Well.... this entire thread could have been a waste of time! Which is really sad. A salesman just called on a follow up and I explained to him the situation and that without being able to take it for a test drive I just wasn’t even interested in making the drive down. Luckily it’s only about two hours from me.
He seemed shocked and said who said you couldn’t take it on a test drive? I said well...there are TONS of complaints about you not letting them take it on a test drive because of safety issues with having to get it inspected first and the rest of the story I posted. I said in addition, I already spoke with another salesman who reaffirmed that was the case!!!!
He said that’s absolutely incorrect. They will absolutely let you take it on a test drive first, and the only time they don’t is on Saturdays because they just have too many customers and too much business and they cannot afford to waste time with drives. But as long as you make an appointment beforehand, they will let you test drive it before putting out any deposit!!! SMH!!!
When I asked him about the salesman I spoke with yesterday and told him about all the reviews I read concerning no test drives, he said the salesman was new and MUST have misunderstood my question. He will have a talk with him. He had only been working there a week or so. But maybe thought I was asking about the test drives posted in the reviews and he said those were correct... it’s still a mystery to me but I will say at the time I spoke with him, I was unaware whether this was standard practice or not and spoke with him prior to posting my thread so I didn’t push him too hard on that issue. I just said I’m reading all these reviews about not being able to take a test drive without a deposit are those true? And the salesman said “yes sir”. Not knowing I let it drop there.
He explained the entire thing to me and was very nice about it and it actually makes perfect sense to me now!
Said that they go through around 50 motorhomes a month.. And they get 50 new ones a month. Out of the 50 there are many that have safety issues they know about. Maybe 15%. So the reviews that are posted concerning the no test drives were only on specific vehicles that we specifically knew had safety issues before hand because we do do a pretty decent check up on them on site before we purchase them and if we know beforehand or discover on the drive back home, which is normally what happens, that there are safety issues we won’t let them out on a drive until they go through our service department and at times, yes, that can take many many weeks if not months to process it if we don’t have anyone looking to buy it.
Our priorities are units that have already been purchased or have deposits and they get in line ahead of any units that are on the lot that we know need work but not sold.
And so the people come down and walk around and then say they want to drive it and we tell them no and they get extremely upset and post bad reviews!!!!
We explain to them the process, which of course is if you want to drive this particular unit, then put down a deposit, then we will put it in line to have it checked out first, but that can take longer than seven days which means you need to come up with the purchase price, i.e., the situation we discussed IS a possibility if the customer insist on purchasing the unit without first taking a test drive.
He did say that sometimes it’s very difficult he agrees, but they are an extremely high volume dealer with hundreds and hundreds of RV’s sold per month and tthe service department is only so big and they can’t waste a lot of time on units that are not sold and may not be sold for months.
Anyway...there you go. He also mentioned this was a one owner only and they did a Carfax check on it. And was from Texas.
And that at the time these units were not being painted as standard, but that this customer special ordered to have the paint job which was not common back then as well as other upgrades such as the frame upgrade. And that’s why you won’t see too many of them from the year 2000 that look like newer late models like this one does because back then they were all kind of “blah” with a few stickers and such that were predominate. That it was very rare to see a full body paint job on the 2000.
He also said there’s not much play with the as is price and it’s well worth it to bring it into the service department because you’re only talking $1500-$2000 to buy it as is and all things considered, you should use the no haggle price.
The only negative thing is, I questioned him about the tires since that’s not something they cover in the inspection process and asked him what the tread was like and how old they were. He said you are going to need new tires. They only sell them with the same tires they come in on and those tires have good tread, but are 9 years old.
Now with all that said, I have a decision to make. I know now I’m going to need to spend about $2500 on tires (I don’t play when it comes to tires and normally like a good brand like Michelin) and from my other post if anybody read, will have to change the hitch from 5000 to a 10,000 which means a receiver hitch and welding. So let’s say another $500. Assuming that nothing else needs to be done which is a bold premature statement, but assuming, I am now at $53,500.
Quick research found an identical match that had the “blah exterior” he was speaking of but only 63,000 miles for $37,500 with good tires!
But again, and if I am wrong somebody correct me, if I have read it once I have read it a billion times, these units can get several hundred thousand miles and if they sit up they degrade and deteriorate which can only lead me to believe that the more miles, within reason, the better. Not to mention the more miles, the longer the opportunity for things to fail and be replaced and or upgraded prior to me purchasing it.
Kind of funny if you think about it, this is the only industry where more miles can signify better buy!
But at $53,500 i no longer find this a great deal. Needing new tires was a MAJOR negative to me! That was asking price I wouldn’t have a problem but since they are firm on the no wiggle room no hassle firm price, it tells me I need to walk from it painted exterior or not :)
Thanks everyone once again for your excellent and in depth advice :) much appreciated to have my hand held as I walk through this process!
