Travel 1,700 miles to save $8k?

[Macrosill]

My wife thought I was nuts traveling 250 miles to buy our latest trailer. It was the closest forest river dealer. I'm not that nuts after all. Lol

[rlh1957]

Make it a mini pickup and shakedown vacation.
We drove 500 miles to do the deal at a CW and they even had us a place to tow nearby to stay 2 nights free and call for issues so they could send someone over.

Even if on our dime we would stayed nearby to shakedown.

[whj469]

They, the local dealer will likely not come close to the 1,700 mile dealer but they may tell you that they will not do warranty work on it because you didn"t buy it from them.
No problem Forest River will find you a place that will do warranty work.

[dannybye]

Last year we drove form Pensacola Fl to Buckeye RV in Ohio 785 miles one way. Saved $8,600 from what Carpenters Camper wanted to sell the same unit. You betcha we drove. Had them video the unit send the paperwork in advance and off we went. Other than the PDI the transaction went perfect actually better that we expected. Camped 30 miles away the 1st night, readjusted the WDH and off we went happy as two bed bugs in a rug!

Just as best you can protect yourself before you get on the road. For us the video identified the actual unit they were selling us. More importantly never once did I get the hebe-jebe's talking/dealing with the sales person or the manager. For us it was all truth and honesty no BS at all.

[stormer]

We drove 800 miles to buy our TT. (1600 round trip). Either we have been extremely fortunate or lucky, but we have had zero major issues. Most issues we have had are ignorance. (quickly resolved via youtube or this forum!) If you are towing back 1700 miles, you'll have plenty of experience by the time you get back. We did camp about 50 miles from the dealer for a week just in case we had issues. We saved $4k by getting it closer to manufacturer. I suspect highly when it comes time to get a new one, we will look all over the country to find a deal. Local is local. But if you are doing the full time thing, how long are you going to be "local"? A warranty is a warranty. I don't think a company can "void" a warranty because you didn't buy local. FR pays them to take care of things like this... not like they are losing money.

Welcome to the forum!


James

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by stormer

We drove 800 miles to buy our TT. (1600 round trip). Either we have been extremely fortunate or lucky, but we have had zero major issues. Most issues we have had are ignorance. (quickly resolved via youtube or this forum!) If you are towing back 1700 miles, you'll have plenty of experience by the time you get back. We did camp about 50 miles from the dealer for a week just in case we had issues. We saved $4k by getting it closer to manufacturer. I suspect highly when it comes time to get a new one, we will look all over the country to find a deal. Local is local. But if you are doing the full time thing, how long are you going to be "local"? A warranty is a warranty. I don't think a company can "void" a warranty because you didn't buy local. FR pays them to take care of things like this... not like they are losing money.

Welcome to the forum!


James

Wish that were true . they can't void a warranty but also they don't have to work on one either . Rv dealerships and manufactures are not the same as Auto dealers and manufacture . a dealer can refuse to work on warranty issue if you did not buy from them . And Fr pays no one to honor a warranty they simply pay for warranty work at a flat rate plus parts .

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by MR.M

Wish that were true . they can't void a warranty but also they don't have to work on one either . Rv dealerships and manufactures are not the same as Auto dealers and manufacture . a dealer can refuse to work on warranty issue if you did not buy from them . And Fr pays no one to honor a warranty they simply pay for warranty work at a flat rate plus parts .

Simple answer is to not go to a dealer.
Have never had any warranty refused when taking ours to an independent service shop. They don't care where you bought it and FR has honored their warranty anywhere we were in the country with an independent.

[Duggie]

This is just great stuff. I love not re-creating the wheel. I'm a handy guy; Built an experimental airplane from blueprints, rewired my knob and tube house, know how to solder, yada-yada.

So the lesson learned is; Do a thorough PDI, Camp near the dealer for a couple nights and use Independent Repair Techs.

Now to time it with work and DW to pull the trigger.

Thanks all !!

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

Simple answer is to not go to a dealer.
Have never had any warranty refused when taking ours to an independent service shop. They don't care where you bought it and FR has honored their warranty anywhere we were in the country with an independent.

yep best thing is independent shops and mobile techs if you can get them to do warranty some will some won't . of course i don't blame them if they don't seems their the busy ones

[Jayhawker]

Found our best deal on line at Couch's RV Nation in Hamilton, Ohio. Over 900 miles each way from our house in Kansas. Found they would deliver it to our driveway for $1000, still saved over $4000 after delivery. No PDI, but was comfortable with past experiences with travel trailers and hitch set ups. Good luck with your new purchase which ever way you decide

[Bob43]

I drove about 800 miles to save 4K... It was a fun trip and would do it again..
New Box was 2x the size of the old one ... Took a bit of getting used to on the way home

[Summer Travelers]

We bought a new 2017 Coachmen Freedom Express 248 RBS over the internet 3 years ago. Our Texas dealers wouldn't come off the $27K sticker price. We found it for $19.5K in Dayton, Ohio. The local dealer's sales manager wouldn't consider price matching & then "hinted" that we'd have problems getting warranty work done. I asked the sales manager if he thought Coachmen/Forest River headquarters would approve of him threatening to deny warranty service to a prospective new owner. His attitude straightened right up.

We ordered it in July (got to pick the "pleather" color) with the specs clearly documented via e-mails. The internet sales lady in Dayton (Amy DeCamp at Colerain Family RV) was thorough & extremely helpful.

We timed the October delivery/pickup to catch the fall foliage in the Ozarks & in the Ohio Valley. We had a thorough PDI & spent a day & two nights in a nearby campground in case of any issues. We had a great trip home & would do it again in a minute.

[Pldcoyote]

Recently purchased A Rockwood 2104S have used it a bunch and love it. Shopped the entire southwestern U.S. only to learn that there was an 8k transportation and tax fee. Ordered exactly what we wanted from Wanna RV in Shipshewana IN. which is just a few miles from the factory. Traveled from AZ, had a great adventure and saved over 8k. Bought a ton of equipment and upgrades with that savings.

[MarkDNC]

We did the same thing last year. Bought from RV Wholesalers in Ohio.
Drove up from Raleigh NC.
Stayed local for a few days, had a great trip home.
Was well worth it.
Have not had to do any warranty work but RV Wholesalers will find you a repair shop or mobile tech.

Would do it again.

[Daves rv]

We also went to Wana rv. We saved over $4000 and only drove about 200 miles to get our 2606ws. The only warranty work we ever had was a minor issue taken care of while in Texas by a mobile rv repair service. Forest River authorized the repair and a check was waiting for us when we returned from our trip.

[Duggie]

Son of a gun. The light bulb just went a little brighter! I figured these dealers were discounting what they wanted to get off their lots. Order a TT with the options we want and still save a bundle? Who'd a thunk it!? Thanks to those that dropped a few names. We'll be talking to them first!

[LeoS]

Originally Posted by Summer Travelers

We bought a new 2017 Coachmen Freedom Express 248 RBS over the internet 3 years ago. Our Texas dealers wouldn't come off the $27K sticker price. We found it for $19.5K in Dayton, Ohio. The local dealer's sales manager wouldn't consider price matching & then "hinted" that we'd have problems getting warranty work done. I asked the sales manager if he thought Coachmen/Forest River headquarters would approve of him threatening to deny warranty service to a prospective new owner. His attitude straightened right up.

We ordered it in July (got to pick the "pleather" color) with the specs clearly documented via e-mails. The internet sales lady in Dayton (Amy DeCamp at Colerain Family RV) was thorough & extremely helpful.

We timed the October delivery/pickup to catch the fall foliage in the Ozarks & in the Ohio Valley. We had a thorough PDI & spent a day & two nights in a nearby campground in case of any issues. We had a great trip home & would do it again in a minute.

Yeah! Amy DeCamp sold me my last trailer and saved meat least 5000.00 dollars. I found them through the Costco buying program! Amy is excellent and I drove 8 hours each way to make that deal. The PDS at the dealer was thorough and didn’t have any warranty issues that whole first year.

When we got ready to buy a class C she was the first person I called. Unfortunately she didn’t sell the brand I wanted. I trust Amy and the dealer 1000%.

[bigrez]

We traveled from SoCal to Boise, ID in Oct 2017 to purchase new (850) miles. Saved almost 10k from the lowest price for the EXACT same trailer here in CA.

Handled all the specific details via phone and email, then received pictures when it arrived. Took us a day to get there, spent the next day doing a complete PDI and paperwork (I sent them a very detailed PDI checklist and said I'll be doing that BEFORE signing) and we were prepared to spend the night at the location to test things.

My bad on a last minute change of departure date... one day later. Didn't realize they were closed Sundays so if we staying Sat night meant we'd have to wait for monday to get things addressed. The PDI went so well that we just headed home (spent the night in NV).

Licensing in CA was a breeze. Dealer paperwork was 100% accurate and had no issues.

We've been in for minor warranty at a local place with zero issues open at this time.

[dgeck56]

Originally Posted by Duggie

Good tips! I'm not sure where we'll buy yet. When the time comes, we'll give the local dealer a chance. Looks like I need to search purchase inspection check points. Planning a day or two at the purchase point makes good sense too.

This forum is a great education!

I am aware of several people who come from a far to purchase close to the manufacture. You may want to check out Wanarv.com as they are a Rockwood dealer. They are located in Shispshewana, IN. Good luck.

[Arkiepup]

Originally Posted by Daves rv

We also went to Wana rv. We saved over $4000 and only drove about 200 miles to get our 2606ws. The only warranty work we ever had was a minor issue taken care of while in Texas by a mobile rv repair service. Forest River authorized the repair and a check was waiting for us when we returned from our trip.

We also have bought our last two Rockwoods from Wana Rv. We saved approx. $5k on a 2306 Mini-Lite after expenses for a 1500 mile round trip. Stayed first night in town with no issues with unit. I had a couple of minor issues after we got home that I took care of myself.

We had such good luck that four years later we ordered another Rockwood from Wana. A 2606WS Ultra-Lite that has had no problems in 21months and 10k miles pulled. We ordered it with 2 AC’s, theatre seating, slide toppers, bedroom tv, and several other upgrades for the same margin of savings on a stock one. Saved around $7200 after trip expenses. Wana has always had the best price and our next one will come from them. Their PDI awesome!
We did experience a dealer with our 5W that refused warranty work because we didn’t buy from them, but an independent RV repair shop took care of it.