The wife and I have narrowed it down to two trailers: a Rockwood Mini Lite 2504S, and the Jay Feather 23BHM. Both are small and lightweight and the floor plans are both good for us. We climbed around in the Rockwood yesterday and it's a nice little trailer we could easily live with. But the Jayco has a couple features we prefer, and the problem is there isn't one local to us, the closest being 3 hours away in New Jersey. I really want to stay with our local dealership but they don't have that model, don't have it on order, and they say ordering from Jayco through them we should expect to wait at least 20 weeks. So my question is, are we better off buying what is our second choice at a dealer closer to us, or do you all think it's perfectly acceptable to buy from the dealer far away and take it to our local guy for service, warranty work, etc.? I mean, I don't want these guys to spit on my shoes or anything because I didn't buy from them.

I'd ask the service department.Wait 20 weeks (or more).....Big price discount!They may not want to do "big discount" for an order.Good luck with your purchase!Pat

KillerIsMe wrote:... or do you all think it's perfectly acceptable to buy from the dealer far away and take it to our local guy for service, warranty work, etc.?Lotsa luck with that. :R This isn't the auto industry, many if not most RV dealerships are privately owned, family based businesses ... yes, they are "authorized" dealers of particular brands but the manufacturer can't just order any private business to conduct that business in a certain way. Most RV dealers, if they're not your selling dealer, will either simply decline to service your trailer, whether warranty or not, or will put you so far down the waiting list you'll die of old age before getting your rig in for service. :E As with anything there will always be exceptions but I sure wouldn't be planning on buying elsewhere with the expectation your local dealer will service the rig.

I agree with the thought of finding a dealer near the factory or even just a few states away and make it the first camping experience to get to know your new trailer on the way home kind of thing. There should be no problem with service. I have never had an issue with getting service on my unit by any other dealer or service center although I never had any warranty claims to deal with. I fixed most issues myself anyway.

Inquire from dealer 2 if they will do warranty work from an RV purchased from dealer 1. This much I know, if you take "second best" you'll always regret it, knowing if have the chance to get 1st choice, even if it means waiting a while. If you settle for 2nd, you'll always be nit-picking it and saying, "I wish this camper had that feature that the other one had!" It may be little, but over a short time, it will become a bigger and bigger irritation.There's nothing wrong with waiting. You have an advantage if you wait the 20 week. 20 weeks is 4 months. Take the amount you'd be making on a loan payment over the next 4 months and tuck it away now. Then when the camper comes in, you can either apply it to the total cost, bringing down the amount you may end up financing, or use it to pay for tags, title, and insurance for the first year when you do get it. If you wait, and tuck that money away, you win both ways! Get what you want and save up a bit of capital to use when you get the camper.Edit:I somewhat disagree with SoundGuy. At least in Indiana, we've never had any heartburn service from our local RV dealerships. Now granted, for actual warranty work, I always taken my campers back to the place of purchase. But once the warranty was over, I never had problems getting service from other dealership-service shops.We purchased our first TT, a Dutchmen from Tom Raper RV, which is now Camping World in Richmond, Indiana. Stouts RV (also later became a Camping World) (south of Indianapolis), serviced it, as did Modern Trailer RV in Anderson, Indiana. Later we purchased our Keystone Springdale from Stouts RV, when it was still Stouts, and not Camping World yet, but then Camping World assumed new ownership and Camping World continued to honor the warranty with no quibbles what-so-ever. We also contacted Mount Comfort RV (East of Indianapolis) for servicing our Springdale, and they told me to bring in on. But we ended up using Modern Trailer RV in Anderson, Indiana for on-going service repairs since we eventually moved closest to that facility.We purchased our Keystone Outback from Walnut Ridge RV (New Castle, Indiana, and they took care of my first year warranty work, but the folks at Modern Trailer (Anderson, IN) said they would, but we decided for the first year to go ahead and use Walnut Ridge. The Outback is now long out of warranty, Modern Trailer is providing me with everything I need for my Outback. Modern Trailer does not sell the Outback model, but the do sell other Keystone Models. Walnut Ridge sells Outback, but there are some models they don't stock either. Mount Comfort is available and have no problems with servicing any of my camper, even though I've ever purchased from the.What I'm saying is, you are best to check with each individual dealership-service shop to find out their willingness for your individual repair.I do know, a good business will not turn "business" away. Working with all of my dealership-service shops, they have all been partial and fair and truly worked hard to fix my issues. In all cases, even warranty word, my name went on the "list" and I was serviced in order, first in - first out, no partiality to where the camper was purchased.A good dealership will welcome repairs from a customer who did not purchase an RV from them, because they know if service is good and open to all, they just MIGHT get the next purchase!It's kind of like the dealership we went to when we purchased our original Pop-Up. The salesmen told us they LOVE to sell pop-ups, even though they had the mega Motor Homes too. He said, (and I never forgot), sell "them" a pop-up today, and 3 years from now, they'll come back for a travel trailer if they are treated fairly! Same is true for repair shops!I've nothing but good experiences with RV repair shops. Maybe it's my location, because RV dealerships are in competition a bit more in Indiana, where the competition is a bit steeper. But I can't see any business turning folks away!

My local KZ dealer provided warranty work on my Keystone TT. The local Keystone dealer where I purchased it was backlogged for months whereas the KZ dealer could work me in. There's my sign!Talk to your local dealer about providing service for the Jayco if needed. A good service provider should work with you. Campers are not complicated machines. They are all assembled in a similar manner and share many common components. The difference would be the relationship, or lack of, between a dealer and manufacturer.There are two local independent mom & pop RV service providers here that are non brand specific and handle warranty work on many different brands. They sell/trade only used units and will work on anything.

What if I can't buy locally? | Good Sam Community

21 Replies

delwhjr
Explorer
Mar 20, 2017
proxim2020 wrote:
If don't want to wait then buy exactly what you want wherever you want. The whole dealer refusing warranty service is a bit overblown. While the work is performed free of charge to you, the dealer invoices and is paid by the manufacturer for the work. It's true that dealers are not obligated to work on any trailer. However, I haven't run into a dealer around this country that was so bitter about missing out on the initial sale that they refuse to work on one of my trailers.

The service department brings in a good chunk of income for a dealership and from the warranty invoices I've seen, they're doing pretty good for themselves. Taking on work from outsiders also gives them more customers to upsell to; those items that aren't covered under warranty like maintenance items. They get to charge full shop rates on those. So there's a few good reasons to take on work no matter where it originated from.

Now dealers often give priority to customers that have purchased from them. Naturally this makes sense. When they're busy, you'll have to go to the back of the line and might experience extended wait times. Service departments need to stay busy so if there's a customer that's willing to wait then it would be silly to turn them away. If a dealership is completely swamped then they may turn you away just because they can't get to you in a reasonable amount of time.

If your local dealer happens to be one of the particularly crummy ones that actually does turn non customers away then you can always work with the manufacturer to find more reasonable alternatives. They have the ability to dispatching a mobile tech or contract with another dealer to get the work done. One last thing to keep in mind, the local dealer is pretty irrelevant when you're out in the middle of nowhere.

I agree, most of my experience has been service departments who don't have any hesitation about servicing items from others if they were a warranty center for that brand. You can run into the odd center which is set up for service for only what they sell but even then they can ask the factory for a special exception to take care of a customer. I would call the prospective service center (bypass sales) and ask if they service items from outside.
A business that would turn away a customer that could eventually become a customer is their own worst enemy.
Community Alumni
Mar 20, 2017
If don't want to wait then buy exactly what you want wherever you want. The whole dealer refusing warranty service is a bit overblown. While the work is performed free of charge to you, the dealer invoices and is paid by the manufacturer for the work. It's true that dealers are not obligated to work on any trailer. However, I haven't run into a dealer around this country that was so bitter about missing out on the initial sale that they refuse to work on one of my trailers.

The service department brings in a good chunk of income for a dealership and from the warranty invoices I've seen, they're doing pretty good for themselves. Taking on work from outsiders also gives them more customers to upsell to; those items that aren't covered under warranty like maintenance items. They get to charge full shop rates on those. So there's a few good reasons to take on work no matter where it originated from.

Now dealers often give priority to customers that have purchased from them. Naturally this makes sense. When they're busy, you'll have to go to the back of the line and might experience extended wait times. Service departments need to stay busy so if there's a customer that's willing to wait then it would be silly to turn them away. If a dealership is completely swamped then they may turn you away just because they can't get to you in a reasonable amount of time.

If your local dealer happens to be one of the particularly crummy ones that actually does turn non customers away then you can always work with the manufacturer to find more reasonable alternatives. They have the ability to dispatching a mobile tech or contract with another dealer to get the work done. One last thing to keep in mind, the local dealer is pretty irrelevant when you're out in the middle of nowhere.
K_and_I
Explorer
Mar 20, 2017
wing_zealot wrote:
If the dealer can order one, he can also cut a deal with the dealer 3 hours away. Tell your dealer to make an inquiry with the other dealer and figure out a deal. After that you will have several choices and can figure out which way you want to go. I think it's safe to say your dealer will work to make "his customers" happy before he works on a rig bought 3 hours away. Not to say he won't work on it, just that it won't be a high priority.

This is how I bought my current trailer. There is a small family owner dealership in our town I wanted to buy from. He didn't have what I wanted (sound familiar?). I found what I wanted in another state. I asked him if he was interested in getting it for me. He was, and did. Could I have bought for less at the other dealer? Probably, but I wanted to help a local business, and when I come in for service or questions, I get a great response from him. It is worth it to me.
rbpru
Explorer II
Mar 20, 2017
Locally there are a number if dealers so the competition can be rather steep. Therefore, like the automobile dealers, the service and repair departments are the cash cows.

As a result the local dealers welcome all service and repair work. It is safe to assume the they give preference to their regular customers but I doubt if they would turn down any service opportunity. Warranty work maybe another issue.
fitznj
Explorer
Mar 20, 2017
Get the Camper that you want and can live with - remember that you will be living with it and IN it; Campers aren't rocket science, they are about as basic as you can get - repairing them should be fairly easy (youtube is your friend);

I just bought a TH from a dealer 500 miles away - I have no fear that if something goes wrong that I can fix it. The only area I would not tackle is a roof leak; There is a make specific dealer about 70 miles away who can deal with any warranty issues.

after 4 campers and 25 years - I've never had to take any camper to a dealer.
Bird_Freak
Explorer II
Mar 19, 2017
If your local dealer will not work on it look for a local mobile repair tech. Most will do warranty repairs and you don't have to wait for dealer to get around to it.
midnightsadie
Explorer II
Mar 19, 2017
I buy price ,most everything on the rv is standard 1yr any way, and here in ne ohio we have a great mom @pop rv dealer who will service any make . ne penn is not that far away.
MFL
Nomad II
Mar 19, 2017
I would get the one you want, take the drive. Most little things, and there will be some, you can fix at home. On an unlikely big issue, just bite the bullet, take back to selling dealer. The selling dealer can send the parts to you, if it is something you can easily fix. They may require a picture sent, as they sometimes have to send one themselves, to satisfy factory warranty.

One point not mentioned, the manufacturers tend to limit the warranty labor cost, so makes non-selling dealer less likely to want to do warranty repairs. After short warranty period, most any dealer, or service center, will be happy to work on it.

Jerry
BB_TX
Nomad
Mar 19, 2017
Some people have had no problem getting service at a dealer they did not buy from. Some have had problems. Why not go direct to the source, the local dealer service manager, explain you really want to buy a Jayco but that dealer can't get one in a reasonable time, and will he be willing to provide warranty work and future non-warranty work on your TT if you buy elsewhere?
SoundGuy
Explorer
Mar 19, 2017
jwandvassie wrote:
You'll be sorry if you settle for your second choice. Insist that your local dealer provide quality warranty work.

"Insist"? And how would you propose he do that? :h These RV dealerships are independently owned businesses so who's going to "force" the local dealer to service a trailer he didn't sell? The best the OP can do is ask his local dealer what his position is on this - but if the answer is no he won't service a trailer he didn't sell, then it's NO. :R And if the answer is no then the OP has a decision to make - deal with the local dealer and as one of his customers be assured of preferential treatment even though the trailer in question may not be his #1 choice OR buy the trailer he would prefer from the more distant dealer and settle for service at this local dealer when & if he can get it. ;)