Acceptable Delivery Miles

VinCee wrote:
The question I would have is what is the legal definition of new and or used? Their must be some threshold of how many miles can be on a vehicle before it is considered used. I believe with cars it is 2500 miles, though I realize cars are transported by trailer. When I bought my Georgetown from RV Net they told me they have trailers to move class A's from their four different stores.

The Motorhomes have a special exemption and a delayed start of warranty that the dealer fills out and sends to the chassis and RV maker when sold. As to RV Net I have NEVER seen a Class A motorhome trucked on a low boy unless it was broken down. As long as the Motorhome has never been titled or registered, the mileage is irrevelant. They fall under different rules than Automobiles. Granted, if you find a new Motorhome with 5000 plus miles, I would be suspect about why it had over double the miles as a normal motorhome. Doug

frankdamp wrote:
Back in the early 1970's, I worked with a guy in Virginia who had been an engineer at Open Road, down in Florida. OR often had their engineers drive a new rig to a dealership, to give them some experience driving what they were designing.

Dave recalled taking a Chevy-based Class C to a dealership in San Diego. The bare chassis had been driven from Detroit to Florida, then driven to different suppliers locally for things to be installed (they had Midas put the exhaust system on) By the time he left Florida, the rig already had 2200 miles on the odometer. By the time it got to the dealership, it was pushing towards 6000!

Dave's group looked into shipment by rail to minimize the accumulation of road miles. They put two new rigs (a Class A and a Class C) on a low-loader railcar and sent them from Florida to Chicago. Dave and his boss went to bring the rigs back for evaluation. When they opened the rig doors in Chicago, the entire interiors of both had collapsed into matchwood in a big heap on the floor.

I think they got the truck chassis shipped by rail a few times, but the suspensions were so beat up on arrival, they quit doing that also.

I believed what you wrote until you mentioned the railroad item. What BS. I WORKED in Elkhart, IN back in the 70s and remember the experiment that Coachmen and a few others tried by Railroad. The Rail has NO BEARING on the body or frame of a motorhome chassis. They determined that vandalism and the cost to off load and then transport from the railhead was more expensive and time consuming that having them driven over the road. My Wife works for BNSF railroad and I can guarantee that all railcars have springs and suspensions that will not damage cargo. Besides, from what you state, would not Automobiles be destroyed when transported by rail??????? There is NO way a bare chassis could be transported over the road by driving. ANY Police officer would stop and impound such a thing immediately, even in the 70's. Doug

The question I would have is what is the legal definition of new and or used? Their must be some threshold of how many miles can be on a vehicle before it is considered used. I believe with cars it is 2500 miles, though I realize cars are transported by trailer. When I bought my Georgetown from RV Net they told me they have trailers to move class A's from their four different stores.

Back in the early 1970's, I worked with a guy in Virginia who had been an engineer at Open Road, down in Florida. OR often had their engineers drive a new rig to a dealership, to give them some experience driving what they were designing.

Dave recalled taking a Chevy-based Class C to a dealership in San Diego. The bare chassis had been driven from Detroit to Florida, then driven to different suppliers locally for things to be installed (they had Midas put the exhaust system on) By the time he left Florida, the rig already had 2200 miles on the odometer. By the time it got to the dealership, it was pushing towards 6000!

Dave's group looked into shipment by rail to minimize the accumulation of road miles. They put two new rigs (a Class A and a Class C) on a low-loader railcar and sent them from Florida to Chicago. Dave and his boss went to bring the rigs back for evaluation. When they opened the rig doors in Chicago, the entire interiors of both had collapsed into matchwood in a big heap on the floor.

I think they got the truck chassis shipped by rail a few times, but the suspensions were so beat up on arrival, they quit doing that also.

I did not want our coach to be driven someone who wouldn't care how it was driven. The factory is/was about 1,000 miles from our home. So, we purchased the motorhome locally in California and took a 'factory' delivery in Coburg, OR, which was a additional $1,500 option. That gave us a tech to show us the coach for two 8 hr. sessions and it was worth every minute (hour)! LOL!

Our coach had 75 miles on the odometer when we took delivery and I know how every mile above that it has been driven. Any future coach that we would buy probably would be special ordered so we would only 'do' a factory delivery. I can certainly understand a coach having a certain amount of mileage for the distance from the factory.

MM.

NO chassis is driven to the RV OEM maker. PERIOD. They may be driven in OTHER countries to a shipping point, but ANY chassis (bare) will NOT be driven on US roads. If the chassis is BUILT in the USA, it is trucked to the RV maker. It is only driven off the transport truck to a field staging area AT the OEM RV maker. But, NEVER driven on a legal road. The mileage will be from the RV maker to the dealership. If you are concerned, just verify the mileage on 3 or 4 Class A new units on the dealers lot. B Chassis motorhomes are trucked from the RV maker to the dealer. C bodys are driven also to the dealer. Doug

mrubaum@aol.com wrote:
How many miles are acceptable on a new coach.

To answer your question directly, how many miles are acceptable? Whatever you're willing to accept is the answer. If you think the miles are too high then don't buy it.

Put the trip into Google Maps and see what mileage you come up with. It sounds like you might owe them a few miles. It sounds like they went as direct as possible.

Maladjusted wrote:

bsinmich wrote:
The chassis may have been built somewhere and delivered to the IN. factory. I have seen bare chassis being driven. The warranty didn't start until you took posession.

Is that even legal?

It is in Mexico where many are made. They drive them from the factory to the ports for shipping. I recall this being shown in a Hollywood movie not too long ago.

And here's a still photo from the movie:

The chassis may have been built somewhere and delivered to the IN. factory. I have seen bare chassis being driven. The warranty didn't start until you took posession

they do it all the time with high end coaches that are then built out to customer specs.