Cannibalization of new units on the dealer's lot

[B47]

All good reasons,pro and con. But how would you know if a vehicle or RV you purchased had been cannibalized and the part re-installed prior to your buying it?

I doubt it would show in the vehicle or RV paperwork.

[ChipBruce]

This may (or may not) be the dealer that I have bought three trailers from. They are top notch in every way and if they cannibalized a part it was to meet a need and take care of a customer. That is the kind of service I have received from them in the past and they pride their dealership in doing whatever it takes to take care of the customer who is in front of them.

I think that it would pain a dealer to pirate a part off of a $30k camper knowing that it is now effectively out of circulation until the parts can come in. But if it meets the needs of a customer who has invested a considerable amount of money with you already, well, the customer standing there wins every time compared to the customer who may come in sometime in the future and may buy a camper. In business, you always take the sure thing, not the gamble.

In a perfect world, everything would work perfectly and never need repair, parts would always be plentiful and no one would have to worry about having a sore P-______. But we live in a world that is not all gum drops and lollipops. I'm sure that if it was your camper that needed the cannibalized part, there would be no hesitation in telling the dealer, "Heck, ya! Take that part and give it to me!" That is just the way the world works.

Let's cut the dealers some slack. Not all of them are bad. Some are. But not all of them. Throwing them all under the bus is just overkill. Rant over. Besides if the parts are put back and all is good at the PDI, who really cares?

[youroo]

We were on a Trip/Vacation and our Tripmobile which was fairly New,Broke Down! We were far away from Home and the Dealer we were at said to us,we have a unit in here that is waiting for other parts that are back ordered from the Factory,and its going to be a while before it is repaired! I will call the owner of That Unit and ask if we can use the part yours needs to get you on your way,just pay for the New part you need! I said OK and they worked till 12:00 at night and we were Out The Door! That's the type of Dealer I Like! I wrote a article for the Local Paper in that town about the "Above & Beyond Service the Dealership performed for Us,three years later I stopped back at that Dealership and they had Framed the Newspaper article,and was on the wall! Youroo!!

[rthomaslyons]

The first time I saw dealers borrowing parts I didn't like the idea but some dealers can wait all summer for parts, so If you want to get away on vacation what do you do! Whats even worse is when you take your trailer in for repairs and when you go to get it before the holiday weekend you find the gates locked and the dealer has gone bankrupt and they won't let you in to get your own trailer! Seen that, thats why were not allowed to carry guns in Canada!

[hughd033]

Why not fix the real problem and that is getting parts from the factory to fix things that should have been verified before it left the factory. Used to be called quality control and pride of craftsmanship. Been waiting for 2 months for a replacement led lamp over the dining table as well as table top cause cheesy lamp broke from mount fell to table and then glass did number on top of table. FR talks up their pride in sales and quality of product but when it comes time to walk the talk they fall just a bit short.

[rolnshar1]

every one should remember that this indicates a unit that is serviceable. it is good to know that these things can be removed and replaced without tearing apart a large section of trailer.

[JohnF]

Originally Posted by B47

Yep - done in aviation,both military and commercial, with certain controls and procedures being followed.

Yep, we called the cannibalized aircraft the "Hangar Queen".

[Asrabbit]

When I bought my Wildwood 195BH two weeks ago, they changed the mattress out from another unit because the one in mine had a seem coming apart. At first, they guy just took pictures of it and said he would have one delivered to me. Then for some reason he just said he would get one out of another unit. By the way, it is hard to call that thing on the bed a "mattress". It is more like a pad. My wife had already bought a memory foam topper and we had it in the back of the truck in a box. So when we left the dealer and got to the state park, you opened it and had a nice bed to sleep in that night.

[northstar1960]

Originally Posted by Rvdixie

As a former dealer I can tell you that the first rule of business is thou shalt not cannibalize. Any dealer that does not stock the fundamental parts necessary for the operation of an RV should not be a dealer. When it comes to trim work like cabinet doors etc. surely there is no need so great as to take $30,000 worth of inventory and making it virtually unsaleable. All manufacturers will work with a dealer in case of emergencies if pursued by a responsible dealer. I would not say I have never done it, but it would be a once in a lifetime exception or something of that nature. Can you imagine having dozens of units in inventory with missing parts while your sales guys are trying to sell them? You can get a pretty good idea on how a dealership is operated by the condition of their inventory. If this is the best they can do when trying to sell you something can you just imagine how great the service will be after the sale.

There would be no RV dealers if that were the case . it happens at all rv dealerships weather they admit it or not . when you get half a dozen new units in and it takes parts from the other five to get one finished then that's what happens . can't blame the dealers it's the manufactures sending out unfinished broken products .

[B47]

Originally Posted by JohnF

Yep, we called the cannibalized aircraft the "Hangar Queen".

In the military ours was the "Cann Bird" and in commercial aviation our Hangar Queen was/is an airplane (s) that was in the hangar for maintenance more than the rest of the fleet.

[dieselguy]

Lotsa interesting responses here ... to those who feel it's no biggie for a dealer's techs to haul items at will out of a brand new unit ... you have waayyyy more blind faith in the average tech's ability to professionally replace what was taken than me. I guaran-damned-tee most any woodwork will be botched up beyond belief as extremely few dealerships have anything close to a trim carpenter on board. I've seen that aftermath first hand very recently. I do agree borrowing parts does have to happen in some instances, but stepping in to a brand new unit with major parts missing instantly kills a potential sale for this customer.

[Canadiancrew]

Yes some seem to think it's great service to do think but I would rather not have parts taken in and out of the unit I buy. Like diesel guy said I don't trust the techs. General something like that would be assigned to the junior guy.

We had the microwave go on outer new 2016 trailer last summer. No big deal FR had us a new one in 2 weeks. Not worth taking one out of a new trailer.

[Kenny kustom]

I took mine from the dealer, missing the fridge panels and the radio.

No biggie for me! I wanted to go camping, and those items did not prevent me from doing so.



2016 Sabre 36QBOK
2015 Ram 3500 CUMMINS

[riverrat958]

Originally Posted by Kenny kustom

Ok, so heres a question for you...

You bring your brand new truck back to the dealer because it wont start..
Turns out, it needs the Wireless Control Module.
Only problem is, its on a national back order.

Option A: they pull the WCM out of another truck on the lot, and you are on your way in a half hour.

Option B: you have to leave your truck there ( because it wont run ) for an unknown time. Could be a couple months..

Which do you choose ?

dealership I work for ran, into this, the TCM went on customers truck- found one at another dealership 45 miles away.TCM was back order for months

[riverrat958]

at a rv dealership I did work at, it was frowned on but done to get the sale out. immediately the part was ordered with the stock # of the unit being sold.

[goduc]

So a dealer robs a cabinet door or fridge panel from one RV for a sale and then the buyer of the RV with the missing parts has to wait for parts as that particular RV is the only one on the lot with that type of panels and cabinet doors. So the buyer of the 2nd RV is now waiting for new parts because there's no other model on the lot to replace the missing parts with. So the parts are on order but when they come in are different because the MFG has now changed parts. BTDT with a dinning table.
It had a crack in it when we did PDI. Honestly I didn't even notice it but the PDI guy showed us it and said they would order us a new table. Well after 3 different tables we ended up with a different base than what was original because the MFG no longer was selling their trailers with our style table.
So all this cannibalizing does is create a chain of robbing Paul to pay Peter. But at some point it will catch up with them and some new buyer is going to be jacked.

[schrederman]

I have real mixed views about this one, but I'm pulled in the same direction as dieselguy... I don't trust dealer's "techs" to do anything professionally. I've fixed stuff on my friend's RV that they supposedly "fixed". It ain't pretty. There are exceptions, but how do you know up front which ones are actually 'techs", and not hacks.

[Kels4g]

We recently had to wait from October to January to get our countertop replaced due to it being incorrectly installed at the factory. We were offered to have the counter top from another new unit but we declined and waited since our trailer was still usable. We were told that FR has to completely stop the production line to make a replacement countertop. Sounds like BS to me but they said that's why it took so long.

[gectisme]

Originally Posted by schrederman

I have real mixed views about this one, but I'm pulled in the same direction as dieselguy... I don't trust dealer's "techs" to do anything professionally. I've fixed stuff on my friend's RV that they supposedly "fixed". It ain't pretty. There are exceptions, but how do you know up front which ones are actually 'techs", and not hacks.

X3, again, I would not be unhappy if they pulled the part for my RV but I would not want to be the one who buys the unit they pulled it out of. Selfish... The talk of aircraft industry doing it all the time, they have certified techs and manuals with procedures for removing an replacing parts. I really doubt the RV dealer has a 2016 WJ3006 Service Manual with parts replacement procedures. Yeah, most things on the RV are not as complicated but I am fairly mechanically inclined, maybe not the best but can wrench with most people and I have found working on my old Truck Camper, there were some things I tore apart wrong and had to double back and spend extra money and time to do it right, I think an RV tech in a hurry, under pressure might just mickey mouse it together...

[northstar1960]

Originally Posted by dieselguy

Lotsa interesting responses here ... to those who feel it's no biggie for a dealer's techs to haul items at will out of a brand new unit ... you have waayyyy more blind faith in the average tech's ability to professionally replace what was taken than me. I guaran-damned-tee most any woodwork will be botched up beyond belief as extremely few dealerships have anything close to a trim carpenter on board. I've seen that aftermath first hand very recently. I do agree borrowing parts does have to happen in some instances, but stepping in to a brand new unit with major parts missing instantly kills a potential sale for this customer.

I Can Guaran-dam-tee you most techs are top notch . you may just have a bad one or bad dealer . if any shoddy work is being done it's because the dealer is rushing or just not paying for the time the Tech needs to get the job done right . but i'm sure you wouldn't mind working for free . after spending 5 months working along side the techs i know for Fact these are some good solid professionals .