Has Anyone Purchased from PPL in Texas

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KandT

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Just looking online they seem like quite a professional outfit. However, I would say their inspection leaves a little to be desired.  I would be much more interested in an oil analysis (was it changed ever) or transmission comments from a professional than did the air conditioner get cold.  I kinda got that one down. :eek:

Nonetheless, their prices seem fair and they don't seem out to sneak anything in BUT then again I haven't been there....

Any comments from in person shoppers or buyers or sellers would be much appreciated!!!!!!
 
I bought my current motor home through them, and sold my old one through them. I was very pleased with both transactions.
I dealt with the Houston lot.
 
PPL is mostly a consignment dealer... i.e. they sell other people's RV's on their lot, who don't want to advertise/sell themselves.  So I'd be surprised if they do much in the way of mechanical guarantees or analysis on those units (the consignments).  But they probably offer some of those services for a fee, since according to their website they are a full service dealership also.
 
malexander said:
I bought my current motor home through them, and sold my old one through them. I was very pleased with both transactions.
I dealt with the Houston lot.

Thanks - Must have been fair both ways.
 
We sold a TT through them in 2013.  Our experience was positive and would use them again.
 
I purchased a 2007 Phaeton there two years ago.  Mostly positive experience.  Do your own inspection.  I paid for their inspection which stated they check for all leaks.  My coach had leaked and rotted out the floor under the tanks, a condition called wet bay by Tiffin and well known to them.  PPL's inspection failed to find this.  It took a conversation with the president of PPL to get them to repair the flooring with me paying half.  They charged about twice what the work was worth.  Numbers are amazing.  Other than that the deal was handled very well.  they charge 10% to sell  vehicle.  I would use them again, just be more careful. I was a first time bukyer.



Dee
 
I have purchased 2 RV's and sold 3 RV's though PPL and have been pleased with their service, except for the inspection process they sell you. 

They have a list of what they inspect and it pretty much covers the RV components.  The inspection is a "did it work?  Yep. It must be good."  They don't go into looking for water damage.  I'm not talking about obvious damage, but taking 30 minutes to an hour to tap on all walls, floors, inside closets, behind drawers, to see if there are stains or soft spots.  They also don't check the water heater to see if it works on elect, only on propane.  No engine/chassis inspection.  They don't note that the tires have a date code of 7-10 years ago.  They do note if the tires have dry rot, but if they look good, that's it.

Bottom line, spend 4-6 hours doing your own inspection or hire someone to do it.  Do note though, that you can spend as much time as you want inspecting everything which does not require battery, propane or AC power to inspect.  You sign in at the desk when you arrive at PPL and then spend all day looking at RV's w/o anyone bothering you or trying to sell you something. 

For the seller, PPL does all the paperwork and dealing with the money part.  The buyer and seller never meet, or talk. 

You will find that the majority of the RV's are under $100K, most being under $30K to $50K.  Partly I suspect because of the 10% consignment fee.  People tend to balk at paying PPL $15,000 to sell a $150,000 rig.  PPL doesn't do anything additional for the $15,000 fee than for the $3000 fee. I have often wondered why they don't have a sliding scale for expensive rigs.  However with the shear number of units they move they don't need the business.  Their lots are crammed with RV's. 
 
I have been to the Houston location several times mainly looking at TT and one time to inspect a MH. A person I met on line was interested in a MH in the $30K range and just about ready to buy it sight unseen and fly down to get it.  It showed well in the pics but after looking at it in person it was pretty rough and the slide was rotted out. 

The pictures are often far better than the rig actually is.  I have seen rigs that are listed as very good condition that I was able to put my hand through the floor so expect to find water damage not just at PPL but anywhere you look at RV's.

I can see how sellers of terrible RV's would utilize a place like PPL and I can see how a person could take a perfectly good RV in there. I would say that you can get a decent rv there but you might have to be near there so you can go in often to keep checking out what comes in.  That's really no different than shopping locally because you can drive 60 miles from home to look at the supposedly "pristine" rig only to find that the seller is just another liar.  On your way home from looking at that rig you can also stumble on a real beauty on the side of the road.

I'm no expert but I have looked at at least 200 TT and FW and find it amazing how many have water damage. I find it most amazing how many are stilling on dealer lots with sales people telling me that they have been inspected and ready to go and the ladder is ripped loose of the roof because the whole corner of the roof is rotted out. I believe their sales tactic is that if you buy one of those and return it soon they will be more than happy to take it back and sell you a new one.

My son in Houston and I couldn't find a dry one last winter but did settle on one with minor water damage because it was exactly the floor plan and cheap. I looked at it 3 different times and probably spent 6 hours crawling around it to be sure the damage was contained to the area we suspected. I was pretty confident in my inspection but was still not sure until I opened it up. From everything I have looked at I would say that finding one that has reasonably easy water damage repair is very rare.

I would say that finding a very nice RV at PPL is possible but I would also say  that if I wanted to get rid of a bad one a place like PPL is a good option.  You will read it over and over about RV's and water damage but you still see it often on forums where people have bought them and have now have several thousands of dollars in repair or basically scrap. Be very careful, I'm confident enough to say that you would have have a hard time getting a water damaged RV past me but I would also say that I have had a couple close calls that surprised me.

One of the early on rigs that son and DIL loved and put a deposit on was a 2013 Open Range 35 ft TT at a big dealer west of Houston on I10. He looked it over then I went to look closer. It looked great until I found one small piece of trim in the bedroom front cabinet that was just slightly loose and out of place. My son and I returned again and he pulled the trim off and put his finger through the wall board to find black slime. So much for their thorough  inspection.  We both laughed when he then told me that there was a Cedar Creek at PPL but I went down there to look anyway and sure enough a corner basement compartment was severely water damaged. While walking through the lot I noticed an Open Range 2013 almost the same floor plan. I went straight to the same bedroom cabinet and found a much worse hole than the last one. Because the roofs looked to be in such good shape my guess was a leak around the ac unit.  Sorry to post so much  but it's just heart breaking to read some of the horror stories when people are so excited to live their dreams with an RV.

Good luck to you and be careful.
 
All good advice above. The key is to remember you are buying "as is" from a private seller, not from PPL itself. PPL doesn't guarantee anything or fix anything on their own - only the private owner/seller can do that.  If you want a more thorough inspection, arrange for it with a professional RV inspector. If you feel some items on the RV need to be repaired, either be prepared to pay for them yourself or make a proposal that PPL can take back to the seller, i.e. "I will pay $xxx for the RV if the seller pays for such-and-such repairs".
 

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