Purchase from dealer or private party?

EricGT wrote:
Personally I would prefer to purchase private party.
As particular as I am, I highly doubt I will find exactly what I want within 150 miles. So a dealer warranty is pretty well useless when the dealership is 1500 miles away. Heck I am actually excited to take the family on vacation next year when we go to pick up our new to us class A. Honestly we will be highly disappointed if we find something nice in the northeast. We have our fingers crossed for Texas, Florida, Georiga, etc. ;)

But I do not trust dealerships and feel a private party RV is typically a better unit. Think about it this way...if I had a dirty old clunker do I want to try to sell this unit privately or merely take what I can get on a trade in?
I'd be embarrassed to privately sell a smelly, dirty motorhome to someone one on one. The condition of the RV is a reflection of me. Trading in to a stealership...who cares.

Plus dealerships typically know very little about the RV including how many owners, how it was used, how it was taken care of, etc.

Dealer or private all comes down to the knowledge of the buyer. Your buying the unit. I could pick a decent unit on a dealers lot just as well as I could in a driveway.
I'll take whatever info or history I can, but in the end its not about trust but about a keen eye and the knowledge to know what you are looking at.
I'm particular enough at this point that I don't want the unit that someone else has someone else has equipped and spec'd.
I want it just the way I personally spec'd it. Therefore I factory ordered it that way.
Yes I pay a new price, but I get a decent deal because the dealer has an easy sale and doesn't have to inventory the unit.
I keep my units a long time and don't really worry about depreciation.
I get value out of my unit by using it, it is not an investment.