Ongoing saga of the motorhome

[VickiK]

We are in Indiana and it is cold with lots of snow. Snow for last few weeks. We also in the process of buying a used motor coach from a dealer. We have looked over the interior and taken it for a very short test drive with the salesperson. We have even taken our 5th wheel up for the trade. As of yet, we have not tested everything in the coach (no shore power and the conditions outside....did I mention COLD) We did a dealer recap sheet that addressed the items we did find inside the coach and a promise that we would see everything working - to allot about 3 hours for this. No binding contract yet and $500.00 to hold the unit while we were considering. We also asked about having the inspector for the warranty company tag along for the inspection of the coach and given a nod of approval. We are scheduled to see the coach tomorrow and if all goes well to purchase and drive away with our new home away from home.

The inspector called today and said that the dealer refused to have him tag along or even on the premises. So DH calls the dealer to find out what is what. We do believe there was a misunderstanding between the inspector and the dealer; however, this little "spat" opened up some other issues.

1. Apparently, they believed we were going to hand them the check before going over the unit. We have informed them that is not happening. If we had had the opportunity to fully explore the coach I would understand this position - but we haven't; and we have been assured everything works, we want to see that first. We have been reminded that this is a used coach. So what is reasonable to expect from it? If they say everything works, is it unreasonable to expect that it will work when I leave the dealership (knowing that it might not work in a couple of weeks)?

2. We were told to set aside 3 hours (last Thursday) for the inspection. Today, DH got the impression that the time for this will be much shorter and that shorter time will include the paperwork. It was inferred that if we expect more time - we would have to pay for it. Prior to today, we were under the guidance that we would see everything work AND they would make sure we felt comfortable working it. Unreasonable expectation on our part?

As a further add - we did not dicker over the price of the unit. From the very first look at, we were told the unit is from a personal friend of the manager and was taken very good care of. It looked very clean inside with what we would expect would be normal wear and tear for a 9 year old coach. In pricing the unit from nada, ppl and other websites we determined it was priced on the high end but if they made sure everything worked before we left that might actually be a small price to pay.

Are we being unreasonable?

[VickiK]

rav wrote:
thanks for posting the outcome and congrats on the camper! now you get to wait in anticipation for spring like the rest of us- it will go slower now that you have the camper. LOL

LOL is right. In just 23 days we are pulling into our summer workcamp here in Indiana. I'm just hoping that the break in the weather will last until next winter:D

[cbr46]

VickiK wrote:
We signed and paid for the rig and DH drove it home.

I've seen DW lots of times and understood it for Darling Wife. Does that mean DH stands for Dumb Husband? LOL

Congrats on your new adventure!

Best,
- bob

[rav]

thanks for posting the outcome and congrats on the camper! now you get to wait in anticipation for spring like the rest of us- it will go slower now that you have the camper. LOL

[fredbon]

Sounds like a good outcome for all.

Fred

[VickiK]

RBabb wrote:
I like that you are open minded to a misunderstanding and giving it a chance. That being said if they even gave the slightest indication of rushing or leading my inspector, I'd be out of their. The inspector needs full freedom to give a non biased evaluation.

Thank you! We are not sure what transpired between the inspector and the dealership but the reality of the inspection (for both us and the warranty inspector) was quite good and surprising. DH has pretty good skills in working with things; but it was nice to have an extra set of eyes looking. We were not relying solely on his assessment but the thinking was if they were going to disallow some component from our exclusionary policy we would know about it right away.

We had been at the dealership three times to look over the motorhome and took it for a test drive. No pressure was exerted to sign on the dotted line and we were allowed free time in and around the unit. The problem of coarse was the snow and cold during that time period. They were also getting ready to do a boat/rv/travel show.

We gave them a list of things inside and a few that we could see from the outside without having to crawl under or climb on top. They promised to fix and to give us an opportunity to look it over before buying. When DH called about the refusal for the inspector it sounded like they were going to limit the time we had for our own inspection and we had concerns.

THE REALITY: Everyone had free access and freedom to do what was necessary to make a decision inside a warm environment. The tech who was with us was knowledgeable and helpful. It turned out they fixed a few issues inside that wasn't a concern for us and pointed out repairs made outside. Things that were not on our list - but replaced or repaired - included new house batteries, outside porch light, replaced the outside entertainment center (not a tv:(:(), inside shower wand. They showed and allowed us to work the items in the coach to our satisfaction.

We signed and paid for the rig and DH drove it home. Now waiting for this latest snow/cold system to go through so that I can start moving things in.

[1BryNelson]

Billinwoodland wrote:
If I read your post correctly, you are relying on the warranty companies inspection to serve as your pre-buy inspection. From what I have seen, their inspection is no where near as thorough as an independent inspector that you are paying to represent you. When I bought my 2008 coach, my inspector spent over 4 hours going over every system, followed by a written report which included mandatory items the dealer needed to fix/replace, and suggested items. I used this report to my advantage with the dealer, who had a deposit but not full payment. I made it very clear no more cash until the rig is as expected. This was an exhaustive process on my part as I ended up doing 3 PDIs, one after each time the dealers techs were back in the coach addressing issues. In the end, they came through, I think only because I had the money and a written report from a local industry expert. It's a big investment, there's only one person, well maybe two if you count an inspector on your payroll, who is going to take care of you. And I promise, the dealer is not the one.
Bill

Basically I did the same with a private party sale. Inspection was 3 to 4 hours, I was getting impatient with him, but he saved me close to $2500. Inspection cost me $350.

[RBabb]

I like that you are open minded to a misunderstanding and giving it a chance. That being said if they even gave the slightest indication of rushing or leading my inspector, I'd be out of their. The inspector needs full freedom to give a non biased evaluation.

[krivanj]

+1 on Lazydays... Same story, left with an almost perfect coach...
Found some other problems later and they fixed them too.
Still happy with Lazydays, three purchases so far.

[TheLuvShack]

Sorry to hear your story. Buying a new coach can be an emotional decision and when it doesn't work out,it's very disappointing. There's another coach down the road for you. Walk away from this one. I live in Indiana and sure would like to know the name of this dealer.

[phillyg]

If you really want the RV I suggest you try again to work with the dealer, but on your terms. So what if the RV is nine years old, you still need to know all the systems are okay.

[Ranger_Smith]

MetalGator wrote:

JimM68 wrote:

When we arrived at lazydays 2 days later, the gate guard directed us to our spot in thier delivery lot.

That's one thing I really like about Lazydays. When we purchased our TT, our salesman was adamant that we stay in the delivery lot overnight in our new trailer to make sure everything was OK. We tried out everything in the TT and went over every inch. We found a couple of minor issues and they were taken care of before we left. Really like that they let you stay in the RV before you leave with it.

Lazydays was awesome with us. Stayed there in the campground 4 days for free. Every issue with our used unit was taken care of including replacing 2 questionable tires. Does not get better than them.

[MetalGator]

JimM68 wrote:

When we arrived at lazydays 2 days later, the gate guard directed us to our spot in thier delivery lot.

That's one thing I really like about Lazydays. When we purchased our TT, our salesman was adamant that we stay in the delivery lot overnight in our new trailer to make sure everything was OK. We tried out everything in the TT and went over every inch. We found a couple of minor issues and they were taken care of before we left. Really like that they let you stay in the RV before you leave with it.

[JimM68]

I just feel like typing a story...

When we were shopping for our used DP, a 2 year process, we finally found exactly the unit we wanted, at a dealer within 50 miles of our home.
We got there, and looked at the unit. It was perfect, and seemed to be in perfect condition, as far as we could tell. Just what we were looking for.
Left outside with the slides out during a chicago winter.

I said we would come back once they jump started the rig and pulled her inside the service bay long enough to get the slides in for a proper checkout and test drive.

They refused.

We left and hot the internet. Soon found the exact same coach, same year, same color, same everything, at lazydays in Tampa. After some discussions with a salesman, and lots of emailed pictures, we pulled our kid outa school and headed south in our tradein, with out toad draging behind.

When we arrived at lazydays 2 days later, the gate guard directed us to our spot in thier delivery lot. We pulled the old Pacearrow in door to door with our hopefully soon to me our Monaco Knight.

Our sales rep and a member of thier pre delivery service team were there to meet us, and we gave the knight a 4 hour PDI.

That night, we started moving out stuff over, and we cooked dinner and slept in our new coach.
The next morning, we did all the paperwork and paid them. We finished putting all our stuff in, and drove across the street to Lazyday's campground.

the next morning, we took our toad for a day of tampa sightseeing. Lazydays picked up our coach from the campground and started running our checklist. ditto for the second day. When we got back the second day, all was done and the coach was perfect.

We stayed 2 more days just to make sure, then went off to disneyworld.

[bsinmich]

If you are paying high NADA price you should at least get new tires. Depending on size they could be $2500-$4000. You shouldn't have to spend a dime on h8gh retail value.