Purchasing locally vs. out of state

[Love To Travel 2]

LindaLew, I sent you a message.

[SouthCo]

OP, no need to keep the NY dealer a secret if I was incorrect as it helped you to get a great deal.

[bayouaggie]

This is a great discussion and I'm learning a lot as I am in the market for my first motorhome (Class C bunkhouse models, leaning toward Greyhawk 31FS).

For companies like rvdirect, seems like you can order exactly what you want from the factory for a price likely significantly less than local dealer. How do you handle warranty issues? Do you have to go back to rvdirect or will local Jayco dealer perform the work? I really like the notion of saving every dollar I can, but don't want to get stuck with some key issues that I cannot easily get resolved. I live in Houston TX, so would probably head to Des Moines (almost 1000 miles away) and take delivery there if I went the rvdirect route.

Other than rvdirect.com, are there other reputable internet dealers? Really interested in hearing others experiences in this area. Thanks!

[Love To Travel 2]

Originally Posted by bayouaggie

This is a great discussion and I'm learning a lot as I am in the market for my first motorhome (Class C bunkhouse models, leaning toward Greyhawk 31FS).

For companies like rvdirect, seems like you can order exactly what you want from the factory for a price likely significantly less than local dealer. How do you handle warranty issues? Do you have to go back to rvdirect or will local Jayco dealer perform the work? I really like the notion of saving every dollar I can, but don't want to get stuck with some key issues that I cannot easily get resolved. I live in Houston TX, so would probably head to Des Moines (almost 1000 miles away) and take delivery there if I went the rvdirect route.

Other than rvdirect.com, are there other reputable internet dealers? Really interested in hearing others experiences in this area. Thanks!

For your first question, you can order exactly what you want from the local dealers also, but with the quantity that the Internet companies move, they are more able to give a greater price reduction. But, as you wrote, and to me, it's the years AFTER the sale that are equally or more important. It's one thing to negotiate, or haggle, with the sales staff, but you sure can't do that with the service manager to get a quicker appointment.

I also Googled all the dealers we considered and read all the on-line reviews. You can get a good idea of the dealer and especially the service department by taking the time to peruse those.

My wife and I discussed all the pro's and con's of local vs long distance and even though the local dealer was a tad more expensive, we opted to spend a little more on the initial investment and then have peace-of-mind knowing we shouldn't have any issues getting it serviced where we bought it. I guess I have always liked being a name and not a number.

Beside rvone, you may want to look at Motorhomes2go in Grand Rapids. Ask about their fly and drive service.

[McGintys924]

As I mentioned earlier in this post, I most time in the Seneca for work in southern VA, and started out in a keystone TT. When my keystone had a problem (water tank just fell out of it) I lucked into a really awesome dealer here in VA (despite buying in PA where I lived at the time we started). They fixed that issue on the campsite it was on. A few months later I had another problem and they got me in and out in the same day. As the one year date approached I made the laundry list appointment and had a hotel for two nights. The fact that I left them three boxes of Girl Scout cookies may have helped, but I was taken well cared for.

Now, when we brought our Seneca home from Florida and the fridge would not work, I called Norcold they told me that it needed professional assistance (more than we could talk through). I asked if Johnson Family RV in Woodlawn was an authorized service center and they said it was. I was in for a one day turn around within a week. This dealer is not a Jayco dealer, but many components that may have problems are not from Jayco.

Moral of the story: buy lots of Girl Scout cookies for when you need service.

I will admit that is the local dealer in NC would have taken me seriously rather than trying to rip me off for over $20,000 or if the PA dealer could have financed it I would have been enticed to buy from a dealer I would know. Giving someone $20,000 for no reason is nauseating. That not a $1000 more, as PA wanted, but an unbelievable amount and they are doing no more work for that money.

RV One also has drastically different priced if you go through national sales online as opposed to walking onto their lot.

[Love To Travel 2]

Originally Posted by McGintys924

Now, when we brought our Seneca home from Florida and the fridge would not work, I called Norcold they told me that it needed professional assistance (more than we could talk through). I asked if Johnson Family RV in Woodlawn was an authorized service center and they said it was. I was in for a one day turn around within a week. This dealer is not a Jayco dealer, but many components that may have problems are not from Jayco.

Moral of the story: buy lots of Girl Scout cookies for when you need service.

Several years ago, on a trip from PA to Georgia, we has a problem with our TT which ended up needing emergency repairs. We called our dealer in PA who said we were close to Johnson Family RV and we should see if they could help us. Long story short, they absolutely bent over backward to get the parts we needed and help us get back on the road. They have a google rating of 4.1/5 and 4.9/5 from Facebook. And we didn't even supply cookies!

[TheMcFarlins]

We saved about $10,000 by purchasing our 2017 Seismic from a dealer in Michigan, and we are located in TX. I was concerned that we may have issues getting warranty service locally but have not experienced that. We have 2 Jayco authorized warranty dealerships in Houston, and they are owned by the same person. Sadly, it did take 5 months to get our RV back the first time we dropped it off for repairs there, but I don't think it had anything to do with us not having purchased there because a lady we met at a campground had purchased from them and had the same experience. They were incredibly disorganized.

The second time we needed service, I checked online ratings for all of the locations within 5 hours of us, and I called the locations that had really good reviews for service. One of them could give us an appointment in two weeks, so we gave them a shot, and they did a great job. We had the RV back in 5 weeks. I don't think we got any better or worse service at either place. The first location did tell us they would not install our satellite because we did not purchase from them, but the second place had no problem installing our satellite dish, back up camera, and electrical management system.

If you are only saving a couple thousand dollars by going out of state, it may not be worth the risk of a local dealership putting you at the back of the line - if that actually is their practice - but we would definitely do it again to save the $10,000 we saved by driving to Michigan. Plus, it was fun to camp on the way back home.


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[Macshane43]

Before we bought our Jayco, we had a Flagstaff. Flagstaff promotes buy local. Well we were ready to order it locally, but the wife found it online for thousands cheaper (Indiana, where they're made). We didn't ask the local to match the price. We knew they couldn't. We did ask them to meet us 1/2 way. Their counter was not budging a cent on the price. In fact, they told us if we bought it elsewhere, they didn't have to service it.
We left there & bought it from the dealer in Indiana. Because the price was so much cheaper, so were the taxes. We ended up saving close to $7K. For us to drive out there, it cost about $500 round trip each time. Other than the original trip to get it, we had to take it back 1x. So, we still saved $6K. We would have had to make 14 trips for it to use up the savings. If I would have had to make 3 trips under the warranty, it would have been a lemon & gone.


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[LI-Camper]

Just for reference: My wife and I just walked into Albany RV on the way to a wedding. We had no intention of buying a new MH. After seeing the new 2016 Greyhawk (this was June 2015) we started to think about trading in our 2004 Greyhawk and getting a new one. The salesman and manager sat us down to talk turkey. I told them what I would pay (30% off MSRP) and what I needed to get for my trade-in. They took my 11 year-old Greyhawk in trade without ever seeing it! I sent photos to the salesman. When I drove it in to pick up the new Greyhawk, no one said anything to me about changing the price of the trade-in. I got $25K for the trade-in plus the lesser amount of sales tax on $25k. This was without an internet price. I thought I got a good deal. I arranged my own financing thru my credit union.

[SouthCo]

Originally Posted by TheMcFarlins

If you are only saving a couple thousand dollars by going out of state, it may not be worth the risk of a local dealership putting you at the back of the line - if that actually is their practice - but we would definitely do it again to save the $10,000 we saved by driving to Michigan. Plus, it was fun to camp on the way back home.


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I agree with this 100%. When I buy something, I pick a manufacturer I expect won't have problems. I don't buy assuming I'll need warranty work. That's why I bought a Jayco.

[SouthCo]

Originally Posted by LI-Camper

Just for reference: My wife and I just walked into Albany RV on the way to a wedding. We had no intention of buying a new MH. After seeing the new 2016 Greyhawk (this was June 2015) we started to think about trading in our 2004 Greyhawk and getting a new one. The salesman and manager sat us down to talk turkey. I told them what I would pay (30% off MSRP) and what I needed to get for my trade-in. They took my 11 year-old Greyhawk in trade without ever seeing it! I sent photos to the salesman. When I drove it in to pick up the new Greyhawk, no one said anything to me about changing the price of the trade-in. I got $25K for the trade-in plus the lesser amount of sales tax on $25k. This was without an internet price. I thought I got a good deal. I arranged my own financing thru my credit union.

I bought my current camper from Albany RV through there online rvdirect website and my sales lady was awesome. I saved somewhere around $6000 over the closest dealer. On delivery day my PDI was very thorough and one of the mechanics loaned me his tool cart to setup my own WDH that I didn't buy from them...

[Big1]

On my first one I bought locally but my new 5th Wheel I went out of state and when I told the people on where I bought my first one they didn't like me too much, but hey I have to do what's good for me.

I save about $6000 also, so the guy at the local place said that they wouldn't be able to take care of my service, funny. I guess that they going to throw all that money away in service, I don't think so.

I really don't care what they think, they wouldn't work with me so I went somewhere else, the guy that sold me my TT locally when I can to there dealer didn't want to talk to me, he went inside and didn't come out the whole time I was there, I really don't care.

I told the lady on where I bought my new 5th Wheel said to call the factory and ask them for a list of dealer in my area, so life is good. The out of state dealer gave me more for my trade and plus there 5th Wheel was cheaper, so yeah I went out of state.