Question Questions before buying.

[FL-JOE]

I have real reasons for staying away from Camping World!

First of all, I have never purchased an RV from Camping World, nor would I ever. There are certain manufacturers that make a specific model just for CW. It is apparently cheaper but CW is so big it can market them and make them attractive to unsuspecting newbies. We have a couple close friends that fell into the CW trap years ago.

I suppose if you found the exact USED travel trailer at some CW and got a really good price it could be okay. I would never purchase any type of extended service plan from them. It has been my experience that they hire anyone off the street to work as service techs and provide them with little or no training.

 

[FL-JOE]

I have questions about purchasing a travel trailer, which is imminent. Pros / cons to new or used. Whether to purchase an extended warranty, and if it’s best to get it from the dealer or a 3rd party? Also, is it advantageous to look for a dealer with many locations throughout country? Thanks!

First off, you can have issues and it doesn't matter if you buy new or used. More times than not you will have less issues is you buy a 2 to 4 year old model compared to a brand new model, but that is not written in stone.

We recently sold one RV and transitioned to another. This is the steps we took and have taken in the past when changing over.

We did a bunch of research online of several manufacturers. In our case we were looking at which manufacturers offered floorplans/models that would fit our needs, then how those manufacturers actually built their units. Once we narrowed it down to a couple manufacturers we dug deeper by visiting owner's forums and other sites to see what their overall quality control record was.

Our next step was deciding what exact model and floorplan we wanted. We had several requirements and several "wants". Once we found a couple floorplans we thought we wanted we located them and toured them in person. Sometimes a floorplan looks great and a perfect "fit" on the computer screen but when you actually walk into it you soon discover it won't work.

Once we found our perfect model and floorplan we simply searched the internet to see what dealers had our unit. We found 3 with the exact interior color we wanted. We drove over 1,100 miles to a Texas dealer to purchase for over 30% off MSRP.

There are two schools of thought on buying from a dealer that far away rather than buying from a dealer close to your home. When you have a warranty issue, like we currently do, you have to find a dealer to take care of it. Believe it or not, that can be difficult. Many dealers will take care of their customers first so sometimes it is hard to get them to even schedule you. Whereas, if you purchase from a local dealer then they will probably take pretty good care of any issues your first year.

Hope some of this helps.

 

[Retired]

I buy private party. RV dealers put on really big markups.

Be careful with private party sales. Most are upside down on a newer unit and just want out of it for what they owe, which is usually more than the value.

If you are looking at 1-2 year old campers, there isnt much difference between new and used price wise at this time. Camper sales are booming. If you find a 1-2-3 year old camper that you like, check the price on the same model that is new. If they are close, you get the manufacturers warranty on a new unit. Beware dealer add-ons, setup fees, paperwork fees ect.

I do not buy warranties. As stated they are a big money maker for both the dealership and the warranty company. They only make money by paying out less than they take in.

As part of the sales pitch they usually show you examples where "Bob" used his warranty and saved thousands on a repair. They dont show you how many claims are denied or how many buyers never filed a claim.