PDI charges

Our Dealer has & still does: No charge PDI, No titling / paperwork fee, Propane tanks full, Battery, Roof Vent Covers, Lube plate, no added charge. Set the price the only add ons was the state sales tax & licence plate which we knew up front. (Does that on new or used campers).

Beat the price of the big dealers too !!

Bigdog wrote:
In reading several threads here lately,I have seen that folks are paying anywhere from $100 to $900 for a PDI. I'm wondering why. Hey,isn't that the inspection where they take you thru your unit,trailer or MH, to find what may be wrong with it and to show you the systems in it. That should be part of the sale, not an extra.
I bought a used 8" Starcraft P/u from a private party and had to do everything myself as she hadn't even brought it home herself and had a neighbor set it up so she could sell it.We bought a new 14' Coachman p/u and they took it down and we set it up again and went all thru it and they even compted a sway bar for the Jeep Cherokee.The next two TTs,'99 27' Wilderness and an '05 32' Cougar 304 BHS, were both new and had full walk thrus. The Cougar had two missing jacks,several loose cabinet doors,incomplete hookup of the black water tank rinser,loose awning and everything was taken care of in a very short time. Thanks Foley RV. The dealer that sold me the used Tradewinds,took us all thru it and that was also a couple of hours. All of these were free.

Guess you didn't read mine, LOL!

When I bought my (new) 5th in 2006 out-of-state, at greatly reduced price (shopped *country* wide), the dealer furnished a PDI by a mobile RV service.
Very thorough!

"Camped" on the dealer's lot for two nights, then a week at a local campground. Had a question about a feature that I thought wasn't working during my stay at the campground.
The same mobile service was out in short order at no expense to me..;)

BTW - nothing to do with the PDI, but the 5th had a two year warranty, which was never needed.

~

How about sharing the names of the dealers,who have treated you so well and let them reap some of the good will they shared first with you.

We complain, let's balance it with some compliments. Both benefit fellow campers :)

I could care less how much a dealer charges for PDI, Documentation Fees or any other fee they may have. I negotiate a deal out the door including all such fees except tax and registration. Say I decide $30,000 is what I want to pay for a trailer and the dealer accepts. They may have $1000 in various fees. The paperwork will show the trailer priced at $29,000 and then $1000 in fees for a total of $30,000 that I offered. Who cares what the fees are. I got the trailer at the price I wanted to pay.

DiskDoctr wrote:
How about sharing the names of the dealers,who have treated you so well and let them reap some of the good will they shared first with you.

I negotiated a good deal for my 5th wheel all through emails and phone. Made an offer, they countered then did the same with trade in. After a few times back and forth we came to an agreed price with all fees, PDI etc. included. Drove to dealer and trailer was prepped and ready to go. Did a complete walk thru with one of their techs and were on our way.

Sales staff was excellent, very helpful. Unfortunately I can't say the same for their service department. In order to pick up the trailer I needed to know the specs on the king pin in order to buy a Pullrite Superglide capture plate to fit it. Service manager refused saying I hadn't bought the trailer yet so he wouldn't go get the information for me. Sales staff stepped up, called my hitch shop to find out what info was needed and then got the required info themselves.

Dealer was Findlay RV in Las Vegas, NV. I would buy from them again. Easiest purchase I've ever made on an RV and a great price.

I think they have to do a PRE Preinspection. When I got mine home there were 17 issues That were not found by the dealer prior to delivery. 1 was that as soon as water pressure was on a hose blew off the drinking water spout and water everywhere. I could care less what the dealer charges or how he comes up with the price I pay. I want the final "out the door price" and if it would be what I was willing to pay than "done deal" or the next sound would be a DuraMax starting.

I negotiate an out the door price. Write any thing you like on any line you like,as long as the bottom figure is what we agreed upon we are good.
Our htt was delivered to the dealer on a windy wet miserable March day. 4 days later they called us for pick up. Trailer was washed,systems were all tested, assembly oils were even burned out of the furnace.

PDI means PRE delivery inspection, it is part of the price that you pay, that means that the dealer should inspect the unit before the it is placed on display and the customer buys the unit, it does not mean that you the customer has to do the inspection.

I will clarify this, your favorite car is delivered to the dealer, then you buy the vehicle and the dealer says walk back to the shop, you and the mechanic will now check the car to see that the transmition and the engine have oil, that the windshield wippers are installed, that the tires have the correct air presure,etc.

The dealer gets paid by the factory and so does the mechanic, many moons ago I worked at a SAAB dealer and I did all the PDI's on the new vehicles, not the customer, mind you I never had a come back, I made shure that all the units that I processed where 110% correct and fixed any deffect then and there.

DO NOT PAY FOR PDI it is part of the price of the unit, you are paying double for that service!

navegator

DiskDoctr wrote:
How about sharing the names of the dealers,who have treated you so well and let them reap some of the good will they shared first with you.

We complain, let's balance it with some compliments. Both benefit fellow campers :)

As I said before,it was Foley's RV in Marysville,Wa and I understand that they are one of the largest Camping World outlets in the country now. I just hope that they haven't changed their sales or service policies as they were great.
I also have done business with Findlay in Vegas and I also had a mixed experience. I had a problem with handling of my MH while driving down I-15 and figgered that it was the front shocks. I wanted to put Koni's on and it seemed as if Findlay was a dealer of them. I called from somewhere in Utah and their parts department said they would order them and asked when I would be available to install them. I told them the day I would be arriving in Vegas and that I would bring it over the next day at 9 AM and they said they would set it up. Got into Vegas,took it over on the agreed date and the shocks had come in,I paid $100 extra to have them overnighted,and when I went to service to have the work done,I was told that since I hadn't called when I got to town,they had scheduled another rig in and couldn't get to me for another week. The parts manager and the general manager got together and refunded me the shipping fees and gave me some off on the shocks and I got the work done at another shop. I was happy with parts and the general side of the business,but not the service manager. Oh and for a dealership, that is one of the tightest placs I have ever tried to get in and out of.