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Old 05-10-2019, 01:09 PM   #1
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Purchase/Ordering Experience - What to Expect?

Dear wife and I are about to embark on the experience of purchasing the newest Rockwood Roo 235S. We are in no rush at this point and have no definitive dealership in mind. (We are in Augusta, GA)



I've done as much research as I feel I possibly could have, but I still get the terrifying feeling that I'm not going into this event capably armed with intel!


1. I've never purchased a TT from a dealership (much less a brand new one).
2. I've certainly never experienced the ordering process either (only with my existing tow vehicle).


It seems no dealership around here has a Roo 235S on-premises, so we've kind of accepted the fact that we'll order/purchase sight-unseen. (that concerns the wife for sure)


We only want the Roo 235S, brand new, as it will be our 8-year home away from home.


I would love information any of you have about the actual build/ordering process. While there are many websites out there, it's hard to definitively identify exactly what the available options are.


Is there a standard ordering form where each option, line by line, is established when ordering from Forest River? Is there a definitive price list of each line item available?


I'm really looking for that level of detail before the order is made...this is the same experience I had when purchasing my home.


While $$ is always a concern, I'd rather know the price of the available option in order to make an informed decision whether or not to include it.


I appreciate your feedback! Like I said, we aren't in a rush, we just want to do this with "eyes wide open"!


Thanks in advance!
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Old 05-10-2019, 01:52 PM   #2
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Welcome to the forum. I just did a quick search on RVTrader for a 235S and had to push out to 400 miles to find one in Indiana, must be a popular model. I bought my Grey Wolf new off the dealer lot in Oct 2017, so I can't help with the ordering process. I was checking units at the dealer for a couple months before I drug my DW to the lot and we settled on a 23MK. I'm sure you'll love whatever you get. Have fun.
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Old 05-10-2019, 01:56 PM   #3
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We custom ordered our Wildcatt and it was not painful. A lot depends on the salesman. Our guy at Dennis Dillon was great. we could NOT live with the new style entry stairs due to where we store the trailer and he had the factory rep's personal cell, called him and he walked him through how to write it up and how much it would cost. Everything we asked for came out great. But it seemed like FOREVER to get it. We said the same thing, "we're in no hurry" and needed time to sell the old RV. We were lucky enough to sell it to a family friend in a few weeks so were without an RV for about two months, was nice having an empty driveway but it drove us nuts not being able to just hook up and take off if we wanted to.


But I'd do it again if I had the opportunity. One thing I did discover was that many things I would have liked to have on the trailer were "dealer installed" and not available from the factory and we did not want to pay the stealer their ridiculous price and markups.
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Old 05-10-2019, 02:01 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by nayther View Post
We custom ordered our Wildcatt and it was not painful. A lot depends on the salesman. Our guy at Dennis Dillon was great. we could NOT live with the new style entry stairs due to where we store the trailer and he had the factory rep's personal cell, called him and he walked him through how to write it up and how much it would cost. Everything we asked for came out great. But it seemed like FOREVER to get it. We said the same thing, "we're in no hurry" and needed time to sell the old RV. We were lucky enough to sell it to a family friend in a few weeks so were without an RV for about two months, was nice having an empty driveway but it drove us nuts not being able to just hook up and take off if we wanted to.


But I'd do it again if I had the opportunity. One thing I did discover was that many things I would have liked to have on the trailer were "dealer installed" and not available from the factory and we did not want to pay the stealer their ridiculous price and markups.

Thanks for the feedback! I didn't realize that I also had to take into account the "dealer installed" options!
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Old 05-10-2019, 02:24 PM   #5
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I might add...

Go to :
https://www.rvwholesalers.com/design/step1/


Go through the process and build your RV. The experience is fun and painless. You will have to provide a phone number to get your quote, but it is instant.
Even if you buy somewhere else... you WILL be surprised at how easy it will be to drive to Ohio.... This will show you a pretty accurate list of available options.

I would print the factory brochure and compare the lists of options(some WILL overlap) as you are building the RV. link attch.

http://www.forestriverinc.com/brochu...TTbrochure.pdf


Enjoy your quest... it is part of the fun
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Old 05-10-2019, 02:30 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by Iwannacamp View Post
I might add...

Go to :
https://www.rvwholesalers.com/design/step1/


Go through the process and build your RV. The experience is fun and painless. You will have to provide a phone number to get your quote, but it is instant.
Even if you buy somewhere else... you WILL be surprised at how easy it will be to drive to Ohio....

Enjoy your quest... it is part of the fun

This is great advice


couple of items to consider... power tongue jack, upgraded A/C are almost crazy not to order. I would also recommend the slide out awning, but thats a personal choice. Heated holding tanks sound great, but really don't make your camper able to be used in cold conditions
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Old 05-10-2019, 02:30 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by Iwannacamp View Post
I might add...

Go to :
https://www.rvwholesalers.com/design/step1/


Go through the process and build your RV. The experience is fun and painless. You will have to provide a phone number to get your quote, but it is instant.
Even if you buy somewhere else... you WILL be surprised at how easy it will be to drive to Ohio....

Enjoy your quest... it is part of the fun

Wow! I've not come across that "build your own site"! It presents exactly what I've been trying to find! Gold mine!
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Old 05-10-2019, 02:58 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by Camscrub17 View Post
Wow! I've not come across that "build your own site"! It presents exactly what I've been trying to find! Gold mine!
We purchased our RV from RVW and I give them thumbs up ! No pressure, quick answers, met with and spoke with the owners ! Overall a very good buying experience!

Buying a motor home, the wife and I flew up and they picked up at Columbus airport. Did the PDI and paperwork, drove a short distance to a state park for the night to triple check everything and all was good !

We spent about nine days slowly working our way back to FL .

I had two warranty related issues the first year. Both were handled by RVW who had a RV service tech come to my house !

Best of luck with your search !
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Old 05-10-2019, 07:05 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steeljag View Post
We purchased our RV from RVW and I give them thumbs up ! No pressure, quick answers, met with and spoke with the owners ! Overall a very good buying experience!



Buying a motor home, the wife and I flew up and they picked up at Columbus airport. Did the PDI and paperwork, drove a short distance to a state park for the night to triple check everything and all was good !



We spent about nine days slowly working our way back to FL .



I had two warranty related issues the first year. Both were handled by RVW who had a RV service tech come to my house !



Best of luck with your search !


Lol. Indian Lake. Me too

It was an honor system off season. It was funny to me.
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Old 05-11-2019, 07:45 AM   #10
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RVDirect has a similar build tool on their website;

https://www.rvdirect.com/models.php?...5&modelid=4996

Thats who we went through. They were by far the cheapest of the dozen or so quotes we got, and they have a location that they could ship our new Shamrock to only about 90 minutes away from home.

Process is more or less the same, choose your options and select a quote. You get it pretty fast. It does list the MSRP of the unit and options on the build sheet as you go through it, the quote they actually give you will be about 2/3 of that.
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Old 05-11-2019, 07:56 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by Camscrub17 View Post
Dear wife and I are about to embark on the experience of purchasing the newest Rockwood Roo 235S. We are in no rush at this point and have no definitive dealership in mind. (We are in Augusta, GA)



I've done as much research as I feel I possibly could have, but I still get the terrifying feeling that I'm not going into this event capably armed with intel!


1. I've never purchased a TT from a dealership (much less a brand new one).
2. I've certainly never experienced the ordering process either (only with my existing tow vehicle).


It seems no dealership around here has a Roo 235S on-premises, so we've kind of accepted the fact that we'll order/purchase sight-unseen. (that concerns the wife for sure)


We only want the Roo 235S, brand new, as it will be our 8-year home away from home.


I would love information any of you have about the actual build/ordering process. While there are many websites out there, it's hard to definitively identify exactly what the available options are.


Is there a standard ordering form where each option, line by line, is established when ordering from Forest River? Is there a definitive price list of each line item available?


I'm really looking for that level of detail before the order is made...this is the same experience I had when purchasing my home.


While $$ is always a concern, I'd rather know the price of the available option in order to make an informed decision whether or not to include it.


I appreciate your feedback! Like I said, we aren't in a rush, we just want to do this with "eyes wide open"!


Thanks in advance!
I'm an infomaniac at times, forgetting that half is what I learn in advance; the best part is what I learn from that point forward - lots of help on this site. Enjoy!
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Old 05-11-2019, 11:01 AM   #12
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We went in to the dealer, they had a printed build/option sheet listing prices on it, we discussed what we wanted, he gave us a price at the end and away we went.

The only thing we didn’t order I wish we would have was the hide-a-bed option. The sales guys talked us out if it, was $125 or so additional so no real money, by saying they NEVER ordered their stock units to have one. First off, he was wrong, they all come with it and secondly we realized if we ever want to turtle we have to squeeze on the dining table or pull down a bed.

I’ve asked SEVERAL times about getting one after the sale with no answer or help from the dealer or FR.

It was an easy process and our “local” dealer (about 60 miles away) absolutely beat any deal we found online by a significant amount. Enough that after shopping all the wholesalers I called and asked them what was up, was I missing something and they said nope. They were great, zero hidden fees and they worked with us up until the sofa thing where I let it go as well; I think they think we want it for free or something.

Regardless, there should be zero worries in the experience.
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Old 05-11-2019, 02:42 PM   #13
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Wholeheartedly recommend the RV Wholesalers experience. Service is good, price can't be beat, and picking it up, there, was worth the trip. They splendidly handled our 2 warranty issues! Would buy there again, for sure
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Old 05-12-2019, 06:40 AM   #14
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You will love the new 235s layout! This is a hard one to find. I think a lot of people want it. My favorite is the outdoor kitchen. Really lends itself to how we camp.
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Old 05-12-2019, 07:31 AM   #15
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You may want to find out when they make the changes for the following year. We ordered ours in April of 2018, started the build in mid-May titles were changed over to 2019. It was exactly the same as a 2018, so a good thing. Had we gotten the changes they made in June we would have been very upset. A few good changes, but a lot that we didn’t like. Whew.
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Old 05-12-2019, 07:43 AM   #16
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High volume dealer will have several trailers on order from the factory and if your experience is similar to mine one of these will probably fit your needs and result in quick delivery rather than waiting 12 weeks for a separate order from a Mon & Pop dealer who sells two a year.

In my case the dealer (RVWholesalers in Ohio) had half a dozen week old trailers sitting outside the factory in Indiana waiting for delivery to his lot and we took delivery a week after I placed my order by telephone. This trailer had every option available that year, even storm windows (which are still in the attic of my last house I bet ).

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Old 05-12-2019, 08:06 AM   #17
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You may want to find out when they make the changes for the following year. We ordered ours in April of 2018, started the build in mid-May titles were changed over to 2019. It was exactly the same as a 2018, so a good thing. Had we gotten the changes they made in June we would have been very upset. A few good changes, but a lot that we didn’t like. Whew.
They change over to the next model year around May. We ordered ours in February of 2016, and received a 2017 model year in May when we took delivery. But floor plan and layout changes they like to make in the middle of the year. They don't necessarily coincide with the change to the new model years. I found this while browsing used RV's before we decided to buy new. I found a lot of changes made during the same model years with the same floor plan.

For example;

Early 2016 233S models had the TV's mounted up toward the ceiling just next to the entry door. They also had shower curtains in the shower, and a large wardrobe just outside of the bathroom near the back bunk. Somewhere in the middle of the 2016 model year, they decided to move the TV to near the dinette slide on the wall, and moved the microwave to where the TV used to be. They added new cupboards to take the place of the microwave. They also extended the wall of the bathroom out to enlarge it and added shower doors to take the place of the curtain. To make room for the larger bathroom, they removed the large wardrobe just outside of the bathroom and installed a smaller one inside the bathroom behind the toilet.
I don't recall when those changes were implemented for sure, I think around October of 2015. My point being that they like to make changes randomly throughout the year. Not just when they begin making the new model years.
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Old 05-12-2019, 10:34 AM   #18
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On my unit they made some changes too. I know of lights and border. They also did an upholstery color change and it took weeks to get the color samples on email. The buyer doesn’t have much choice if ordering over these small changes. IMO
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Old 05-13-2019, 08:12 AM   #19
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Thanks so much for everyone's input; this is excellent information!
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Old 05-13-2019, 11:55 AM   #20
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Camscrub17,

We shopped for our Roo over a period of 2-years; I guess we are not impulse buyers. Our target was a Roo 23IKSS and lots of research (including a trip to Hershey) confirmed our selection. At that point, what remained was where to purchase our new baby.

Since my pre-retirement world was spent in the business and education worlds, we were painfully aware of two aspects to be faced in making a dealer choice: total cost of ownership (TCO) and quality of service (QoS). TCO includes ALL costs and not just the acquisition cost. These are things like registration, insurance and any costs related to upkeep and service of the RV over the subsequent years. QoS is an obvious component and ensures that the service you WILL need is done with a high level of expertise, completed in an expedient manner and performed at a reasonable cost. In fact, our selecting a dealer took most of our research time prior to buying.

To frame OUR situation, we were lucky to have at least 4 Rockwood dealers within an 80-mile radius from our home; not everyone is in that boat however. I spent time with sales and service folks at each of those dealerships and nabbed a few of their customers after they had picked-up/dropped-off their RVs from the service departments. Now, anyone of the four dealers could have sold me an RV but not every dealer received rave reviews for their service. Remember: TCO and QoS.

In the end, there was only one dealer that our research identified as having terrific QoS and that is where we purchased our Roo. In fact, we paid slightly more (~$500) for it than two of the others dealers quoted us, but we chose to consider TCO and QoS over acquisition price.

So, now that you have selected your (excellent!) Roo floorpan, the REAL work begins. If you have more than one dealer within your determined radius, pay each of their service lots a visit first thing in the morning and later in the afternoon. These will be the times when folks are dropping off or picking up their RVs. Ask them about their purchase and service experiences. However, don't be surprised if the afternoon folks are less chatty than the morning folks!

All this being said, it is YOUR decision about where to buy your Roo. There are certainly very happy folks who have done far less research and spent less time "in the field" than we did!

Good Luck and Welcome!
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