Buy outside of area?

[jsundin]

What experience (good or bad) have you all had with choosing to purchase from dealer outside your local area? We are looking for a White Hawk 25BHS and the closest we can find is at least a 2 hour drive away and the one we really like is 3-4 hours away.

I have heard good things about the dealer, but worry that local service dealers will balk at honoring the 2 year warranty if I go to them for service.

Anything I should be aware of or just go with it?

Jeff

[Murff]

If the faraway dealer is in Mt. Vernon Wa, ask for Brent and tell him Murff sent you. Great people there.

Murff

[jsundin]

Originally Posted by Murff

If the faraway dealer is in Mt. Vernon Wa, ask for Brent and tell him Murff sent you. Great people there.

Murff

Murff. No it is Silverdale. The unit in Mt. version isn't quite what we wanted and they never called me back.



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[SouthCo]

I drove close to three hours to buy our first camper and drove around six hours to buy our current camper. I would not to step foot again in the local Jayco dealer. I've never needed warranty work on either camper but I'd take it to an authorized independent shop if it was something I couldn't fix myself. I'd have to go back and check but I saved somewhere around $6k I believe by traveling for my current camper. It was worth it and I'd do it again...

[Studiovette]

Originally Posted by SouthCo

I drove close to three hours to buy our first camper and drove around six hours to buy our current camper. I would not to step foot again in the local Jayco dealer. I've never needed warranty work on either camper but I'd take it to an authorized independent shop if it was something I couldn't fix myself. I'd have to go back and check but I saved somewhere around $6k I believe by traveling for my current camper. It was worth it and I'd do it again...

Similar story, just get the best price you can. I called / emailed over 10 dealers negotiating price on our 2017 Jay flight 26bh. At first i thougt I had made an awesome deal with a local dealer on a used 2016 jay until I started negotiating and ended up getting a new one with the elite package and several other options for less than I was quoted for on the used. I drove 2.5 hrs to pick it up but was prepared to go all the way to Michigan or PA to get the one I wanted if the price was right.

[Midnightmoon]

I was very lucky this time. My local dealer was the best price on the trailer we wanted. I was probably going to buy local just for the convenience this time. It just happened to be the best price also.

My former Nash was purchased 4 hours away. We didn't have many issues with it. But it was a pain to take it back for service.

[Seann45]

Be prepared that the local dealer will put you at the back of the line for any warranty repairs.. I cannot find fault with a dealer that prioritizes his customers over other locals that buy from out of area. Did you ask your local dealer if he can get one in? Some will do a stock swap with other dealers

[Bassdogs]

Originally Posted by Midnightmoon

I was very lucky this time. My local dealer was the best price on the trailer we wanted. I was probably going to buy local just for the convenience this time. It just happened to be the best price also.

My former Nash was purchased 4 hours away. We didn't have many issues with it. But it was a pain to take it back for service.

I suspect that if you had shopped a little harder you could have found a unit for a considerable savings over a local dealer. You do not have to return to a selling dealer to have your warrantee work done. You may run into a "wait" to have a non terminal problem fixed and a different dealer, but there are a lot of options for service and its not difficult to get Jayco to authorize a non jayco dealer.

This issue seems to surface frequently and the same Myths are circulated about local dealers not willing to do warrantee work if they didn't sell the unit. If this was true then all of our fellow RV travelers would find themselves dead in the water when they had a problem when far from home. We have a very mobile society and it is quite common for someone to buy an RV and then move to another location. Any dealer worth their salt will try to accommodate you because they would like to get your business down the road.

[Midnightmoon]

Originally Posted by Bassdogs

I suspect that if you had shopped a little harder you could have found a unit for a considerable savings over a local dealer.

I appreciate the comment and understand what you are saying. However, in the case of my new Jayco, I shopped since January and pulled the trigger in May. My local dealer beat even the mega dealers by almost $1000 on a unit that had more equipment than the what other dealers had in stock. What's great for the consumer in 2017 is that the local dealer has as much access via the internet to what other dealers are setting for their prices as we do. They know where they need to be to make a sale and be competitive. Even better, my local dealer didn't try to tack on any dealer prep or title fees. So here in PA, I simply had the selling price, tax, and tags. And since I'm close, I didn't have any hassle of delivery fees or travel costs to go and get it.

It just happened to work out that way for me in this case. It may not always be possible in all locations and with all dealers.

[jcoyle]

Originally Posted by Bassdogs

I suspect that if you had shopped a little harder you could have found a unit for a considerable savings over a local dealer.

I don't really agree with this statement, Although I do understand what you are saying. Remember the dealer that I may travel 3000 miles to get to and save some money, also happens to be someone else's local dealer.

[DanNJanice]

Originally Posted by jsundin

What experience (good or bad) have you all had with choosing to purchase from dealer outside your local area? We are looking for a White Hawk 25BHS and the closest we can find is at least a 2 hour drive away and the one we really like is 3-4 hours away.

I have heard good things about the dealer, but worry that local service dealers will balk at honoring the 2 year warranty if I go to them for service.

Anything I should be aware of or just go with it?

Jeff

How handy are you?
If you can handle routine repairs by yourself, then traveling a bit to get to a dealer not that big a deal. If you plan to run to the dealer for every nut and bolt that comes loose, then you better buy local.
Also, Jayco will authorize a local repair shop to do repairs. I had to have the front of mine replaced due to delamination. I asked Jayco if it would be OK to take it to a independent repair service. They said to have the repair service contact them with a quote and they approved it.

[jsundin]

I have asked my local CW dealer to look at doing a stock swap with other dealers. They say that Jayco will not let them swap with other dealers, and they can only swap with other CW dealers.

Unfortunately (for them), this means I will head to another dealer to get the options/price I wanted as opposed to staying within CW, who seems to have bare bones configured White Hawk units.

Jeff

[Jack65K]

Drove 800 miles (Missouri to Michigan) to buy ours and would do it again if price is right!
Jack

[OutCole'd]

I could of saved about $1,000 if I was willing to drive 6 hours each way to buy my RV. At the end of the day, it was not worth it to me to make the drive and lose the option for good warranty service from a dealer that is 30 minutes from home.

[bap]

Why is it an automatic assumption that the only way you can get the best deal is to drive hundreds or thousands of miles. Why is everyone so against thinking that a local dealer can't have a great deal. Yes, some small dealers don't offer as good of deals, but many are just as competitive as the "mega" dealers hundreds of miles away.

[SouthCo]

Originally Posted by bap

Why is it an automatic assumption that the only way you can get the best deal is to drive hundreds or thousands of miles. Why is everyone so against thinking that a local dealer can't have a great deal. Yes, some small dealers don't offer as good of deals, but many are just as competitive as the "mega" dealers hundreds of miles away.

It's not an automatic assumption. We do research by getting quotes from many dealers, including the local dealer when I bought my first camper. When I bought my second dealer I got quotes from so many places I couldn't even tell you how many. It's a fact in my case that the best deal was not local. For those who research and find the local guy has the best deal I say great. Buy from them. I wish I had a good local dealer that had the best price...

[SouthCo]

Originally Posted by OutCole'd

I could of saved about $1,000 if I was willing to drive 6 hours each way to buy my RV. At the end of the day, it was not worth it to me to make the drive and lose the option for good warranty service from a dealer that is 30 minutes from home.

I agree for only $1000 savings I wouldn't drive 6 hours either.

[Bassdogs]

Originally Posted by jcoyle

I don't really agree with this statement, Although I do understand what you are saying. Remember the dealer that I may travel 3000 miles to get to and save some money, also happens to be someone else's local dealer.

Not entirely true. The biggest online dealers are a bit like Amazon in that they have the scale and infrastructure to handle lots of units. RV Connections in Middlebury In is 2 1/2 miles from the Jayco factory and pretty much acts as a middle man in the buy/sale transaction. They know that a significant percent of their customers will be a one off relationship. They are set up to Move units. There service dept is structured to prep new units from the factory and handle the Dealer/Owner walkthrough when you are scheduled to pick up your unit. They have virtually zero floor plan costs because they have your $$$ went the order is placed and have possession only a few days.

Congrats if a local dealer gives up the best price, Go for it!! In reality their cost of operation vs volume of units sold are significantly higher than the on line or larger big city dealers. Its not their fault but just a fact. The same is true with cars, appliances, and most anything.

I drove approximately 900 miles round trip to pick up my White Hawk. My net savings was over $5k from the nearest Jayco dealer that would have been 180 miles round trip.

Again my advice is to seek out the best price within a distance you can handle one time and don't fall for the warrantee service myth.

[jasum]

Originally Posted by southco

i drove close to three hours to buy our first camper and drove around six hours to buy our current camper. I would not to step foot again in the local jayco dealer. I've never needed warranty work on either camper but i'd take it to an authorized independent shop if it was something i couldn't fix myself. I'd have to go back and check but i saved somewhere around $6k i believe by traveling for my current camper. It was worth it and i'd do it again...

exactly.........