Buying an RV from Dealer vs Private Owner
Getting closer to purchasing our first RV. We are looking for a good used unit and have found a few contenders. Not sure how this all works but when I recently spoke to a dealer he told us absolutel...
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Two rigs, one bought each way:
1st rig from a couple down the street. They were honest about the condition, and we paid a fair price, knowing what we'd have to put into it in catch up baseline maintenance. No regrets.
2nd rig we determined the manufacturers and models we'd narrowed the search down to, then made contact with a salesman with a good reputation (one of three, that came recommended after searching on many forums). This is Steve Wilson from Holland RV now out of San Marcos, CA. While I also kept looking, Steve was also looking. Holland had a coach coming in on consignment that Steve knew about. It was one on our list. He knew it had been sold by Holland, and 95%+ of all service had been by Holland. I literally saw the coach before they had prepped it for sale. Crawled over/under/thru the rig, reviewed all of the paper work that the owner authorized me to look over from Holland's record.
After a Cummins dyno test to validate the health of the low mileage ISL. We then sat down and worked out a deal with the owner's consignment rep (a different Holland salesman).
I was very happy with the purchase, feel I bought a great coach at a fair price.
So, IMO, go with private owner with documentation, documentation, documentation - I don't care how nice they are, no documentation - keep looking!
But, if on consignment, you should be able to get your hands on the documentation too. So, that would be my second choice when looking for a rig.
Save some coin for some independent analysis, oil, Cummins/Cat, private PDI if needed.
Best of luck, and have some fun,
Smitty
1st rig from a couple down the street. They were honest about the condition, and we paid a fair price, knowing what we'd have to put into it in catch up baseline maintenance. No regrets.
2nd rig we determined the manufacturers and models we'd narrowed the search down to, then made contact with a salesman with a good reputation (one of three, that came recommended after searching on many forums). This is Steve Wilson from Holland RV now out of San Marcos, CA. While I also kept looking, Steve was also looking. Holland had a coach coming in on consignment that Steve knew about. It was one on our list. He knew it had been sold by Holland, and 95%+ of all service had been by Holland. I literally saw the coach before they had prepped it for sale. Crawled over/under/thru the rig, reviewed all of the paper work that the owner authorized me to look over from Holland's record.
After a Cummins dyno test to validate the health of the low mileage ISL. We then sat down and worked out a deal with the owner's consignment rep (a different Holland salesman).
I was very happy with the purchase, feel I bought a great coach at a fair price.
So, IMO, go with private owner with documentation, documentation, documentation - I don't care how nice they are, no documentation - keep looking!
But, if on consignment, you should be able to get your hands on the documentation too. So, that would be my second choice when looking for a rig.
Save some coin for some independent analysis, oil, Cummins/Cat, private PDI if needed.
Best of luck, and have some fun,
Smitty
