Forum Discussion

priv8pilot's avatar
priv8pilot
Explorer
Feb 04, 2017

Dealer location VS best price?

OK The wife and I love the Jayco Pinnacle in either the ft bathroom model or the Kitchen pantry setup. My dilemma is this: The local dealer does not carry the Pinnacle model and when I downloaded a brochure and entered my e-mail address (my mistake) I had a local salesman e-mail me to say he had 'LOTS" of Jayco Pinnacle's in stock. When did I want to come see them? Well a quick search of his website showed one on his lot and not what I was looking for. I e-mailed him back and told him this and his response was "well we have a few on order."
I have been to that dealer and they are small and way over priced on there other trailers.

The closest dealer that actually carries the Jayco Pinnacle is about 350 miles from home.
Now after many hours of research I have found an online company that beats anyone's price. They beat a show price by 8 grand and that was with more options added. My concern is that if I buy online and have problems what do I do about warranty work? I don't think the local place will help as they don't carry the line I want. Do I try to work a deal with the one that is 350 miles away so that if I have problems I can haul it to them? The online place sounds great and I would love a 'road trip' on the way home from picking it up so that is not a problem. Just thinking about the future. Have any of you dealt with a non selling dealer to get repairs? The local place does carry Jayco just not the Pinnacle line.
Thank!
Steve
  • I would not worry about the service after the sale. If you need work, I am sure the factory will recommend a dealer that will be able and willing to do the work.

    Heck, my dealer went out of business about a month or so after I purchased my unit. Fortunately it has never needed a dealers service but if it had, I would simply find and call a self employed RV service person and have them come to me. They usually do a better job and the price is the same or cheaper than a dealer.

    I just had my refrigerator replaced last month right here in the campground by just such a mobile repair service. Great price and one day service! Called him on Monday, the fridge was installed and working great on Tuesday. :)
    Barney
  • We bought our Winnebago MH online. One local Winnebago dealer would not perform warranty work on a coach not purchased from them (actually against the Winnebago agreement they sign) but another about 20 miles away had no problem with it and have fixed several issues. 350 miles is pretty far for warranty work. You might want to ask the service manager of the local place to see if they have a problem doing warranty work on a unit bought elsewhere. I do not think the model designation would make much difference if they sell Jayco. I'd do it by email so you have a record of what they say although if they get hard nosed afterwards, I'm not sure I'd want to leave my RV with them! If there are any mobile RV tech in your area, you might want to check if they are authorized to do warranty service. Some are. Any time you buy a new RV, you are kind of rolling the dice. Most times the little nit-pick stuff is better just fixed by yourself. The headache of making two trips and not having the unit while it's being fixed makes that a little more palatable. Eventually it will be out of warranty and you'll be responsible for repairs anyway. At least you know it will be fixed right. Plenty of help here to guide you!