed...cost me about $140. Figured if I saved 10k I wasnt going to get worked up if I could not get a local dealer to honor warranty, and I had to pay out of pocket a bit. Many of your items such as A/C, fridge, stove, hot water tank will all be covered by those companies and not Forest River anyhow.
I will also add that many people have told me even though they bought local, when time came for warranty work, their dealer was so busy that they ended up at the back of the bus anyhow and were not willing to have their RV sit at the dealer a couple weeks or more waiting for repair.
If its something you can fix yourself, my dealers I dealt with on both our RV's said..we will ship you the parts free of charge if you can swap them out yourself or get someone to do it.
It all comes down to your comfort level and how much you will save.

Rick

[GlacierGus]

Too Tall, how much time do you have? I could go on at length. For the most part, I have been very satisfied with the 2109S. This is a great unit for a couple, if you intend to bring children along you may find it too small. It is a great size to tow with my Durango. I did not want to have to buy a pick up truck.

The major components, water (I did add Teflon tape to all of the connections), electrical, air conditioning, refrig, heat, oven, micro wave and TV have all worked without problem. The newer units now have LED lights (I had to replace mine) and the diamond plate in front. The 2013 units had an issue with the slide out motor pulling itself out of the wall. I assume that issue has been addressed. That happened to me. Also some 2109 owners had the support holding the water tank bend. That has not happened to me.

It tows very well with an Equalizer 4 way WD hitch. I towed mine to Alaska last summer and put 11,000 miles on it. I had no problems. It functioned very well. I did replace the OEM tires with Maxiis.

These are low end units. You have to treat them as a hobby. There is always some modification you want to add to improve the unit. One of my biggest gripes (and it is not a big issue) is the use of staples to hold some of the wood panels in place. These pull out immediately. Especially the kitchen unit end panels and the cheap panels used to separate the heating tubing from the storage areas at the bottom of the kitchen unit. Again not a big issue, just something that I will improve.

All in all I am very satisfied. I think it says a lot that I hauled it to Alaska and back without problems.

I chose the 2109 over the 2104 because I wanted the sofa. Also with the door at the back you get a little more counter space in the 2109. The shower is small but workable. You have to give something up in these smaller units.

So have fun with your hunt.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by ParrishCamper

The online dealer wants me to send a bank check w/ the remain down payment along w/ the all the paperwork they sent. If I do this I would have nothing to get them to address our issues or concerns.

I wouldn't be comfortable doing this (Aliens).

I do kind of remember a recent poster saying the same thing about a chain dealership in Orlando (abducted). I think most of us said they were nuts for agreeing to it with a few votes of confidence from people who previously bought through the same dealership (me). If I recall, all went well (again).

My dealer is 145 miles away, so all of our communication started via email and then switched to telephone (send). I did mail a $5,000 deposit up to them to order the unit that I wanted (help). They called me on a Sunday to press me to send an additional deposit a few weeks before the camper came in (like hitting 1/2 the price of the camper) (call). I declined and told them I'd bring a cashier's check for the full amount after I got to see/walk through the camper (wmtire). I signed very little before showing up on pickup day (please).

[bikendan]

TooTall, if you want info on a particular model, please start another thread in that model's sub-forum, instead of confusing this thread.
especially, since this thread is in the Hybrid/Expandable section, which your model is neither.
thanx.

[ParrishCamper]

So far everything has gone great. Even when I emailed with questions, I always had a reply w/in couple of hours (even after signing the purchase agreement).
I did email my finance person today and told them I would sign everything but the Bill of Sale. I would sign this after inspecting the unit at their Orlando dealership.
So we will see how that goes tomorrow when they read my email.
If I have to sign the Bill of Sale I will not mail my Bank Check until after the inspection. Either way they wont have everything to make the sale final until after we inspect.
Wish us luck!

[campdohbrew]

We purchased our current travel trailer in Alabama and we live in Louisiana. We did all the negotiations over the phone and email. In addition, we have purchased 3 other vehicles out of state. In all of these transactions, we have never had to sign anything or exchange monies before seeing the product.
Personally, I would not have signed a “Purchase Agreement” without having seen the product because purchase agreements can and often lead to lawsuits. The “Purchase Agreement” you signed – what type purchase agreement? My hunch is that it was conditional, allowing the seller to take possession of that which was used in securing the loan.

[bill4047]

Bought our 23IKS from RVW.
Put $800 down.
Asked for delivery in Springfield Mo.
Sent pics of cashier checks ( paying cash ) No payment till satisfied with unit on delivery .
Delivery truck broke down 80 miles short of Springfield.
Met driver inspected unit.( Driver acted as he knew nothing of the trailer. So no help from him ).
We signed papers and paid.
We made no mention to dealer of driver being 80 miles short of destination. Yet 1 month later RVW sent us a check for difference.

[Cowracer]

We got our 21SSL from RVW. $1000 personal check as a deposit. did the purchase agreement via email (making sure that everything was to my liking on it), sent a picutre of the cashiers check.

Had it delivered to the house (they made it the whole way), driver was very knowledgeable on the unit. Waited patiently while I PDI'ed the hell out of it. He even fixed one gripe right then and there, and insisted on notating on the documents that it wasn't right upon delivery in case there were warranty issues later.

We signed all the documents on the dinette table. Overall, a very good experience. I don't understand some peoples hesitation with doing the sales contract or purchase agreement sight unseen. Had I gone to a local dealer, I would have been in the same boat, as I had to specifically order my unit to get it the way I wanted.

Tim

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by Too Tall

Can you share who your dealer is, I'm in the market for a new RV now and would appreciate a recommendation.

Too Tall - where are you located?