Now that I have retired, we are looking to upgrade our RV. Prices in Maine, however, make me shudder; so we have stumbled across an on-line dealer called rvwholesaler.com. I'd be interested in hearing what experiences others have had with this company.....or any other on-line company of this type. Anybody have advice on what to watch-out for? Or what the pit falls might be for this type of purchase? The prices are certainly better than anything we've seen in Maine!
MaineDon, We personally have not purchased a Rv in this manner and the reason why is if repairs are needed, after the sale, who are you going to have do those repairs. The local dealers will put you on a list, a long list, and will take care of their own customers first. You will become frustrated over the long wait and will try to go elsewhere only to run into the same problem. You may find some independent shop to help, but it will be at cost to you, $$$$$. Have heard the same played out a few times. Just food for thought.
Hi Butch and Kathy, How often are repairs needed? It seems to me that I hear a lot of horror stories. Are all RV's essentially defective right from the factory? What about after market warranties? Worth the dollars or not? QUOTE(Butch @ Oct 18 2007, 11:48 AM) [snapback]8721[/snapback] MaineDon, We personally have not purchased a Rv in this manner and the reason why is if repairs are needed, after the sale, who are you going to have do those repairs. The local dealers will put you on a list, a long list, and will take care of their own customers first. You will become frustrated over the long wait and will try to go elsewhere only to run into the same problem. You may find some independent shop to help, but it will be at cost to you, $$$$$. Have heard the same played out a few times. Just food for thought.
pianotuna, We purchased a new Holiday Rambler Vacationer in 2003, and right from the get-go numerous small and some not so small problems existed. Our dealer fore warned us that there would be problems, and advised us to make a list as they appeared, or came to our attention. They were the greatest, they fixed every last one without any comment, nor hesitation. It has taken us three years to work all the bugs out of the coach with both the chassis manufacturer, Workhorse, and Holiday Rambler. This is the result of poor manufacturers product inspections before leaving the plants to be delivered to the dealers. The dealers now have to deal with the factory screw ups. We personally have dealt with this situation, more than once with this coach. It is not a bad coach, but their end product inspections are flawed. The builder is only looking at the number of units going out the door with the mentality; to let their dealers deal with the problems, and the frustrations of the consumer. This, of course, was at no cost to us under the warrantees, but it still costs you something in time and the expense to get the unit to the repair facility for the numerous appointments. The local dealers have more than enough work just trying to please their own customers without taking on another dealers customer's rig to make repairs. This is where the repair list comes into play, the out of the area dealer made the profit, so why should the local dealer want to work on this dealers sales. After all, the local dealer has a commitment, or at least we would hope they do, to they own customers. No Rv unit is without some defects so you should have some local contact, a dealer, to make these corrections under the warranty. To answer your question about after the sale warrantees, to many loop holes exist within these contracts and if you the consumer; do not dot your i's and cross your t's correctly, the consumer pays both ways. For the contract and the repairs. I personally do not feel they are worth it as the customer does not retain Rv ownership long enough to recoup his investment in the contract. There are exceptions, I guess it's a gamble--like life insurance.
The biggest problem I have with online RV sales is that you really cannot tell anything from the pictures. I have been looking to upgrade my unit and have found several online that looked really good. After driving a few hours to see the units, there was little resemblance between the photos and reality. One unit looked nice and was advertised as great shape and low mileage. When we got there, the kitchen counter was broken-- not cracked--broken. The dinette seats were torn, not worn, but torn. I thought I must be looking at a different unit, but this was the one that was online. Repairs could also be a problem, especially if you are buying used. Take the price to a local dealer and see what you can do. Good luck
We had advertised a fifth wheel online a few years back and sold it in three days. The people who bought it had looked at ours first and continued looking for two days at other locations, only to return and buy it. They stated to us that there were others out there, but were in such bad condition that they could not use them without a lot of work.
Check out this web site for some good prices on coaches. http://www.pplmotorhomes.com Their prices seem to be better than any others I have seen. Also they will work with a owner to take a coach in trade eliminating the need to attempt selling your present coach. Most of the for sale units have several pictures to look at.
QUOTE(gsbogart @ Oct 25 2007, 11:37 AM) [snapback]8828[/snapback] Check out this web site for some good prices on coaches. http://www.pplmotorhomes.com Their prices seem to be better than any others I have seen. Also they will work with a owner to take a coach in trade eliminating the need to attempt selling your present coach. Most of the for sale units have several pictures to look at. Those same good sale prices will also reflect in their "working with you" on the price allowed for your trade in. Low sale prices reflect low trade in prices. It's all a numbers game that you the customer has to be able to see through, inorder to make a decision on the sale.
As for repairs... We bought a Winnebago in 2004, we have yet to return from a trip without bringing it in for repairs, our last trip we picked it up from the shop before we left and had to bring it back in when we got back. I really love my coach, but husband on the other hand is going nuts with it. So we are considering trading it in for a new one. We have been asking around and it seems they all have problems, every last one of em, however, when talking to the mechanics in the various shops it has been in, Winnebago stands out as the one company that really stands behind their product and will do all warranty work and then some wthout a big problem. So I am pushing him to get another Winnebago, I hope I am not wrong. I think we just have to get used to the idea that with the big rigs come big problems, nature of the beast. Keep the note pad handy and be prepared to get friendly with your mechanic. It is all in the attitude. I handle things much better when I keep a smile on my face
Thanks, everyone, for your observations on on-line purchases. We are, as yet, undecided what we will do. A $10,000 to $12,000 difference in "bottom-line" asking price is, for us, pretty major. And we have a great local RV guy who does not do new sales and offers repair and storage. The on-line group affirms that warranty work does not have to be done by a Forest River dealer. The problem is that there is little competition among dealers in our part of New England. So we'll see.....anyway, thanks for the input.
We purchased our first RV, a GulfStream BT Cruiser on eBay! We had relatives about 60 miles from the location of the unit, so they checked it out for us. The seller had over a dozen pictures and a contact number. We talked with him several times and checked out other units via the internet (we don't have local RV dealers at all). We bought the unit several thousand dollars below market value. It was like new (used very little) and 1 1/2 yrs old. We did have a problem with fiberglass shell cracking, but GulfStream did repair it for us. Just remember from what we have learned--Warranties are ONLY for person purchasing the NEW unit. We were persistent with GulfStream and they finally came thru with the $5000 repair. After using the 23' Class B+, we traded for our current unit. Got what we paid in trade-in and used it for over 2 years--including a trip to Alaska. Just needed a bigger unit. Do the research, think that's the most important thing. As stated above every unit has it's problems--some worse than others. Good luck!
stonybirch makes a great point-- make sure you see the unit-- not just pictures. The more information you can get the better, but I would want someone to look at the unit before I traveled a great distance to buy. Though I was talking to a local dealer and he had someone come from up north to buy here in Fla. He relied on talking to the dealer and pictures. I had a niece who bought in Fla rather than Calif and she had a great experience. So there are good stories from buying online. I would just want someone I knew or someone I could trust to actually see the unit before I committed. A reputable dealer or individual will usually hold the unit subject to inspection.
QUOTE(MaineDon @ Oct 18 2007, 10:19 AM) [snapback]8719[/snapback] Now that I have retired, we are looking to upgrade our RV. Prices in Maine, however, make me shudder; so we have stumbled across an on-line dealer called rvwholesaler.com. I purchased a new fifth wheel from rvwholesaler.com in the spring of 2005 and it went without a hitch - very ez to deal with and like you have discovered GREAT prices. I couldn't find any dealer locally that was interested in matching their prices.
