RV Direct - Too good to be true?

[Campin__Nana]

Hello Everyone,

Someone on the forums mentioned RV Direct to me for purchasing a TT. When we got the quote last night, I nearly fainted dead away. LOL

How many of you have purchased from them and did you have any trouble at all? ANY cons at all to purchasing a TT that way? Anything we should know ahead of time? Can you haggle on the price they quote you? (Although, I don't know why we would! The price is amazing!) It just seemed too good to be true. Will be awaiting your responses. Thanks!

[spadoctor]

I hope you don't get burned. The local dealer has a store...inventory....property taxes....employees....insurance....floorplan interest...etc none of which RV Direct or RV Wholesalers has. You buy it its delivered direct to you and you are on your own. You may get service but at the end of the line since the dealer is going to service his customers...that supported him...first. That is a good businessman. FWIW...wife and I just priced a new rig and RV Direct was 900 bucks cheaper then local dealer....not worth NOT supporting the local dealers business and family.

[rvhippo]

Having worked in the motorsports industry across the country, the warranty issue is worst where business is seasonal.

In a heavily seasonal area, where they are busy in the summer and dead in the winter, technicians will be too few in the summer and too many in the winter.

Warranty work pays very, very poorly. Re-imbursement by the factory is slow (90+ days) and at a very reduced rate (not full flat rate). Taking a profit making technician off a full-paying job to work on a slow paying, low paying warranty job costs the dealership money. Now, if it's the slow season and the technicians don't have any work, then warranty makes money because a slow, low paying job is better than no job.

But if it's the high season and the dealer has limited techs and too much work they will take care of the customers who bought from them first. It's a two-way street.

After the loyal customers are taken care of, a good shop will then take care of the high-profit jobs, then when it finally gets slow, the shop will take care of the money-losing warranty work requested by walk-ins who didn't buy from them. A good shop will also prioritize emergency on-the-road repairs.

Is this a good system? No. But it's what works in highly seasonal areas. Areas with a more steady, continual work load can squeeze in more warranty work, but if the area's high season is only a couple of months long, a shop isn't going to waste it's most productive time on money-losing work (remember, by taking a tech off a higher paying job to do a low-pay/slow-pay warranty job, the dealer is losing the profit from the higher paying job).

I have never seen a dealership lose their franchise due to refusing warranty work. All they have to do is schedule you in... during the slow season, which is usually the dead of winter. By doing that, they fulfill their franchise agreement.

The best way to do this would be to get rid of franchised dealers completely and only have factory-owned sales/service centers. But that's against the law in the USA.

[Sport45]

Lantley wrote:
Back on topic you can save 1000's buying from an out of state dealer. The prices are great. There Maybe issues getting warranty service from local dealers.
If you encounter a problem with warranty service you may get approval to use non dealer or independent service shops.
Beware of the warranty service issue it is real. However the savings is real as well.
In the end I still recommend buying local however if the local dealer will not come close to Wholesale pricing I would take the drive for the savings fully aware that there could be warranty service issues. Savings vs. warranty service is a gamble I would take in the end.
I have purchased out of state and I have purchase local. Using the out of state pricing as a negotiating tool with the local guy is your best strategy.

No gamble, you'll take it in the end anyway. 🙂

[machunt]

remember you will need service

[GoPackGo]

Just make sure and do a really good PDI before taking it off the lot and heading for home. Take your time and open every window, all slides, check outlets, etc. Put some water in the tank so you can run the pump and pressurize the system, checking for leaks. Start up the furnace and fridge.

The dealer that I bought from had my rig hooked up to water and electric so I could stay there for a couple days checking out everything.

[Campin__Nana]

Lantley wrote:
Back on topic you can save 1000's buying from an out of state dealer. The prices are great. There Maybe issues getting warranty service from local dealers.
If you encounter a problem with warranty service you may get approval to use non dealer or independent service shops.
Beware of the warranty service issue it is real. However the savings is real as well.
In the end I still recommend buying local however if the local dealer will not come close to Wholesale pricing I would take the drive for the savings fully aware that there could be warranty service issues. Savings vs. warranty service is a gamble I would take in the end.
I have purchased out of state and I have purchase local. Using the out of state pricing as a negotiating tool with the local guy is your best strategy.

Lantley,

Thank you! I talked with a local Jayco dealer who said no problem on service, so I hope they stick to that. We are going to save a minimum of 6K by buying out of state, so I hope everything works out for us.

[Campin__Nana]

spoon059 wrote:

Campin'_Nana wrote:

spoon059 wrote:
Lets stop derailing the thread for him... please and thank you.

Her..... 😄

SORRY!!!:S I don't pay attention to names all that often!!!

LOL! That's ok. Just trying to make everyone laugh. 😄

[Lantley]

Back on topic you can save 1000's buying from an out of state dealer. The prices are great. There Maybe issues getting warranty service from local dealers.
If you encounter a problem with warranty service you may get approval to use non dealer or independent service shops.
Beware of the warranty service issue it is real. However the savings is real as well.
In the end I still recommend buying local however if the local dealer will not come close to Wholesale pricing I would take the drive for the savings fully aware that there could be warranty service issues. Savings vs. warranty service is a gamble I would take in the end.
I have purchased out of state and I have purchase local. Using the out of state pricing as a negotiating tool with the local guy is your best strategy.

[spoon059]

Campin'_Nana wrote:

spoon059 wrote:
Lets stop derailing the thread for him... please and thank you.

Her..... 😄

SORRY!!!:S I don't pay attention to names all that often!!!

[ol__yeller]

Mountaineer42 wrote:

ol' yeller wrote:
What happens to all those folks who buy locally and then move to another state? Or what happens when you are travelling out of state & have a breakdown? Also how about a used RV that you buy from a private party and needs to be fixed? I think the opinion that dealers won't service anything they didn't sell is greatly exaggerated. I understand there is a difference in how a dealer is paid for warranty work vs service but any GOOD dealer would go ahead and fix the issue in hopes of gaining a future customer.

The issue here is WARRANTY work. The dealer gets a reduced rate from the manufacturer rather than the gouging rate they charge the guy off the street. They will service your rig but not for the warranty rate, unless you bought the rig from them. That makes your warranty pretty much useless.

I think I did acknowledge that there is a difference how the dealer is paid for warranty work vs service work. Dealers who use this practice will not earn my business either for warranty, service or purchasing a future unit. There are plenty of independent shops willing to take my or the manufacturer's money if repairs are needed.

As a second thought, I had a new TT that the local selling dealer was completely incompetent for any service. They also damaged my new TT 2 times backing it into stuff while it was being worked on. I guess one could say I didn't get a warranty either and I bought locally.

[Campin__Nana]

spoon059 wrote:
Lets stop derailing the thread for him... please and thank you.

Her..... 😄

[spoon059]

Mountaineer42, I apologize. I mistook mlts22's comments for yours. The basis of my point is still the same. I was originally replying to his completely false statement that you have NO WARRANTY. I've read your points, that is your experience, not the experience that TWO friends of mine have had after purchasing RV's online.

Again, a comment like "you MIGHT have trouble finding a local dealer to do warranty work" would be a truthful statement. Neither you nor mlts22 are saying that. You are both saying (or implying... same difference) that you get no warranty if you don't buy from a local dealer.

Not true. To prevent further derailment of this thread, if you wish to attack me personally and not further the topic at hand, please take it to PM. I believe the OP is still trying to figure out a solution. Lets stop derailing the thread for him... please and thank you.

[4X4Dodger]

Mountaineer42 wrote:

spoon059 wrote:

Mountaineer42 wrote:
My comments come from actual experience rather than your OPINION of the way things SHOULD BE.

So you had one experience that makes ALL warranty's invalid if bought at RV Direct? That's not an OPINION? Come on guy. I NEVER made any such claim! I responded to your thoughtless attack on mlts22 and provided a realworld example of what CAN happen.


I don't know why you had a problem... but 1% of RV owners having a problem does not affect the other 99%. I have never had warranty issues before. That's great but why then would you presume to be some sort of expert and dispute the experiences of others who HAVE had problems? I've had 2 friends buy Rockwood hybrids from RVWholesalers.com. Both of them had minor warranty issues that were handled by local dealers. Thank God they didn't know they had NO WARRANTY since they bought on line.

Your experience is yours. My experience is mine. Your comment was ridiculous. You could have simply said "My experience has been that I could not get warranty work done". That would have been virtually irrefutable and it would have been an honest statement. Instead you make a flat out false statement. My comment was "I tried every dealer for 150 miles around and every single time, the first question they asked was "Did you purchase out-of-state?" When I answered "Yes" they would flat-out tell me they didn't do work on rigs purchased out-of-state." So where is my ridiculous, flat out false statement?

Sorry you don't like me calling you out on it. No problem at all. I'm sure most people will be able to separate the nonsense from the reality and discard your rants. I have this thing in my brain... I can't sit idly by and watch someone spread complete WRONG information to someone trying to educate themselves. Maybe you need to go back and read WHO made the ridiculous flat out false statements! It was YOU who started calling mlts22 foolish and accused them of spreading FALSE information just because they mentioned that there could be warranty problems.

I agree with SPOON and think there is some other axe being ground here by some posters thus resulting in some very bad info being spread.

TO: MOUNTAINEER42 With due respect I think you should read Spoons text more carefully. He DID NOT call anyone foolish. He said and I quote: "This is foolish..." Meaning the idea or notion being discussed
was foolish. There is NO personal attack going on here. There is, "failure to read carefully" going on however..

All personal experience is by definition anecdotal when viewed in the larger context of all other same or similar experiences. In other words both experiences can be true on any given day. But that does not mean that there is a larger truth being expressed or proven.

Dealers are in business to make money. Warranty work is what keeps the wheels greased in the slow times. Additionally no dealer will remain a dealer long if they continue to violate the dealership agreement, which refusal to do warranty work is surely part of.

The ENTIRE point to having a dealership network is to be able to service customers from all parts of the country and gain market share.

The entire point of BEING a dealer in that network is to take financial advantage from the economic benefits of more sales, service and warranty work on any given popular line TTs or MH's by a larger group of customers than exist in your local area.

[Mountaineer42]

spoon059 wrote:

Mountaineer42 wrote:
My comments come from actual experience rather than your OPINION of the way things SHOULD BE.

So you had one experience that makes ALL warranty's invalid if bought at RV Direct? That's not an OPINION? Come on guy. I NEVER made any such claim! I responded to your thoughtless attack on mlts22 and provided a realworld example of what CAN happen.


I don't know why you had a problem... but 1% of RV owners having a problem does not affect the other 99%. I have never had warranty issues before. That's great but why then would you presume to be some sort of expert and dispute the experiences of others who HAVE had problems? I've had 2 friends buy Rockwood hybrids from RVWholesalers.com. Both of them had minor warranty issues that were handled by local dealers. Thank God they didn't know they had NO WARRANTY since they bought on line.

Your experience is yours. My experience is mine. Your comment was ridiculous. You could have simply said "My experience has been that I could not get warranty work done". That would have been virtually irrefutable and it would have been an honest statement. Instead you make a flat out false statement. My comment was "I tried every dealer for 150 miles around and every single time, the first question they asked was "Did you purchase out-of-state?" When I answered "Yes" they would flat-out tell me they didn't do work on rigs purchased out-of-state." So where is my ridiculous, flat out false statement?

Sorry you don't like me calling you out on it. No problem at all. I'm sure most people will be able to separate the nonsense from the reality and discard your rants. I have this thing in my brain... I can't sit idly by and watch someone spread complete WRONG information to someone trying to educate themselves. Maybe you need to go back and read WHO made the ridiculous flat out false statements! It was YOU who started calling mlts22 foolish and accused them of spreading FALSE information just because they mentioned that there could be warranty problems.

[spoon059]

Mountaineer42 wrote:
My comments come from actual experience rather than your OPINION of the way things SHOULD BE.

So you had one experience that makes ALL warranty's invalid if bought at RV Direct? That's not an OPINION? Come on guy.

I don't know anything about you nor the warranty issues you wanted rectified. Perhaps you had a crappy attitude and the dealers didn't want to deal with you. Perhaps you had some problem that wasn't a warranty issue and they didn't want to deal with you. Perhaps your manufacturer just plain has a crappy support network.

I don't know why you had a problem... but 1% of RV owners having a problem does not affect the other 99%. I have never had warranty issues before. I've had 2 friends buy Rockwood hybrids from RVWholesalers.com. Both of them had minor warranty issues that were handled by local dealers. Thank God they didn't know they had NO WARRANTY since they bought on line.

Your experience is yours. My experience is mine. Your comment was ridiculous. You could have simply said "My experience has been that I could not get warranty work done". That would have been virtually irrefutable and it would have been an honest statement. Instead you make a flat out false statement.

Sorry you don't like me calling you out on it. I have this thing in my brain... I can't sit idly by and watch someone spread complete WRONG information to someone trying to educate themselves.