How far would you travel for a deal?

I wanted a PleasureWay of a specific year and features. I live in the S.F bay area and I ended up flying to Florida and driving it home. Glad I did.....
Dave 04 Excel TD

We bought the one in the sig from Marysville, WA and drove it to back to So. Cal.; Over 1000 miles because I saved over $15k from the "best deal" that CW could muster up (sorry Marcus). I tried several times with CW and they simply wouldn't talk to me. No problem..

As for warranty, I had zero issues with that either. There is a big Winnebago dealer close by that took care of the minor issues with a smile and I told them up front where the coach came from.

I would drive up to 6 to 8 hours for the exact motorhome that I wanted.
I found one on the internet that was exactly what I wanted...I wanted opposing slides in the living room(almost 13' wide), split bath with separate sinks and vanities, 400 hp Cummins ISL, side radiator, and low miles(38,000)but not too low. Luckily, I only had to drive 3 hours to get it.

Just remember, if you purchase new from one dealer you may find it hard to get warranty work done by another (local) dealer, or have to wait a very long time.
Dealers often loose money on warranty work, so their not really interested in working on an RV purchased from somewhere else. It may not be fair, but it happens all the time.
I would make an effort to buy from a local dealer.

I would probably limit my search to about 500 miles. Any farther than that, and the cost of fuel to go looking, and to bring it home would be kinda high, and you would have overnights at a hotel.

As for leaving Alaska to go clear across the country and look at a fifth wheel, it might happen if the owner wanted to see Disneyland and was planning on driving across country anyway, so he only needed to make one trip.

Things are really expensive in Alaska, and I have a friend in Fairbanks who flew to Florida, bought a Dodge Charger, and drove it back to Seattle. From there, the car was shipped, and he flew home, later taking a drive (about 5 hours) to Anchorage to pick up his car there. He had a great vacation along the way home, and actually was searching for the car in Florida.

Good luck finding something! Usually it is worth the deal to find a van in a larger city, where the prices might be more competitive than a small town where the GM dealership knows he is the only place within 100 miles that sells GM cars.

Fred.

There are many stories about poor warranty service at other dealers when you don't purchase the RV from them. Buy local-save the headache for warranty work.

I personally would not travel very far as there are many types of RV available in my area. I once sold a 5th wheel to a fellow in Fairbanks, Alaska who came all the way to Atlanta to pick it up. Go figure!!

coolmom42 wrote:
IF you found a motorhome that was exactly, or very close to, what you want, at the right price, how far would you travel to look at it and/or buy it?...I live in rural Middle TN, 50 miles west of Nashville. There are not many class B RVs for sale in this area, and none that are exactly what I want...

Have you checked with Van City in St Louis? Probably around 300 to 350 Miles North of you. They have always gotten good reviews. Clicky for http://www.vancityrv.com/

To get what I exactly what I want I would go close to a thousand miles.
Some dealers if you are looking at one at a dealer will pay expenses or at least gas.