RV Direct?

[Adelrich]

Just wondering if anyone has ever used RV Direct to purchase a pup.  My wife and I are looking at a Rockwood Highwall and they are considerably cheeper than the local dealer and are about 2 1/2 hrs away.

[AustinBoston]

I have no experience with RV Direct, but I would suggest that you think hard about a 5-hour round trip (and usualy, two of them) every time the trailer needs service.

If you can buy from RV Direct and get service from your local dealer, this probably isn't an issue.

Most here will tell you the dealer is more important than the brand.

Austin

[fritz_monroe]

As long as you have a decent Rockwood dealer nearby, why not save a couple bucks?  Nobody ever said you had to have work done by the dealer that sold you the trailer.

[wynot]

Be very careful with an RV superstore-you might save initially, but you will probably pay dearly later.
 
During a period when I was selling RVs, we had a company come on the scene which was killing us (and other dealerships) on their prices, we're talking about maybe $200 over dealer cost, sometimes less than that.
 
These customers would drive out hours to pick up the deals, then hit their local dealerships for warranty claims and service.  It got so bad, that the retail dealerships banded together, and shut down warranty service for RVs bought from this particular company, and informed the RV manufacturer that they would drop their line if it didn't stop.  The threat worked.
 
The deals are coming from the discount dealership because they never expect to have to service warranty repairs or provide extensive loyalty building.
 
Caveat emptor.

[Wild Wild Qwest]

No personal experience with RV Direct either, but we were able to negotiaite a great deal on our Fleetwood Sequoia Highlander. The pop up is wonderful and the dealer has been awesome. They send us gifts, coupons and have been very helpful.

I agree with the others that you may want to check with any other Forest River dealers closer to home on their policy for warranty work and routine maintenance on a unit that was not purchased from them.

Good luck!

[Adelrich]

Thanks for the replies.  We have a Flagstaff dealer near us and we were told that any Forest River dealer could do the warranty work. Not sure if this is true.

[chasd60]

I bought my popup and my hybrid from a dealer 1100 miles from home. Saved about $1800 on the popup and close to $4000 on the hybrid. This dealer did loyalty building by saving me $5800.

My local dealer welcomed the warranty service on the hybrid. He told me he gets paid for that work just like he does for any other work. He also knows, only 1:1000 will travel long distances to buy so it really didn't bother him.

[wynot]

I bought my popup and my hybrid from a dealer 1100 miles from home. Saved about $1800 on the popup and close to $4000 on the hybrid. This dealer did loyalty building by saving me $5800.
 
My local dealer welcomed the warranty service on the hybrid. He told me he gets paid for that work just like he does for any other work. He also knows, only 1:1000 will travel long distances to buy so it really didn't bother him.

I'm sure that depends on the brand as well. The dealership I was at was paid significantly less per hour for warranty work than for service work. Dealerships pay for overhead (facilities, employees, etc.) through their sales markup, and regular service work (not warranty) so they figure it all balances out at the end. Take out the sales markup, and they don't have the cushion. These "overhead" percentages OR hard dollar amounts (dependent on the type and brand) were pulled out long before the sales commission was determined. With over 14 brands, we (sales) were less than keen on selling certain brands or models, where we would watch our commission get destroyed, as commission was the residual amount, but everything else had a minimum amount.
 
I have no doubt that you have "Sales" loyalty to a dealer who saved you money. Probably would be less thrilled with them if you had to use them for warranty and service work. Personally, I enjoyed our sales experience buying our camper (not at the dealer I worked for), but I despised their warranty and service work (and prices).
 
Being on the RV sales side briefly, exposed me to the discounters and the prices we had to compete against. We were finally told to tell the customer point blank, that if they could buy it for that, go there and buy it, and don't waste the time negotiating. Usually, to Chasd60's point, most folks came and bought locally rather than driving for it.
 
Lest anyone get the wrong idea, I am NOT a supporter of what dealerships do, and I have not stepped foot on my former employer's dealership lot since leaving, let alone give them one penny.  I would probably have no problem buying from a discounter, as long as I was certain, that I could get it serviced elseware (by someone other than the discounter).

[chasd60]

The local dealership for RVISION products is very small and doesn't get a ton of service business. Heck, they even close down at the end of October and don't reopen until April. They head south for the winter.

[GeneF]

I purchased my Kiwi from a local dealer. I had purchased a 1990 popup from them several years ago and was very pleased with them.

However, over time they were not the same dealership that I enjoyed doing business with in 1990.

Same owners but they have grown and are not service friendly or customer friendly.

When the warrantee ran out, I went to another Jayco dealer and I have been very pleased with their service and customer relations not to mention that they are $30 less an hour for service.  They treat me like I bought the Kiwi there.

I also had a couple of minor problems while on the road and used two different dealers. Both treated me well and took care of my problems quickly and at a reasonable price.

My point is that I can assume that many dealers will take care of you even if you don't purchase from them.  Seems to me that it would not be good business sense to turn down business when you are charging $95 an hour for labor.  True, the dealer may not get that amount if they are doing warrantee work but down the road, a happy customer will stick with the dealer and end up paying the full hourly rate.

[mike4947]

RV Direct and RV Wholesalers are both just brick and mortar dealerships that have embrassed the internet.

We've had quite a few folks in the extended camping family use them for all types of RV's. You can get their quote and use it for bargining at your local dealers or purchase from them. Both are extermely helpful at finding other sources of warranty service as are the trailer manufacturers if your "local" dealership balks at doing work on units "not purchased from them".