Lead time ordering new trailer

RGar974417 wrote:
In the middle of June,I ordered a new Keystone Travel Trailer.I told the salesman we had planes for August 30th and he said we should be able to get it by then.Then a few weeks back we were told it should be done the last week of august,then last week he told us the off line date was September 6th.I offered to contact Keystone directly or Camping World where I ordered it to try to get some help but he told me not to do that saying his contact was working on it.Well now we're in the second week of August and haven't heard anything.What is the normal lead time for ordering a new unit.I thought 7 or 8 weeks would be enough but now it's not looking great for the 30th.Was I being too optimistic ?

Yes to optimistic. When I ordered my Keystone It took 12 weeks before I got it. I had to wait until the batch run was built then to get it shipped to the dealer. They made changes to the trailer (for the better) as well.

They did not put in the dark tinted windows I ordered and the dealer said he would order another one for me. I declined not wanting to wait another 12 weeks and took the trailer.

We picked up our new Keystone Laredo last week and it took 12 weeks for the order. We were told that it would be 10 to 12 weeks.

Dennis

If you contact the factory you may find that for some reason they did not receive the order for several weeks after you gave the salesman the money for the order.
I would be on the phone to the factory to see what the delay was.

Regardless of what you were told by the salesman or your first promise as to when your trailer would be ready....I would be calling Keystone to get the real story. Especially if the salesman doesn't want you to.

It may not hurry anything along but I would want to know, what was the real build time when ordered, has there been any contact to try and push this time ahead, when is the rig now expected to ship.

If you find that indeed you have been led astray by the salesman it will not help your situation for using the rig end of August but will put you in a good position to be demanding some type of settlement for what you've put up with. Extras you need for the trailer, free service work in the future, refund/discount on current price, pretty much whatever you can think of.

Do not let the salesman dictate the situation at this point.

Go back to the dealer and get your deposit and cancel the order. Start looking for another trailer at other dealers.

Ken

What boggles my mind is that car manufacturers and I guess trailer manufacturer's make thousands of trailers that sit on dealers lots for months or maybe years and yet,when someone orders something,they can't stop making those that nobody has ordered and make one for someone who has put money down.Back in the late 790's,I ordered a GMC van.Told me it would be 10 weeks.At the end of 10 weeks,they said it wouldn't be built because they were changing to the new year model.But the next week,a van came in that was almost identical to the one I ordered.They could make that one,but not mine.Go figure.

Problem is that the salesman will tell you what you want to hear, with no information or authority, in order to make the sale. Otherwise you might go looking at other dealers to find what you want in stock.

From what I've seen visiting high-volume manufacturers producing several model lines in the same facility, most work in large production batches, and once they've made a big run of Model X, they might not get back around to that one for 3-4 months. Lower volume manufacturers (usually premium prices) do much better, producing just about anything that's ordered, first-in, first-out. When I visited Newmar, they were assembling fivers on the same line as their gas and smaller diesel motorhomes. When I visited Jayco about eight years, they had a yard full of Jayfeathers from a recently completed run and would be building Designers for the next few weeks. Keystone works more like Jayco than like Newmar.

7-8 weeks is what it took for the 2 new 5vers that I have ordered from Heartland through different dealers.

I think that was too optimistic. I know you wanted it for August, but if I had wanted one for say spring usage, I would have ordered it in Nov or Dec the year before giving the six months.

I once ordered a new truck from a dealer in Portland, OR that specialized in ordered vehicles. I gave them 3 months on it. After the order and lots of assurances, I made ferry reservations to bring it to Alaska. They got it in two days after the ferry sailed. I wound up driving it up the Alcan in January at better than -60 below. Had a few problems, but obviously survived.

Bill

all i can say is thatskeystone for you and a combination with cw man u are starting out the hard way