Online wholesale RV dealers - any experiences?

[pookiebear38]

We're shopping for a new trailer and just wanted to ask if anyone has had any experiences with an online dealer. I would prefer a local dealer but the prices I've been offered from the online dealers are several thousand dollars different. As far as I can see, the dealer has several lots as well as the online business. We've looked at both fifth wheels and travel trailers. Thanks in advance for any help!

[ol_Bombero-JC]

pookiebear38 wrote:
We're shopping for a new trailer and just wanted to ask if anyone has had any experiences with an online dealer. I would prefer a local dealer but the prices I've been offered from the online dealers are several thousand dollars different. As far as I can see, the dealer has several lots as well as the online business. We've looked at both fifth wheels and travel trailers. Thanks in advance for any help!

The "online dealer".... is YOU!...:W

Decide what you want, floor plan & options.

"Shop" that to dealers far and wide - searching for the best price on EXACTLY what you want - so the price quoted is "apples to apples".

The best price is now your "benchmark" price.
Ask the dealers closer to home if they will compete with that price - and/or how close will they come to a "match".

Now - you decide. Travel or local.

Usually the above is the best course of action for *ordering* - rather than units in a dealer's stock.

*If* it's a unit in stock -on a dealer's lot- you are in competition with (potentially) lots of other folks - not the best situation for good prices.

Yes - I did that (ordered a unit) - and found a dealer that would match the supposed "wholesalers" - and yes - it was out-of-state.

BTW - never needed or used the 2-year factory warranty.
But just for the heck of it - asked a dealer (same brand) in another state if they would honor the warranty, pecking order, etc.

After the service dept hemmed and hawed a bit, it really was a non-issue (it's all profit!) - but unless there was some major problem, I would prefer *not* to use dealers for repair/s.

A call to the mfgr usually will result in an OK to use an independent repair facility (appliances, etc. are warrantied by the individual mfgr anyway - so you are just looking at labor under the warranty)

Bottom line would I "travel" again for the best price?
In a heartbeat!..:C

Buy from the same distant dealer again - you bet - if it was the best price!

~

[NJRVer]

Just go for the best deal.
If something goes wrong and needs fixing, it usually doesn't go wrong parked in your driveway. What good is your local dealer for service when you are across the country camping?

If you still want to buy local, check out the dealers service dept.

If all they have is a small garage with barely any tools and the mechanic looks like he just came off a two day bender, well you aren't going to get much "service" from that local dealer in all likelihood.

[tinner12002]

WeBeFulltimers wrote:

Gsport wrote:
This is a public thread, why do people say "I sent you a private message"? Why not say it here for everyone to see and maybe learn something??

I have to agree! Just WHAT could be such a secret? Was some kind of "good buddy" code detected? :W

I guess had wanted you to know he would have posted openly...lol!

[GoPackGo]

The seedealercost site also has a link to get NADA values for used trailers/fivers. If you find your current trailer there, take a few minutes to add in the options on your rig, and then scroll down to the bottom to get the (supposed) current value. Then you will realize why it is critical to buy these things new as cheaply as you can.

That is why I bought from a wholesale dealer. I kinda rolled the dice a little regarding not having a local dealer for service work but I think it will be worth it in the end.

[GoPackGo]

I bought from Holmans, a wholesale dealership in Batavia, Ohio. Ended up getting 35-40 percent off on an ordered unit.

[GoPackGo]

I used seedealercost.com to compare invoice to MSRP. As I recall, it matched what I got from the dealership. At the site, just put in your zip code to start.

[laknox]

Dayle1 wrote:

austinjenna wrote:
RV Wholesalers has a good reputation on this forum. When I go to the state park camping near them we always stop in to see the units. They started off with 1 small gravel lot and few units across the street. This year I stopped in and they still have the original gravel lot but now have 2 huge paved lots across the street with a ton of rv's on them. They must be doing something right.

When I asked for a quote on exactly what I wanted they inflated the MSRP to make the discount look great. Fortunately I had actual MSRP from the factory, which doesn't happen often. When confronted the salesman stopped communicating.

Dealers pull MSRP numbers from their nether regions most of the time. I've not seen =every= mfrs' web sites, but at least Jayco gives you a "build and price" feature that gives you a common starting point. This way, if a mfr claims a specific "MSRP", you can then say, "well, I don't think it cost you $3,000 delivery and another $1,500 in 'document' fees."

Do any other mfrs offer an online "build and price" feature?

Lyle

[Dayle1]

austinjenna wrote:
RV Wholesalers has a good reputation on this forum. When I go to the state park camping near them we always stop in to see the units. They started off with 1 small gravel lot and few units across the street. This year I stopped in and they still have the original gravel lot but now have 2 huge paved lots across the street with a ton of rv's on them. They must be doing something right.

When I asked for a quote on exactly what I wanted they inflated the MSRP to make the discount look great. Fortunately I had actual MSRP from the factory, which doesn't happen often. When confronted the salesman stopped communicating.

[soren]

I bought two TTs from online dealers. Both saved huge amounts, and were worth it in the end. Neither deal went smooth however. The first was from a giant online wholesaler. They were so busy they were running around like headless chickens. The salesman would not even return calls. I asked him to personally do a through inspection of the unit to avoid us driving eleven hours to pick up a unit with issues. He failed to note the giant roof leak and the mattress with gallon of water pooling on it. We did a twenty two hour round trip for nothing but frustration. The management did step up and make it right, including arranging free delivery of a fresh unit, and really going to bat for us, when that one had to be returned to the factory, since it was leaking also. The other TT was from an upstate NY outfit, and they were, and are, shady slippery buggers. The saleswoman flat out lied to me. She took a deposit and deliberately excluded the fact that they wanted to be paid, in full, prior to us taking delivery, and would be titling the unit in our names, before we ever saw it. This was for an in stock unit. We eventually took possession of the thing, but it was nothing but repeated lies, including claims like, "the state makes us do it this way", when a call to the state resulted in me being told, "no, that sounds illegal". In both cases we got several years of quality use out of the Trailers. The one with the leak issues ended up being a great product, overall. We sold it, two years later, for $100 more than we paid. The other one was also a good product that we used hard for three years and sold for $2400 less than our initial cost. Overall, it went well.

[lee_worsdell]

We bought ours 11 hr drive away. Made it part of a holiday ,loaded the truck with all the gear and away we went. we are 1hr north of Toronto Ontario and bought in Hamilton ohio. Rv nation. It was ready to go when arrived and of to nascar in charlotte that weekend.

[austinjenna]

RV Wholesalers has a good reputation on this forum. When I go to the state park camping near them we always stop in to see the units. They started off with 1 small gravel lot and few units across the street. This year I stopped in and they still have the original gravel lot but now have 2 huge paved lots across the street with a ton of rv's on them. They must be doing something right.

[kevden]

Our local dealers did not have the model we wanted, and the ones they had that were very similar they wanted way too much money for. I found petes rv online, and after a few days talking to them we ordered the trailer we wanted and opted to have it delivered to our house for around $400 extra. We did have a couple warranty issues come up that a local dealer fixed. We were a little nervous buying sight unseen, but petes was great to work with and gave us a great price.

[laknox]

GoPackGo wrote:
Just pulled up my big super-secret private message and tried to do a Cut-and-Paste. Big fail. Still won't work. I'm willing to send it to any of you in a PM, you can read it, and if you think it has merit, go ahead and post publicly. If not, then trash it. It describes how I went about buying from a 'wholesale' dealer.

Best I can do I'm afraid.

Now =that's= strange. I assume you've been in contact with the mods on this. I usually run into the "site maintenance" issue at 7AM. Why can't they do this at midnight, when most of us old farts are in bed? At least post a message that the boards will be down on such-and-such day and time...

Lyle

[laknox]

Gsport wrote:
This is a public thread, why do people say "I sent you a private message"? Why not say it here for everyone to see and maybe learn something??

Or just not say anything and waste the bandwidth...

Lyle