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scarecrow56's avatar
scarecrow56
Explorer
Apr 23, 2020

Giant Recreation World in Florida

So just an update to my previous posts. We decided to buy a 2015 Apex 269RBSS from them. My decision to buy there was simple, they had what I wanted, not because I was in love with the place. The experience was less than stellar to say the least. As it was a used trailer they didn't seem to be to enthusiastic and especially since we bought in Winter Garden and our sales woman was in Palm Bay so they had to split the sale. Lemme just say that I pretty much got from them what I expected which was nothing. No follow up after the sale. A lousy walk through in the rain. Replaced a $50 faulty light with a $10 cheap junk. Lies and deceit, fortunately I was seeing right thru it. Thank God I brought the hitch from my old rig because they made a big deal during the sale about the Blue Ox hitch that went with the rig but wouldn't help me to hook it up. I was told by the salesman that I would have to pay the service department to help me with it. This is the day I bought it and in the rain! They loaded the fresh water tank with water and didn't tell me so I dragged an extra 400 lbs about 80 miles for no good reason. Prior to buying this one we had looked at several others and almost bought a brand new Catalina until on closer inspection we discovered that it had a leak in the slideout and was full of carpenter ants! At least 4-500 that I saw and probably 10 times that in the walls. We backed out of that deal but that didn't stop the saleswoman from trying to get me to buy it a few weeks later saying that the problems had all been fixed. Really? So you took the whole rig apart and changed all the ant eaten wood? Bottom line is, buyer beware. In my opinion after looking at probably 20 different dealerships Ive come to the conclusion that they're all liars and thieves. The best advice as I can give is this. Find what you want to buy, get the best deal that you can, do as thorough inspection as you can and then be prepared to be on your own after the sale. They really want nothing to do with you after they get your money. One other thing, Their VIP camping club membership isn't all that great either. We went on 2 trips The first one wasn't too bad but the second one was more like warehousing than camping. We paid $150 for 2 nights in the middle of Kissimmee. It was a dirt lot with about 15-20 feet on either side between us and the guy next to us. So small I couldn't leave the truck hooked up if I wanted to because it was almost across the street when the camper was parked. Like I said buy here if they have what you want but don't expect anything after the sale. My Humble Opinion (MHO)

15 Replies

  • A1ARealtorRick wrote:
    The profit margin made by the dealer should be of no concern to the purchaser.

    Absolutely correct. I am all for people making the maximum amount of profit they can. If the purchaser is happy and paid what they paid, then it was the right price.

    Much smaller scale, I bet a lot of people don't realize the markup on their Iphone is over 1100%. Nor do they care (obviously).

    Mike
  • jdc1 wrote:
    God forbid they put water in the tank for you to use to test the system. I can't, for the life of me, figure out why anyone would buy a used trailer from a dealer? The mark-up has to be 25-50%.


    Nobody can even begin to guess what a "markup" should be on a used RV. It all depends on what the dealer paid for it, either at auction or as a trade-in. If the dealer bought it 'right', his markup should be larger. By the same token, if he paid too much for it, his markup will be much less. All that really matters is what the ultimate purchaser pays for it. The profit margin made by the dealer should be of no concern to the purchaser.
  • Check the small print in your contract. They probably charged you extra to fill the tank with special RV Water. :)
  • jdc1's avatar
    jdc1
    Explorer II
    God forbid they put water in the tank for you to use to test the system. I can't, for the life of me, figure out why anyone would buy a used trailer from a dealer? The mark-up has to be 25-50%.
  • When you come out West you'll need a full fresh water tank to take advantage of all the beautiful dry campgrounds we have. 400 pounds of water isn't that big a deal.