Community Forums

Winemaker2 · 03-02-2021, 06:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shutterbug57

Or looking at the issue from another perspective, RVs are designed to be mobile. If the Rv owner is traveling the USA and has an issue hundreds or thousands of miles from “home”, why should the RV owner be penalized by the RV dealers (as a group) because he/she is using the product as designed and has an issue in Anytown? All I can say is thank God for the independent repair guy.

I would inquire w factory / mfg to ask if they will approve a mobile tech for warranty work if local dealer won't service in a reasonable time period.
Is returning it to the factory even a possibility? At least for significant warranty problems?
At least w MHs people that full time have no local dealer and rely heavily on mobile techs and a factory visit for major / multi items.

Trapper2022 · 03-02-2021, 06:25 AM

Let’s be honest here most dealers do a poor job repairing RVs. They have techs that know less than us and we pay for them to learn the job. This is fine but if we are dealing with inexperienced techs the rate should be reduced but it never is. Buy where you get the best deal. I saved 10k by driving to Iowa from houston no regrets. When you call Jayco/ Entegra customer service about your local dealer being incompetent they will authorize and or reimburse you for warranty work. Don’t forget Mobil techs are in general smarter and cheaper than taking to dealer and leaving for weeks to get simple fixes. With what I saved I fix all the minor items myself. In 18 months only one issue where I went to dealer in Billings to fix jacks while I was on long road trip. They did great and got me out in an hour. Safe travels save your money for future trips. The price you pay has no bearing on what you get when you sell.

Enjoy the journey

rbev2308 · 03-02-2021, 10:09 AM

I have done this before and doing it again. When I purchased my 2014 5th wheel, the local dealer was a retired navy guy like myself. He told me point blank his cost and the need to make $700 min and that was the deal he gave to all retired military..When I told him I could get the same camper in SC several states away for $8K cheaper, he shook my hand and said I would take that deal. He told me that local buyers would have head of the line privileges for all warranty work and to be prepared for that..I had 2 minor issues that I worked with Keystone on and we resolved over the phone with parts coming to my house. Same issue I am facing now, purchasing a Class C, my home state has no inventory and what they do have on the way, we are several grand away in pricing..So I purchased from out of state..Good thing is the out of state dealer is part of a big conglomerate and I have 3 of their dealerships within 2 hours of me I can get work done..Me personally, If I can fix, I will do just to save the hassle. If its going to cost me a ton, then I try and work things out with the MFR before I commit to leaving somewhere..if you are someone who does not desire to do anything to the camper, I would then recommend buying local just for the satisfaction of service but I have learned not all service people actually have a clue what they are doing.....

twogypsies · 03-02-2021, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shutterbug57

Or looking at the issue from another perspective, RVs are designed to be mobile. If the Rv owner is traveling the USA and has an issue hundreds or thousands of miles from “home”, why should the RV owner be penalized by the RV dealers (as a group) because he/she is using the product as designed and has an issue in Anytown? All I can say is thank God for the independent repair guy.

From a full-timer's perspective.... we're always traveling. There are millions of full-timer's out there. How do you think they get service? If you're traveling you're not going to be told that they'll get to it in 6 months.

We bought in Oregon and never returned to the dealer. If the facility knows you're traveling they'll get to the problem right away. It's when they know you live down the street that they put you at the end of the line thinking you don't need it right away.

IC2 · 03-03-2021, 06:04 AM

The two local dealers don't sell the Montana model we own so we traveled some to purchase. While our 5th wheel is now well out of warranty, the selling dealer is over 150 miles away. It has gone back only one time for warranty work. That trip was costly in both wasted time and fuel expense and worse, he only did about half the work correctly. Granted that incorrect 50 percent of the work wasn't much and I did it in a day or two and probably 4-6 hours with much of it learning curve. It did make me realize that a day to take the unit, the several weeks time there then another day to retrieve it was not fun and that I could do virtually anything myself.

If you can, buy local. If not, be prepared to either spend some time and dollars and either make a trip back to the seller or learn the ins and outs of RVing with your own tools.

Av8Chuck · 03-03-2021, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shutterbug57

All I can say is thank God for the independent repair guy.

Is there some sort of directory or listing of independent repair guys?

Reading through this thread is kind of appalling. We just purchased our trailer and I just assumed its like buying a car and you could get it serviced at any dealership. In most car dealerships service revenue is separate from sales revenue. Any dealership that doesn't service an RV because the customer didn't purchase it there deserves to go out of business.

Atlee · 03-04-2021, 10:08 AM

Unfortunately, dealers do what dealers want to do.

Sometimes dealers far away will help you out when on the road. When I had my new Jayco 23RB, I was in Idaho when the bathroom faucet began to leak badly. Bish's RV Supercenter in Idaho Falls agreed to fit me in since I was passing. Turned out the water connection to the faucet had been cross threaded at the factory. Bish's put in a new faucet, and sent me on my way. All was on Jayco's dime, under warranty.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Av8Chuck

Is there some sort of directory or listing of independent repair guys?

Reading through this thread is kind of appalling. We just purchased our trailer and I just assumed its like buying a car and you could get it serviced at any dealership. In most car dealerships service revenue is separate from sales revenue. Any dealership that doesn't service an RV because the customer didn't purchase it there deserves to go out of business.

**NLOVNIT** · 03-04-2021, 11:43 AM

I wonder, are dealerships more willing to accommodate full-timers than weekend warriors? It's obvious full-timers don't always have the option to go back to their purchasing dealer or even the factory. Plus it's their home, they can't be left hanging for weeks or months on end without their home.

jfskeet · 03-11-2021, 01:36 PM

As some has posted about service, Our dealer always puts RV's they sold at the head of the line. I was in my service manager office one time when a person called in about service and they told him we out out to 4 weeks. I just got a appointment 2 days before, So it does help to buy local.

taylorbob1 · 03-11-2021, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfskeet

As some has posted about service, Our dealer always puts RV's they sold at the head of the line. I was in my service manager office one time when a person called in about service and they told him we out out to 4 weeks. I just got a appointment 2 days before, So it does help to buy local.

Good point.
I purchased abt 250 miles away because the 5-6 closer dealers either didn’t have exactly what I wanted or the cost was considerably higher.

That said...shortly after the purchase, I called the local dealer service dept abt warranty work.
His first question was...”did you purchase your RV from us?”
I said “No”
He told me that they are too busy to work on RVs that he did not sell.
He even said...”too many owners purchase their RV elsewhere at a lower price, then try to get me to do the warranty work”

So at that time, that dealership refused to perform warranty work on rigs they did not sell.

SacRV · 03-11-2021, 01:58 PM

We live in California and special ordered our trailer from a dealer in Illinois. Simply put, the closer to the manufacturer the lower your price will be. The trailer we purchased was $60k OTD, if we bought it here in CA it would have been $78k.

I got quotes from about a dozen dealers between here and there. The dealer in Illinois wasn't the cheapest, but I felt they were the most trustworthy and I was right. We had very good communications throughout the entire purchase.

Now granted there were a couple of other expenses associated with buying out of state. One is we hired a NRVIA inspector to inspect the trailer on our behalf for $500 and we spent $3k to have it transported to us here. So our next savings was a little under $15k buying out of state.

I think it only really makes sense on higher priced RV's and/or you're willing to transport it yourself.

JJones84676 · 03-12-2021, 07:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teamfoxy

Most people that I know have problems getting warranty service from anyone, including the dealer they bought it from. Ask if you can get factory authorization to have a mobile tech guy work on your issues. Be prepared to pay the tech yourself and wait a while for reimbursment.

This is great advice.
Even the local dealer we purchased our last rig from was months out on warranty work.

AJMike · 03-12-2021, 09:42 AM

Our local dealer, who sold us our RV, has such a long wait time for service that I just gave up even trying to get into their shop and now I just use one of the local RV service shops for my work.

I bought a 3rd party Warranty when I bought the RV and even though the deductible is less through the dealer ($50 for the dealer, $100 for all other shops) I just decided that the hassle of trying to save $50 was not worth it. I just let the local shop handle service and consider myself ahead, feeling that the lower stress is worth the $50 difference.

If I bought another RV I would consider doing that for warranty work as well if possible, if not, trying to get authorization from the manufacturer to do it. I am just unwilling to put my RV out of use for 3-4 months because the local dealer has too many RVs to service.

Atlee · 03-12-2021, 02:00 PM

That's great, but what if the local store doesn't have what you want and it would be 4 to 6 months before your model would be available? Why should you be penalized in that case.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfskeet

As some has posted about service, Our dealer always puts RV's they sold at the head of the line. I was in my service manager office one time when a person called in about service and they told him we out out to 4 weeks. I just got a appointment 2 days before, So it does help to buy local.