Hikerdogs wrote:
There's been some speculation along the way that the reason maintenance items for a DP cost more is because the retailers believe if you own an expensive motorhome you can afford to spend more money. I'm not sure if it still happens today, but I can tell you from experience it did happen in the past.
Many years ago I owned an independent garage. Part of the work we did was to replace exhaust systems. One day a customer came in looking for a muffler and tailpipe for his Lincoln. I looked it up in the parts catalog, found the number and looked to see if we had one in stock. We didn't but the guy really wanted to get back on the road so he asked if one from a Ford Galaxy would fit.
I looked through the catalog again and was surprised to find it took the same muffler. Here's the kicker. The wholesale and list prices for the Lincoln muffler were nearly twice the prices for the same muffler when used on a Ford Galaxy. Needless to say from that day on I only bought and sold Ford mufflers.
So far I haven't had the need to buy any engine and transmission parts for either of our motorhomes. However I do wonder if an item sold for a truck with the same engine and transmission setup would cost less than the one listed for a motorhome.
I am getting all my Cummins filters (Fleetguard) from the big truck fleet places like FleetPride and Ryder Fleet. Ryder does seem to have better prices.
