Buying a new RV not close to home

[LarryDel]

Purchased a new 2018 Forest river FR3 30DS motorhome at an RV show. Got a great price, however the dealer is 200 miles from our home. Our concern is when we need warranty service for our unit. There is a Forest River dealer close by but although they are a Forest River dealer they do not have the franchise for the FR3 that we purchased so we weren't able to order the unit from them. Our concern is that the local dealer may refuse to service our unit because he did not sell it to us. Is this a legitimate concern or has anyone else had this situation and how did you handle it? Thanks so much......Larry

[73guna]

I saved nearly 3 large purchasing from Lakeshore rv, 650+ miles away.
My local forest river dealer requests that the rv owner who purchased elsewhere, pay for warranty work themselves and submit the bill to forest river for reimbursement.
I called FR and complained about this and they just talked in circles.
First saying local dealer must make repairs then finishing with they are not really required to.
I later developed a water leak which led to floor damage and had various other minor issues.
I cant help but think if I had bought local if that dealer would have handle these issues with FR.

[midnightsadie]

call mobile tech ask if they can do warrenty work.

[ksg5000]

Merrykalia wrote:
We don't have ANY Forest River dealers within 200 miles of where I live, so that is not much of a concern with me. We just purchased a new one and we drove almost 400 miles to the dealer. About 2 months in, we had a problem, so we took it back to the dealer for repairs. We called another dealer that was right at the 200 mile away mark, but he said it would be 2-3 months before he could get it in. It took our dealer 11 days to fix it, but it's still sitting there since we haven't been able to get away to pick it up. We'll get it next week.

Maybe a good reason to stay away from Forest River? In the long run you vote with your wallet and one of the benefits of the Internet is knowing which mfg have limited influence over their distribution network.

[Edd505]

Yes it can be a problem I bought in AZ, from a WA dealer, and live in NM. Local dealer refused warranty work because he didn't sell it. Called the factory who said they are not like cars and dealers can refuse service, they could authorize repair at a near by shop. The catch, I pay and they will reimburse me, the shop can bill them if they will but only on pre-approved work. They want the shop to explain just how they plan on fixing. I have a minor electrical issue, how can you estimate how long to locate the problem? I found a dealer in TX that would work on it but it's drop it hear and we will call you in a couple weeks. As another poster said most of the stuff covered by the manufacture, when the Suburban oven wouldn't heat a local RV shop did the warranty work for Suburban.

[darsben1]

MObile repair person if the manufacturer of the rig agrees. Call the manufacturer

[jarata1]

Dave H M wrote:
I am the same as Charles. Never could figure out why it was easy to beat locals by 4 to 5 large, as Tony would say. :h

What

[bikendan]

We bought our HTT from a dealer 2000 miles away.
Drove there and back to get it.
Forest River found during us a number of local dealers willing to do the warranty work.

Saved over $4000, even after trip costs.

[Ltrip]

Good discussion. I am probably buying a new rig in a year or 2 and am concerned with this question.
Here's my experience in my town. I bought a used TH in So Cal. I got some service done from a non-dealer repair shop. My TH had a factory recall. I called the dealer in my town to schedule the work. Service department asked if I bought the rig from them. I was honest and said no. The service department refused to do the work. I called Keystone to complain. I took it to a different Keystone dealer and they were happy to do the work.

[guidry]

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
Why not just call the local dealer up and say: "hey, we have an X trailer, can you do warrantee work on it?" I don't get why this is so complex?

That's what I did before we bought our 5th wheel trailer out of state. Local dealer couldn't match the price. Local dealer's service manager said he would work on ours, which they did a few times.

I never saw units being serviced ahead of one bought elsewhere. Everyone has to wait 6 months to get a light switch changed!

[Merrykalia]

We don't have ANY Forest River dealers within 200 miles of where I live, so that is not much of a concern with me. We just purchased a new one and we drove almost 400 miles to the dealer. About 2 months in, we had a problem, so we took it back to the dealer for repairs. We called another dealer that was right at the 200 mile away mark, but he said it would be 2-3 months before he could get it in. It took our dealer 11 days to fix it, but it's still sitting there since we haven't been able to get away to pick it up. We'll get it next week.

[ksg5000]

Dealer gets paid the same under warranty whether he sold the rig or no - and most of the stuff that breaks inside the RV is covered under it's own separate warranty and you can find the list of authorized repair outfits from the individual mfg. Many RVers are fed up with long waits and crappy service and prefer to fix the small stuff themselves reserving the service centers for big ticket items.

[fj12ryder]

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
Why not just call the local dealer up and say: "hey, we have an X trailer, can you do warrantee work on it?" I don't get why this is so complex?

This seems like a better idea than asking a forum what they think will happen. Ask the dealer and you'll know. But that really should have been done before you made the deal, pretty much too late now if they won't work with you.

We checked with our local Montana dealer before we bought ours from a dealer 800 miles away. They have no issues doing any work.

[Colo_Native]

Why not call Forest River and ask where the Warranty service places are by you that will fix it you don't have to use the selling dealer. The dealer I bought mine from sucks so I called them to see where else I could and they gave me several choices

[PghBob]

We live in W. PA and bought our rig (E450 chassis) from the manufacturer in SoCal.

We have the chassis service done at a Ford truck shop. Had the AC thermostat go bad within the warranty period, 1000 miles from home. I called the AC manufacturer and they told me where I could take the rig to have the thermo replaced at no charge. Appliances are covered by their manufacturers, not the dealer, although the manufacturer may authorize the dealer to do some work. We had a second problem occur with the converter charger, after warranty, again far from home, and had it replaced by a mobile RV tech in two days.

What else would you need the dealer for?