Does anyone have any experience with this RV Dealer?

How does one go about checking out the reputation of a dealer, espcially if you are 1500 miles apart.

Their prices seem too good to be true even on the new units, we are specifically looking at 5th wheels.
Susan

Most dealers doing business on the internet will allow an escrow process or allow you to send an inspector to look at the RV. The escrow allows a third party company to hold the money while the RV is transported to you for inspection, if you like the RV the escrow is closed and the money is sent to the dealer. This all happens with an extra cost of course and you may have to pay the transportation costs if you choose to buy or not buy the RV. Best method is to use an independent inspector. The inspectors can be found on line. I once used my brother to go test drive a truck I found online in the city he lives in. He did the test drive and said the truck was a good buy. I trust his judgement. Others have used friends, relative or other RV'ers to look at RVs.

www.escrow.com is one to use, it is also the official escrow service for eBay.

One other key point is to make sure that the manufacturer of any rig you decide upon will honor the warranty if bought from this (or any other) dealer. With all the dealer repos going on, this is becoming a major problem - for a variety of legitimate reasons. Get it in writing directly from and only from the manufacturer that they will honor the full warranty if bought from the fully spelled out dealer name for the fully spelled out model you seek.

-- Edited by RVDude on Thursday 26th of March 2009 11:57:41 AM

We live about 60 miles from RV Outlet USA and just purchased our new fifth wheel from them in March.  This dealership has a very good reputation around here, and their prices are "for real"  as they deal in high volume.  The unit we purchased was thousands less than what we saw advertised in other parts of the country.  So far they have been excellent to deal with.  They told us they broke their sales record in the month of March which shows you how many RVs they are moving right now.  They claim to be the #2 dealer of fifth wheels on the east coast.  We worked with Larry Merricks who is also the owner of RV Outlet USA.

BTW, I just joined the forum and this is my first post.  You're a great group of people!

RV Dude is correct...you can never be too careful. You can never ask too many questions when researching purchases of any nature. And I would like to welcome you to the forum and thank you for your input. This is what makes this forum so good. When folks see something that they can cotribute to they do and it helps us all. Thanks Joe and Sherri

Thanks, Speedy! I've actually been following your blog for a couple months now. I love reading your daily posts. Sometimes you have me in stitches! Good luck with your impending retirement, and have lots of fun on the road.

Ali

I learned something new today. I have never heard of an escrow and had no idea that you could do that. I will say that I would rather test the RV myself than have someone check it for me. Whats good for them might not be good for me.

colorado - I might not be reading your post correctly, but escrow has nothing to do with inspection/test. This is a very important distinction if I read your post correctly.

Escrow is a third party that simply holds the title AND holds the monies until ALL terms of the sale are met and agreed by BOTH parties. This ensures no one is duping the other in terms of existence of paperwork or existence of money. It also means you WILL get your title/paper back if the deal fails.

Once the terms of sale are agreed by BOTH parties (i.e. inspections pass, test drives pass, loan approved, taxes current, whatever the terms are) THEN the ESCROW releases the docs/cash as appropriate. If the terms are NOT met (no matter how vigorusly a party might deny it) the escrow simply returns your paper or your cash thus ensuring you get your stuff back on a failed deal. It also ensures clarity of the sale terms. Without the escrow as a third party a failed deal may mean not getting your money/papers back or may mean a law suit to do so.

Jim & Dee, We'll be sure and let you know how our experience with RV Outlet goes.  So far we haven't had to take ours back in for any repairs.    Best of luck with the sale of your condo!

RVDude,

I know their is a difference I just wasn't clear in what I wrote. Sorry.



-- Edited by Colorado_Kid on Monday 27th of April 2009 09:39:13 AM