Purchasing from an RV dealer

mrndly · 01-25-2018, 08:35 AM

Question on best practice. We put down a deposit for our RV at a show this past weekend. We will be picking it up this Saturday , the salesman is pressing to complete the purchase Friday. Is this normal? Fully pay for the trailer before they start prepping it? We only put down $500 as deposit so I get they might want a larger deposit as comfort we wont back out. But we will be paying cash not financing so it feels like I wont have any clout if there are issues with the trailer.
The dealer is 2 hours away so 2 trips will be a hassle.
Any thoughts what experience has any of you had?

dblr · 01-25-2018, 08:38 AM

I for one and most folks here will say you do not pay until after you have gone thru the PDI, much easier to get things fixed before you pay then you waiting afterwards. They want your money so make sure you get what you want also. Good luck and let us know how things went.

Happy Camper 2715 · 01-25-2018, 08:46 AM

Right now you are in full control of the purchase, once you pay for it that's not the case anymore. Only complete the purchase after you have had a pre delivery inspection and are fully satisfied that all systems work and you have a basic understanding of how to operate everything.then sign on the line and pay the man.

**Flybob** · 01-25-2018, 08:58 AM

Do not sign anything or give them anymore money until you have done a PDI and are happy with "That unit" . Money is power in RV purchases. Do not accept the " sign and take it now and compile a list of any problems you find and bring it back" They will jump through hoops to fix things when they want their money. Once they are paid, you will just get in line and may still be waiting for repairs when the season starts. Very shortly service depts will be very busy getting units ready for the 2018 season. Regular service is more profitable than warranty work so that will go to the end of the line. Print out a PDI check list from the library on this forum and make sure everything is demonstrated and works before you sign. If the dealer has an issue with this then I would be very suspicious of doing business with them. If there are minor issues you are OK repairing accept the unit.

mrndly · 01-25-2018, 09:12 AM

I am usually pretty on top of this stuff but he made us feel like we wouldn't get the trailer unless we paid by this Friday, there we only three available at the price and several people interested.

It wasn't until this morning it hit me that was not right. the dealer has good ratings which is why i was wondering if this it typical

eye95 · 01-25-2018, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrndly

I am usually pretty on top of this stuff but he made us feel like we wouldn't get the trailer unless we paid by this Friday, there we only three available at the price and several people interested.

It wasn't until this morning it hit me that was not right. the dealer has good ratings which is why i was wondering if this it typical

That’s the purpose of the deposit: to guarantee that YOU get THAT UNIT.

Payment-in-full should only be made on delivery of THAT UNIT in acceptable condition.

If the dealer wants all the money before delivery, RUN!

Show him our responses if he thinks you are being unreasonable.

Tankmaster · 01-25-2018, 09:16 AM

X2 What everyone else said. The salesman just wants to get the sale in the pay period. It's not like they are ordering the trailer from the plant and might get stuck with it. I assume it's on their lot. Good Luck with your purchase. Happy Camping!

Tank

Steeljag · 01-25-2018, 09:26 AM

I would not ! The contract should not be signed until you are satisfied with the RV ! It “may” just be the sales person putting on the pressure, and not the dealerships policy !

Call the dealership and ask to speak with the sales manager about this issue !

67L48 · 01-25-2018, 09:30 AM

I'm not sure I'll give the "run away" directive quite yet, but I'm pretty flighty myself when it comes to sales. When I see red flags, I find another place to work with.

It is perfectly natural for the guy to want to close now, because we've reached the end of the month. They have monthly goals and time is getting tight. With that said, even if you give him the cash and it's in the dealership's bank account, the dealership cannot legally recognize that revenue for the month of January until you take possession. But, let's stay away from GAAP for now.

But, you said you put a deposit down on the RV. I have recently purchased a car and an RV from dealerships. In both cases, I put down a deposit. In both cases, there was paperwork that went along with the deposit ... really just a glorified receipt.

On the truck, it stated that the the deal had to be done by a certain date and that delivery had to be made by that date (before month's end). Again, this was to ensure that they not only had payment, but that the deal was completed to the point of being able to recognize revenue.

On the RV, there were fewer details. It basically just was a receipt that stated I paid a deposit, it wasn't refundable, the trailer was mine, and I could pick it up whenever I wanted. Within 15 minutes of paying the deposit, the trailer was off the website and off all the RVT/RVTrader websites.

If the dealer took a deposit from you, sold the trailer out from under you, and then returned your deposit, I'm not sure what recourse you would have. I highly doubt that any deposit paperwork has provisions that are punitive to the dealership in such a case. And, you'd have no way to demonstrate monetary damages to a court, should you sue ... you got your deposit back and the court won't care about the several hours you lost in your negotiations.

Refundable deposits don't mean much to anyone. Nonrefundable deposits generally mean that the seller will stop actively selling the unit.

Paying before delivery is risky. There's no reason that it has to go in the opposite order. When I got my RV, I drove to the dealership, spent about 2 hours on inspection on the trailer, and then walked into an office and signed paperwork. Seems a more natural order to me.

Wiscampsin · 01-25-2018, 09:44 AM

Agree with everyone else that you shouldn't pay in full yet. Call the salesperson and remind them that you put down your deposit for that camper. I assume you have paperwork (deposit receipt) stating such. The balance will paid after you're 100% satisfied after the PDI. Right now you're still in control, once you pay in full you lost that control.

mwdilday · 01-25-2018, 10:15 AM

Pay after the inspection. I put $1,000 deposit (refundable towards another unit if I refused mine) and paid the balance after inspection and demonstration. I would never pay in advance. As far as being pushy it could be any number of reasons but usually money related - pay periods, end of month, unit volume cut-offs, bank inventory financing, etc.

mrndly · 01-25-2018, 11:10 AM

Thanks all - called the dealer - Told them I wasn't paying up front and was annoyed I was even being pressured to pay in full before a walk thru. They were completely fine. Must have been the sales guy.

Needed the sanity check was too excited about getting the new TT.

Crabman · 01-25-2018, 11:43 AM

"I have several people interested in this unit" Just an old trick to pressure you to pay IMO.

amblt · 01-25-2018, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrndly

Question on best practice. We put down a deposit for our RV at a show this past weekend. We will be picking it up this Saturday , the salesman is pressing to complete the purchase Friday. Is this normal? Fully pay for the trailer before they start prepping it? We only put down $500 as deposit so I get they might want a larger deposit as comfort we wont back out. But we will be paying cash not financing so it feels like I wont have any clout if there are issues with the trailer.
The dealer is 2 hours away so 2 trips will be a hassle.
Any thoughts what experience has any of you had?

We are in a similar situation now where we paid the deposit and actually completed the deal 6 weeks later, the unit is still on the dealer's lot until spring. We have a handshake bolstered by written confirmation that a PDI will be done, and I am confident that all will be ok. I know that sounds naïve, but I've generally had good luck trusting people in this type of situation. It also helps that we are dealing with an independent dealer in a small community, not a nationwide chain. Word of mouth and bad reps can be a killer in that scenario. We also have some strong consumer protection laws in Ontario.

Cheers

old40ford · 01-25-2018, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrndly

Question on best practice. We put down a deposit for our RV at a show this past weekend. We will be picking it up this Saturday , the salesman is pressing to complete the purchase Friday. Is this normal? Fully pay for the trailer before they start prepping it? We only put down $500 as deposit so I get they might want a larger deposit as comfort we wont back out. But we will be paying cash not financing so it feels like I wont have any clout if there are issues with the trailer.
The dealer is 2 hours away so 2 trips will be a hassle.
Any thoughts what experience has any of you had?

We gave a $500 deposit to Cheyenne Camping Center over the phone for our 5th and they had no problem holding it until we could get there almost 4 weeks later. In fact, we did not pay them until after the pdi at their request. Just remember any dealer can give you show prices any time. Don't be bullied.

5picker · 01-25-2018, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrndly

Thanks all - called the dealer - Told them I wasn't paying up front and was annoyed I was even being pressured to pay in full before a walk thru. They were completely fine. Must have been the sales guy.

Needed the sanity check was too excited about getting the new TT.

Good for you!

Let us know when you pick up the new unit and how it went.

retireearly · 01-25-2018, 03:38 PM

We had a great experience with a small local dealer (Irvine's Camper) which lead us to be too trusting of a larger out of town dealer (Specialty RV). Virtually everything was a lie and we ended up working through the state AG and BBB to get a settlement after 5 months of fighting. Buyer beware for sure.

**Platokidd** · 01-25-2018, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flybob

Do not sign anything or give them anymore money until you have done a PDI and are happy with "That unit" . Money is power in RV purchases. Do not accept the " sign and take it now and compile a list of any problems you find and bring it back" They will jump through hoops to fix things when they want their money. Once they are paid, you will just get in line and may still be waiting for repairs when the season starts. Very shortly service depts will be very busy getting units ready for the 2018 season. Regular service is more profitable than warranty work so that will go to the end of the line. Print out a PDI check list from the library on this forum and make sure everything is demonstrated and works before you sign. If the dealer has an issue with this then I would be very suspicious of doing business with them. If there are minor issues you are OK repairing accept the unit.

X1000 times!
I walked out on a deal .... boy talk about them jumping thru hoops to put out fires.
Service has never been that good since.
I thought FDW was going to kill me that day. She jokes about it now. And now when the deal gets tough, she walks away.

jkoenig24 · 01-25-2018, 04:22 PM

I would RUN from that salesman/dealer.

Steeljag · 01-25-2018, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrndly

Thanks all - called the dealer - Told them I wasn't paying up front and was annoyed I was even being pressured to pay in full before a walk thru. They were completely fine. Must have been the sales guy.

Needed the sanity check was too excited about getting the new TT.

Good to read !

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