Purchasing from far away

Depends on the deal.

We went local both times for about 1.5% more. Cost wise it was almost identical when I factored in fuel / stays.

Depending on where you live and what your local guy will give you I could easily see scenarios where it was more than worth the effort to go pretty far for a better deal.

BobR wrote:
I would hire a pre-inspection service and would review their report and photos before making a trip. A good service will be thorough and give you a much better idea on condition versus the web sales photos where everything looks great.

Agree, but as someone who does these inspections, I would suggest doing your price negotiations FIRST.

Then, if things are found on the inspection you are in a reasonable position to renegotiate (for a lower total price).

If the inspection is done first, you only have one shot at negotiating price.

I would hire a pre-inspection service and would review their report and photos before making a trip. A good service will be thorough and give you a much better idea on condition versus the web sales photos where everything looks great.

I have bought two coaches in Texas and I live in Virginia and I have bought a coach in FL and one in Iowa too. So, nothing close to home.

In 2003, I flew to Portland, ME, to buy a hard-to-find 6-month-old sports car with 2700 miles on the clock, then drove it back to Ohio. My current truck, I ordered it through a dealer about 200 miles away since they gave me the best price.

But these were new or nearly new, and did not involve trades. I would hesitate to tow a thousand miles or more with the expectation of trading my current RV for a used motorhome.

If a far-away motorhome looked like it would fit our needs, I wouldn’t hesitate to drive or fly there to check it out, and maybe buy it outright.

Wayne

wny_pat wrote:
Just be prepared to walk away from the deal and drive your old rig all the way back home! .

Ditto

After looking for an older short Diesel pusher for nearly a year,
I flew from Oklahoma to New York and was sure I would be driving it home.
BUT, it wasn't as advertised by owner so I flew back home instead.
Then about 10 months later found a 32' 1997 Country Coach Allure in Maderia CA with only 46,000 miles.
Wife and I flew out this time, and decided we would at least have a little vacation if we didn't like the coach.

Well it was awesome and had the 8.3L Cummins and was even better than expected. Wired for the money and drove it about 1700 miles home… :)

So we are on our second MH and we traveled a great distance for both. The first one we traveled 1200 miles for and it was exactly as advertised both in condition and with service records all intact. After an extensive inspection by someone of my choice and at my expense we did the deal and we drove it home. The second MH which we currently own we found 600 miles from home, but not before we traveled 1400 miles to buy another one. We had communicated for 30 days with the owner. He provided pictures and records all prior to us going to look at it. When we arrived there it was lets just say not as nice as stated by the owner or as nice as the pictures made it out to be. So home we came disappointed but glad we didn't settle for something below our standards that we had put on our search. Then we came across our current coach, again after pictures and research we traveled to see the coach, and it turned out to be everything we had hoped for and so much more. The inspection and fluid analysis that was done all came back perfect. The original owner that we bought from were meticulous in their care for the coach and they had extensive maintenance and service records as well. We paid a fair price for the coach and both of the parties walked away extremely happy. In our experience I would just say to do your research, take your time and don't settle for something just because you traveled a long distance. Buy something with service records and have your inspections done to protect yourself or walkaway there are some really great rv's out there. Good luck in your search!!

If you are certain you will be replacing your current unit-- sell it outright.

Then do not hesitate to "move about the country". That will be one less negotiating point and will also open up access to units for sale by owner who are not interested in taking a trade.

No problem making a deal "sight unseen". Negotiate a price before you leave home-- if the seller knows you drove 1000 miles to see it, he will be a lot less willing to negotiate. Make the offer "CONTINGENT ON SATISFACTORY INSPECTION". Satisfactory is to you-- if you don't like the looks of it, if you don't like the mechanicals, you are off the hook or can renegotiate the price.

I have never had to pay a deposit-- the fact that we left home on the way to see it was good for them-- agreement for 5 days or whatever it takes for you to get there. With dealer, likely a deposit (with the above stipulation clearly on the agreement) should suffice.

We have done this on off shore sail boats, RV's etc.

I hope you do not have the experience we had. We saw a 40 ft. diesel motorhome in EBay. We flew out to Fort Lauderdale from California. I knew things were not going right when the seller, a broker, promised to pick us up at the airport, but when we arrived, he was "busy." The motorhome would not even start. It had broken down in a bad neighborhood. Two large areas had begun to deliminate. It was filthy and not in the condition described and it reflected on its care, even though according to the seller, it had just been "detailed." We did not buy it and immediately flew back to California after almost 48 hrs of being awake.

I would have no problem traveling cross country to buy a large purchase. But I wouldn't want to do it with a trade.

Your better off finding a way to sell your 5er locally, then fly out to where the new RV is after seeing a TON of photos and video.