The tricks and games by sales people or dealers when buying a RV

[Neal]

I regrettably remember my buying experience and of course at one of the worst dealers on the east coast. My buy was an impulse buy and I am fortunate I had a good salesman and ended up in a good product. However when it came time to sit down with the gal to do the paperwork and sign the documents and get barraged with suggestions for warranties etc. that's where things went downhill and I made mistakes. I was obviously lied to about things given impressions of what coverages were and as of course nothing is recorded I am simply humiliated in the end, or taken advantage of in the process as this experience is an expert at whether an RV or automobile of any type. Hence this thread to share experiences so others can be better educated when their turn comes to sit in that chair and sign away and think the person telling you things is telling you the truth.

Gap coverage, something I got and it's okay, probably worth it, but it was presented as I would get a new RV of the same type should something happen to mine. Those that know what gap coverage is and I learned later, that is NOT what this coverage is.

Tire warranty. Something stupid I paid for, it's for 5 years and I think I paid $850 for it. A tire costs less than this and a tire has a warranty meeting or exceeding this. I was had on this one! And then we'll see what happens should I ever get to use it. It's through Good Sam, so we'll see. I have a valve stem issue so I scanned this document into my dropbox account to have on hand should I need it while traveling.

Paint protection: I paid $1800 for this I think and then went to FPU and Newmar said DO NOT DO THIS! There was actually a coach 5 doors down from my in the building getting serviced to correct the issues caused by paint protection, over $5000 being spent to fix their paint. I was fortunate to email my dealer from Newmar that Newmar Paint said this was not to be done and I was refunded. This is yet another scam.

I feel foolish but I learned. Share what you've learned in the RV purchasing process, new or used, so we can all learn from each others' experiences.

 

[BGMAC]

They did the same for me and I did get the extra insurances for different things, but when I got home and really looked at it found it was not worth what I was paying for. I had 60 days to back out which I did a week or so after my purchase. It took about 90 days to get my money back mostly because of the slow paperwork process of the dealer.

 

[AbdRahim]

Indeed. I did all of that on my first MH, as well. The paint protection turned out ok, I guess. The extended warranty, almost $7,000 - Phooey. Don't know if they reimbursed FR - it had to go back to the factory for major work, including repainting. If not, I could have saved the money.

My plan i the future is to forgo all this stuff and only pay for necessary repairs. Heck $7,000 could buy a whole new engine, and could have been earning money until needed.

In this industry all is a gamble. I was fortunate. I have heard of people replace their A/C three times in the first few years of ownership, and we have all heard other horror stories.

Unfortunately, I have even gotten smoke from folks in buying the Newmar. It is said that they fixed the loosing slide motor bolt problem, yet at Quartzite they found 202's with the problem. The sales person told me they haven't seen fogged double pain windows in years, yet on the forums someone had this on a 2017.

There is an old saying -"you put your nickel in and you gets what comes out." It seems to really apply to RV's.

 

[Tip&Tina]

Being complete noobs to RVing when we purchased we were also pressured to get the tire coverage. Never once had a tire problem.

We purchased Coach-Net. That came in handy on our first trip out. Our full slide-out motor failed and we called Coach-Net. They helped guide us through. They actually came through numerous times when we called them. All due to broken stuff that made the MH undrivable and we were stuck at campgrounds.

We got the extended warranty. That, I feel was/is a scam. Total waste of money. LSS, we decided to sell our rig in February after going to Tampa and seeing all the DSDPs; we are going to get a new rig. We got it all cleaned up and opted to let the dealer consign it. It sold in one week. (Did we price it too low...hmmm?) Anyway, right before the COVID lockdown, it's off our minds.

We had ongoing issues with the slides. They never worked right from our first trip out to our last. Always something. And always fighting with the dealer on whether or not the extended warranty would cover the "repair". We still have an outstanding bill we are disputing because they are saying that the extended warranty won't cover the slide repair due to the wording. It's their problem; they did the repairs!!!! Driving us nutz!

We did get lots of money back from the warranty peeps. They prorated it on a daily basis from the day we took delivery. However, never again. We have calculated what we spent and that goes into an account just for RV repairs.

We also had the "shield" stuff on the front go bad. It wasn't Diamond Shield though. Another LSS: We stored it at NIRVC in Atlanta. They crashed the front of it while the valets were moving it. The whole passenger side front was demolished. They admitted it and fixed the front for free. Looked great. Until they put Diamond Shield on and our Canyon Star came from the factory with some cheaper version. When we were looking to sell it and the cleaning of it was an issue, we went to Diamond Shield who said 2017 Canyon Stars don't come with that standard and they can't warranty it. That MH was a never-ending headache.

Ask me why we are looking to purchase another? Do we need our heads examined? I've told the husband we can look at videos to see the country...

 

[Neemer]

Nearly everything I know about buying things with wheels I learned much earlier in life. Whether its a car, truck, or motorhome, the process and pitfalls are the same. The key is to be an informed buyer, be willing to walk away, and know where the closest shower is because you always feel you need one after leaving a dealership.

 

[FL-JOE]

The only thing the paperwork/finance guy at North Trail brought up was ESP products available. He said they had one for "coach only" that excluded engine and tranny. It was the same company that was sending me a refund for the unused portion of the ESP on my trade-in gas coach. So for just a few hundred dollars I could get pretty good coverage on my Newmar for 5 years.

To be honest my North Trail salesmen was totally different than one I dealt with up at Lazy Days (Tampa). North Trail wasn't pushy and knew their products (both Newmar and Tiffin). The guy at Lazy Days was more like someone who just came in from some payday used car lot somewhere.

 

[Jim]

To be honest my North Trail salesmen was totally different than one I dealt with up at Lazy Days (Tampa). North Trail wasn't pushy and knew their products (both Newmar and Tiffin). The guy at Lazy Days was more like someone who just came in from some payday used car lot somewhere.

Yep, I know exactly what you mean.

While enjoying a hot, sweltry weekend at the Shoal Creek Campground last year, I decided to visit the local Camping World and see what they had to offer. Walking in I noticed there were several sales people standing at the door and it was obvious that we weren’t going to look at anything until a salesperson was assigned to us. Ours was a fellow named “Matt”. Matt took us down the hall to his office, had us sit down and then he asked what were we looking for. I told him “Class A”, an older diesel or new(er) V-10.

Then he asked if I was just shopping or if he could make me the proper deal, would I buy it today? I told him yes, I was serious, and it depended on what he has to offer as to whether I’ll be buying today. OK then, if we find something you like, will you be able to put 10K down to hold the coach until I got financing? It was at this point that I got irritated and told him I would be paying cash, no need to finance, so can we please see what he has to offer?

By the time we got to the lot and started looking at RV's, I had already made up my mind that I wasn't going to buy squat from these people.

Next stop, RV World of Georgia. What a difference! We were greeted by a young lady who asked us what we were looking for and then pointed us to that area. All the RV doors were unlocked so we got to go through each unit at our own pace. I found several (older) higher-end MH’s and that was exactly what I was looking for. One, a 2008 Revolution 40’ LE, set particular well with me.

I rounded up a salesperson and asked a gazillion questions, which I got straight answers to. I got their asking price but even after the normal negotiation I’m sure the price will be more than I’m willing to pay. Not that the price is out of line, it’s just not low enough to make me jump ship and write the check. I’m a patient guy and have never acted on an impulse sale. Well, not in a long time anyway.

 

[CoreyinWP]

This one is subtle and not easily noticed.

NIRVC who I believe to be the best dealer around does a little price manipulation on their pending sale units. I have seen this a number of times.

They will have a unit up for sale on their website and rvtrader...lets say a used King Aire for 450K. When a deposit is put down on the unit, the price comes off their website as sold, but they up the price on RVtrader....to 505K (for example). If the deal falls through the price comes right back down.

Just a small manipulation, but I don't think it is totally on the up and up.

 

[fish_fanatic]

Neal, as you know we just purchased our second RV and I have had second thoughts and uneasiness about the purchase. I am feeling better about the purchase not because of the trailer but because of the dealership where we purchased it.

My wife and I visited 6 dealerships before we came to a decision and how we were treated became more important than the product we were buying. My wife fell in love with the Rockwood and the quality was obvious but the Salesman turned her cold as ice. When we visited our Venture dealer she felt like we were being directed in a direction that was best for our family. We were looking at trailers the same weight as the Rockwood when our salesman inquired what our tow vehicle would be. When we told him he stated no way and that at that weight it would be detrimental to the truck and possibly dangerous. Now I have done a lot of towing over the years and I already knew that and this is my way of eliminating unethical dealerships that really couldn't give a hoot about my family and are just out for a sale. What I am getting at is a dealership that is ethical will definitely be better to deal with with warrantee work and other repairs. I think if I have any worth while wisdom for new buyers is do research before you buy to hopefully eliminate some of the bad guys.

Randy