Buying local vs the national dealers
It may be time to begin thinking of replacing our fiver. If we do start searching, what experiences do you folks have regarding buying from a smaller local dealer that is closer vs a big national deal...
Forum Discussion
In the past, we bought 1 pop-up and 2 travel trailers locally. We were pleased with the price and service was fine. But, when we did research on our new 5th wheel, price was a deal breaker locally.
We ended up ordering from a national wholesaler and picking up in Iowa (a 900 mile trip for us). We figured it was worth the trip to save $15,500 over MSRP and $7,200 over the best price we could get locally. We were able to order the trailer with all the options we wanted and didn't have to worry about it sitting on a lot somewhere with all kinds of people in and out of it.
It was a little scary going to pick up something we had never seen, but it turned out GREAT! We love the trailer, the walk-thru was very thorough, and we haven't had a single problem.
Now, we know a problem could arise, but we are confident that our manufacturer would handle it and we would be able to get things fixed. Plus, we usually fix the "little things" ourselves because we know we will do a better job than most dealers.
We ended up ordering from a national wholesaler and picking up in Iowa (a 900 mile trip for us). We figured it was worth the trip to save $15,500 over MSRP and $7,200 over the best price we could get locally. We were able to order the trailer with all the options we wanted and didn't have to worry about it sitting on a lot somewhere with all kinds of people in and out of it.
It was a little scary going to pick up something we had never seen, but it turned out GREAT! We love the trailer, the walk-thru was very thorough, and we haven't had a single problem.
Now, we know a problem could arise, but we are confident that our manufacturer would handle it and we would be able to get things fixed. Plus, we usually fix the "little things" ourselves because we know we will do a better job than most dealers.
