Hi, we've been looking for our fifth wheel for a couple years now. We are 1-2 years out now from FT,
weve decided we want the Heartland Landmark Key Largo. The model we are interested in is a 2014 and will not be manufactured
any longer as they are going to new models for 2015. There are only a couple left around, with the closest being a 7 hour drive from home.
My question for you is not so much that the dealer is far because I know we won't be in any one location for long. But my
concern is this is a pretty small dealer that has recently changed ownership. I've read how important the PDI is and I
wonder if I should be concerned about this being done by a new, small dealer whom I don't think probably has much experience
with this brand or the process. Their price is much less than the other ones I've been able to locate.
I'd like opinions, should I get this one, or be more concerned about the PDI than price. Next closest in price is at least 10,000 higher. ( I think they want to get rid of some inventory).
I tend to be more cautious because our current TT has had a water leak somewhere in the unit that has ruined all the floors and even caused the entry step to fall off due to the floor rot.
Thanks!
el Rojo and Pam said
08:11 AM Oct 7, 2014
I wouldn't worry about the dealer being new. He/she is probably trying harder to please all customers since they are new. And the mechanics or techs are probably the same as with the old owner. So if it is "the trailer" I wanted and the deal felt good I would buy it.
FWIW
Red
igotjam said
09:36 AM Oct 7, 2014
Bought our first 5er (ordered from factory with many changes) from a local dealer and once delivered promptly left the area. I will say that there is a bit of hassle getting warranty work from a dealer you did not buy from. Having said that, most warranties are only a year or two so it won't be long til its not a concern. As far as the PDI, there were so many problems that I could not catch with the PDI (they only became evident after time) that as far as I am concerned the PDI will only catch a small portion of the problems anyway.
-- Edited by igotjam on Tuesday 7th of October 2014 09:40:55 AM
travlingman said
10:44 PM Oct 7, 2014
We have a Landmark and have no issue with getting warranty work done by someone other than dealer. I had an issue with water leak at fridge and called Heartland, told them I was on the road, they said find a mobile tech and let tech bill them. Just do a good PDI before you hand over any money. We spent the night in ours and then paid the next day after fixing the little stuff we found.
2riker2go said
02:37 AM Oct 8, 2014
We also bought long distance...got our Landmark in TN when we still lived in NY. Agree that Heartland is great about warranty work. We needed a slide adjustment and we were able to bring it to a local place and Heartland worked with the repair place with no issues. Just have to make sure it is approved before they do the work.
SnowGypsy said
08:58 AM Oct 8, 2014
I, too, would not worry about the smaller dealers and would prefer them. They have lower prices because they have lower overhead and generally are not high pressure like the bigger dealerships. Any unit being discontinued should be nicely discounted because it will lower the resale price unless it is something very special that others are dying to get which is usually not the case. If others have had a good experience with the manufacturer standing behind the products and dealerships, you should have no problems.
MarkS said
09:51 PM Oct 8, 2014
We bought ours from Ohio and had it shipped to California. I didn't expect much from the dealer. As long as you don't expect anything from Lippert, you'll be satisfied.
fun2travel said
12:48 AM Oct 9, 2014
Thank you all so much for responding. We are on our way to see the unit later this am.
The Junkman said
05:00 AM Oct 9, 2014
Bought mine in TN from NV..
It's just a price thing. Lowest price wins. I don't believe you should have to pay for good service. You are already paying a ton of money to begin with.
Pdi is important, but is should not cost you a single penny. Mine was set and ready.. some small scratches and stuff is all I could find.. Just look, and test everything.. and if buying new, know it has a warranty.
Btw love the landmarks.. was in the finals for me.
el Rojo and Pam said
09:03 AM Oct 10, 2014
Any update?
kb0zke said
06:42 PM Oct 10, 2014
fun2travel, buying locally vs buying from a distant dealer is something that gets discussed frequently on many RV forums. There are advantages and disadvantages each way. In your case, though, there is only one model that satisfies you, and only a few left for sale. That may be enough to go for it. Since it is a leftover unit, and the new ones are already out, I would expect a pretty hefty discount on the price.
The question of warranty work frequently comes up, and Heartland is usually pretty good about letting a local dealer (rather than the selling dealer) do the warranty work. If you do buy from the distant dealer I'd suggest that you have your local dealer do all of the service work. That way they are making some money from you, and also know your coach a bit better.
fun2travel said
06:50 PM Oct 10, 2014
Thanks for asking!
We put a deposit down on our new Landmark Key Largo. It's funny, I was going through a bunch of our
old brochures and notes we had made over the last couple years in order to pitch them since we had made our decision. I found the brochure for this one from a year ago, I had written on
it,"this could be the one"!
Anyway, now we just need to find the tow vehicle for it. Looking for a 2-3 year old dually, diesel truck.
We're open to the make, so hopefully here in the next few weeks we can find one so we can bring our new home, home.
el Rojo and Pam said
08:17 AM Oct 11, 2014
Congrats on your new home!
fun2travel said
11:06 PM Oct 24, 2014
Just picked up our new home. Ended up getting a new Ram 3500 Diesel Dually long bed truck.
My DH calls the truck BA, haha, any A team fans out there knows what he means
Diana and Jim said
02:22 AM Oct 25, 2014
Congratulations! Do you have any photos? Your rig sounds beautiful!
We were at the Fall Rally, and we saw Jo and Craig's Landmark. I was impressed with the quality.
Jim (and Diana)
el Rojo and Pam said
07:42 AM Oct 25, 2014
fun2travel wrote:
Just picked up our new home. Ended up getting a new Ram 3500 Diesel Dually long bed truck.
My DH calls the truck BA, haha, any A team fans out there knows what he means
"I love it when a plan comes together" lol
Congrats.
jayc said
05:39 PM Oct 27, 2014
We have a 2010 Ram 3500 DRW that pulls our 2011 Landmark Grand Canyon very well. We've put about 80,000 miles on the truck, many of them pulling the trailer and love the way it performs.
If you do have a problem that you need dealer service for, contact Heartland Customer Service (574 262-8030) for the name of a service provider near you.
Good luck and enjoy your new coach.
Dave and Denise said
09:56 AM Dec 2, 2014
Thanks for posing your question(s) fun2travel. It's amazing how many of you have the same questions we do and how helpful all the responses are. Our current plan is to buy an Arctic Fox from a Pa. dealer. We live in Florida. We think this will actually work out good for us. We plan to travel 4 - 6 summer months each year up north, so our current assumption is we will spend our first summer in and around the PA/OH/NY area. Initially keeping within close proximity of the dealer. We then plan to store our 5er up north each year. Doesn't seem to make sense to haul it all the way back to Florida only to return somewhere back up north the next year.
gypsymaus said
10:01 PM Dec 20, 2014
We were in AZ and bought a motorhome we found online in Iowa. We gave the dealer a list of things that were critical to us inspection wise. They answered all of our questions to our satisfaction before we got in the car to go pick it up. For us it was a big adventure and we had no regrets.
Hi, we've been looking for our fifth wheel for a couple years now. We are 1-2 years out now from FT,
weve decided we want the Heartland Landmark Key Largo. The model we are interested in is a 2014 and will not be manufactured
any longer as they are going to new models for 2015. There are only a couple left around, with the closest being a 7 hour drive from home.
My question for you is not so much that the dealer is far because I know we won't be in any one location for long. But my
concern is this is a pretty small dealer that has recently changed ownership. I've read how important the PDI is and I
wonder if I should be concerned about this being done by a new, small dealer whom I don't think probably has much experience
with this brand or the process. Their price is much less than the other ones I've been able to locate.
I'd like opinions, should I get this one, or be more concerned about the PDI than price. Next closest in price is at least 10,000 higher. ( I think they want to get rid of some inventory).
I tend to be more cautious because our current TT has had a water leak somewhere in the unit that has ruined all the floors and even caused the entry step to fall off due to the floor rot.
Thanks!
FWIW
Red
Bought our first 5er (ordered from factory with many changes) from a local dealer and once delivered promptly left the area. I will say that there is a bit of hassle getting warranty work from a dealer you did not buy from. Having said that, most warranties are only a year or two so it won't be long til its not a concern. As far as the PDI, there were so many problems that I could not catch with the PDI (they only became evident after time) that as far as I am concerned the PDI will only catch a small portion of the problems anyway.
-- Edited by igotjam on Tuesday 7th of October 2014 09:40:55 AM
Thank you all so much for responding. We are on our way to see the unit later this am.
It's just a price thing. Lowest price wins. I don't believe you should have to pay for good service. You are already paying a ton of money to begin with.
Pdi is important, but is should not cost you a single penny. Mine was set and ready.. some small scratches and stuff is all I could find.. Just look, and test everything.. and if buying new, know it has a warranty.
Btw love the landmarks.. was in the finals for me.
The question of warranty work frequently comes up, and Heartland is usually pretty good about letting a local dealer (rather than the selling dealer) do the warranty work. If you do buy from the distant dealer I'd suggest that you have your local dealer do all of the service work. That way they are making some money from you, and also know your coach a bit better.
Thanks for asking!
We put a deposit down on our new Landmark Key Largo. It's funny, I was going through a bunch of our
old brochures and notes we had made over the last couple years in order to pitch them since we had made our decision. I found the brochure for this one from a year ago, I had written on
it,"this could be the one"!
Anyway, now we just need to find the tow vehicle for it. Looking for a 2-3 year old dually, diesel truck.
We're open to the make, so hopefully here in the next few weeks we can find one so we can bring our new home, home.
Just picked up our new home. Ended up getting a new Ram 3500 Diesel Dually long bed truck.
My DH calls the truck BA, haha, any A team fans out there knows what he means
Congratulations! Do you have any photos? Your rig sounds beautiful!
We were at the Fall Rally, and we saw Jo and Craig's Landmark. I was impressed with the quality.
Jim (and Diana)
"I love it when a plan comes together" lol
Congrats.
We have a 2010 Ram 3500 DRW that pulls our 2011 Landmark Grand Canyon very well. We've put about 80,000 miles on the truck, many of them pulling the trailer and love the way it performs.
If you do have a problem that you need dealer service for, contact Heartland Customer Service (574 262-8030) for the name of a service provider near you.
Good luck and enjoy your new coach.
We were in AZ and bought a motorhome we found online in Iowa. We gave the dealer a list of things that were critical to us inspection wise. They answered all of our questions to our satisfaction before we got in the car to go pick it up. For us it was a big adventure and we had no regrets.