Where can we find out about a specific dealerships service dept. reputation?  We're concerned that the really friendly sales person may not be available when we need service and would like to check the two dealerships that have almost the same price on our trailer choice.

Also, one is a big chain (Camping World) and the other is a family owned dealership.  We'd love to hear from people regarding pro's and con's.

Thanks so much!

Like the people who post, you'll also get wildly varying opinions about any dealer or service provider. Do Google searches for your specific dealer and see what comes up. Also check (using the search feature on each site) the high volume forum/opinion boards like rv.net and irv2.com. Check the BBB web BBB.org site as well. Finally check rvservicereviews.com as they have something too.

Not sure where you are located but you might find some members of this forum that have used those dealers and they can give you first hand information. Joe and Sherri

Wow - that was quick! We'll check those website RV-Dude. Speedy, we're in Texas and looking at Cardinal models at the New Braunfels Camping World and Colonia Del Ray in Corpus Christi. We're new in this forum and were unsure if it was o.k. to ask a question regarding reputation. I suppose people can contact us directly if it's inappropriate to put comments on the forum? Thanks again!

The dealership where we bought our class A does a lot of business and sales via the internet.  And they will deliver.  I just wanted to mention this so you don't feel like you have to shop locally. 

When I was shopping for our RV I talked to an RV dealership in Arizona that actually took a wifi video camera out to the coach I was interested in and then shot live video while I watched from home on my computer.  I was able to ask them to show me area's of the coach that interested me.

If your planning on being a traveling full timer, then just go for the best deal as you'll be getting sevice in different parts of the country. It would be a major pain to have to return to your original dealer every time you need something done. I think it's best to choose a brand that has a strong national distributor network and a reputation for good warranty practices. Most popular brands have online forums where you can check out their reputations. Good luck,

Thanks everyone! Turns out both dealers seem to have decent reputations, so we're going to go with the Camping World as it's a almost two hundred miles closer. By checking those websites, we found a dealer near our home base that will be good to take care of things that can wait 'till we're in the area. They completed the hitch and braker controller installations for us on Monday and were fantastic! Thanks again!