PPL

[DanLee]

Is this a good place to buy a used diesel pusher? Can you trust their rating grades? Are the prices negotiable? Who do you negotiate with, PPL as the the broker or directly with owner?

thanks

[Dachristianman]

I drove down to the Houston lot, and there are a lot of rigs to look at. They run the gamut from very nice, to very bad. I liked being able to look inside all of them without feeling any pressure. The really nice rigs that are priced right sell quickly, but the ones in rough shape sit forever. The longer they sit, the more people walk through them, the worse they look.

The rigs that have been there a while are sitting in the very hot Texas sun, and I feel bad that they're going to the pot rapidly.

Overall, it's worth a drive if you're within 8 hours. Having that many rigs to compare in one place was worth my time.

[John_Joey]

mike brez wrote:
...snip...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 always laugh when I hear stuff like that from a salesperson. So let me see, if you don't sell anything (or you're in the bottom 50% of the sales team) you still get to collect a wage, and won't get replace given those type of sales performance numbers ...righhttt...

[mike_brez]

This was my only experience with them.



Posted: 02/27/15 08:04am Link | Quote | Edit | Print | Notify Moderator
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.

[Skid_Row_Joe]

westernrvparkowner wrote:
In my experience, PPL is not the best bet for a diesel pusher, especially if you are looking for a newer, higher end rig. I had a very bad consignment experience and had the displeasure of having to be there for a few days. That gave a lot of time to look around. PPL has many, many RVs for sale, but most of them are older and in less than pristine condition. You will be incredibly lucky if you get anyone to help you look at the rigs. They will be priced semi-reasonably, but remember it will be about a 50/50 mix of rigs that people are willing to sell of a reasonable price and rigs that people have to sell because they have a loan on them and no money to pay the difference between the payoff and the value. Those rigs aren't going to be negotiable, because there is no way to pay off the loan if they don't get their price.
I agree with some other people, they do get a bit poetic in their determination of condition. Part of that is because apparently a whole bunch of people don't feel it is necessary to make their rigs showroom ready before they take it there for sale. I was amazed at how much small stuff was not taken care of which made the rigs look much worse than they probably were. Things like torn blinds, missing trim, broken hinges on cabinets, TVs removed and wires just laying (or is it lying, I never can get that one right) around.
PPL is probably a good place to shop if you are looking for a 10+ year old rig. If your tastes run 3 to 5 years old, unless you see something that actually grabs you on their website, don't waste your time and money going there on the hope something good will be there.

Perhaps, but for pricing, PPL can't be beat!

[2gypsies1]

Executive Dennis' above post is right on. We sold our motorhome through them and it was an easy carefree experience. We named our price which was a bit higher than PPL first recommended. They detailed it free and did an excellent job. A couple from Florida flew in and bought it. All this happened within a months' time.

There is absolutely no pressure on future buyers. When a buyer offers a price, PPL contacts the owner and it's up to the owner to accept or refuse it. PPL is not in the mechanic business so they won't do major repairs, if needed, but they will have it done elsewhere if that's what you agreed with the seller. PPL is basically a used RV storage lot. They give the seller the space to park it but they don't aggressively try to sell it.

When we were there we could not believe the amount of traffic that goes through there - folks bringing in their RVs, folks picking up their newly bought ones, and many, many lookers.

We were recommended to them by various friends who bought and sold through them and we were not disappointed.

Yes, you will see some junk there but it's not because of PPL it's because the owner's don't care for their RVs. Some will say they don't like the idea of leaving the slides out. I disagree. If it rains I want to know if there are any leaks. I don't want it hidden. When we RV we don't bring in the slides when it rains.

Again, there are good and bad units on the lot. Do your homework.

[2112]

If you have a particular one in mind at the Houston location I can go by there this weekend and take a good look at it for you. I can send you some pics of any flaws I find.

However I cannot inspect for mechanical condition or functionality. The batteries are disconnected.

[jtad]

I'm with Dennis, bought our first diesel pusher from them back in Feb. I did just what Dennis said, asked for pictures of certain things and spent a lot of time on the phone with the sales man. Had him go out and take more pics for based on what we talked about. I live about 5 hours from Houston so it wasn't a big deal to drive down. When we got there the coach was waiting on us, and it was just how explained over the phone. In better shape really... Very pleased with out service there.

[shaneperch]

I take that back,, the more i look there are some really good deals on there disregard my first post on this thread

[tropical36]

DanLee wrote:
Is this a good place to buy a used diesel pusher? Can you trust their rating grades? Are the prices negotiable? Who do you negotiate with, PPL as the the broker or directly with owner?

thanks

Before even looking at a particular coach, forget the photos and pay attention to it's listed condition and maybe only look at the ones that are considered to be excellent, as good and very good, doesn't always get it.

[Executive45]

I bought my FIRST diesel pusher from them...a 40' Gulfstream Tourmaster. Notice most posters that say no have never purchased from them.

The experience was good. I found it on line, talked to a salesman about it at length, had him send me a few more pictures, specific to what I asked for and we made an appointment. I flew in from California, rented a car from Houston Hobby and drove over. The coach was cleaned and plugged in waiting for me. I took it for a test drive without the salesman or any high pressure. I then spent almost two hours going over the coach. Although some of their offerings are owned by PPL, this one was a consignment. My salesman negotiated a better price from the seller and they agreed to replace all the batteries in the rig. We spent two more days in their campground to familiarize ourselves with the coach and they fixed a couple small things that appeared. One was a louder than normal water pump so they replaced that at their cost. We then returned the rental and drove the coach back to California. They rated the coach above average and I'd say that was accurate. The interior was clean but not up to our standards so we spent some of the time in their campground shampooing the carpets and scrubbing it down. I also took the coach to a nearby quarter car wash and gave the engine, trans and cooling system a complete bath.

All in all, it was a good experience and I would not hesitate to purchase from them again. In fact, they were on our list again after the Tourmaster got stolen. We booked flights to Las Vegas, Phoenix and Houston to look at coaches. Las Vegas was a bust but we found the Dynasty in Phoenix so our search ended there without making it back to Houston.

Hope this helps...Dennis

[shaneperch]

Their prices SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[westernrvparkow]

In my experience, PPL is not the best bet for a diesel pusher, especially if you are looking for a newer, higher end rig. I had a very bad consignment experience and had the displeasure of having to be there for a few days. That gave a lot of time to look around. PPL has many, many RVs for sale, but most of them are older and in less than pristine condition. You will be incredibly lucky if you get anyone to help you look at the rigs. They will be priced semi-reasonably, but remember it will be about a 50/50 mix of rigs that people are willing to sell of a reasonable price and rigs that people have to sell because they have a loan on them and no money to pay the difference between the payoff and the value. Those rigs aren't going to be negotiable, because there is no way to pay off the loan if they don't get their price.
I agree with some other people, they do get a bit poetic in their determination of condition. Part of that is because apparently a whole bunch of people don't feel it is necessary to make their rigs showroom ready before they take it there for sale. I was amazed at how much small stuff was not taken care of which made the rigs look much worse than they probably were. Things like torn blinds, missing trim, broken hinges on cabinets, TVs removed and wires just laying (or is it lying, I never can get that one right) around.
PPL is probably a good place to shop if you are looking for a 10+ year old rig. If your tastes run 3 to 5 years old, unless you see something that actually grabs you on their website, don't waste your time and money going there on the hope something good will be there.

[Hiker_01]

I've shopped PPL but have not bought from them. You negotiate with PPL as the broker, they work with owner. Prices are negotiable. When I talked with them, there is the asking price (listed) and owner has given them the lowest OBO price so negotiation can go quicker. If you ask lower, they can go back to owner to check.

Pictures can be a bit deceiving. What may look really good may not be in such a good shape, so always good to actually see it in person, which would be a rather long trip from DC. In the end, you may find something just as good but much closer.

[wolfe10]

I agree, their ratings of conditions are generally higher than I would rate them. But, then again, I am very picky.

Conditions vary all over the place as you would expect for consignment units.

Same for negotiability-- PPL contacts the seller-- you work through PPL.

The good news is that they have a huge supply all in one location and without high pressure salesmen hounding you. You can look at RV's for hours without being hassled.