What if I can't buy locally?

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.