rtz549 wrote:
JJBIRISH wrote:
Forest River Encourages You to Buy Locally
What good does that do when I move out of the state for good and never return?
This is a quote from Forest River, not my words, it doesn’t matter what you or I think about it…
Well most dealers would welcome you with open arms at you new location as most do when you are on the road far from home… but then again you didn’t waste this dealers time and then thumb your nose at him either…
But, and it’s a BIG BUT, is they Don’t have to… this is a fact of life in the RV world… maybe someday things will change, but this industry doesn’t like change that cost them… you can argue until the cows come home about it not being right and you don’t want to deal with that kind of dealer… it don’t change the fact…
One more thing I don’t want to spend one minute waiting for service at my local dealer because another local resident bought foreign unit to save money and wants my dealer to service him… Nor should any of his loyal customers have to wait in those situations…
I see no problem with him doing a traveling unit on a fast and efficient basis and would hope most dealers do this as a reciprocal thing even though they are not contractually obligated to do so…
IMHO, he should do the work, but only as a fill in time basis…
My local dealer is 3 miles away, and I skipped over him to buy from another dealer… I do not expect him to do anything for me ( and he wouldn’t… he wouldn’t even order something I wanted for me) and I know that and am willing to travel back to the dealer I bought from…
but I am lucky my dealer is only about 35 miles away and there is another maybe 2 or 3 others with-in a fifty mile drive my home base…
I saved about $3,500 by choosing the dealer I did over the most local dealer, and ended up with a better dealer to boot…
Huntindog wrote:
JJBIRISH wrote:
Well if you don't believe it, then you have never tried it.
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I have tried it twice for myself, and one time my savings would have been minimal after all cost were considered, and the other on my Sunnybrook it wouldn’t of saved me anything except for the loss of a local dealer…
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When I was in the market for my Sabre, I first went to a large local Sabre dealer. I called in advance and was told that they had a 5ver in stock. I told them that I wasn't interested in a 5ver, but would come down to look at it to assess the construction. I liked what I saw, and asked about a specific TT. He kept trying to sell me the 5ver,,,said he was going to practically give it to me. I told him that I had no use for it, as a 5ver wasn't suitable for me. Told him I would be in contact when I was ready to buy. 2 months later I asked him to order what I wanted. Several phone calls later and he STILL didn't have a price quote for me. In thje meantime I had bneen searching net, and found several great deals out there. I finally convinced the dealer that I was serious and got him to spec out a unit.
He wanted 37500.00 + tax, license and registration.
That would have put it over 40K out the door.
I told him about the prices I had seen, and he laughed saying that he wasn't going to reduce his price as a special order was just too much work. I told him that I had cash, and if he called me again, to make it his best offer as I would only give him one shot.
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Now this is funny, a special order was to much work…:B the work was done already, because to give you the price he had to sit down and speck the build sheet and you would have had to decide on each and every option and special request to order one… If that didn’t happen how did he come up with the price…
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He called the next day.... 34,500 + T & L.
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Based on your story I would not have bought from this dealer either…
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I hung up and started calling dealers out of state.
I ended up traveling to Sylvania Ohio from Phoenix AZ to get my new Sabre.
OTD was 24,500.
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When you say OTD are you saying the Ohio dealer included all AZ state and local taxes, and AZ title and registration fees??? We already know it didn’t include destination charges, and we already know this local dealer was a butthead…
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I had a problem with the fridge on the trip back and was concerned that I might have to return to the selling dealer. A couple of phone calls and FR set me up with a dealer on our route.
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That’s good, but still not the local dealer that you didn’t buy from be it a good or bad dealer… FR set you up because they provide your warranty not the selling dealer…
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When I pulled into Springfield Illinois, they were ready for me with a open bay waiting. I pulled right in and a wiring harness was replaced. It was like a NASCAR pit stop. Within a hour we were back on the road.
As for Beaudry RV, my local dealer.... They closed their doors for good a couple of months later.
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Should I be surprised here??? I’m not…
But if he closed a couple of months later, he may not have any longer been in the position to make deals either… except for trailers he already owned and off the floor plan…
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I never needed to visit a dealer again, and since they went under anyways... The 10K plus that I saved would have been thrown away as they wouldn't have been there.
But with 10k in my pocket, I would be in the drivers seat if I needed service elsewhere.
Remember this: Money is power. The one who has the money has the power. Others will do what you want them to, so long as you have the power.
So keep the power as long as possible. For once you lose the power, you cannot get others to do what you want
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Very true… even with the local dealer that is there to make money by serving you…
