PPL motorhomes

[Berner2]

Have any of you ever purchased through PPL? I am wondering if it's worth a trip from So Cal to look at a couple of motorhomes. I have seen a couple on their site that interest me, but I am reluctant to fly there based on pictures alone. I would appreciate hearing about your experience, would you buy from them again? Should I pay a few thousand more and buy locally???? It's a long way to go based on a picture.



Thanks, Terry

[azrving]

There are 3 parts to the PPL operation as I see it. One of them is the parts, one of them is the service and the other is the consignment rigs. I have dealt with the parts dept and been very happy with them. My son has gotten an estimate for major repair work with the service department and they were very professional. He did not have the work done there but they did their part well.

The consignment service is a whole different thing that I may not fully understand. I went there a week or so ago and made the post that I linked to up above. One of the TT that my son was interested in was listed as excellent condition yet when I looked at it it was literally falling apart from water damage. The pictures show my hand in rotted out areas.
I dont know how they come up with an excellent rating with a rig like that. Was it not really inspected and just put on the lot? Do they do a real inspection if you pay the $390.00 dollars that someone mentioned? I dont know how this could happen but with it the way it is people should be extremely cautious if considering something from there. I'm not saying it to hammer PPL, I'm saying it because many people listen to things like EXCELLENT and believe it. You can say buyer beware or say they should have looked closer or say they should have had someone go with them who knows RV's but people do walk in and buy this stuff after looking at the pics and reading the ad. People do believe sales people when they say things like it just needs to be aired out when it has massive moisture in the walls and floor and NOT easily show water damage.

I looked at several rigs from TT to MH to FW and was not only not impressed with any of them but wondered how many people got shafted on this stuff. I'm sure there are plenty of nice rigs that go through there but it's a matter of how you connect with the good ones. If you are local and have the ability to be there daily to see the new arrivals first you may do well. If you are flying in or driving far you may be disappointed. No matter where you are shopping the pictures will ALWAYS LOOK GOOD. Don't buy anything from anyone anywhere until you have seen it yourself.

I looked at about 5 different MH for a member on here with the top priced one being $50,000. I didn't even go inside as the bedroom slide had gouged through the plastic underside and saturated the wood. They other rear and side had delamination. One that was $20,000 was a turd that I wouldn't even be seen in. Another one for $15,000 that someone on here had linked to and looked ok in the pics was Breaking Bad material to me. It had wiring hanging out and gouged up walls, huge cracks in the tires, on and on. Yes, I know it's only $15,000 but the point I'm making is that the photos lie. They always lie. It's not PPL or the owners fault. You can not go by the photos. Not on PPL or Ebay or Craigslist.

To me PPL is a great place, I will be back for parts but the consignment is what it is. If you shop on line, buy from them, the parts dept is very responsive. If you are in the area go to the RV lot. There is a huge selection and it can be a learning experience or just entertainment or you may snatch up just what you were looking for.

I believe you will do best buy first shopping locally. Go and look at rigs when you are sick of looking at rigs. Look at rigs that you probably wouldn't even consider buying. The more inputs you have in any decision, the better the decision you will make. The more data the better. Yes, I know it sucks and you want your dream but some things take a lot of effort for them to come out well and not bite you in the rear.

Remember that just because you wouldn't lie DOES NOT MEAN OTHERS WONT.

EDIT
I would believe what Ugh says because he said a key thing, he lives CLOSE to them.

[ugh]

John&Joey wrote:
Ugh - are you connected to PPL in any way other then just as a consumer?

On edit.

Ugh being the RV.Net member a few posts back (I saw your ? Mike ;))

It is interesting Mike the statement about selling. PPL is in area's of large population (lot's of buyers) and in a state with 10-12 months of RV'ing. I do concur that at the new location it does look like they may not be overly protective of the units on consignment. For something like that you would need a local's input.

I am an consumer. I don't work for them and I don't care for them. My experience with them is not 100% positive. When I was looking for TT, they happened to have one in stock for the one I want at cheaper price. When I needed to sell my old camper, they were the best when it comes to consignment.

I bought and sold other two campers outside of PPL in the past.

[wolfe10]

traveylin wrote:
If you must dog the corporation not the individual.

Guess I feel just about the opposite. My only reason to "dog" the corporation (PPL) is for them not counseling sellers that they will NOT get top dollar and a quick sale for one that is not in top condition.

BUT, it is ultimately the seller's responsibility for recognizing this fact and either doing the work or hiring PPL or someone else to do it. All it takes is the stroke of a pen if one doesn't want to do the work themselves. Money VERY well invested.

As I said in my first post, and as repeated by others, you will always find a wide range of coach conditions on consignment lots, based on the coach's OWNER, not the consignment lot.

[traveylin]

As people dog the PPL operation, remember that these are consignment rv's being sold by individuals. Individuals that are selling there most important family recreational asset, most times do to a life change such as disability or death of a spouse, financial hardship, estate settlement, job loss etc. You as a buyer regardless of where you get your rv from will be a seller one day and will not appreciate your unit being singled out as x2r2 cee pee 3 oo did. If you must dog the corporation not the individual.

[2112]

They have the full range from nasty, smelly, worn out junk to some real nice rigs. Their condition rating of 'Very Nice' may not be very nice to you.
All prices are negotiable.

But do not buy site unseen.

[hoopers]

When I visited PPL a couple years back, many of the units were in bad shape. Ripped fabric, pet stains, bad smells, etc. But there were some good units too. I wouldn't buy anything there without myself or somebody else checking out the unit

[mike_brez]

Delete

[John_Joey]

Ugh - are you connected to PPL in any way other then just as a consumer?

On edit.

Ugh being the RV.Net member a few posts back (I saw your ? Mike ;))

It is interesting Mike the statement about selling. PPL is in area's of large population (lot's of buyers) and in a state with 10-12 months of RV'ing. I do concur that at the new location it does look like they may not be overly protective of the units on consignment. For something like that you would need a local's input.

[mike_brez]

I would go look somewhere else or do as I did and ask here on the forum if anyone is going to be there and could take a quick look at it for you. I just copied this from a older post from over the summer when we were looking and found one on PPL site that we liked and was listed at very good +. Here are two seperate people from the forum that looked at it for me. One lives close by and stops in once in a while to see what they have and the other was looking at a coach there and purchased elsewhere.



Mike,
To put it bluntly, this poor vehicle has been "rode hard and put up wet" (Texas for "it needs a LOT of work - translated = money) The pictures on PPL's ad do not indicate the true condition.
Leather on the pilot/co-pilot chairs is heavily cracked. Both sofas are badly stained and appear to have been "lived on". Wonder if this was a full timers vehicle? They did have an animal as the chair skirt had been chewed/ripped. Windscreen was cracked from top to bottom in front of the co-pilot. The 3-M coating on the entire front of the vehicle looked terrible and needed removal then repainted $$$. The slide awnings were ripped to the point of replacement needed, not repair. Carpet was stained (probably beyond cleaning). Looked in the engine compartment - couldn't see much for all the dust, dirt, grease and wasp nests. Storage bins were the same. Exterior paint had the "checking" which is known in this era Monaco. Ours has it but not as bad as this vehicle. Tires were a hodge podge from the 2010-11 time frame. good tread and slight cracking.

It was in such bad shape that the maintenance would be VERY suspect but we had no time to find nor inspect the records.

I'm a do it yourself type with a steel barn and concrete floor - Wouldn't even think about this one. If you do, a mechanics inspection and engine/transmission oil analysis should be done before money changes hands.

Stickers indicated a San Antonio vehicle and it was apparent it had never been inside so sun "worn" everywhere.

Sorry to be so negative,


Here is the other

Good to hear XXX had the same opinion. Everyone looks at stuff differently and has different tastes and opinions of what is good and bad. I was very hesitant to call it a POS, but that is the best description one could give for it.

I am with you on the PPL deal. Lots of people rave about them, that is the only reason I went down to look at a couple coaches. To me, that is the absolute worst place you could take your coach to sell. They dont care about the coaches, they just sit out in the weather and get hammered. They don't clean them or do anything to them to take care of them. We had some crazy high winds come through recently, they did not take the slides in on any of those coaches, several awning were ripped and torn up as a result.
..........................................................................................................................................

The salesman told me this coach was in great condition and would buy it himself. He explained to me they work on salery and no commission so he could say that. I'm glad I found someone to look at it real quick for me before I flew from ct to tx.

[ugh]

I have sold my fifth wheel via them. I also just bought a TT from them and I am picking it up tomorrow from PPL Motorhomes in Houston. They have two locations in Texas, one in Houston and another one new San Antonio. They are opening a new one near Forth Worth, TX.

If you are looking for used units, this is the place to go. Many biggest dealers will have hundreds of new units, but maybe 20 - 40 used units. PPL will have hundreds of all used units in various condition. I have seen some really bad units and they still manage to sell it. For 390 dollars, they can do a full inspection to make sure everything works. If they find something wrong with it, they will tell you. You can either back out or have the seller cover the repair bill. They are starting to sell new TT, so that will be interesting to show how it will lead them down the road.

The sales person are just too busy to walk with you around the lot to show you and go over the campers and stuff. They are usually nice and everything. The lot is cramped with units and it take hours to walk through them. The best way is to use the internet and make a list of units you want to see. Then come to the lot and check them out on your own. If you find something, then go back to the office and ask for a sales person. I would not recommend buying it without physically checking it out because pictures don’t tell you a lot. If you do, pay the 390 dollars service.

They are very good at updating the website with either pending or sold sign. However, they are slow to list new units, so they usually have more than what is listed on their website.

Here is my opinion since you are from south California. If you see 5 units or more that you are interested in on their website and you are ready to buy, then it is worth flying down. Because you have greater chance to end up with something then if you only see one or two units you like on their website. You need to factor in the cost of you coming down here or to ship it. Sometime it is cheaper to pay more for the ones that are closer to you. It works out well for me because I live close to them.

[John_Joey]

After all the hype that this forum gives PPL I decided to take a look at a rig in their new location. I was not overly impressed. They are a good consignment lot, just like any other good consignment lot in North America.

Because of the long RV'ing season in Texas I think selling through PPL is a great idea, don't know if it's worth the plane trip and travel hassle to buy from them unless it's a hard to find coach or a great price.

I'm also pleased to see this forum no-longer bragging up that Mad Monkey 😉 auction website. I checked that place out a few years ago, and was really not impressed. Even the owner couldn't believe he was selling coaches at the prices the auction was getting for sight unseen rigs.

[Squealers]

Wife and I went there to look at rigs this past summer while we were in camping in San Antonio. Here are our take-aways.

Staff was not very friendly and didn't seem real interested in investing any time in us. It was raining when we showed up and several of the rigs were leaking, including a Beaver that had water running down the inside of the windshield. One rig had all the windows open, and rain was coming in the rig....we closed up all the windows.

On the way back into the office they had a family who was looking to consign their rig....the rep was more interested in covering up some issues versus getting them properly fixed.

We left, and bought our rig through another venue. It may have been a bad day for them, but we decided it was not where we were going to find our rig.

Good luck!

[hl_remington]

Do they have any thing in Houston that you could look at,have bought from them good service.

[rctour]

I have purchased a few parts from then, maybe $4,000 over the years and found them to be very professional and the best prices around. As far as the purchase of a motor home, I purchased one from a dealer in Oregon that was miss represented. Had they been a local dealer in my state I would have filed a law suit. Taking legal action against a business that is out of state is a real challenge. I would never buy something as complicated as a MH from an out of state dealer again, especially The RV Coral in Eugene Oregon.

I do like PPL a lot!

[wolfe10]

It is predominantly a consignment lot. So, you will find the full range from very well maintained to virtually neglected. Not all good or bad, but the full range of conditions.

They are pretty up-front about condition, but they have NOT reconditioned them.

The good news is that they have a LOT of coaches for sale.