Why Is It So Hard To Buy A New RV?

[John&Genny]

As you can see from our signature below, the wife and I have a 2017 Avalanche and we have never had any major problems. I've had to do normal DIY maintenance plus change out one of the AC units and water pump. But we both feel that we are at the point of our lives that we need to buy a new RV that will last another 7 years or so before we hang it up. I'm sure more and more things will break in the 2017, so it's time for an upgrade.

The problem is buying exactly what you want is getting to be a major PITA. For example. we had our heart set on a new 2024 Alpine 3011CK. We both really like the floorplan and the amenities that rig had to offer. So we did a dealer search and found that the only dealer even remotely close to us was a dealer in Yakima, WA. or Camping World in southern Idaho. Nothing at all in the Spokane area. That last time we shopped for our RV, it wasn't a problem, many of the local dealers carried the Alpine brand. Not anymore. Seems they either want to sell the mid tier (Cougar), or high end (Montana), but nothing in between.

So the next option was a Jayco North Point 340CKTS. Very similar to the Alpine, and a great brand. Guess what? Same damn problem. The local dealers are CW or Blue Compass RV, both non-options because of their BBB ratings for service.

So now we are seeing what we can find in a Grand Design Solitude. But again, we are running into a roadblock of not finding any local dealers.

I've never had so much trouble spending money in my life You say, "Here, take my money!!" and either nobody can, or you wouldn't want to give it to some dealers.

I told the wife that I should start up an RV business where you could order online exactly what you want, at a decent price, have a good local service centers, and you would put everyone else out of business.

Anyway, that's my rant for this week

[NH_Bulldog]

We looked everywhere for our future RV, including many out of state dealers since no one within 800 miles had in stock what we were looking for. In the end, we contacted a local dealer, asked if they could order what we wanted, exactly how we wanted it.

As it turns out, their price was even better (by thousands) than the far away dealers (who said they had unbeatable prices) and I didn’t have to have it shipped nor did I have to make a 1,600 mile round trip to pick it up. Yes, there is an 8 week wait to have it built and delivered, but (fingers crossed) we should have it in our driveway before the end of April. Since we don’t typically set out on our first trips until mid-May, the timing is good.

There are a lot of incentives right now and with shows going on everywhere, the wait is only going to get longer for ordered units. There are a lot of deals on 2023 models. If you can find a 2024 version of the model you want, don’t expect any great deals. If you haven’t done it, I would start working the phone and find a (local) dealer who can order you what you want

[AnnaMikk]

Bretts Rv Just opened for sales in Liberty Lake. We purchased our 2023 Fuzion 430 from the store in Missoula and so far they have be awesome. The service dept is due to open in July. Give Bretts a try Family owned.

[sourdough]

I would echo what Rob said about discounts. It may take some looking, and probably compromise, to find something that would work but I was just looking online a couple of days ago at a dealership about 2 1/2 hours from me trying to get rid of 23s - at 49-50% discounts. I suspect those won't be there today.

Ordering would be another option is that's something you wanted to do. I was in the same boat when I bought this one but did not want to wait to order one. It was just before covid so there were options out there and the MHC checked most of the boxes so I went with it. I did have the benefit of being on the E coast negotiating as well as doing the same with my regular dealer so could compare not only pricing but model variations on the E vs W models. After batting their proposals back and forth I got the best the FL dealer could offer, scanned it to the dealer in TX and told him (GM) if he could give me a better deal (should have put a monetary value on that) I would buy from him. He sent me his proposal back beating their offer.....by FIVE DOLLARS! I called him and told him I expected more and he said "you said beat it and I did". I told him that's what I said so I'd buy it. He then added they were throwing in the washer/dryer at 1/2 cost.... I smiled.

[John&Genny]

Bulldog, the problem with us is that nobody in this area has a license to sell Alpine, JayCo North Point, or GD Solitude in this area except CW or Blue Compass. And I have a big hesitation ordering from them because of their reputation. Actually we did order our Avalanche from a dealer about 120 miles away, so we have gone through the ordering process before. The problem was having it serviced at their location as it's a bit of a drive. Fortunately there were not any major issues that needed to be fixed. Just some initial warranty repairs after the sale.

AnnaMikk: Actually we went out to Bretts and looked at a Brinkley Z 3100. I'll have to say that it's one of the best built RV's I've ever seen, and that includes Montana and others. Problem is that it's only 96" wide and slopes down in the back making it seem smaller. Our Avalanche is 100" wide and you notice the difference.

Right now they don't have much in the way of inventory but it looks like they are expanding quickly. We will keep an eye out for what they have to offer.

sourdough: Believe me, we are not adverse to ordering a new RV from a dealer that's not local as that is how we purchased our Avalanche. However, as we both know, many times if you want it serviced, you almost must take it back to the original dealer. If you try to get serviced by a dealer and you didn't buy the RV from them, they will put you on the bottom of the list, IF they will take you at all. So buying from someone just 2 or 3 hours away is a possibility, but I would much rather prefer buying locally if I could.

[peanut]

When we upgraded to our 24RDS we had definite opinions on how we wanted it equipped. I used the "Find a Dealer" button on the Keystone website to search dealers, state by state. I spent several weeks doing that and found exactly three trailers that met our wants west of the Mississippi. The nearest was 300 miles away, the furthest 1500 miles away.

I made a serious offer on the one 1500 miles away but the dealership was slow to respond to emails and didn't seem anxious to work with me. We ended up getting our trailer from the dealer 300 miles away. More money but the dealership was responsive and easy to work with.

When you want what you want, you have to do what you have to do.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by John&Genny

sourdough: Believe me, we are not adverse to ordering a new RV from a dealer that's not local as that is how we purchased our Avalanche. However, as we both know, many times if you want it serviced, you almost must take it back to the original dealer. If you try to get serviced by a dealer and you didn't buy the RV from them, they will put you on the bottom of the list, IF they will take you at all. So buying from someone just 2 or 3 hours away is a possibility, but I would much rather prefer buying locally if I could.

A very good point. It's the reason I won't buy from a location far away. I know the situations you describe exist all over the place and had a Grand Design dealer tell me up front when looking at a Solitude that they absolutely would not work on anything they didn't sell (was looking in FL and talking back to the GD dealer in TX) - that can be a huge issue. When I had fraying on with the darco on this unit I insisted on replacing the entire bottoms of the slides with uhmw and Keystone agreed to do it. I could not have done that alone and certainly not the way they did it. I was able to leave it and check on it at least once and usually twice a week to make sure things were being done like I wanted. You can't do that with a dealer across the country and you can't if a dealer doesn't go to bat for you.....and if they didn't sell it to you their not going to bat for you so they can get a job that pays less (warranty rates) than every other repair job coming in.

[Ibdagriz]

The 2017 you have is probably built better than anything you'll buy new today. There's been lots of shoddy workmanship lately in the industry.

Griz

[dutchmensport]

Why Is It So Hard To Buy A New RV?

Answer!

The older you get the more picky you get because of your years of experience and life of hard knock disappointments!

That's OK to be picky! Take your time. You'll find your perfect match! Keep looking.

[Canonman]

You might try giving the Keystone/Alpine customer support folks a call. Ask for the product rep's email or contact info. You want to buy, they want to sell. The rep can usually put you in touch with a dealer that either has the model you're looking for of will know what dealers have one on order. Pretty sure the same for Jayco.
Manufacturer can ship to any authorized dealer if you have a dealer preference.
You're a return customer, they like to hear that. You have the money to make the purchase and they really like to hear that!!
I'm sure the manufacturer rep can steer you in the right direction.
Good Luck

[GlasNav]

Originally Posted by dutchmensport

The older you get the more picky you get because of your years of experience and life of hard knock disappointments!

That's OK to be picky! Take your time. You'll find your perfect match! Keep looking.

Agreed, that's called experience, and it can't be taught, it has to be acquired over time!

Now if you keep repeating the same process expecting a different out come, that is the definition of...... Well, I assume everyone knows the answer!

[zachbon]

I live in Chesapeake VA and no one in the local area carried the Keystone Cougar... so I found a floor plan we really liked and I ordered it from Birch Run, MI in 2019. They delivered the Cougar to my house and I was camping that evening near Powhatan VA. Turns out, there is a Keystone dealer now located about 20 miles from our house. They do all my routine inspections. Perhaps you might want to consider ordering on line as long as your rig can be worked/warranted within a reasonable distance.

[NH_Bulldog]

Some people report that if they buy from out of the area, their local dealer refuses to service the unit, or at least makes the process miserable enough that they go somewhere else.

My personal experience from buying out of state is not at all like that. We drove 750 miles to pick up our Passport, and during the delivery we found some warranty issues. The selling dealer found an approved warranty shop local to me, called them, made all the arrangements, had parts shipped to them and they took great care of me. I have since used our local dealer for all our warranty and service work and never had an issue.

Our experience was so good we went to them to order our new Cougar and again they exceeded our expectations in price, customer service, and communication.

You have to ask yourself; if a dealer isn’t interested in you as a current customer, why would you ever consider buying from them in the future?

[sourdough]

There are all kinds of dealers; individually owned, corporate owned etc. They all have their rules/priorities. The shops I've talked to personally about working on trailers they didn't sell and they would refuse have nearly all been individually owned - there may have been one that was a regional chain. Others have different rules for those situations. I know I was told by 2 dealers and corporate that CW honors a trailer warranty purchased from them at any CW location which makes it handy. I believe there are some others with that same policy.

As far as a non selling dealer doing warranty work on a trailer they didn't sell I suspect it would depend on their work load (or owner/corporate policy). If they have backed up repair orders they are fixing at $175hr., or warranty work they need to do on trailers they sold, why would they take in warranty repairs for someone they don't know? They then have to fight with the manufacturer to get approval for work (sometimes multiple, multiple go rounds with them), get approval for reduced hours then get paid $125 hr vs $175 hr? I understand those that won't do it although it can be a huge inconvenience for those caught in the middle.

[flybouy]

Every vehicle, camper, or boat we've ever bought from a dealer I have used the same logic. I make a statement to the salesman and the service manager that the salesman will sell me the first one and the service dept will sell me the second one.