local Dealers -VS- internet sales

erndog22 · 01-29-2012, 03:32 PM

I'm considering buying a TT through the internet (out of state of course) which there is going to be a delivery charge but the prices are thousands less then the local dealers.

If any one has pruchased a TT through the internet I would like to know what kind of issues they had if any. Did you pick it up or did you have them deliver the TT to your door?

sherdep · 01-29-2012, 04:29 PM

a few complaint's I have heard is -
no or incomplete PDI when delivered to your house versus buying from a local dealer.
Local dealer may or may not service you if you bought some where else.

I priced it both ways and my Local dealer (2 hours away) was maybe a couple hundred dollars more then say like RVW - they took care of the PDI and found a few issues that they fixed - gave me a walk thru and showed me every aspect of the camper that I would not have gotten if I bought it over the internet.

If you are a very handy person and can fix most of the stuff then it may not be an issue.

**bikendan** · 01-29-2012, 04:30 PM

you don't really purchase thru the internet. you still have to deal with a salesperson, on the phone or by email.

we did all the negotiation with House of Camping by phone and email, after finding our trailer on their website.
we drove 4000 miles round trip to get it but we still saved nearly $4000 even after trip costs.
we had gotten bids from RVW and RVD, but HOC beat both of them and were closer.

SaskCampers · 01-29-2012, 05:38 PM

Nothing wrong with buying long distance if you are handy with tools and don't mind having to deal with the manufacturer yourself and then going after the individual makers of items like your microwave or sofa etc. as they are all warrantied by the individual company not FR. Many people on here seem to not understand that basic fact about RV's and think they got taken by FR. as a local dealer does not have to honor any warranty on a unit purchased elsewhere and many do not. So it is a thing of BUYER BEWARE.

JoeR · 01-29-2012, 07:54 PM

Has anyone asked a local dealer for service, and then been turned away.

My first camper was a Keystone from Ohio and the local dealer was happy to take the companies money for warranty work.

Of course I did remove all the Holmans stickers right after I brought it home. They didn't offer me a discount for advertising, so off they came. If they pay me, I'll be happy to drive around with their stickers displayed. I'll give them a nice yearly rate.

JR

SaskCampers · 01-29-2012, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeR

Has anyone asked a local dealer for service, and then been turned away.

My first camper was a Keystone from Ohio and the local dealer was happy to take the companies money for warranty work.

Of course I did remove all the Holmans stickers right after I brought it home. They didn't offer me a discount for advertising, so off they came. If they pay me, I'll be happy to drive around with their stickers displayed. I'll give them a nice yearly rate.

JR

Do a search and you will see numerous posts to that effect. It even states that on the FR site about warranty.

**bikendan** · 01-29-2012, 08:53 PM

i was told by the 3 Rockwood Roo dealers that if i bought from another dealer, especially one like RVW, they wouldn't do the warranty work.
FR found local dealers that were more than willing to do the warranty work.
one sold FR popups and one didn't even sell any FR products.

JoeR · 01-29-2012, 09:07 PM

My point was, when I went in for service, they didn't ask where I bought it. I just called and scheduled an appointment to drop off. I know the sales folks tell everyone that, they told me that too, but how many have actually went back for service and was actually turned away. I wasn't, so just askin?

tentcamper1 · 01-29-2012, 09:51 PM

when we bought ours I worked with the owner of the dealership, I asked him if I bought from another dealer would he do the warranty work- he said yes. I told him about how you hear that dealers say they won't and he said that is a sales tool, he won't tell customers that. turned out his service department was absolutely terrible and took a month to even contact FR about the warranty work. thats a whole 'nother story.

crocus · 01-29-2012, 11:53 PM

erndog, what state are you in?
I bought from a family dealer in Minnesota, Coates of Minneapolis, and they matched the internet discounters price. The Canadian dealers never match any price from the US, but that is for different reasons that from state to state.
I was much happier buying from a family-owned dealer, as I was pretty sure their service would beat the discounters hands down. They were great to deal with.

Taranwanderer · 01-30-2012, 12:26 AM

I think there's a lot to be said for establishing a relationship with a dealer from the get-go. I've done this with cars, with my motorcycles, and now with my RV dealer. I actually go WAY out of my way to take my stuff to dealers that I've established that relationship with, even though there are ones closer to me. The question to ask yourself is: is the couple hundred or thousand dollars I'm saving now going to be worth the headache of not having a trusted dealer down the road when stuff breaks. I'm just sayin...

flyrotor · 01-30-2012, 03:42 AM

There are 3 dealers within 15 miles who all advertise that they will work on any brand of trailer regardless where you purchased the trailer, only one of these 3 are a forest river dealer

maconandk · 01-30-2012, 08:09 AM

We bought our trailer from RVW, about a month later we were camping and met someone who had the same model that they had purchased less than 100 miles from our home. We called their dealer and they agreed to do the minor warranty work we needed. They were very prompt and helpful, I made the comment that I was worried about finding someone to work on our TT since we bought out of state. The service guy said warranty work pays the same whether you buy from us or not so we will be happy to take care of any problems.

MtnGuy · 01-30-2012, 08:54 AM

Take the readout from your internet deal, and use it as a bargaining chip for a dealer price. If the internet seller can sell it for x amount, then the dealer should come close to that price.

crocus · 01-30-2012, 09:20 AM

"The question to ask yourself is: is the couple hundred or thousand dollars I'm saving now going to be worth the headache of not having a trusted dealer down the road when stuff breaks."
================================
Considering the difference in price for our fifth was over $3000, you bet it was worth the "headache".
Besides, the local FR dealer we were trying to deal with were complete jerks.

erndog22 · 01-30-2012, 10:08 AM

I'm In Washington, my local dealer doe's not sell Rockwood but they do sell Surveyor I'm looking at my options. I spoke with a guy from the service department. He had told me that if I was to purchase outside my area, he would have to put me in back of the line for service needs. I think that might have been a sales tool. I'm calling spokane dealer today to ask about some pricing, we shall see what they say. They are about 300 miles from me. There are some good prices out there with internet sales but I have to also include the delivery charges. I'll keep you all posted.

crocus · 01-30-2012, 10:12 AM

The dealer we bought from didn't handle Flagstaff, but they were more than happy to sell us one anyway.
If the dealer is only 300 miles away, why wouldn't you pick it up rather than having to pay for delivery?

Sahgie · 01-30-2012, 01:51 PM

I was going cross-country and needed a couple of minor warranty items fixed. RVW helped me find dealers on my route, while conferring with FR as well. Some of the dealerships I contacted refused to do the work, some didn't have time while I was in that area while a couple were great service-oriented dealerships that were happy to take my business. Here comes the BUT... But when discussing payment, those that took the work asked me to pay them and get reimbursed by FR myself. One of them said it was a pain for them to get the warranty dollars in a timely fashion while the other did not work with FR directly anymore (supposedly with similar reasoning to the first).

RVW warranty manager was in the loop the whole while and took care of getting my money reimbursed.

Crusader · 01-30-2012, 02:34 PM

ERNDOG2, Last year I shopped around for a 270ret crusader. I got a price from a local rv dealer. Then I went to Primetime's web site and looked up the factory zip code. I entered the "find a local dealer" on Primetimes web site with Pimetimes zip code. That gave me a dealer close to the factory. I called that dealer with all the same options and got a price from them. I then called my local dealer and they matched that price. I saved about $3,000.00 ...................PLAY THE GAME>>>>>>>>

erndog22 · 01-30-2012, 10:31 PM

I spoke with the dealer in spokane the salesman gave me a price of 35,000. I had asked the salesman if they would possibly price match a internet price. He said he would, we will have to see. I found a few internet deals, between 23,000 and 26,000. I had a salesman call tonight and tell me he could sell one to me fully loaded for 21,000, I'm going to look further into this to make sure he is all that he says he is.

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