Purchasing from a distant dealer

[Hedgehog]

We have a dealership that is 45 minutes from our house that we were looking at purchasing a brand new ordered fifthwheel from. This would be my third rig from this dealership. Well, today we went to a dealership 2 and a half hours away that had the same fifthwheel we are looking to order. I just wanted to see it before I ordered it from the local dealer. Well, the dealer that has a 2015 model of the unit I want to order gave me a price of $4800 cheaper than the ordered 2016 locally. So to be fair, I asked for a quote on a identical ordered unit from them. It came in $3300 cheaper. the local dealer keeps blaming the thorough service and a lifetime warranty on all there units for there higher price. After warranty, I do my own repairs for the most part. Would you buy local or save $$ and buy further away?

[Lantley]

laknox wrote:

Hedgehog wrote:
Well, I emailed the local dealer the quote that I got from the distant dealer. They contacted me later today and salesman advised me that the sales manager contacted the distributor and is getting a better deal on 3 fifth wheels, one of which would be mine if I wanted it. So in the end, they local dealer got within $700 so they dropped the price another $2,800 on the ordered unit. I'm happy with that so they wife and I are going there tomorrow to put a deposit.
Thanks guys!

Make sure you're damn clear that you also expect excellent service in the service bay, too.

Lyle

Did the distant dealer promise/guarantee excellent service bay service too? I'd prefer a unit that did not need to go to the service bay.
To the OP good job. Getting the distant price locally is a win for you.
If it needs to go to the service bay at least the service bay is not 21/2 hours away.

[Hedgehog]

This will be my third unit from this dealership and the service has always been good.

[rmalik1]

x96mnn wrote:
long as your going into it knowing any warranty item needed is 2.5hrs away and have no issues with that. For 5k you can pay for a lot of trips back and forth!

My Cedar Creek was bought 4.5 hrs away from home and I didn't have to get warranty items done there was cleared to bring trailer to a much closer dealer about 1 hr away.
Depends on who makes ur trailer!

[laknox]

Hedgehog wrote:
Well, I emailed the local dealer the quote that I got from the distant dealer. They contacted me later today and salesman advised me that the sales manager contacted the distributor and is getting a better deal on 3 fifth wheels, one of which would be mine if I wanted it. So in the end, they local dealer got within $700 so they dropped the price another $2,800 on the ordered unit. I'm happy with that so they wife and I are going there tomorrow to put a deposit.
Thanks guys!

Make sure you're damn clear that you also expect excellent service in the service bay, too.

Lyle

[Hedgehog]

Well, I emailed the local dealer the quote that I got from the distant dealer. They contacted me later today and salesman advised me that the sales manager contacted the distributor and is getting a better deal on 3 fifth wheels, one of which would be mine if I wanted it. So in the end, they local dealer got within $700 so they dropped the price another $2,800 on the ordered unit. I'm happy with that so they wife and I are going there tomorrow to put a deposit.
Thanks guys!

[laknox]

If you do your own warranty work, can you bill the mfr for labor at standard shop rate? 🙂

Lyle

[SabreCanuck]

Hedgehog wrote:
We have a dealership that is 45 minutes from our house that we were looking at purchasing a brand new ordered fifthwheel from. This would be my third rig from this dealership. Well, today we went to a dealership 2 and a half hours away that had the same fifthwheel we are looking to order. I just wanted to see it before I ordered it from the local dealer. Well, the dealer that has a 2015 model of the unit I want to order gave me a price of $4800 cheaper than the ordered 2016 locally. So to be fair, I asked for a quote on a identical ordered unit from them. It came in $3300 cheaper. the local dealer keeps blaming the thorough service and a lifetime warranty on all there units for there higher price. After warranty, I do my own repairs for the most part. Would you buy local or save $$ and buy further away?

We are very similar... Bought both of ours 1000 miles away. As for warranty, I would MUCH rather fix it myself in the driveway than have my trailer sitting in dealer lot waiting for repairs anyway. If you are handy, do your own warranty work. You may have to ask dealer for the parts on warranty but otherwise you'll be $$$$ ahead.

FWIW - I was very upfront with the local dealer and even told him if they came close then deal wass theirs. They didn't come close but I continue to go there for any parts, add-ons, etc. Never been any problem, they even ordered a couple of fender skirts under warranty for me before I came up with better fastening.

Honesty is the best policy.

[Dtank]

Halmfamily wrote:
Our new fiver was purchased three hours away and we saved several thousand dollars, purchased sight unseen. I gave my local dealer three opportunities to meet there price but no luck. Had an awesome experience with the new dealer and they took care of every detail without question.

Do your due diligence and research the dealer thoroughly. Ask lots of questions and don't sign or pay anything until you're satisfied.

Plenty of local dealers in the camping/RVing "gotta have it now" hot RV market in So. CA.
Really means - "wanta get your bucks now"!..:R

Bought (ordered) 5th in Montana - except for pics/info, sight unseen.
Dramatic savings over the locals.
"Camped" in dealer's lot for a couple of days.

Nice trip both ways.
No problems, would do it again...:C

.

[Army11Bravo]

Our 3 local dealers couldn't match the price of the dealer 2 hours away. We gave them every opportunity, but went with the distant dealer.

Now with warranty service, we choose to take it out of town because the locals charge either a flat rate or hourly rate to diagnose a problem to fix something under warranty, whereas the distant dealer is free. The distant dealer said this was a normal practice because the local dealers didn't make any money off the sale and reimbursement from the trailer manufacturers isn't very much.

We are just planning a trip through the town we bought our trailer from with a few hours for them to repair the couple minor issues we have. All in all, it isn't a major inconvenience, and the dealership is warm, friendly and very professional. Plus we saved some serious money!

[fla-gypsy]

Cash is King! Go for the discounted price

[laknox]

Hedgehog wrote:
We have a dealership that is 45 minutes from our house that we were looking at purchasing a brand new ordered fifthwheel from. This would be my third rig from this dealership. Well, today we went to a dealership 2 and a half hours away that had the same fifthwheel we are looking to order. I just wanted to see it before I ordered it from the local dealer. Well, the dealer that has a 2015 model of the unit I want to order gave me a price of $4800 cheaper than the ordered 2016 locally. So to be fair, I asked for a quote on a identical ordered unit from them. It came in $3300 cheaper. the local dealer keeps blaming the thorough service and a lifetime warranty on all there units for there higher price. After warranty, I do my own repairs for the most part. Would you buy local or save $$ and buy further away?

If the '15 is virtually the same as the '16 you want to order, why not save another $1500 and go for that one? If you're determined to get the '16 (different options or decor), give your local dealer one chance to come close to the other guy's price, and be vocal about reminding them that this would be your THIRD purchase from him. If they won't at least split the difference, walk out; they simply don't deserve your business. One of the reasons that I'm favoring Jayco right now, is that when you spec out a unit on the factory site, you get a factory MSRP; any difference from that is simply dealer add-ons and delivery. I'd certainly question a $5k "delivery" bill if the MSRP at the dealer level were hugely different than what Jayco shows, that's for sure. 🙂

Lyle

[Hvyhauler]

I did an out of state purchase in October of 1998,drove to Lake Park Ga. 1hr 45 minutes away,bought a new 1998 TT which was deeply discounted due to the 1999's being on the lot.Saved aprox $1200.00 when all was said and done.

Our local dealer who had several of the same model 1998's left wouldn't deal at all.The new 1998 Coachman Catalina was the most trouble free rv we have ever owned.

Best of luck with your choice.

[C-Bears]

With our 2014 unit I went with the cheapest price, which was 2.5 hours away from our winter location and 1200 miles away from our summer location.

It is always a gamble with warranty work anyway. In my experience the non-selling dealers put you on the bottom of their service list or won't work with you at all. But our selling dealer, even though they were very large, turned out to have horrible service for warranty work also.

I may have spent 18 months getting a few warranty items fixed, but at least I feel comfortable knowing I paid the least amount of money for my new unit.

[face_down]

Just bought my new 5er from RV Wholesalers which is 550 mi. away from me and saved almost 10K on the price from my local dealer. Warranty work if needed will work itself out.

[rhagfo]

GypsiesAtHeart2016 wrote:
Wow, that can be a tough call. Depending on your financial situation, $3300 can be a ton of money, a lot of money or not enough for the inconvenience of the longer ride, especially if you get into a situation where you have to make multiple trips. Maybe driving into or thru a major metro area would also play into my decision.

Since this would be your 3rd RV from this dealer I'm guessing you are happy with them. Check out reviews on the new dealer.

Being a local business man for over 30 years I understand the benefits and disadvantages of trying to keep local.

Good luck with your decision & your new RV.

We were buying used,we had looked at a unit at a local CW, and backed out due to issues found in the PDI. Good relationship with sales man. We found one a a CW in Burlington, WA a drive of 254 miles about 4.5 hours or a bit more, one way.
Sale was local, but we drove to pick up. We had great grins on our faces all the way home!!
There are several on here that have driven 1,200 miles to get a great deal.