How realistic is it to do PDI and take home same day? - Page 2

2013leprechaun319dsf · 09-29-2013, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texasblue

We are scheduled for our PDI next Friday afternoon. Our plan is to bring it home to load and prep (possibly try to overnight in) and then take it to a local campground the next morning. How realistic is this expectation? I don't want to get my hopes up to take it home and then find that it needs to stay at the dealer for the weekend for punch list items. I was told that they run all the systems starting about 2 days before so they can inspect and work on anything that turns up. We had fun, but spent some $$, shopping at Wally World for a few kitchen supplies and other essentials. Can't wait!

I had someone videotape my PDI and burned onto a DVD for future reference.

tanddc · 09-29-2013, 06:29 PM

Just like epy we did our walkthrough and went camping. I'm not big on driveway camping but I like the adventure. All I needed was my smartphone (so I could access this forum and directions to the nearest Walmart.

garbonz · 09-29-2013, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by farfetched

take along the operation manuals wherever you go. If you forgot something or it was not covered, it might be in a manual

What are operating manuals? They don''t seem to be common, or informative.

KDHfan · 09-29-2013, 07:47 PM

Just my opinion... But I wouldn't sign my name on any paperwork until the camper was 100% to my liking... Missing one weekend of camping might save you many headaches down the road. They'll be much more attentive to your needs when you hold the gold.

**ependydad** · 09-29-2013, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flying Dutchman

Download a PDI list from this forum. This will help you not to forget or overlook something. And if your RV dealer is not close to home I would have a shake down stay at a CG close to the dealer. May save you traveling back to the dealer for things to be fixed.
Just my 2c. :-)

It was this list that allowed me to have such a good PDI. I wouldn't have known to be so thorough without it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tanddc

Just like epy we did our walkthrough and went camping. I'm not big on driveway camping but I like the adventure. All I needed was my smartphone (so I could access this forum and directions to the nearest Walmart.

Driveway camping is not an option for me. My driveway won't hold my camper and parking it on the road- I can only open 3 of my 4 slides. A campground is a must!

TimeOutRV · 09-29-2013, 08:40 PM

We picked ours up and after PDI took it out for our first camping trip and had a great time! Good luck and congrats!

Iggy · 09-29-2013, 09:47 PM

Texasblue

Like others say camp out in your drive way.
Start your list of things to get corrected by your dealer.
Hopefully your dealer is a good one and close.
I notice you live in Plano. My kids live in Frisco just NW of you.
Would love to head about any great RV campgrounds in your area.
Thanks
PM me if you'd like

5thwheel · 09-29-2013, 09:59 PM

We did our walk through, headed home, tossed everything from our previous trailer inside and took off. Got to the campground about 10pm. Had a great time reorganizing things and really enjoyed the weekend. Go for it.

Prothos · 09-30-2013, 08:40 AM

We took deliver of our new tt and took it out the same night. we stayed at a rv park that was about 20 miles from the dealer incase any issue poped up. We went to camping world and walmart to pick up the essentials we needed. we used that time to make a list of items we needed right away and what we would need for the future.

Bryan2503S · 09-30-2013, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ependydad

We did our PDI and left the dealer and went straight to a campground.

X2

TimeOutRV · 09-30-2013, 08:57 AM

We also recorded video via iPhone5 during our PDI so that as we went to our first campout that night we could reference anything we might have forgotten.

Also, we went to a nicely set up RV campground about 45 min away from home and not too far from where our salesman lives. He told us to call his cell anytime over the weekend if we needed help.

Thankfully we didn't and we had a blast!

bradnailer · 09-30-2013, 09:05 AM

We traded in our pop up for a travel trailer in May. We had the pop up cabinets unloaded and most everything in containers. We arrived at our dealership at 12 noon in Waco. Did the PDI, got the hitch installed and moved everything from the pop up to the trailer. Left about 3:00 and drove down to Fredericksburg for a four day shake out trip. This worked just fine for us.

tanddc · 09-30-2013, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ependydad

Driveway camping is not an option for me. My driveway won't hold my camper and parking it on the road- I can only open 3 of my 4 slides. A campground is a must!

I can barely fit in my driveway...your big 5er wouldn't have a chance. Another reason smaller is sometimes better

**ependydad** · 09-30-2013, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tanddc

I can barely fit in my driveway...your big 5er wouldn't have a chance. Another reason smaller is sometimes better

I'm also envious when you fit into sites without needing landing clearance, two forms of ID and 8 forms filled out in triplicate!

**Terier** · 09-30-2013, 03:31 PM

If your service department does their job well you should have a very good chance of hitting the road and camping right away. If it were me I would hope for the best and keep my fingers crossed. I would also keep everything as simple as possible. But I would also be prepared to cancel the trip if need be.

If you do find items that need fixing that are more serious than aligning a drawer or something little of that nature I wouldn't take delivery even with a trip planned.

gmacklem · 10-02-2013, 06:33 AM

Very realistic. My wife and I got our very first trailer on the Friday before Memorial Day this year. Bought it, did the walk through and then headed straight to a campground for the next 3 nights.

Funny story about the first hookup though. We got there about the same time as another couple who had a very nice toy hauler and brand new diesel pickup. So we kind of watched what they did as we hooked ours up. We met them the next day and they proceed to tell us that this was their first time out with a camper and that the truck and camper were owned by the Dodge dealership the wife worked at. So they watched us as we did our hookups thinking we must know what we were doing. So there you have it, two noobs watching each other thinking the other is the expert.

jbrostek · 10-02-2013, 01:56 PM

I am about to do close to just that. Tomorrow morning I am heading to the dealer to trade in the current RV for a 2014 Primetime Sanibel. I will be doing my PDI/Walkthrough tomorrow, moving stuff over and spending the night at the dealers campground for the night. That gives me time to find any major item to address. Then Friday, towing 200 miles to WV for the weekend. Back home and to work on Monday.

Jjs2000z · 10-02-2013, 02:29 PM

You will find thing wrong with almost every trailer purchased. If you live far from a dealer I suggest camping close by the dealer for your first trip. 99% of the time there will be something that needs to be fixed or adjusted by the dealer

**Herk7769** · 10-02-2013, 03:07 PM

Handy PDI Checklist from "Changin' Gears"
Herk

trudinator · 10-02-2013, 08:09 PM

We went from 20+ years of tenting to a 32 footer. So we had a bunch of stuff already. And we trolled WM for a few months before our PDI so we had everything we needed when we got it home. We driveway camped and it was great! Seven days later we did the shakedown. Took me that long to find a place for everything. It was 7 days of torture, not being able to camp with it.

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