The buy local fallacy

When I bought my previous trailer, the dealer told me that he fixed them no matter where they were bought but that since I bought it there, I would always be given priority over those. It seemed to be true, when ever I broght it in I got a quick turn-around even though his lot was full.
Have to say though that even in a large metro area it can be hard to find what brand you want. I was interested in a Grand Design but the only place that sold them was a Camping World more than an hour away. Wasn't going to buy from CW and after going to an RV show, the AF edged out the GD.

Depends how much value a person places on the real or perceived level of service or comfort from having a "local" dealer. Those that place a greater value on it are typically those that don't or can't do their own repairs. Those that place a lesser value on it are generally those that can and do perform their own repairs.
The dealers cater to the folks in the first category, because they will also generally keep coming back after the warranty is over and the dealer will make money off of them.

And there are some who say "dealer? what's that?" I fall into that category and I bought a tube of dicor at one once and a couple random parts/widgets that were camper specific before I had Amazon prime, lol.
I the almost 30 years that I've been of legal age, I/we have bought exactly 4 vehicles/RVs/toys from a dealer.
1 new truck, situation was right. 1 new car, 2 year old leftover deal over 25% off msrp. 1 used truck with a trade in, somehow it was a rare good deal, think they made a mistake honestly. 1 used snowmobile, hard to find model that I really wanted and wasn't overpriced.
Average, I buy something from a dealer once every 8 years apparently and 9 out of 10 purchases are private party used. Just how I roll because of the $ value I see in doing it that way.
Others perceive value differently.

The problems I had on my Voltage I fixed myself. Get good at DIY and you won't need a dealer. If you can't fix it then find an independent technician.

Last spring in nw New Mexico I had an issue with the heating system in my new nuCamp Cirrus. I called one dealer from googling who referred me to another that was closer to my route. I called them and they got me in the next day “because you need your heating at this time of year”. At no time did they ask where I bought the camper. nuCamp authorized a work order and they checked the system and fixed it, plus gave me a few tips they had learned from local units. Then they asked if it would be inconvenient for me to camp on their property so they could give it one more look over in the morning to make sure it was happy. I spoke to a local Cirrus owner who stopped in about the service I was getting. “That’s why I deal here.” He walked right over to look at my rig because he thought he was the only crazy person with a short bed camper on a long bed :).

Holiday RV Poncha Springs, CO.

"Local" in the typical sense has no meaning to me because I travel all the time in my RV. For me, what local is what's currently outside.

Chum lee

bucky wrote:
Does it really matter which RV dealer has your unit for 3 months to replace whatever widget broke?
Does it really matter when the brand and model you want only has one dealer within 400 miles according to their dealer locator and they closed 3 years ago?
The problem is the manufacturer, not the dealer. They may as well be insurance companies the way they try to sidestep paying for anything and then cheating the repair shop if they are found at fault.

We bought our first new TT from a dealer 2000 miles away. The manufacturer Forest River, found us 3 local dealers willing to do the warranty work. One didn't even sell any Forest River products. We also could have used independent RV shops or mobile RV tech. We just had to get pre-approval from FR and be willing to be reimbursed.
So, for me, buying local just for service, is not a factor, unless the price is good.

The wait times at the dealer where we purchased ours are horrendous. I have no proof of this, but I think we get put ahead in the line because we purchased our trailer there, vs someone who purchased it elsewhere. But, it's the case all over the Denver Metro.... too many people, not enough services, so wait times for everything are long, not just RV repairs.

We end up using a mobile RV tech most of the time. He costs a bit more than the dealer does, but he can get here faster, and we don't have to hook it up and haul it a half hour up the road to have it sit there for a month. And this year, he taught us how to winterize it ourselves (Yes I know you can YouTube it but there's something to be said for someone showing you in person).