Would you purchase new RV froma dealer far away?

[efgsr47]

stay away from camping world !!! look them up within a few 100 miles under the better business bureau and see ALL the problems with them from pricing before and after to sales people attitude to service people as well. watch out

[run2jc]

I looked at my local dealer and could not agree on a price. So I am driving 600 miles to save $7000.00
Talk about instant equity. now I have plenty of cash left for future camping!!

[CarolinaGirl]

The dealership we purchased from is about 3.5 hours away. We selected them because nobody else had what we wanted. It is a pain in the butt for warranty work. But both the sales and service department were exceptional. I called about 5 local dealers to see if they would do the warranty work for me and they all said no. But I think that is just how people are in CT. I've experienced that in many different types of businesses, outside of the camping world.

[jeffrapp]

CarolinaGirl, it's not just CT. See my previous posting. My experience in California is exactly the same as yours. I would be very surprised if it were not also true in the rest of the country.
Some people have had excellent experiences, as you will note if you read the postings in this forum. Others, not so good. As I said, it all depends on the dealers attitude. The important thing to remember is that no dealers are under any obligation to provide warranty work. I'm not even sure if the selling dealer is obligated, but apparently, most or all do, although not always happily or efficiently. In my opinion, when there is a warranty problem, the dealers are usually the bad guys.

[Tireguy397]

My wife and I just went through this. We had our hearts set on a Nitro 31 FQLS toy hauler for our new trailer. Our local dealer did not have one but would order it. We found one on line at Tom Johnson Camping Center in Marion NC, 280 miles away. Tom Johnson beat local dealers best deal by $6000. Local dealer rudely told me that he would not do my warranty work. His loss since I used to buy a lot of parts from him. We made our first camping trip and had 5 things come up that needed repair mostly manufacturing issues. The people at Tom Johnson were super to deal with. They invited us to come and stay free at their beautiful campground by the dealership and even had a service tech come to our campsite for 5 hours to fix the problems. Make sure your far away dealer has this kind of customer service. Would I do it again? To save $6,000 and deal with great people, you bet.

[lkin]

Live in boston. Bought from a dealer in San Diego.

[greti]

Bought both campers from RV wholesalers approximately 7 hours away from me. I found an rv technician that will do warranty work as well as a local forest river dealer. It is nice being able to pick your options and the local dealers would not negotiate on price and RV Wholesalers beat their price by 3k.

[Leprechauner]

I bought my 2013 motorhome 1680 miles away. I live in northern Canada, bought in California. I would do it again in a heart beat(depending on the exchange rate.) I think I could I could sell my unit today, for what I paid for it 2 years ago.

[Ncgrandma]

We live in NE North Carolia and ordered our tt from a dealer in Buffalo, NY. We got a great deal and made a road trip out of it.

[Togger]

We bought our Wildwood park model local and had it delivered to our permanent campsite 150 miles away at the beach. It's set it up with a deck and permanent screen room and found a rain leak.

The local Wildwood dealer took 6 weeks to get to it, then another 2 months after they didn't fix it the first time to get to it again. Failing to fix it the second time, it sat 5 months over winter until they worked on it again, with 5 cancelled visits in between. It still leaked.

The other nearby FR dealer wouldn't touch it because they don't sell Wildwood, they said. I was at a disadvantage having built a screenroom to it I couldn't take it anywhere. The local independent RV repair guy I called 3 times since December and he still didn't get to it.

This caused me many months of stress. After much research I bought a carpet dryer fan and learned to do my own pressure test for leaks using soapy water for a bubble test. This weekend I finally succeeded in locating and sealing the leak source. There was a small unsealed spot at end of the gutter where water could enter the inside and then it ran 18 feet inside the gutter rail and then along the inside of the siding down to the floor.

The moral of my story is that nightmares can come true with brand new campers and don't count on anyone you didn't buy it from to have any interest in solving a difficult warranty issue.

[efgsr47]

I went from NJ to TX 1600 miles drove the unit home and flying back to TX to pick up my F350and drove that back to NJ. did that because area dealers did not came up the stupid pricing on Georgetown unit. TX gave me the best price and saved 15000 yes $15000. Was well forth the trip

[1l243]

I did not read through all these posts but I have bought two new trailers out of state. The first Oregon to Iowa, the second Oregon to Texas. Made road trips out of both.

Had all the paper work done in advance so no surprises on pricing when we showed up.

We saved a lot of money even after figuring in the travel costs to pick it up.

I had a warranty issue with the second one, I called FR and they said to find a local FR dealer which is what I did. They did a great job on the repair and FR did a great job handling the warranty issue.. Would do it again.

In my case Oregon has no sales tax but states like California could have a real problem with you buying a new rig out of state and then trying to get it registered in California.

My mistakes...

NEVER BUY A USED rig long distance!!!! People lie, pictures don't show everything. Example, I drove from Oregon to Wyoming for a used rig that was only 3 years old from a Auto Dealer (mistake one) They said trailer was perfect like new, I believed them (mistake two) They sent over 50 pictures , pictures don't show everything (mistake 3) Sent a deposit to hold trailer (mistake 4).. Trailer looked like it had been lived in for the entire 3 years. Outside was faded from the sun, inside smelled of mildew, inside wall panels and cabinets were warped.... Boy did I learn a lesson.... Luckily after many threats I got my deposit back but spent over 5 days and $1000 in traveling expenses...

[ColoradoRick]

For people new to RVs, yes...if it's a good dealer. Seasoned folks who know the ins-and-outs, not as important.


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[Brewhedd]

Bought my new '15 Rockwood 2702SS in S. Carolina from Camping World. Well worth the drive from Orlando, saved about $5000. The dealers here were asking $17 to 20k for 2012 models and $27 to 30k for new. Ended up paying $22k. I have a couple minor issues and called the Cocoa (20 mi) dealership and they have no problem fixing them.

[Soonermikel]

We just bought our 2015 Wildewood from a dealer 200 miles from our home…we were told any dealer could do the warranty work on it…hope we never have to find out!

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Soonermikel

We just bought our 2015 Wildewood from a dealer 200 miles from our home…we were told any dealer could do the warranty work on it…hope we never have to find out!

Boy, did you get fed a line of BS.
If you do have issues, contact your Wildwood warranty rep. They should be able to find dealers that can help.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by 1l243

In my case Oregon has no sales tax but states like California could have a real problem with you buying a new rig out of state and then trying to get it registered in California.

No problem for us buying ours in Illinois and taking it back to California and registering it.

[mike.t]

soonermike. Like bikendan said that is not true. The maker is not going to be paying a lot for warranty work.

[RSchleder]

We live in Iowa and in the past year have bought 2 different Wildcat MAXX trailers (upsized from a 29' unit to a 33') from a great dealership in Ellensburg, Wa. Our son loves in Seattle so we combined the visit to him with the purchase of the trailers. The MAXX is sold only in the Western part of the country and is designed so it can be used in "colder weather" with enclosed belly and heated tanks.
We figure that if it needs repair, our dealer will send us the replacement parts for exchange and I'll do the work. If not, I have confidence that Forest River will assist me in finding a Forest River dealer to help me.

[mike.t]

Originally Posted by RSchleder

We live in Iowa and in the past year have bought 2 different Wildcat MAXX trailers (upsized from a 29' unit to a 33') from a great dealership in Ellensburg, Wa. Our son loves in Seattle so we combined the visit to him with the purchase of the trailers. The MAXX is sold only in the Western part of the country and is designed so it can be used in "colder weather" with enclosed belly and heated tanks.
We figure that if it needs repair, our dealer will send us the replacement parts for exchange and I'll do the work. If not, I have confidence that Forest River will assist me in finding a Forest River dealer to help me.

I don't think so. The part about the dealer sending parts and you doing the work. I may be wrong.