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Old 10-22-2016, 01:31 PM   #1
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Long Distance RV Purchase: yea or nay?

My wife & I are thinking of moving from our much loved Northern Lite camper to a class C, most possibly a Forest River Sunseeker.
Over the past few weeks we've spent many hours (days! ) doing the endless online looking & researching, choosing, spreadsheet generating, test driving, pondering...both used and new.

One of the routes available would be purchasing the exact model we favor new from a dealer that is located a couple thousand miles and many states away from our home. The reason we're even considering this is that there seems to be an unavoidable huge price discrepancy between purchasing locally (Northwest corner of Washington State) and from a distant "Mega-dealer" from either the Midwest (Michigan) or way south (Texas). This price differential seems to usually be around $12,000 or even more. (most the new RV's for sale around here have about 2000 or so miles on them, surely that delivery doesn't cost $12K)

As far as I can tell, I've taken into account the "MSRP %" markdown usually offered and any PDI and delivery charges, so the prices are a pretty true "apples to apples" comparison.

So I'm looking for feedback here...pros or cons -- and definitely would like to hear from customers who have done just this. After talking to these dealers on the phone I see that it isn't that unusual to purchase an RV this way; it seems fairly routine for the dealer to pick up a customer at the airport for an RV purchase...

To my thinking, the major "red flag" would be the time immediately after purchase - the "shakedown cruise" so to speak. My thoughts would be to spend a few days driving around and testing everything before leaving the dealer's locale at all...sort of an extensive "purchase acceptance checklist" to suss out anything the dealer should address before really hitting the road.

The other red flag that I can imagine might be "service and maintenance".
There is only one "Sunseeker" dealer in our part of the state, would they be willing to service a "new" coach purchased from out of state?

I imagine that chassis warranty work could be done at any reputable RV dealer or RV service business, over the years of RV'ing we have formed good relationships with a local network of very qualified RV shops.

So what do y'all think? Looking forward to hearing from you...
Philip
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Old 10-22-2016, 01:55 PM   #2
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IMO NO!!!! A friend of mine went to Conn. from Western NY to buy a unit. when he got there he found that the unit was not new as it was advertised, the dealership basically told him you paid for it you're stuck with it now. A number os systems were not ready for use (no PDI) Friday before a 3 day weekend and no one would help him, so basically he was stuck with a total lemon for that summer and into winter till he was able to trade it off.
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Old 10-22-2016, 02:27 PM   #3
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We live in Texas and bought our current coach from a dealer in Florida 13 years ago. We went to the local dealer and asked if they could match the price given by Florida dealer. When the local dealer said they couldn't, or wouldn't match the price we went ahead with the purchase from the Florida dealer. We traded in our gas class A coach as part of the deal. We stayed in the new coach for 3 days on the dealers lot, while changing everything over from the old coach to the new one, using and testing everything house wise before returning home. Only one problem couldn't be repaired before we left. The manufacture sent the replacement part, an awning topper, to our local dealer and was repaired when we returned home. The local dealer continued to repair our coach under warranty until the warranty expired.

From our experience we would not hesitate to purchase out of state again if we found a coach to our liking...and the price was better than we could get locally. Just my 2 cents worth,

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Old 10-22-2016, 03:03 PM   #4
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We bought in one state because of the best price and never returned to the dealer. We easily got service while traveling (we were full-timers).

You might first ask your closest dealer if he'll match the price. Worth a try.

If you can, plan to take a one-week vacation at the time of pickup and drive it around to different campgrounds for testing all systems. Don't just sit on their lot for a day or two. You need to drive it. Good luck! It definitely can be done. Many do so.
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Old 10-22-2016, 03:18 PM   #5
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Last February we purchased our Entegra from NIRVC in Atlanta. They paid our travel expenses (we drove our Cherokee from Dallas), spent an entire day doing the PDI, then spent the night on their lot, then they picked up the cost of staying at Stone Mountian state park about 15 minutes away for 3 more nights. We took the coach back to the dealer after the third night for them to fix, adjust and re-teach us how to use things we could not remember from the PDI. Then we spent one more night at the park and left the next morning for Texas. This dealer did a fantastic job of making sure everything was perfect before we left for home.

I would do it again in a heart beat! However, I did my homework researching the dealer before making the decision to go the distance. I saved a small fortune compared to the Texas dealer. We did our research on the coach, just as you have so we knew exactly what it looked like before going to Atlanta.

For warranty repairs, Entegra has allowed me to take the coach to independent repair shops that I have confidence in and Entegra pays me back for the cost within 2 weeks. You should check with FR to see if they would do this also. A lot of dealers today don't want to do warranty work if you did not buy from them. You may be put at the end of the line to get service.
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Old 10-22-2016, 03:27 PM   #6
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To me the possibility of the only local dealer refusing to work on a coach bought out of state is a concern. When purchasing both our motorhomes we tried to deal locally. In both cases the local dealer was several thousand dollars higher than the more remote dealers. When we asked them to be more competitive they refused. In addition they made it very clear they would not work on a motorhome bought elsewhere.

In our case the initial cost was more important than local service. We have taken both our motorhomes to the factory for service rather than fight with a dealership that doesn't want the business.

If you're willing to take your motorhome somewhere other than the local dealership for service I would go where the price is the best. If you need the local dealer for service after the purchase I would do what I could to get a better price from them
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Old 10-22-2016, 03:41 PM   #7
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We bought our used coach in Orlando, FL. We are currently in Ensenada, Mexico. We put in the sales contract an out clause that stated if the coach was not as described, we would get our deposit back. We caught a flight in LA and flew to Orlando. Dealer picked us up and drove us to the dealership. Everything was as described and we are very happy (except that I would never let that dealer touch my coach again!). We saved $15,000 by doing this - well worth it in our opinion.
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Old 10-22-2016, 04:15 PM   #8
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Philip, I think you will be asking for trouble unless you are prepared to do the in-warranty repairs yourself! Your local dealer will probably NOT be very cooperative in servicing one that you bought out-of-state! At the very least, you will be put last in a very long line for service, and they can always think of excuses to keep shoving you to the end of the line!

I would consider buying a late model used RV from a private party!
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Old 10-22-2016, 04:23 PM   #9
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If buying USED be sure you throughly research the dealer as much or more then the coach so you don't make the stupid mistake I made. I found a class A at a well known RV broker in San Antonio, Tx, and after several phone conversations and many emails I put a deposit down so me and the DW flew from Pa to Tx on a one ticket. Figured we would take a week vacation and drive it back home. The broker mislead us about the condition of the coach to point that there was no way I was buying this thing (it had leaked so bad at some point when you opened the door it smelled of mold). Had to stay an extra night in the hotel before we could get one way tickets home. Roughly a $1500 dollar mistake
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Old 10-22-2016, 04:28 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MSHappyCampers View Post
Philip, I think you will be asking for trouble unless you are prepared to do the in-warranty repairs yourself! Your local dealer will probably NOT be very cooperative in servicing one that you bought out-of-state! At the very least, you will be put last in a very long line for service, and they can always think of excuses to keep shoving you to the end of the line!D

X 2!!!



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Old 10-22-2016, 04:30 PM   #11
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We've traded TWICE with a dealership over 1,000 miles away. They had the best price on our trade-in, and the best price on the new unit. Overall it made a LOT of sense, and they also had many more units of different Makes and Models than most others to choose from, even if we had a specific unit in mind before we arrived.

We NEVER considered whether any impact for service was a factor, and it never has been, whether warranty or regular service. We've never used THAT dealership for service, and no dealership around the country has every 'denied' or 'postponed' us warranty or service simply because we didn't BUY the coach from them. They never asked, they never had any attitude about it, and always treated us just as any other 'customer' they advertise to use their dealership and services.

One 'advantage', I believe, might be that we are FULL TIMERS living in our 'home' and therefore don't have the ability to 'sit around' and wait for repairs or service, and we let them nicely know that. In a rare case we had to drycamp in the parking lot, or use available hookups, for an overnight, and they were happy to allow it. For most any serious warranty work, though, it's always been at the factory service center, who has full hookups/facilities for any needed length of stay, and probably the best prepared and knowledgeable employees.
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Old 10-22-2016, 05:16 PM   #12
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We purchased our coach from a dealer ~ 380 miles south of us. Stayed in the local area for 4 night to do the shake out. One minor issue with the shower door sweep which we fixed ourselves. Five months since the purchase and still nothing major. Based upon this experience we would do it again. Now if the dealer was 1000 mile or more away we might reconsider.
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Old 10-22-2016, 06:05 PM   #13
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Prices in SoCal are unrealistic too (like the OP's NW story)...and I'm talking MUCH more than the OP's $12K
We tried asking for a price match and was told in no uncertain terms that was not happening, so off to TX we flew.

At pick-up, there were some problems that kept the mechanic there until 5:30ish. Then we stayed in the local area for a week checking EVERYTHING, but seemed (for us) that our very thorough PDI found everything that needed fixing. All follow-on service and work has been done by yours truly.

The owner's mechanical skill might be the deciding factor with this situation...will the RV need repeated warranty service calls? The local dealer "might" be less than accommodating because warranty service is less profit (if any) for that dealer.

Flying to TX, then driving the 2,300 miles home was the right decision for us. So, it can be a good thing.

Best luck
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Old 10-22-2016, 06:12 PM   #14
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Bought ours in PA and live in GA. Service work was done locally, no question as to who or where RV was bought. I wouldn't let that get in way big a good deal. I had frequent flyer miles so flew up To inspect and test drive visit before purchasing the coach.
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