What was the worst lie the rv dealer told you to try and close the sale?

[Maggot]

This will be the last camper you'll ever buy.

My last deal was a fair honest deal with a local dad and son dealer.

Maggot

[Ronrev16]

That their service dept would always be there for me, lololol! Let me tell you, General RV has the worse service dept I have ever seen in 50 years! Horrible! I had an inch of water in my overhead and they told me it was not leaking, lol. I could go on with more but you understand. Never buy from these people unless you can get service somewhere else!

[JWood422]

Originally Posted by 5picker

Have them go over it BEFORE you get there and correct anything that needs attention. Then when YOU get there, go over it during your Customer Orientation and determine if anything else needs attention. You'll quickly see how competent they are/were.

Remember, YOU are the one that needs to be happy, not them.

Exactly. Thanks!

[Maggot]

Originally Posted by Ronrev16

That their service dept would always be there for me, lololol! Let me tell you, General RV has the worse service dept I have ever seen in 50 years! Horrible! I had an inch of water in my overhead and they told me it was not leaking, lol. I could go on with more but you understand. Never buy from these people unless you can get service somewhere else!

What did you do to fix it the leak?



Maggot

[Ronrev16]

I had to drive to Elkhart Indiana for anything that was under warranty. About 4 hour drive. After 3 trips to General RV and they either lied or left my RV in a mess I just gave up. Elkhart was great. Good people there.

[SLU2]

We bought our original used camper(1985 Citation) with a porch in our campground in 2004. Eventually it had lived past it life span with soft floors and leaks. We went to Driftwood RV in Clermont, NJ and bought a 2012 Forrest River Surveyor in February 2016. The dealer promised us free delivery and setup and will deliver it when we were ready which most likely was in May(after the fact I was told to get it in writing). Then 2 months later I get a call from the campground that they are going to drop it off. I explained the deal they promised us and because of OUR campground pressured them about the b.s. promises, the delivered it when we were ready and put it next to our porch. Bottom Line: GET IT IN RIGHTING!

[myredracer]

Not all lie(s) per se, but this is our story:

After going through 3 TTs in 3 years and after all the issues we've had with our current one over 5+ seasons, we've become hardened and cynical RV owners. Heck, we even had one of them replaced under warranty due to frame problems we discovered the day after we owned it. Brochure claimed it had a heavy duty frame, haha.

Our last dealer was a real piece of work. Useless at repairing things, incompetent, full of lies & excuses and even to the point of being fraudulent.

When we tried to get some things repaired under warranty, one time they said "it's just a travel trailer." Three trips in to get a defective awning fixed and they couldn't do it even when I told them what was wrong. Eventually fixed it myself. When they got tired of us going back to get things fixed that should clearly have been covered under warranty, they said our factory warranty was null and void due to the fine print and the fact that I had replaced the factory lights on the ceiling with new LED ones (all in the same locations). One of the brackets for shock absorbers they installed for us fell off on a trip due to improper welding and destroyed the tire. Got them to inspect and repack our bearings and charged us $1K. Later discovered all they did was re & re the drums and pump in more grease. Castle nuts were way over-tightened by them too. I could go on...

I still remember the day we bought our first TT. We were so excited and thought all you do is hook up, drive off into the sunset and camp happily ever after. How naive.

Despite all this, I love, love, love camping, travelling around, seeing new places, meeting fellow RV-ers, and also doing mods & upgrades.

[MOODMAN]

Not so much a lie as selling me something that isn't what I thought it was...
New 5th wheel (Montana) and was sold an addon "treatment" for the exterior. It was touted as a coating that will make my camper never need waxing, dirt will roll right off, noting will stick to it, etc. It will, according to them, mean I won't need a cover since it will protect the finish for life.
Well, I've only had it for two years now and honestly, I don't see any chalking and things DO seem to roll off. But then again, does a the gel coat finish do that anyway? I don't know, but I DO know that I paid $2,000 for that treatment! I think it's called First Place Finish.
Anyone else know much about the product? Experiences?

[Oaklevel]

Since 1985 we have only had one RV salesman actually check to see that our truck would tow what we are looking at. Most were in the camp of oh your F150 will will tow anything.

Nothing has changed over the years.

[wmtire]

The site team has moved several extremely off-topic/hijacking posts to their own thread.

[Maggot]

Originally Posted by Ronrev16

I had to drive to Elkhart Indiana for anything that was under warranty. About 4 hour drive. After 3 trips to General RV and they either lied or left my RV in a mess I just gave up. Elkhart was great. Good people there.

Good deal. Glad it worked out. My dealings with getting info from the Puma folks at the factory has been great.

[Philkaty]

Originally Posted by Kathy22

I have a better one. I had gotten a really low interest rate from a credit union...4.39% 7 years.The RV dealer (finance mgr. no less) offered us 8.75% for 15 years. And here is the kicker...he says "You know. If you finance longer and have lower payments, you pay more towards the principal!"



I nearly lost it. My husband had already told him I worked for a major mortgage company and understood financing.


We walked out and bought from another dealer!

That is so funny!!! My wife worked for a Credit union and we had a great rate and they said they could beat it and it took them about 15 mins to do so and one month later I refinanced it with a lower rate.

[jd50i]

It wasn't to close the deal but I was told my TT didn't come with a battery, it was extra. When I started getting loud, the owner came out and said "give him a battery". Later I found out I legally couldn't have been towing it without a battery, the main battery is what powers the break away brakes.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by jd50i

It wasn't to close the deal but I was told my TT didn't come with a battery, it was extra. When I started getting loud, the owner came out and said "give him a battery". Later I found out I legally couldn't have been towing it without a battery, the main battery is what powers the break away brakes.

The dealer was telling the truth, towabel batteries are a dealer-installed item, not a factory installed item.
So you either negotiate that into the final price or you pay extra for it or bring your own.
Many dealers allow customers to leave with a trailer way over their tow vehicle's capabilities. So they aren't worried about you needing the battery for the brakes.
Comes down to the consumer being informed, BEFORE leaving with the trailer.

[BarabooBob]

I was shopping at CW and was told "This is your out the door price. As we went back to the office, the saleswoman asked if I wanted a battery, battery box, lp tank, dpo I want them to fill the lp tank, and the delivery fees and dealer prep areXXX. Oh by the way, that price is only if I finance through their finance company. GOOD BY. I walked quickly out the door never to return.

[clarkbre]

Originally Posted by myredracer

....

I still remember the day we bought our first TT. We were so excited and thought all you do is hook up, drive off into the sunset and camp happily ever after. How naive.

Despite all this, I love, love, love camping, travelling around, seeing new places, meeting fellow RV-ers, and also doing mods & upgrades.

I'm with ya!

As frustrating as some of our mechanical issues have been, the experiences and good family memories outweight weigh the bad exponentially.

One other thing I have noticed recently is that if you take the middleman (RV dealers, service departments and local repair shops) out and contact Indiana directly, their is a wealth of information to be had regarding these trailers.

Preparing for an upcoming, long trip I called Lippert (LCI) with the serial numbers to our axles. The parts person was very helpful in looking up my exact axles and identifying each and every part number. I was able to buy the exact bearings, races, seals, etc and will be prepared if something happens. The LCI parts guy even thanked me for calling for research instead of in an emergency.

The frustration is that to get thame same info from my dealer, they "had to call the supplier and they were closed, didn't return my call...blah... blah....blah"

Good tech information is out there....just don't use the dealer for it.

[IchLiebeBier]

The best for me was, "oh, you can claim this as a second home tax write-off. The tax savings alone almost covers your monthly payment."

[Greg in michigan]

Not an rv story but a tow vehicle story.
Buying a truck I asked the salesman if thats the lowest he can do on price. He said yes.
A week later he called to see how my truck shopping was going. I said I bought a ford. ( he was a ford dealer also )he said...why didnt I come back and see him?
I said" you said it was your lowest price" to which he said
" next time you buy a truck come see me last"

[Philkaty]

Originally Posted by IchLiebeBier

The best for me was, "oh, you can claim this as a second home tax write-off. The tax savings alone almost covers your monthly payment."

I claim it on our taxes but I did hear that maybe next year we won't be able to.

[wmtire]

I had a similar experience on my last RV. My local dealer, who I really wanted to buy from, told me that was the lowest he could go.

Found the exact same RV... 90 miles down the road for $4000 less, and bought it.

My local dealer called me back later asking if I was still interested. Told them that I had already bought the same for four grand less. They said I should have called them and they would have matched it. I then reminded them that they said they were as low as they could go, and if they didn't mean it, they shouldn't have said it.