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My two cents:
I own currently own a 35' and a 45' coach. Before I purchased the first one, I spent more than a year shopping and learned very quickly that the level of instruction provided at the dealers I visited were minimal. Yes, they want to sell you a coach and it's not uncommon for them to say they are easy to drive...swing wide and leave room to stop.
While I didn't purchase either of these from Lazy Days, I did attend their classes and they are worthwhile and priced reasonably. There's no sales pressure and the information picked up in that class is organized and insightful. The day ends with the group driving a motorhome around their campus and while it's not enough to get anyone ready for various situations, it's a great start. It's a shame that more dealers don't offer these types of programs.
A few months later, I rented a RV from Lazy Days and hired a local instructor for two days to get some parking lot and road time. We even went to a campground so that I could learn the basics of pulling and backing into a tight spot and connecting to the hookups. It was also helpful learning the basics of the various systems. While every motorhome operates differently, there's enough similarities to give a basic understanding of how things work.
When I found the 45' coach, before I submitted the contract I hired and inspector to do a PDI and while the coach was in good shape, it allowed me to buy in confidence. After the dealer completed the delivery and walkthrough, that same inspector spent two days going through everything on the coach and it was much more detailed than what I learned from the dealer. He even spent time with me behind the wheel to make sure I was comfortable operating the coach on the road and in some tight parking situations. I consider this money and time well spent and I wrote the purchase check with confidence that I was getting a quality coach.
Personally I think it's sad that more dealers don't offer more new driver training programs. Yes, there's individuals who will teach you how to drive if you already own a coach, but there's really no place for a newbie to go to learn to drive before making the purchase decision. It's for that reason that when I seen a new motorhome on the road with a temporary tag, I keep as much space as possible between us.
While I'm sure others may disagree, it's my opinion there should be a mandatory level of training before a dealer can hand over the keys to a new buyer.
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