Buying Jayco from Online dealer?

[Grawe]

Hi All,

My first post as we are anxious to become a new Jayco owners. After months of RV shows and dealer visits we have decided on a Pinnacle RV. My question to the forum starts with the initial purchase; I was ready to buy at my local dealer when I discovered huge discounts ($8-10k+) offered by RVDierct, RVExpress and RVConnection. Has anyone purchased through an online dealer? I am confident from our shopping of what model and options we want so is there a negative or caution that we should be aware of with retailers?

Great forum, with great members offering great advice - thank you!

[WVDusty]

First off welcome to the forum.

I would be sure to check with your local dealers about them doing warranty/service work on a unit that they did not sale. I am sure that they will work on it the problem is that you will probably not be very high on there priority list.

[eng45ine]

My recommendation is to purchase your camper from the nearest RV dealer so you can build a relationship with them as a loyal customer. Yes, any participating dealer will do warranty work, but your local dealer should have the ethics to do your work before doing someone's work who purchased their camper at a different dealer.

[Jrmay25]

Grawe,

I completely agree that we should always try supporting our local business whenever possible. However, I have ordered 3 new units (2 from RVDirect and 1 from RV Connection) and have saved no less than $5000 from the lowest quoted price we received from any Jayco dealer within 150 miles around us. I went as far to take the actual quote from RV Direct in to show them on 2 of these occasions, in an attempt to get the gap a little closer, and no luck. I was willing to pay up to $1500 more to support the local guy, however, when your talking $5000-10,000 difference, there's no way I was going to pass up those kind of savings.
On all 3 occasions, the process was extremely simple and straight forward. Build the unit to your specs, give them a deposit and everything else is taken care of when you pick the unit up 4-8 weeks later.
As far as warranty work goes, I leave my unit seasonally parked and have had a few minor claims. The largest one came this summer when one of my awning toppers started pulling loose. I called Jayco and explained that I didn't really want to pull my camper to a dealer for the repair, and they authorized a mobile RV repair facility to come replace it right at my site. My out of pocket for this, $0.00. The only other problems have been very minor, and per my request Jayco mailed me the part to replace myself.
In the end, you have to decide what's best for you, but as you have seen, buying online is much cheaper, and from my personal experience, it's just as easy, if not easier at the end of the day.

Jr

[sask934]

Welcome to the forum. Now is the time of year that a local dealer maybe able to come much closer in price with the internet dealers.

To me it is important to have a local dealer that will want to keep me happy as they sold the unit to me....now if the savings was enough ( only you can decide whats enough ) you have to consider it!

Have fun and good luck with your decision.

[davidki]

WE purchased our TT from our local dealer and probably paid a little more than an online place but to drive 1500 miles to the closest RV direct was not worth it to us, we would have eaten up the savings in gas and time... Our TT was only about $20K so it was not a big deal or my guess profit margin left after telling the dealer what I wanted to pay.

As for service... well even though I bought from them I called (close to the end of our 2 year warranty) and told them of a couple of issues I had, they needed to order a part so I gave them all the details on my original call... it was a $5.00 part no big deal, so they scheduled me 3 weeks out to bring in the TT, I brought it in and it took them another 3 weeks to order the part and follow up with Jayco 3 times to have the part shipped... it was nothing special.. just a small plastic piece that is on every TT they build so I was not out of stock!

I like our local dealer but the do not carry the Greyhawlk.. sure if they have too they would probably order on for me.... but I just don't feel like they are that interested, always want to sell me what is on their lot.

Most of the sales by our dealers are TT I'm not sure how much MH experiance they even have... So, would I order a MH online.. you bet!

[herewego]

There are many ways to build a relationship with a RV dealer, we have one close to us,and have bought a Lot $$$$$$ of RV parts and accessories from them , They just happen to be a Jayco repair dealer,and have indicated to us they would be happy to do any warranty work. Some dealers only care about sales,where some are parts and service oriented, but to most we have dealt with a Buck is a Buck ...

[jal0710]

We bought our 2012 Eagle HT 26.5 RLS "locally" at the dealer closest to us (150 miles away) but only after getting quotes from RV Direct and others and visiting a dealer a little farther away who had a pretty good price. I told our "local" dealer what the RV Direct price was and they came within $2,000 of that pricing. I figured that was pretty close to what it would have cost me to drive back there from Wyoming and pick the trailer up. As for service from the dealer from whom you bought it, I find that my service at a non-selling dealer 25 miles away has been better than the selling dealer's service. The times I have taken my FW down to the selling dealer, it has sat for weeks before they get the work done, even if have taken it down on the day they scheduled for me to be there. If I have gotten a higher priority from my selling dealer, I would be afraid to see what a low priority of service would mean. A large percentage of the parts on a trailer, Jayco or another, are not Jayco or any other parts, they are Atwood, Norcold, etc. and covered by a different warranty anyway.

[edatlanta]

When I purchased my Designer 4 years ago I checked around for prices including RV-Direct and then went to my local dealer 25 miles away. Their price including hitch and hitch install was $500.00 higher than RV-Direct and they are almost 500 miles closer. No way could I have justified the trip to RV-Direct and $500.00. And I am glad I supported my local dealer.

They have performed numerous warranty repairs on my home base site so I didn't even have to hook up and go to them. Their service manager lives 15 miles from me so he has done numerous things while "on his way home". I always tip him very good also because I want him to like coming to see me when needed. The biggest repair he has performed on my site has been a complete replacement of my Norcold refrigerator which completely failed. All he asked was if I would have someone on site to help lift the new one in and the old one out. Duh! That wasn't a problem.

[skijlw]

I have recently purchased my new Eagle Premier on line. I saved 20% over my local dealers. I have also purchased boats and my vehicles on line. Never had anything but good experiences with warranty after purchase from local dealers. The dealers don't care where their money for repairs comes from. I used to buy locally but found the service was no better. In one case I saved 2K on some repairs on a boat buy taking it to an out of town dealer instead of the one I bought it from.
When I purchased my Eagle I found a couple of units exactly the same closer to home. I gave the other dealers the quote and asked if they could come close to a match. None did and one sales person told me her boss just wants more profit. It was not a hard decision for me.

[Panhead]

Any dealer who says they can't compete is full of crap! The so called "online" dealers have the same overhead issues as the local dealer. They have a brick and mortar location and maintain repair shops to do warranty and other repairs. A local dealer who is 8 to 10K higher and wont offer a more competitive price doesn't deserve your business. I would buy local if they were within $1500 or so but more than that I would look at other options. Just remember to factor the transportation in your calculations. We are in California so transportation is a big ticket item.

Steve

[herewego]

PanHead Hello, I feel the same way you do,However a small dealer ( we have several)
will not get the same price break from the manufacturer,that a large dealer does,that orders several units at one time and moves a lot of stock,all dealers are not given the same prices from the manufacture , the more you order and buy the better the price,the large dealers that move stock can give a better price. Well in Texas Retail any way ....

[DKRITTER]

We bought our Eagle TT from a local dealer, the first time I tried to take it in for some minor stuff I was told I would have to leave it and they would get to it in around 6 weeks and the repair could take up to 6 weeks.

Sometimes buying local doesn't matter in the end.

You might call the local dealer and ask about brining in the model you are looking at because ..... the slide isn't working properly and see how long it will take to repair.

[Crabman]

Originally Posted by DKRITTER

We bought our Eagle TT from a local dealer, the first time I tried to take it in for some minor stuff I was told I would have to leave it and they would get to it in around 6 weeks and the repair could take up to 6 weeks.

Sometimes buying local doesn't matter in the end.

You might call the local dealer and ask about brining in the model you are looking at because ..... the slide isn't working properly and see how long it will take to repair.

Exactly. Just because a dealer is local does not mean they are good and everything will be peachy.

[bucko]

Originally Posted by Crabman

Exactly. Just because a dealer is local does not mean they are good and everything will be peachy.

That's the truth with my experience. The wife and I bought our first RV from a one week show that was going on at a local mall from one large Central Florada RV dealer (I'll leave them nameless). We looked, without the intent of buying, but literally fell head over heels with a Jayco Featherlite model. We bought, and at first, the purchase was pleasant. However, there were some signs we should have been red flagged on. We were told we would be called within a couple of days to schedule the pickup and demo day, plus to schedule the install of the brake controller on our tow vehicle prior of course to the demo/pickup date. Our sales person stated he would be calling us to keep us up to date with the status of our purchase issues/schedules. After 3 days of no calls (we were to be picking up the unit within one week of the show purchase), we went back to the show on a weekday night, and got it scheduled with a manager who was at the show; he apologized and stated this would not be an issue again. Strike one.

Then, we called the sales person that next day to ask about getting a screen inclosure purchased and installed prior to the pickup and demo date; "sure" he replied, "I'll have the parts guy call you to arrange this". That call never happened. Strike two.

The day we arrived (Saturday) for our demo and pickup, we were asked for proof of insurance, and a check for $168.00 for the trailer tag. We were dumbfounded, as we were not told we required this paperwork to take delivery (we did contact our insurance company the day after we purchased to start coverage on the day of our demo/pickup date). Since our insurance agent was not open on Saturday, we could not provide this paperwork. The girl behind the desk stated that this requirement was "stamped with a red letter stamp" on our contract. We of course had with us that day all our paperwork that was given to us the day we signed the papers; I handed that to the girl and asked her to show us this. The RV sites manager "made an acception", and told us to FAX this paperwork to them on Monday to allow us to take delivery today. Strike three.

Then after the demo, they hooked up the camper to our truck. They ran through a check to verify the brake, turn signal, and electric brake controller all functioned, and found that the e-brakes were not working. We took the truck in two days prior, and waited 2 1/2 hours while they installed the controller (which we paid them to do). After an additional 1 hour and 20 minutes on demo/delivery day, they tried installing a new controller, only to find that it still did not work, and that the installer placed the wire to the brake pedal switch on the wrong wire. They had a test box that's used to test all this, yet it was apparently not used (?) two days earlier when it was first installed. Strike 4 (wait, you're out after three strikes, right?)


We found another Jayco dealer other than the one we bought from, who will get any warranty work that may be required, plus our future business.

[Bassdogs]

Originally Posted by Panhead

Any dealer who says they can't compete is full of crap! The so called "online" dealers have the same overhead issues as the local dealer. They have a brick and mortar location and maintain repair shops to do warranty and other repairs.
Steve

I think it is a bunch of BS when they won't offer more of a discount when you tell them the on line quote. I purchase my 2014 White Hawk from RV Connections in Middlebury In. Yes they do have a show room, but 90% of their business is online and new units are ordered for you. They are 2 miles from the Jayco factory and call you when the unit is ready for pickup. They have it in their shop for a couple days to do final prep. They have no floor plan loans [you pay when you place the order] and they don't have acres of units on site. Rv Connections goes by a different name [Richardson RV I think] in Calif. They do have retail sites and I don't know how that portion of the agency works, but the Middlebury site has a lot of advantage over a local dealer and they pass most of that savings on to you. Expect a 30% discount off of MSRP.

There has been a ton written on this on other threads. You might want to read them. Do a search. You can expect to save significant $$ and my experience was nothing but positive. You have to factor in the cost of picking up your unit. In my case it was 900 miles round trip. I have heard dozens of war stories about bad service at local dealers. You might or might not get faster service at a place where you bought, but I have now had my White Hawk for 1 1/2 years and haven't had to go to a dealer for warrantee a single time. When we return from our winter trip south in March we will be nearing the end of our 2 years so we'll be making a list. It it takes our local dealer [150 miles round trip] 30 days to get to it, who cares. It will get addressed. Jayco will make sure you get warrantee service if your closest dealer gives you a lot of crap. Saving $5, 6, or more thousand and giving up that love connection with your local guy that might get you in a week faster is a smart deal in my book.

[striper44]

My trailer listed out 34000.00 and got it for 25995.00 it's a jayco white hawk 31dslb i bought it at a local dealer in ct this is the time of year you want to buy. this particular dealers closes a week before thanksgiving and open after the first of the year so they try to sell what they have on the lot before they close and besides who pays list price

[FoxFanRay]

You need to keep in mind that local dealers do not have to perform service on units they did not sell. They are under no obligation.

[charlank]

We just made the trip this past weekend to pick up our new Eagle Premier 375 BHFS from RV Direct. We now have a unit that is far nicer than I ever thought we would possibly have simply because we saved just over $30K off sticker price, which was 15 - 20K less than what I could find at any dealer within 150 miles or advertised on RV Trader. I also got a quote from RV Express which was 5K higher. It was well worth the 1200 mile round trip!

I was pretty skeptical about how the process would go but I couldn't be happier. After getting an appointment to pick it up the delivery manager called to let us know they would be prepping it a few days ahead since we were coming from a long distance so they could make sure there were no issues. He also asked if we would like to have it winterized or if we planned to use it. We arrived for our appointment and within a couple of hours were headed down the highway with it.

After our experience I would highly recommend it. One of the best parts was not having to haggle with the sales guy. They Email a quote and you can take it or leave it. I actually had them quote several different units before we made up our mind. We almost went with a Pinnacle because we could have bought it for much less than what an Eagle Premier would have been at the dealer, but we really wanted the bunkhouse so the Pinnacle was out.

At the very least you should go to their website and request a quote if you haven't already.

[clubhouse]

Originally Posted by Panhead

Any dealer who says they can't compete is full of crap! The so called "online" dealers have the same overhead issues as the local dealer. They have a brick and mortar location and maintain repair shops to do warranty and other repairs. A local dealer who is 8 to 10K higher and wont offer a more competitive price doesn't deserve your business. I would buy local if they were within $1500 or so but more than that I would look at other options. Just remember to factor the transportation in your calculations. We are in California so transportation is a big ticket item.

Steve

I agree in many respects, however RV sales from an internet dealer is a far different business model. They will quote differently depending on where the potential buyer is from. RV direct for instance will provide considerably differnt quotes to someone from CA vs someone who is much closer to them. The business model dictates this for two reasons

1) less likely to be a drain on the service department after the sale because they are gone

2) if someone is traveling 1500-2000 miles to get an RV that is found money for the dealership. That customer is not part of what would be considered their available market.

That said I would not pay a huge mark up locally either, but I will some for convienence