Concerns about buying from a distant dealer?

When you say brand are you talking manufacturer? This is a tough one. When shopping for a new RV I look nationwide for the best deal I can get. Then start pitting dealers against one another and usually, eventually one closer to home concedes to a good price. However, this can be a bit of a headache when it comes to warranty and service if it's not real close. For starters - no dealer will even touch warranty work on a brand they don't sell - period. If you have a local dealer that sells the same brand they may do warranty work even if you bought it elsewhere but it's not a guarantee and you will not get preferential treatment. Some will refuse to work on it. Warranty work while travelling is a bit of an exception. Sometimes you can call the manufacturer directly and tell them your situation and they can help you schedule with a local dealer - depends on the manufacturer.

So, in short - yes it's definitely a risk. And you will definitely have warranty items on anything you buy - doesn't matter how much you spend.

I bought my current RV from a dealer 2 hours away. There is a local dealer that sells my brand but they didn't have what I wanted. I tried to get warranty service there once and they snubbed me. The dealer I bought from is awesome and I get very quick preferential treatment. But I have to drive 2 hours for it. And usually it has to be dropped off, so 2 hrs there, 2 hrs home, rinse and repeat when I pick it up. We make the best of it by doing an overnight at a state park we love near the dealer.

I look at it this way, I invest a few hrs of my time to get warranty work and things are usually done in a few days. If I used my local dealer where I didn't buy I go to the back of the line (if they'll do the work at all) and it could be weeks or even months. So I drive a bit for awesome service and a great deal when I buy and I think that's worth it.

There are other places besides dealers that will do warranty work.
When our Solitude was nearing one year since purchase, we took it to RV Renovators in Mesa, AZ to have 6 items repaired/replaced. They either billed Grand Design or the OEM and we paid nothing. Plus we got to stay in our full time rig while all the work was done.

We bought 2 diesel pushers from a dealer in Auburn, CA - between 2006 and 2010. RV Renovators did all the warranty work on both since we lived/hung out in the central AZ area.

When I was looking back in '15, KZ was my #1 choice. I called them at the time and asked about warranty repairs as there was only 1 KZ dealer in AZ. They told me that, should the need arise, they would be happy to approve an independent shop or mobile repair service to complete warranty work. That sold me on KZ...at that time. It was later that we all heard that Thor was buying KZ (and Jayco) and we were very worried that they would no longer stick to this policy. Fortunately, we only had a couple warranty issues and our selling dealer was about 80 miles away, not a deal breaker for me. Since then, our selling dealer has closed and another dealer in East Mesa picked up KZ, and they are wonderful to work with. None of this "you didn't buy it here" b.s.; they work rigs in in the order in which they're brought in. Still a bit of a hike, but, again, not bad.

This being said, when were looking, if I found something at a very attractive price that a local dealer refused to match, I'd've taken a road trip to buy and dealt with warranty issues either on my own or with an independent shop.

Lyle

I would say your concerns are valid. It is not uncommon to see someone post here about a dealer who they did not buy from refusing to do warranty work, or put it so far into the future as to be impractical. But I don’t remember what brands or dealers were stated. But some did say the manufacturer worked with them to find someone to do that warranty work.

I live in Alaska and bought my DP from a guy in Colorado. I also bought my TT from a guy in Idaho. Both were sight unseen, but with an awful lot of pictures of all the specifics I wanted to see.

I flew to Colorado to get the DP and drove to Idaho to get the TT. Both were just as all of the pictures showed. Do your due diligence, but you're buying them to go travel, so don't let a few miles bother you.

Bill

Paul39 wrote:
Would you have concerns about buying from that distance? I don't mind driving to pick it out / up - but what happens if it needs warranty work?

While concern about warranty work is valid your FIRST concern should be about purchase first. Are you planning to spend hours or even days doing a complete Pre Delivery Inspection - PDI. New or used rigs can/will have issues.

And is it really the rig you want after you drive off the lot? Absolutely be prepared to do a complete PDI and know a fair price first. This is NOT like buying a new car for example.

I had no problems with my first new MH because the mfg would do repairs and they had good quality where it's understood that almost all RVs do not have good quality. And yes the 72 repairs were completed fast and complete.

CA Traveler brings up some very valid points. I watch a You tube couple that inspect rv's and they sure opened our eyes as to the condition the trailers are being handed off to the new owners. They use the term PDI, as probably didn't inspect and that is the case. So when you pay the dealer and go camping the first time and the things that would have been found with a rv inspector were just kind of missed by the dealer folks and you get to deal with the driving back and leaving the new rig. Could be a lot of hardships for you over the warranty period.

And the PDI for the next rig which was 2 years old took 3 weeks for repairs because they could not get the parts. Dometic was extremely evasive for a A/C repair. Finally admited they had a recall. The A/C was replaced with a new one 3 months later.

Others have provided you good info - consider your options.

When we bought our fifth wheel one of the selling points was that we didn't have to fool with the dealer. I talked to the manufacturer and explained the situation and they said I could do it myself, use a mobile tech or an independent shop. My camper never went back to the dealer in the six years that we had it. The manufacturer was true to their word.