A dealer with no inventory

[NealC]

Wouldn't we all rather deal with a dealer that has no inventory or even a lot, only handles orders, gives the absolute best prices? It seems most of us despise and avoid our selling dealers after the sale, they were only "surrogates" for our orders. Of course speaking only for those of us that preferred to order vs. buy from a show or off the lot. But an interesting concept would be a Newmar "broker" I guess it would be called. Low overhead, minimal commission on sales to bring the buyer the lowest price. With that said, as a new RVer, my salesman was rare and was outstanding (you know who you are) and he earned my business. The dealer though, despise them! Next time around, I prefer to just place an order online! I wonder if Amazon will sell Newmar

[ewlee]

Originally Posted by NealC

Wouldn't we all rather deal with a dealer that has no inventory or even a lot, only handles orders, gives the absolute best prices? It seems most of us despise and avoid our selling dealers after the sale, they were only "surrogates" for our orders. Of course speaking only for those of us that preferred to order vs. buy from a show or off the lot. But an interesting concept would be a Newmar "broker" I guess it would be called. Low overhead, minimal commission on sales to bring the buyer the lowest price. With that said, as a new RVer, my salesman was rare and was outstanding (you know who you are) and he earned my business. The dealer though, despise them! Next time around, I prefer to just place an order online! I wonder if Amazon will sell Newmar

Currently Newmar requires a dealer to floor plan two coaches from every model they are allowed to sell. As you know, some dealers only sell DS and down, and very few sell the entire line. When we were in the buying stage, we ran against that several times. I suspect it has something to do with service or the experience.

[wildtoad]

I’d much prefer to go the other way. Have a dealer/showroom where you can actually see the model you are interested in before ordering one. The closest dealer that had what we were looking for was 800 miles away so we opted to go to the factory, take the tour, and hope they had one on the lot. Luckily they did but it was hit or miss.

Once we knew what we wanted we went to the closest Newmar dealer, a CW, and had a great buying experience as we had already filled out the order sheet and said “here order this”.

[deaton]

I don’t think that Newmar or any other manufacturer would want to have a brokerage network competing with and undercutting their stocking dealers.

As much as many of us might prefer such an alternative, the fact is that stocking dealers do serve a purpose by providing potential buyers the opportunity to actually see and experience the product before committing to the purchase.

I think the reason that few dealers carry the entire Newmar line is most likely one of economics. Imagine the carrying costs associated with such a commitment. Currently, Newmar has three gas products and eight diesel products. That’s eleven distinct products, not to mention a variety of floor plans, times two? A lot of dough, particularly for a dealer in a smaller market.

[Busskipper]

Originally Posted by NealC

Wouldn't we all rather deal with a dealer that has no inventory or even a lot, only handles orders, gives the absolute best prices?

It seems most of us despise and avoid our selling dealers after the sale, they were only "surrogates" for our orders.

Of course speaking only for those of us that preferred to order vs. buy from a show or off the lot.

But an interesting concept would be a Newmar "broker" I guess it would be called.

Low overhead, minimal commission on sales to bring the buyer the lowest price.

With that said, as a new RVer, my salesman was rare and was outstanding (you know who you are) and he earned my business.

The dealer though, despise them!

Next time around, I prefer to just place an order online!

I wonder if Amazon will sell Newmar

Neal,

Back in the Prime of Travel Supreme (Entegra) - they used to have a dealer like that, he was just up the road from the plant, if you needed to look at a New unit you would need to go to the plant, as he generally only had one new unit on the lot. He would make it part of the/your sale that he could show your unit, as he had a small yard - filled with the trade ins from his sales, so not only did you get a good deal, (Great Deal, and he was the largest dealer) but there were a lot of Great used units to buy.

Long and short of it was - NO Service. - Great Price - you would need to schedule to go back to the shop, TS's shop and that was not easy.

In 2006 - 2007 as sales started to Slow, the other dealers Squeezed him out, with their pressure on the factory, along with some crazy state tax that all but killed local dealers.

Issue is the other Dealers will not allow it to happen again, and as Newmar has a strong network of Dealers, not much chance that it would be allowed.

Great Concept, just really hard to have something that would resemble factory sales and a strong dealer network, the two just don't work together.

So what you now have if the Newmar Factory Pick Up - which is the Newmar attempt at what you are talking about.

Factory Pick up and then the Factory as the Service stop that is the only way to get what most seem to want. It is interesting idea that seems to be the currant attempt to do what you are speaking of, only problem is the dealer still is required to order enough stock to keep the plant open in slow times, which is the issue, not as it is today with the nearly 6 month backlog.

Just keep an eye on the Factory service and the Factory Pick Up as this is the key to the discount you might get. It might be the only way you get price and service that so many are searching. .............. will keep watching.

JMHO,

[deaton]

There is no question that many dealers are poor on the service side and would rather just discount and sell more coaches. Newmar is not alone with this issue. I have many friends who drive Tiffins. They almost universally prefer going to Red Bay when they need something fixed on their coach rather than going back to their dealer. I’ve been to Red Bay and that experience helped lead me to go with Newmar, just kidding.

But you see the same situation over at Entegra. Everybody talks about returning to the “Mother Ship” when they need good service.

REV Group has responded to the issue by putting up some factory service centers like the one in Alvarado, TX so that customers don’t have to trek all the way to the factory with every issue.

We should be encouraged by Newmars commitment to expand the factory service experience as evidenced by the capital that are spending to consolidate and enlarge the facilities in Nappanee.

Down the road, a way needs to be found to encourage all the Newmar dealers to make the service side of their business a priority. Maybe Newmar should prunerize those who have persistently low service scores. Unfortunately, if a dealer in that group is moving a lot of fiberglass, the bottom line will keep that from happening.

[Stuart W]

Neal,yes it would be great except............
Newmar wants the dealers to stock units, every unit In stock is a unit that Newmar has sold. A lot of us are repeat buyers, ordering a unit on the next go around because we now know the benefit. I’m not sure I would have purchased Newmar the first time sight unseen.. Newmar wouldn’t want to give up those first time impulse buyers in my opinion. Stuart

[NealC]

I wish Newmar would build mockups of every floor plan inside a facility. Not on real coaches. Just go see the layouts.

[Stuart W]

Originally Posted by NealC

I wish Newmar would build mockups of every floor plan inside a facility. Not on real coaches. Just go see the layouts.

I’m pretty sure that if we all were able to look at all models side by side, a percentage of us would be in a different floor plan. Drawings only go so far. And few dealers if any have one of each at the same time. Some dealers based on their ”experience“ never order certain models for stock. Newmar Dealers are also far and few between.

[twojayhawks]

But wouldn't everyone go shop at the full service dealership & then actually purchase from this broker....and then dealers all go bankrupt?

[TJ]

Actually, I would like to see more real "servicing" dealers. There are too many dealers that won't do service work if you didn't buy from them. That doesn't work in the auto industry; why is it even allowed in the RV world?

There are three Newmar dealers within 500 miles of me (excluding a couple in Canada). None will deal much on price. One flat out says "if you didn't buy it here, don't bring it here for service" and the other says "we give service priority to people who buy from us." In the latter case, I was told it "will be hard to get service work done here if you don't buy from us;" a thinly disguised threat! The third is 350 miles away and doesn't handle MADPs; just Dutch Star and below.

So, I'm buying from a dealer 1,600 miles away. They are a full-stocking dealer, gave me a good price and, while not very convenient, I can go there for service, if needed. Fortunately, I have both Spartan and Freightliner service centers within 30 miles of me. That will cover any chassis-related warranty work, and I have a friend who owns a good-sized diesel repair shop that does my routine service anyway.

As for Newmar-specific warranty work, there are two well-regarded RV shops within 10 miles that I would try to get Newmar to approve before driving 1,600 miles to the selling dealer. And, I don't yet know the ramifications of having service work done in Canada, but I am going to check. I live right on the US-Canada border and there's a Canadian Newmar dealer about 20 miles away. There's another one about 200 miles away. Not sure if there are customs or other issues involved, but am going to check.

Neal, with a network of non-servicing dealers, we'd all probably have to go back to Nappanee for warranty work unless Newmar approved an extensive list of "factory-authorized" warranty service shops. That would be a monitoring nightmare for them.

[NealC]

Originally Posted by Tranquil Jim

Neal, with a network of non-servicing dealers, we'd all probably have to go back to Nappanee for warranty work unless Newmar approved an extensive list of "factory-authorized" warranty service shops. That would be a monitoring nightmare for them.

I think servicing work is already a nightmare for them and they prefer we all go back to them, it's cheaper for them in many aspects. I bought from my local dealer and they service anyone and do not give priority if you bought from them. Now acquired by CW. I can't even get them to answer their phones! I will avoid them at all costs.

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by wildtoad

I’d much prefer to go the other way. Have a dealer/showroom where you can actually see the model you are interested in before ordering one. The closest dealer that had what we were looking for was 800 miles away so we opted to go to the factory, take the tour, and hope they had one on the lot. Luckily they did but it was hit or miss.

Once we knew what we wanted we went to the closest Newmar dealer, a CW, and had a great buying experience as we had already filled out the order sheet and said “here order this”.

When did any CW become an authorized Newmar dealer? Last I knew CW tried to wirk a deal with Newmar but Newmar refused to deal with them.

[rebelsbeach]

Originally Posted by Mr_D

When did any CW become an authorized Newmar dealer? Last I knew CW tried to wirk a deal with Newmar but Newmar refused to deal with them.

Oh no.... It's a sad day IF Newmar allowed CW into the mix... As Neal mentioned, I find it very hard to believe Newmar allowed them in, but hey...poo poo occurs.