Dealer Selection

[jmlmeyer]

We are about to purchase our first motor home. We have decided on a Tiffin product. It appears that we will purchase the unit from a dealer that is located a 1000 miles from our home. Our local dealer wants several thousand dollars more than I can purchase elsewhere.

I am making the assumption that I will be able to get warranty service from our local dealer. Am I being naive?

[jmlmeyer]

We are about to purchase our first motor home. We have decided on a Tiffin product. It appears that we will purchase the unit from a dealer that is located a 1000 miles from our home. Our local dealer wants several thousand dollars more than I can purchase elsewhere.

I am making the assumption that I will be able to get warranty service from our local dealer. Am I being naive?

[Drifter]

naive

[paz]

jmlmeyer, welcome to iRV2.

I think dealers are required by the manufacturer to provide service to any owners of a brand they carry, whether they sold the coach or not. But that doesn't say when they will provide service. A dealer can give priority to his own customers sending others to the bottom of the list and making them wait for an appointment.

As full-timers, we no longer have a dealer we can consider our home dealer. We have run into long wait times once when we were having problems with our jacks. Another time, we had Workhorse recall work done at different dealer and they got us right in. Actually, they weren't even a Tiffin dealer, but they were a Workhorse service center. It all depends on the dealer. Some don't care where you bought your coach, some do.

Have you talked to the dealer close to your home? Do they know you have a better price? Maybe they will match it. If they will at least come close, it may be worth it to buy near home. At $2.69 a gallon for gas, it will cost you about $400 worth of fuel just to bring your coach home for the first time. If you're looking at a diesel, it will probably be higher.

I wish you the best with your purchase. You won't be disappointed with Tiffin.

[FleetMan]

Naive - maybe, maybe not. It all depends on the dealership and their management philosophy. Some view their service department as a profit center and provide as much service and as good quality service as they physically can. Admittedly, warranty reimbursement is not always the most profitable source of income but quality warranty handling will almost always generate future sales for the sales side of the business. Then there are others who concentrate almost exclusively on sales, virtually ignore customer support after the sale and tend to discourage anyone who did not purchase from them. Some will advise you to pay the extra to insure local service, others will not.

What have the people at the dealership told you about supporting something they did not sell?

[ISLAPP]

Welcome to irv2. This a very good place to get your answers and we hope you share your knowledge with us as well.
What has been said so far to your question answers your question. I would suggest asking your local dealer what their policy is so that you have that info before you have the need for service.
Mike

[nhgeezer]

Passing a local dealer and going a 1,000 miles away to another dealer and then expecting the local dealer to supply warranty service is a real slap in the face. There are things that are the dealers responability under the predelivery of the new vehicle that the local dealer is not responsable for. The local dealer if he made the money off the sale should fight for your rights with the factory in case of a disputed warranty. The far away dealer might feel like you are too far away to pester him. The key is to check each dealers service reputation, and then make the descission.

Brad & Lucy aka the Geezer & the Hedgehog
1990 38' DP Foretravel
Kitty Kat: Earl
Navigation: CoPilot 9 on a laptop
Whitey Ford the Explorer on the car trailer
ASE Master technician
SAE

[dickfrompasadena]

We bought our motorhome because we liked the floor plan. We have a 2007 Bounder 35E, Workhorse chasis, full body paint, Sat TV, Auto awning and Alcoa Wheels. We ordered it at the Hershey, PA show in 2006. In the Baltimore area the local dealer had a 2005 35E, Ford chasis, not sure of wheels, manual awning, not painted, and no Sat TV for only $2000 more than I purchased my 2007 for. We liked the 2005 but got more coach, 2 years newer and less money from a dealer in PA. I probably whould have paid a little more to our local dealer but this was a vast difference in age and features.

[GaryKD]

Consider contacting the manufacturer and ask if they allow warranty service from an approved list of authorized service centers. Ask if you could have a current copy of the list. For me, the coach rarely breaks when at home. Most of my service is needed while on the road.