Buying a rig from out of town????

[easdsa]

We researched for a couple of years before getting down to a short list of coaches. One was only a couple hundred miles away, and all the rest were closer to 1000, so we decided to go visit the closest one first. Jo Ann agreed to go, but insisted that we weren't going to buy it. We spent several hours looking at the coach and talking to the owners. On the way home Jo Ann said, "I'm unhappy." I asked why, and she said, "I didn't want to like it, and I do." We talked all the way home and for the next couple of days. A few days later we called the sellers and made an offer. It took all of two seconds for them to accept our offer. We mailed a deposit the next day and made arrangements to get the coach a couple of weeks later, when I had a day off.

On the appointed weekend we had a bank check (cashier's check) for the balance. We drove down on Friday and spent the night in the coach, then headed home the next morning. We had printed out a bill of sale from the MO Dept of Revenue website, and the seller had the title ready. We still hear from them.

The only hiccup in the process was that the seller had a hidden problem with the title. Unknown to them, the State of Oklahoma had issued a second title, but the sellers didn't have it. They had the original one, which they gave us. When we went to register our coach we were rejected because we didn't have the right title. A quick phone call to the seller and they found out what had happened. They got the correct title printed out and overnighted it to us.

I think what helped is was doing our research in advance. I'm active on the Foretravel forum, and was long before we bought. Someone on the forum knew the coach, which helped. I don't know about other brands, but both Foretravel and Wanderlodge have owners who are willing to check out a coach for someone who is at a distance from the coach in question. Newell has a small enough group that someone on the group will know the coach.

[Notlad]

Great thread. I am about five years away from retiring and doing research with the thought of buying our first motorhome with the time comes. This is all great information.

[ga traveler]

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

This would be an extremely bad business practice on a shop that depends on loyalty and repeat customers. To turn away any business sets a reputation for the shop in the community of RV owners. You might point that out to anyone that does as you describe.

In the world of Mary Poppins you may be right. In the real world, you are not even close. When it comes to factory warranty work, you are lucky to break even. We were a Fleetwood dealer. I have a Pace Arrow. I love Fleetwood products. I hate to work on a Fleetwood product that is under warranty. They always cut your bill in half.
I had a picture on my desk of a customer of ours that was taking the keys to his 23rd motorhome. Do you really think I would schedule him behind a person who was not a customer.
We worked on coach's that we did not sell. They were NOT top priority. That is just real life.

[flaggship1]

It looks to me like the best advice for full timers, and anyone who plans to travel with regularity is to buy your coach anywhere you please - get the best price and find Mobile RV techs who work with ESPs. And run to the factory with issues.

Fleetwood (and others) will tell you any Authorized Fleetwood Sales / Service will work with you. We have now pulled the wool from over our eyes and know that's Mary Poppins thinking.

Let the guys with enough business to turn it away, keep their inventory, and get on the road. I wonder if these guys will give us a deep deep discount on sales price since we won't be costing them anything with warranty work or tying up their bays???

Merry Christmas to all!

[BFlinn181]

Originally Posted by ga traveler

In the world of Mary Poppins you may be right. In the real world, you are not even close. When it comes to factory warranty work, you are lucky to break even. We were a Fleetwood dealer. I have a Pace Arrow. I love Fleetwood products. I hate to work on a Fleetwood product that is under warranty. They always cut your bill in half.
I had a picture on my desk of a customer of ours that was taking the keys to his 23rd motorhome. Do you really think I would schedule him behind a person who was not a customer.
We worked on coach's that we did not sell. They were NOT top priority. That is just real life.

Mary Poppins was a fictional story set in 1910 London, not sure they had a recreational vehicle industry then. I'd never buy a brand new RV because of the horror stories of how much repair work they need right off the assembly line.

I spent time driving a roach coach that visited the various trailer and mobile home manufacturers and their suppliers in and about Elkhart, IN for a couple of years after high school. I saw and heard tales of the sloppy methods of throwing them together, workers jumping from one brand to the next for a raise in pay or hours. Workers say a lot during their coffee breaks, which is why I was visiting their shop to begin with. From 1968 to 1970, each summer and college break I worked for a caterer that went from 6 routes to more than 28 routes in that period. I'd go and collect the new trucks from the manufacturer in Chicago and bring them to Elkhart, go knocking on doors, build a route that we'd then sell to a driver, then off to Chicago for the next truck. I built routes from Mishawaka to Middlebury, Elkhart to Nappanee. I met and dealt with many of the office staff, line workers, but you know, I never met a quality control officer or unit inspector.

Seems that job was and still is left to the first person to lay out the full retail price for the new unit. Sadly the U.S. auto industry was trying the same strategy about that same time and had their butts handed to them by the quality of cars coming from overseas. The auto industry learned, but the RV industry has not had overseas competition because of shipping costs.

I'd never buy a new RV, the cost and hassles of dealing with under-paid warranty repairs or having to spend months without while the unit is being 'corrected' back where it should have been done right the first time. I suspect the slow pace of warranty repairs is to allow the clock to run out before all the mistakes are found.

For me, a gently used unit, out of original warranty is just fine. Let the first owners do the quality control and repair. They can take the huge depreciation hit. When they want the next new thing off the assembly line, I'll buy theirs at a better price with most of the factory errors repaired. I won't have to worry about under-paid warranty compensation for the service department or my 'new' vehicle having to make trips back to the factory for repairs.

Now that's Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!!

Merry Christmas!

[vapor3000]

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

Mary Poppins was a fictional story set in 1910 London, not sure they had a recreational vehicle industry then. I'd never buy a brand new RV because of the horror stories of how much repair work they need right off the assembly line.

I spent time driving a roach coach that visited the various trailer and mobile home manufacturers and their suppliers in and about Elkhart, IN for a couple of years after high school. I saw and heard tales of the sloppy methods of throwing them together, workers jumping from one brand to the next for a raise in pay or hours. Workers say a lot during their coffee breaks, which is why I was visiting their shop to begin with. From 1968 to 1970, each summer and college break I worked for a caterer that went from 6 routes to more than 28 routes in that period. I'd go and collect the new trucks from the manufacturer in Chicago and bring them to Elkhart, go knocking on doors, build a route that we'd then sell to a driver, then off to Chicago for the next truck. I built routes from Mishawaka to Middlebury, Elkhart to Nappanee. I met and dealt with many of the office staff, line workers, but you know, I never met a quality control officer or unit inspector.

Seems that job was and still is left to the first person to lay out the full retail price for the new unit. Sadly the U.S. auto industry was trying the same strategy about that same time and had their butts handed to them by the quality of cars coming from overseas. The auto industry learned, but the RV industry has not had overseas competition because of shipping costs.

I'd never buy a new RV, the cost and hassles of dealing with under-paid warranty repairs or having to spend months without while the unit is being 'corrected' back where it should have been done right the first time. I suspect the slow pace of warranty repairs is to allow the clock to run out before all the mistakes are found.

For me, a gently used unit, out of original warranty is just fine. Let the first owners do the quality control and repair. They can take the huge depreciation hit. When they want the next new thing off the assembly line, I'll buy theirs at a better price with most of the factory errors repaired. I won't have to worry about under-paid warranty compensation for the service department or my 'new' vehicle having to make trips back to the factory for repairs.

Now that's Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!!

Merry Christmas!

Amen!!!