How far were you willing to travel to buy your rv?

[meatguy]

We drove from Seattle to Lake Havasu AZ, 1275 miles. Would do it again in a heartbeat. We shopped online for the exact 5th wheel we wanted and after a few weeks, we found it in AZ. Seattle is the worst place to buy a vehicle or RV. That’s why we always go to Texas for our Ford trucks! Can’t touch the price here.

[KSH]

So funny, I went from SoCal to just north of Seattle for my 5er.

[deciccocpa]

We live in Largo FL and bought our last 2 motorhomes at Buffalo RV in Buffalo NY 1250 miles away. We saved almost $10,000 on the first and picked it up as part of our road trip. The second one was purchased while on a road trip. We made a 100 mile side trip to see what Buffalo RV had available. Their price was over $13,000 less then our local dealer. I called our local dealer and asked if he'd match the price. His response was to call me a liar about the price. I bought the coach at Buffalo RV and sent a copy of the contract to the salesman at my local dealership.

I have never had a problem getting service at a local dealership including the one where the salesman called me a liar.

[Flash56]

My husband & I traveled from North Alabama to Tallahassee, Fl. We got a great deal, I obviously if we were willing to travel so far. Lol
Just a word of caution.....make sure you have a local dealer WILLING to work on your camper. We found out the hard way that just bc we have a dealer local doesn’t mean they have to do the work.
It’s strictly @ their discretion. And some dealers don’t appreciate you not buying from them....

[Funsail]

I live in Wisconsin and bought a C class in Pennsylvania. That was after searching for a couple of years.

[ChrisParise]

Lots of posts, maybe this was covered before so I apologize. I am interested in Motorhome buying experiences only.

With significant savings mentioned so often, are those savings on top of the usual MSRP reductions?

For example, on an MSRP of $120,000 for a MH, usually you can buy between $80 - 85 K.

Chris

[Joe M.]

The down side is 9x out 10 you need to take it back to the dealership you purchased it from for any warranty work. So my advice is to find an rv shop locally that is willing to do the warranty work and also check with the rv manufacturer that it's OK to take it to that shop before you purchase it.

[AudiDudi]

I had no issues with getting warranty work locally after buying about 900 miles away other than scheduling. When the "local" dealer 80 miles away was booking almost 3 months out, the factory authorized a mobile repair person. Even he was booked 3-4 weeks out so I had the factory send me one small part and I fixed the issues my self.

[deciccocpa]

I haven't experienced the same difficulty getting warranty service locally that others have mentioned. I'm wouldn't be too worried about warranty service. It would take a lot of repairs to offset the money most people saved on traveling to buy an RV. I saved $13,000 on my last coach and I'd be trading it in if it needed $13,000 in repairs the first year.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Joe M.

The down side is 9x out 10 you need to take it back to the dealership you purchased it from for any warranty work. So my advice is to find an rv shop locally that is willing to do the warranty work and also check with the rv manufacturer that it's OK to take it to that shop before you purchase it.

This is not true. There is no such requirement to take it back to the dealer you bought from.
But it is true that many dealers will refuse to do warranty work on units they didn't sell.
Before I picked up our new HTT 2000 miles away, I did check with FR and they found 3 local dealers willing to do the warranty work. During the 2 year warranty period, I was able to get everything fixed under warranty. Never needed any repairs during the following 8 years of ownership.

[cekkk]

We bought a used Forest River wolf pack from a individual in Chicago, that required 1111 miles of travel. The best deal we got from a dealer on our new one was in Davenport Iowa, and that was a 945 mile trip. Fortunately, that camper had zero problems and no need for warranty work but for two very minor issues that I saved until the last month of our two year warranty. I had months earlier arranged to take it in to camping world for repairs and while they had it a long time for very minor stuff, it was not in season so I did not care.

[eye95]

Originally Posted by chriscowles

Passenger trains still exist?

Yes, they do. Amazingly, it is generally far cheaper to fly.

[alvinmb]

It is amazing a lot of you here have gotten such great pricing. One of the units we like is a Sabre 38DBQ, the lowest I have seen new is maybe $3-4k off of what I can find locally. Maybe for some of these units that is pretty much their rock bottom price dealers are willing to let them go for? For me, if the savings are only $3-5k, then doesn't seem to be worth it to make the trip unless we were planning a trip anyways.

[chriscowles]

Timing may affect your search. Demand is way up, since everybody decided camping is safer for vacations than alternatives.

[Jlb207]

We traveled from Kennebunk Maine to Shipshewana Indiana to buy our travel trailer. We saved 43% by doing so. It was well worth the drive. We would do it again if we were ever to buy another rig.

[Minglett22]

We had a local dealer that sold the Grey Wolf 23MK and had just gotten one in stock. We loved it and offered a solid price on it but they wouldn't deal so we drove almost 2,000 miles round trip to Walcott, Iowa to Cheyenne Camping Center to get one. We had been talking with them prior to going to shop our local dealer so when our dealer wouldn't deal, we called Cheyenne and they put a Grey Wolf 23MK on hold for us without a down payment. They are solid and your word is your bond with them. Definitely give them a look! They are great people with great deals. We saved $3,600 and saw a part of America we've never seen before. It was amazing. Do it, go see them. It's well worth the drive.

[MrLbs]

I drove 400 miles from Boise Idaho to Missoula Montana to buy from Rangitsch Brothers RV - a "mom & pop" type dealership. Bish's in Idaho -- though I tried over and over to buy from them -- wouldn't match the price on a lower-spec Jayco quad-bunk model for what Rangitsch would do for a higher-spec'd quad-bunk model. I saved $4,000 and fortunately Bish's has serviced my RV under warranty without any delay/reluctance compared to their on-site customers. Would do it again in a heartbeat.
Mr.LBS

[AlaskaErik]

Originally Posted by deciccocpa

I haven't experienced the same difficulty getting warranty service locally that others have mentioned. I'm wouldn't be too worried about warranty service. It would take a lot of repairs to offset the money most people saved on traveling to buy an RV. I saved $13,000 on my last coach and I'd be trading it in if it needed $13,000 in repairs the first year.

That's the way I look at it. I bought my Freedom Express in Arizona and had the water heater PC board fail in Montana. When I got back home to Alaska a local dealer fixed it under warranty, and the wait to get in was only a few weeks. Had I not been able to get it fixed in Alaska, I would still only have been out about $100 for a new PC board, assuming I got no help from the water heater manufacturer. So I don't put much stock in warranty service. And I certainly don't waste my money on an extended warranty.

[JerryS]

Originally Posted by bikendan

Back in 2006, we drove from Napa to Chicago and back to get our new HTT. 4000 miles roundtrip. Got a great PDI/walkthrough from a family owned dealership.
Saved 40% off of MSRP. Local NorCal dealers wouldn't even come within $2000 of the Chicago dealer's price. They actually dared us to make the drive.
FR found us numerous local dealers willing to do the warranty work.
West Coast dealers know most won't make the drive, therefore aren't willing to deal.

Do you know if the dealership is still in business? Will please give the name/location of the dealership?

[Daycruiser]

Originally Posted by chriscowles

Timing may affect your search. Demand is way up, since everybody decided camping is safer for vacations than alternatives.

And there will be a flood of used RVs on the market in about 2 years or even less.