I think your situation is very much like what may happen more than we think. While we didn't do it that way, we are friends with a couple who are a mom and pop operation with their RV dealership. In their case, even though they are located in Elk City, Oklahoma, they have sold to folks in Colorado, New York, Iowa, Texas, and who knows where else. So, from what they have done for others, they have seen their business become one of the top 10 dealers of the brand with which they deal.
A number of folks try to contact someone in the area of where the RV in question is located and ask them to check things out for them. One does need to take precautions and make sure of the actual condition of the RV before buying. It is fine to ask someone to check out a unit and report back. If one gets a good report, then it makes it easier to then go see the unit in person. Then one can be sure of what they are getting. By asking someone else to look at it first, one can find out whether it would even pay to go see it oneself.
Now, as to the truck, if you already have a truck, take it to a dealer for that brand and have them look at the data plate (or sticker) on the driver's side door post. The information on that will let the dealer determine what the truck's GCVW (Gross Combined Vehicular Weight) rating is so that one has an idea of how much weight the truck can safely tow. Never go by what is referred to as a "towing weight." Once one knows what the GCVW for the truck is, also determine the GVWR (Gross Vehicular Weight Rating) so that one can know how much the truck can weigh when it is full of fuel, cargo on-board, and passengers included. With the GCVW and GVWR, one subtracts GVWR from GCVW and that gives one an idea of how heavy of a trailer one can pull, based on that trailer's GVWR. It is always best to make sure that the GVWR weights of the two components (truck and trailer) do not exceed the GCVW for the truck.
To put it shortly, it is better to have too much truck than too little. It is really bad to have too much trailer and not enough truck to safely handle the trailer. Also, with regards to the truck, the newer GM products are being built with deeper beds, thus making the sides of the beds sit higher and cutting down on the amount of clearance there will be between the top of the bed sides and the underside of the nose of a fifth wheel. If you are looking at a travel trailer, than that is not a concern.
Terry
-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Saturday 22nd of December 2012 11:20:31 PM
Rob_Fla said
06:04 AM Dec 23, 2012
Frac999 wrote:
I have thought about buying a new 5er from dealers that are alot cheaper but not anywhere close to my location. Has anyone had any experience in buying one you cannot physically see other than pictures or have them do a walk through with you but have to wait until its delivered to you? It kind of makes be nervous to think maybe it wont match up with your pickup.
I am with you, I am a "Touch & Feel" person.
I know lots of people had bought RVs without seeing them first and have been very happy.
Of course there have been some people that have bought this way and things did not go as well.
Even though we bought from a "RV Wholesaler" we did see the unit before signing the line and we did the PDI and delivery at the Dealer.
We have not been back to the Dealer since our purchase, we have had a few minor warranty items that have been taken care of by other dealers without any problem.
For us, keeping as much money as possible in our pocket was important so we could live our Dream!!!
Robert
-- Edited by Rob_Fla on Sunday 23rd of December 2012 06:05:03 AM
Frac999 said
06:20 AM Dec 23, 2012
I have thought about buying a new 5er from dealers that are alot cheaper but not anywhere close to my location. Has anyone had any experience in buying one you cannot physically see other than pictures or have them do a walk through with you but have to wait until its delivered to you? It kind of makes be nervous to think maybe it wont match up with your pickup.
NWescapee said
06:40 AM Dec 23, 2012
We're in the same situation, flying to visit family, will be visiting a dealer next week. Nervous? A little, but at at the same time have seen several of the same manufacturer locally but like the floor plan of a unit that is close to our daughter's place so we'll be visiting while "on vacation". We haven't bought the new truck yet, waiting until we buy the right 5'ver.
Mark Serley said
01:51 PM Dec 23, 2012
yes steve, we purchased our montana mountaineer from michigan and they delivered it to us here in pensacola. i saw pictures of our 5er, told the salesman i don't want to start out with any black streaks, they totally cleaned it, sent more pictures,very satisfied. when delivered, went thru it,only found slight cut in main awning, they sent a new one and paid someone to install it for us. had minor warranty issues, fixed at nearby camping world, everything is great. when we go to get another one, we'll probably buy from them again. it was a brand new 2011 we got feb 2012. good luck
Racerguy said
05:20 PM Dec 23, 2012
We saw the floor plan we liked at our local dealer(in Colorado)but wanted a different color scheme.They found what we wanted in Texas and we committed to it sight unseen.The dealer(Great Outdoors RV,Greeley,Colo)covered the transportation costs and we took possession 2 weeks later.
Frac999 said
05:10 AM Dec 25, 2012
Thanks for all the reply's, you hate to not buy from local dealers but when you see 3-$15000 diff in price its hard not to. I may try to sell mine locally and go that way.
kb0zke said
10:54 PM Dec 28, 2012
One of the "pet peeves" that is discussed frequently on RV forums is that when one buys from the local dealer there is better warranty service than when one buys from a distant dealer. To a certain extent, that is understandable. The factory doesn't pay the dealer what he gets from his customers, so some of that overhead needs to be made up from sales. On the other hand, if a dealer is an official dealer for a brand, then he ought to take care of any warranty issues for any customer. What about someone who has an issue while traveling? Should they be put off for several weeks just because they happened to have a problem quite a distance from their home?
Some of the big-name discount dealers have been accused of having little in the way of a service department. They don't have the expense of a true service department, so they can sell for less. Personally, I wouldn't buy from such a place. We purchased our mpg from our local dealer. We did get some prices from the cut-rate places so we had some idea of what the minimum should be, and our dealer knew we had those numbers. We got a fair deal.
Keep in mind, too, that when you buy from a distant dealer you get to may for the transportation directly. For example, our Mountaineer gets about 20 mpg without the trailer, and 10 with. If I buy from a place 500 miles away, it will cost me 25 gallons of gas to get there and 50 to return. At $3.00/gallon that's $225. Add another $100 for a night in the hotel when I arrive, and some for food, and a night in the campground coming home, and it can easily top $500. If you are looking at a larger trailer it can be even more expensive.
Lucky Mike said
11:58 PM Dec 28, 2012
HHHHmmmm............If you are fulltiming it wont matter if you buy it local or long distance..........I would make sure your purchase had a good warranty and alot of authorized servicers.
I think buying local only would apply if you are planning to keep your purchase local , Im not saying just run out but I have seen prices vary upwards of 5000 dollars and dealers that price at NARDA Standard......yet a trip to the factory will save 30%.
Even used units can vary by thousands of dollars just by the state or region there in.............
The internet can let you see everything you can see in person without making the trip....................................
Just remember your local dealer can stop servicing warranty work anytime they feel its nessecary ,sometimes the MFG doesnt feel they need to pay to fix there problems at an affoedable rate , that is why some dealers dont offer it
Terry and Jo said
12:47 AM Dec 29, 2012
Lucky Mike wrote:
HHHHmmmm............If you are fulltiming it wont matter if you buy it local or long distance..........I would make sure your purchase had a good warranty and alot of authorized servicers.
I think buying local only would apply if you are planning to keep your purchase local , Im not saying just run out but I have seen prices vary upwards of 5000 dollars and dealers that price at NARDA Standard......yet a trip to the factory will save 30%.
Even used units can vary by thousands of dollars just by the state or region there in.............
The internet can let you see everything you can see in person without making the trip....................................
Just remember your local dealer can stop servicing warranty work anytime they feel its nessecary ,sometimes the MFG doesnt feel they need to pay to fix there problems at an affoedable rate , that is why some dealers dont offer it
MIke,
I will pretty much agree with all you have said except for the one line bolded above. When looking at a new or used RV online, you are at the mercy of the one taking the picture. For instance, when I went to look at the Dynamax Trilogy models that some were interested in, I found that one model had features that the other one did not have, even though they were of the same size, weight and most amenities. Those were basic features like the water manifold and the inputs for the television. None of the things I saw in person were visible in any place I had looked online.
While I have always wanted to see what I buy with most things, that experiece mentioned above really reinforced the idea of seeing in person anything that one considers a major purchase.
Terry
kb0zke said
04:28 AM Dec 30, 2012
Mike and Terry together have a good handle on using the Internet to purchase something. We're looking forward to buying our full-time coach, and we're looking at coaches literally all over the country while staying home. When the day comes that we see something that really has us interested we arrange for an expert to inspect it for us. Should it pass that inspection we'll spend the money to go look at it ourselves, with the idea that we will most likely bring it home. We've learned a lot from the various forums, but we're by no means experts at anything, with the possible exception of wasting money, and we don't really like to do that. Paying an expert a few hundred dollars to check out a $30,000 coach seems like a good investment.
One of the members of another forum served as his own expert. He put a deposit on a coach, didn't like what he saw, and walked away from his deposit. He would have saved some time and money if he had paid someone closer to the coach to check it out for him first.
Lucky Mike said
04:50 AM Dec 30, 2012
I find that by using the internet during a purchase it opens alot of doors
1) it can give you a virtual tour of a rig to give you a basic look as to what it is.
2) you can get concentrated photos on trouble areas
3) as Dave said if you are now really interested.....Hire an RV inspector/ Tech. to go out and look at it and give you a professional opinion.............I would rather lose a couple bucks to a proper inspection than place a deposit and lose it!!!!
it can save you alot of ground time, and at the same time give you buying leverage locally........no dealer wants to hear his price has been beat greatly and see a customer walk away..........the internet is a wonderful tool
some of my rigs I have bought 1200 miles away......160 bucks for a train ticket and Im there..... dealer always has sent someone to pick me up........I pay for my rig and drive it home(Class a).........or make arrangements for transport.
A little creativity and rational thought into a purchase goes a long way!!!!!!!!
Hogladyrider said
09:24 PM Jan 1, 2013
We purchased our Big Horn via an RV Dealer who had a store on E-Bay and we could not be happier.
We live in Florida and my partner took 4 days off work to drive to Michigan to pick up the 5th wheel. It helped that he is a former over the road logistics driver.
We shopped and shopped locally here in Florida and looked and looked and we saved HUGE on our purchase....and we got the rig that we thought we could not afford.
That was back in 2009 and though we are still only weekend campers we have had minor issues with our 5th wheel that we have taken care of ourelves. The biggest being a loose electrical connection that caused us to lose our micro/convection oven, bedroom tv and central vac while camping over Thanksgiving this year.
We, or shall I give credit to where due, Gary made all the repairs himself, and we replaced the oven with a regular microwave and a new TV for less than what the originals cost and we opted for a portable Shark vac for now, a necessary item as we travel with dogs.
Our issue is local dealers will not "talk shop" on price with you and we knew better than to pay MSPR. We would make another purchase this way in a heartbeat we were well taken care of by Lakeshore RV and we are very happy with our Big Horn, which by the way the 3600RL model is no longer available from Heartland.
Good luck with your purchase.
charles said
04:20 AM Jan 3, 2013
Here is a post by a dealer on the EVERGREEN Owners Forum, it may help.
================
Here are my thoughts -
1. I propose that the most important part of the relationship is the acquisition, delivery ( the process where you have your walk-through and take care of business) and first year of ownership. That is the time you will have the most interaction with the Dealer. It doesn't seem you have much of a choice with your closest Element Dealer being 4.5 hours away.
I would suggest sizing up the dealership personnel during your discovery stage to gauge their overall attitude toward follow up and follow through. A rigorous PDI inspection of your trailer before delivery should catch most factory issues. I would recommend staying in the trailer for 2 nights immediately after the delivery on the dealership premises or in a nearby campground so if any issues pop up they can be remedied before a 9 hour round trip return is needed.
We have 4 spots here specifically for that purpose with hookups as many of our customers are from out of town. Just last week we had a customer from Oregon take delivery here. He stayed for 1 night after taking delivery, found a couple of punch list items that did not manifest themselves during the PDI and we took care of them on the spot and he was off and running.
You have very little control over where your next billet or post will be. Many dealers will help transient customers who have just come into their area with much more eagerness than someone who lives in their area and bought elsewhere. We are very close to Camp LeJeune, MCAS Cherry Point and New River and Fort Bragg. We see MANY military families come and go and do everything we can to help them.
Again - I would focus on the acquisition, delivery and initial warranty period as you have SOME control over who you buy from. Once Uncle Sam decides to re-assign you you have NO control where that's going to be, so focus on the thing you CAN control.
The car business model and the RV business model is different, mainly because the franchised car dealer MUST service anyone under warranty REGARDLESS of where they bought. It's in the franchise agreement. RV dealers are NOT franchised and have NO connection or responsibility to the manufacturer other than to maintain stocking levels. We are all 100% privately owned and call all of our own shots when it comes to who we do business with.
Hopefully that explains the issue of service. There's a lot more to it but those are the Cliff's notes.
I wish you well in your search for your RV. If I can be of further help you know where to find me.
Best regards,
Bill Mirrielees General Manager, Howard RV Center www.hrvc.com
---------------------------------
CCC
JayKim-no regrets said
05:09 PM Jan 3, 2013
I researched used RV's online for a full 4 months while hubby was deployed, we were willing to travel to find our new home, or even to have one delivered to SC if we found it more convenient. In the end, we were lucky enough to find a local dealer just 30 minutes away that we actually clicked with and trusted. We feel like we got a great deal on our new home and the dealers have been wonderful (I know, go figure!) with the few small issues that have come up since we moved into it.
I already knew pretty much what we needed in the size/make/model etc, but we were happy to find a local dealer that had exactly what we wanted, we are going to be here for another 12 months or so and it gives me a little extra comfort knowing that we can call them and they will come to us (or vice versa) during the time that most things go wrong:)
Fingers crossed! huggs kim x
PS. Good luck, lots of great answers on this thread, in the end you will find what you want, wherever that is:)
MKdreamers said
10:56 PM Jan 3, 2013
On this subject- hope someone can help us understand our situation- we bought from an out of town dealer, whom we worked with for several months placing the order & so forth. Before I continue I should clarify that it is our first 5th wheel & we went full time- crazy I know.... We made the 6 hour trip before ordering, spoke to other customers, all feed back was excellent. We took delivery & stayed in their lot overnight, took a shower & realized the shower door was installed out of plum (door popped open). Dealer agreed to replace door. We moved on because we were in the north & frankly every issue we mentioned to the salesman, he had a glazed look in his eyes & referred us to service. Now we know the whole shower unit is how of plum, with everything level there is a puddle in the shower. We truly have a long list of problems. We are going to the manufacturer in the spring, which is totally out of our way...
Does anybody have suggestions ? Thank you!!!!
Lucky Mike said
11:26 PM Jan 3, 2013
Well the manufacturer is your best bet or call the mfg. and ask for a referral to a full service dealer that will do the work........please understand tho a dealer is not obligated to do service/Warranty work for most manufacturers......
The most important thing is to document all warranty issues.....call them and document the time and person you are talking to every time....
The manufacturer will take Real good care of you,and is worth going out of your way to get it done......you will learn more there about your rig than any salesman could give you.............and any upgrades or modifications they will let you know first hand........what a better way than to see how your rig was built from the bottom up!!!
good luck!!! Mike
MKdreamers said
03:09 AM Jan 4, 2013
Thank you Lucky Mike!! We will do that. Thanks again.
Steve,
I think your situation is very much like what may happen more than we think. While we didn't do it that way, we are friends with a couple who are a mom and pop operation with their RV dealership. In their case, even though they are located in Elk City, Oklahoma, they have sold to folks in Colorado, New York, Iowa, Texas, and who knows where else. So, from what they have done for others, they have seen their business become one of the top 10 dealers of the brand with which they deal.
A number of folks try to contact someone in the area of where the RV in question is located and ask them to check things out for them. One does need to take precautions and make sure of the actual condition of the RV before buying. It is fine to ask someone to check out a unit and report back. If one gets a good report, then it makes it easier to then go see the unit in person. Then one can be sure of what they are getting. By asking someone else to look at it first, one can find out whether it would even pay to go see it oneself.
Now, as to the truck, if you already have a truck, take it to a dealer for that brand and have them look at the data plate (or sticker) on the driver's side door post. The information on that will let the dealer determine what the truck's GCVW (Gross Combined Vehicular Weight) rating is so that one has an idea of how much weight the truck can safely tow. Never go by what is referred to as a "towing weight." Once one knows what the GCVW for the truck is, also determine the GVWR (Gross Vehicular Weight Rating) so that one can know how much the truck can weigh when it is full of fuel, cargo on-board, and passengers included. With the GCVW and GVWR, one subtracts GVWR from GCVW and that gives one an idea of how heavy of a trailer one can pull, based on that trailer's GVWR. It is always best to make sure that the GVWR weights of the two components (truck and trailer) do not exceed the GCVW for the truck.
To put it shortly, it is better to have too much truck than too little. It is really bad to have too much trailer and not enough truck to safely handle the trailer. Also, with regards to the truck, the newer GM products are being built with deeper beds, thus making the sides of the beds sit higher and cutting down on the amount of clearance there will be between the top of the bed sides and the underside of the nose of a fifth wheel. If you are looking at a travel trailer, than that is not a concern.
Terry
-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Saturday 22nd of December 2012 11:20:31 PM
I am with you, I am a "Touch & Feel" person.
I know lots of people had bought RVs without seeing them first and have been very happy.
Of course there have been some people that have bought this way and things did not go as well.
Even though we bought from a "RV Wholesaler" we did see the unit before signing the line and we did the PDI and delivery at the Dealer.
We have not been back to the Dealer since our purchase, we have had a few minor warranty items that have been taken care of by other dealers without any problem.
For us, keeping as much money as possible in our pocket was important so we could live our Dream!!!
Robert
-- Edited by Rob_Fla on Sunday 23rd of December 2012 06:05:03 AM
I have thought about buying a new 5er from dealers that are alot cheaper but not anywhere close to my location. Has anyone had any experience in buying one you cannot physically see other than pictures or have them do a walk through with you but have to wait until its delivered to you? It kind of makes be nervous to think maybe it wont match up with your pickup.
We haven't bought the new truck yet, waiting until we buy the right 5'ver.
Some of the big-name discount dealers have been accused of having little in the way of a service department. They don't have the expense of a true service department, so they can sell for less. Personally, I wouldn't buy from such a place. We purchased our mpg from our local dealer. We did get some prices from the cut-rate places so we had some idea of what the minimum should be, and our dealer knew we had those numbers. We got a fair deal.
Keep in mind, too, that when you buy from a distant dealer you get to may for the transportation directly. For example, our Mountaineer gets about 20 mpg without the trailer, and 10 with. If I buy from a place 500 miles away, it will cost me 25 gallons of gas to get there and 50 to return. At $3.00/gallon that's $225. Add another $100 for a night in the hotel when I arrive, and some for food, and a night in the campground coming home, and it can easily top $500. If you are looking at a larger trailer it can be even more expensive.
HHHHmmmm............If you are fulltiming it wont matter if you buy it local or long distance..........I would make sure your purchase had a good warranty and alot of authorized servicers.
I think buying local only would apply if you are planning to keep your purchase local , Im not saying just run out but I have seen prices vary upwards of 5000 dollars and dealers that price at NARDA Standard......yet a trip to the factory will save 30%.
Even used units can vary by thousands of dollars just by the state or region there in.............
The internet can let you see everything you can see in person without making the trip....................................
Just remember your local dealer can stop servicing warranty work anytime they feel its nessecary ,sometimes the MFG doesnt feel they need to pay to fix there problems at an affoedable rate , that is why some dealers dont offer it
MIke,
I will pretty much agree with all you have said except for the one line bolded above. When looking at a new or used RV online, you are at the mercy of the one taking the picture. For instance, when I went to look at the Dynamax Trilogy models that some were interested in, I found that one model had features that the other one did not have, even though they were of the same size, weight and most amenities. Those were basic features like the water manifold and the inputs for the television. None of the things I saw in person were visible in any place I had looked online.
While I have always wanted to see what I buy with most things, that experiece mentioned above really reinforced the idea of seeing in person anything that one considers a major purchase.
Terry
One of the members of another forum served as his own expert. He put a deposit on a coach, didn't like what he saw, and walked away from his deposit. He would have saved some time and money if he had paid someone closer to the coach to check it out for him first.
1) it can give you a virtual tour of a rig to give you a basic look as to what it is.
2) you can get concentrated photos on trouble areas
3) as Dave said if you are now really interested.....Hire an RV inspector/ Tech. to go out and look at it and give you a professional opinion.............I would rather lose a couple bucks to a proper inspection than place a deposit and lose it!!!!
it can save you alot of ground time, and at the same time give you buying leverage locally........no dealer wants to hear his price has been beat greatly and see a customer walk away..........the internet is a wonderful tool
some of my rigs I have bought 1200 miles away......160 bucks for a train ticket and Im there..... dealer always has sent someone to pick me up........I pay for my rig and drive it home(Class a).........or make arrangements for transport.
A little creativity and rational thought into a purchase goes a long way!!!!!!!!
We live in Florida and my partner took 4 days off work to drive to Michigan to pick up the 5th wheel. It helped that he is a former over the road logistics driver.
We shopped and shopped locally here in Florida and looked and looked and we saved HUGE on our purchase....and we got the rig that we thought we could not afford.
That was back in 2009 and though we are still only weekend campers we have had minor issues with our 5th wheel that we have taken care of ourelves. The biggest being a loose electrical connection that caused us to lose our micro/convection oven, bedroom tv and central vac while camping over Thanksgiving this year.
We, or shall I give credit to where due, Gary made all the repairs himself, and we replaced the oven with a regular microwave and a new TV for less than what the originals cost and we opted for a portable Shark vac for now, a necessary item as we travel with dogs.
Our issue is local dealers will not "talk shop" on price with you and we knew better than to pay MSPR. We would make another purchase this way in a heartbeat we were well taken care of by Lakeshore RV and we are very happy with our Big Horn, which by the way the 3600RL model is no longer available from Heartland.
Good luck with your purchase.
================
Here are my thoughts -
1. I propose that the most important part of the relationship is the
acquisition, delivery ( the process where you have your walk-through and take
care of business) and first year of ownership. That is the time you will have
the most interaction with the Dealer. It doesn't seem you have much of a choice
with your closest Element Dealer being 4.5 hours away.
I would suggest sizing up the dealership personnel during your discovery stage
to gauge their overall attitude toward follow up and follow through. A rigorous
PDI inspection of your trailer before delivery should catch most factory issues.
I would recommend staying in the trailer for 2 nights immediately after the
delivery on the dealership premises or in a nearby campground so if any issues
pop up they can be remedied before a 9 hour round trip return is needed.
We have 4 spots here specifically for that purpose with hookups as many of our
customers are from out of town. Just last week we had a customer from Oregon
take delivery here. He stayed for 1 night after taking delivery, found a couple
of punch list items that did not manifest themselves during the PDI and we took
care of them on the spot and he was off and running.
You have very little control over where your next billet or post will be. Many
dealers will help transient customers who have just come into their area with
much more eagerness than someone who lives in their area and bought elsewhere.
We are very close to Camp LeJeune, MCAS Cherry Point and New River and Fort
Bragg. We see MANY military families come and go and do everything we can to
help them.
Again - I would focus on the acquisition, delivery and initial warranty period
as you have SOME control over who you buy from. Once Uncle Sam decides to
re-assign you you have NO control where that's going to be, so focus on the
thing you CAN control.
The car business model and the RV business model is different, mainly because
the franchised car dealer MUST service anyone under warranty REGARDLESS of where
they bought. It's in the franchise agreement. RV dealers are NOT franchised
and have NO connection or responsibility to the manufacturer other than to
maintain stocking levels. We are all 100% privately owned and call all of our
own shots when it comes to who we do business with.
Hopefully that explains the issue of service. There's a lot more to it but
those are the Cliff's notes.
I wish you well in your search for your RV. If I can be of further help you
know where to find me.
Best regards,
Bill Mirrielees
General Manager, Howard RV Center
www.hrvc.com
---------------------------------
CCC
I already knew pretty much what we needed in the size/make/model etc, but we were happy to find a local dealer that had exactly what we wanted, we are going to be here for another 12 months or so and it gives me a little extra comfort knowing that we can call them and they will come to us (or vice versa) during the time that most things go wrong:)
Fingers crossed!
huggs kim x
PS. Good luck, lots of great answers on this thread, in the end you will find what you want, wherever that is:)
The most important thing is to document all warranty issues.....call them and document the time and person you are talking to every time....
The manufacturer will take Real good care of you,and is worth going out of your way to get it done......you will learn more there about your rig than any salesman could give you.............and any upgrades or modifications they will let you know first hand........what a better way than to see how your rig was built from the bottom up!!!
good luck!!!
Mike