Order from factory or what's on dealer's lot???

[Shackrat]

Originally Posted by bdreinv

If you buy off the lot when you do your PDI. Make sure its the camper you picked out. Dealer did a switch on us,interior color was different! Might copy vin off camper you select!For us it was entirely about price.

This happened to us last year when we purchased the unit we just traded for our Jayco. We went to a local RV show in March, spotted a floorplan we loved, at a price we could afford. We went back to the show the next day and spent about 2 hours in the unit looking over every detail. We even signed the paperwork in the unit we were buying.

When delivery came, we noticed a few fit and finish items the dealer noted and was going to address. When we got it home, we continued to notice small details like missing trim, scratches, etc that we couldn't have possibly overlooked at the show. Luckily we took a ton of pictures of the trailer at the show and started comparing them and realized that we had been victims of a bait and switch.

I had to dig in and fight with the dealer to get the situation resolved. They even called the cops on us at one point when we refused to leave without answers. In the end they agreed to switch it, but I had to get the lender involved to pressure the dealer since got VINs were different. It was a terrible experience for us, and the reason we dumped the trailer this summer. They were the only Forest River dealer in town, and I couldn't stand being beholden to them.

[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by bdreinv

If you buy off the lot when you do your PDI. Make sure its the camper you picked out. Dealer did a switch on us,interior color was different! Might copy vin off camper you select!For us it was entirely about price.

And after you do your PDI, if you go home and leave your rig for a day/two for them to fix things... be sure and carefully inspect your rig before you drive away with it...

While ours was there for an additional night - they took the painted Water Heater cover (painted the color of the motorhome) off of our rig and sold it to a walk in customer that lost theirs.

[Bandit12]

We bought ours sight unseen online, just pics and not really sure the trailer in the pics was the actual trailer. Once we had a tentative deal, including a $1000 down, they took actual pics of the unit and sent them to me. We knew exactly what we wanted, shopped for about 5 years before we found a deal we couldn't pass up. We had to drive over 300 miles one way to get to the dealer. The deal we got was nearly $8K off the build sheet price. When we sat down with the finance manager, I mentioned this fact to him. He turned the contract around and took another look at the figures and I swear, I saw him turn pale for a sec. We've found a couple minor flaws but nothing major. The only really big thing is, at the PDI, the dealer rep mentioned we were supposed to have the outdoor grill. We got the connecting hose, but no grill. I said I wasn't concerned about it at the time. I'm currently trying to get something from the dealer on this, either the grill itself or the cash value. Since we are as far away as we are, I'm leaning toward trying to get the cash value. Then I can put that money into a Blackstone.

[PlayersZ28]

Originally Posted by Bandit12

We bought ours sight unseen online, just pics and not really sure the trailer in the pics was the actual trailer. Once we had a tentative deal, including a $1000 down, they took actual pics of the unit and sent them to me. We knew exactly what we wanted, shopped for about 5 years before we found a deal we couldn't pass up. We had to drive over 300 miles one way to get to the dealer. The deal we got was nearly $8K off the build sheet price. When we sat down with the finance manager, I mentioned this fact to him. He turned the contract around and took another look at the figures and I swear, I saw him turn pale for a sec. We've found a couple minor flaws but nothing major. The only really big thing is, at the PDI, the dealer rep mentioned we were supposed to have the outdoor grill. We got the connecting hose, but no grill. I said I wasn't concerned about it at the time. I'm currently trying to get something from the dealer on this, either the grill itself or the cash value. Since we are as far away as we are, I'm leaning toward trying to get the cash value. Then I can put that money into a Blackstone.

That's a long time to spend getting a trailer. Most people buy/sell a coule in that time frame

Cash value on the OE bumper grill wouldn't be much more than scrap weight. Mine got dumped in the scrap metal pile after one use.

[dmatt13]

Originally Posted by SloPoke

And after you do your PDI, if you go home and leave your rig for a day/two for them to fix things... be sure and carefully inspect your rig before you drive away with it...

While ours was there for an additional night - they took the painted Water Heater cover (painted the color of the motorhome) off of our rig and sold it to a walk in customer that lost theirs.

That just stinks!! Unbelievable they thought they could get away with that. I probably wouldn't have even considered that happening, but usually look things over. Had a car that got a nice don't at the dealer while getting serviced, luckily I noticed before driving off.

[spoon059]

The factory doesn't know if they are building it specific for YOU or just to dealer's specs. They don't build it any different. I would buy off the lot if you can find one you like. That way you can carefully inspect it before buying and not feel compelled to take it if you don't.


I couldn't find one that I liked, so we ordered ours and love it. Having a good dealer sure helps!

[Cln56]

We r ready to put our 2017 Jayco Alante 31v up for sale. Bought new feb 2017 5600 mi. Still has new car smell. Perfect condition, we live in Florida, let me know if interested thx

[whporwil]

If you did order a unit and didn't really like something. With the old company you could pink slip that item. We still got it but it wasn't screwed to the wall, just shipped loose.

[Jayco Journey]

Originally Posted by dmatt13

Hey everyone, new to the forum but have owned pop-ups, TTs and a Class C.
Now that the kids are grown and retirement is just up the road, we are back looking for our next motorhome. Won't bore you with the details but we are between a Class C diesel or a larger Class A gasser. Will do a lot of travel but will mostly hit Nat'l and State parks, etc so don't want anything over 32' to limit us.
Anyway, I'm aware that it's hit or miss with quality. So my question is, do folks who have ordered a unit from the factory find that the quality of the build was better than what was seen on the lot?
I guess my thinking is they might pay a little better attention to the build process if it is a customer order, rather than just going to some dealer's lot.......
What do you think?

Thanks

Have you thought about buying a one or two year old used unit? The depreciation on a new unit is at least 20%/year for the first couple of years and the inventory is endless if you shop within a few hundred miles of your location. There are plenty of parties who buy, try (once or twice), and trade where there are great deals to be had. I've bought new and used and will always shop new going forward.

[Overogal]

Another tip: try to avoid Schwintek slides, I can pretty well guarantee you will have trouble with them! They say they are ok on the smaller slideout, but much to be avoided on the large, heavy slide outs. We have put over $5,000 in repairs on our heavy Schwintek slide, and our unit is only 3 years old.

[dkegel]

Originally Posted by Overogal

Another tip: try to avoid Schwintek slides, I can pretty well guarantee you will have trouble with them! They say they are ok on the smaller slideout, but much to be avoided on the large, heavy slide outs. We have put over $5,000 in repairs on our heavy Schwintek slide, and our unit is only 3 years old.

Hi. I'm new to the forum and appreciate the advice. Do all the new Jaycos have the Schwintek slides? We are considering the North Point 315rlts but I am not sure how to find out ahead of time what kind of slides it has.

Dave

[oldmanAZ]

Welcome to the forum and happy trailer shopping.

[Thomson]

I have a 315rlts and would not buy it again Four months of problems and now the slides are making noise. Twenty-five failures and now going back. Only used it once and found more stuff broken. Cabinets are too high to reach if you are only 5'10". Who would think that a nonresidential fridge would preclude slide topper? It does. Order from factory, and have the shakedown there. I'm tired of spending on,a broken fiver

[maromeo]

We ordered our first TT in 2010 from the factory through the dealer. We had nothing but problems over the next 3 yrs. Some were manufacturing issues but most were dealer caused. We ended working with the dealer and were waiting to order a bit larger TT but dealer ordered the model we were wanting and had it on display for us to look at. We ended up purchasing and had zero issues over the 4 yrs we have owned it. Needless to say we didn’t have to have the dealer work on the unit even under warranty.

[Jack N Janet]

The biggest problem for us was the four month wait from order to delivery. The dealer has since said the wait times are out 6 months. We ordered a 2018 Hummingbird 17FD but the wife wanted specific countertops and cloth so we just waited. Good luck on your purchase.

[GScott]

We decided on what we wanted and ordered through a dealer inApril and got delivery in late July. I paid a modest deposit($1000) and the dealer had not risk or cost of inventory. They did a good job with prep and full PDI. We had normal list of things to fix. If you know what you want and have 4 months or more to wait, I recommend ordering the options you want. That said I think quality will be the same.

[twdenman]

Originally Posted by norty1

I bought my last Jayco off the lot at a steep discount. It has been virtually trouble free except for normal maintenance and wear and tear for 7 years.

I have ordered one built for me (sob) and there are always surprises. Something you see listed may be discontinued or changed by the time you get it. I liked seeing what I was buying before I bought it.

I bought our Precept off the lot at a steep discount too! Minor issues too. I thought I was told, by the dealer, that an individual can't order unit from factory, only dealer.

[twdenman]

Originally Posted by SloPoke

^ ^ ^ ^
The best advice yet.

We wrote a list of "Must Have" and "Must NOT have" before and while we were shopping... almost all were relative to the floor plan.

We had firm considerations such as:
Plumbing can't be in a slide out
Bedroom slide must come out passenger side
Have to be able to load/unload 95% with slides IN
Have to have 100% access to Bathroom, Pantry and fridge with all slides closed.
Fridge has to be vented out the roof (not the wall)

Why is the bedroom slide important to be on passenger side of RV? For us, that would crowd our outdoor living space. That's where we grill, watch TV, and sit under awning.

[PlayersZ28]

Originally Posted by twdenman

Why is the bedroom slide important to be on passenger side of RV? For us, that would crowd our outdoor living space. That's where we grill, watch TV, and sit under awning.

I agree, I'd hit my head on our pretty regularly if it came out the door side. I prefer the fridge to vent out the ODS wall so I can have it out of the sun. I haven't seen many fivers that I could get to 95% of the cabinetry with all the slides in.

[Baldfacemt]

We bought off the lot a rig someone had not taken and the dealer really wanted it sold so got great price. We were going to order. May I suggest if you order do so in December or January when the demand is a bit lower. Thinking that the techs will have a bit less demand and so can take more time.