Buying a used Class A from Camping World 900 miles away

My wife and I are looking for our 1st RV.  We have located one that we are very interested in, but it's at a Camping World dealership in Pennsylvania, and we are located in Florida. The specs are great, and it looks great in the pictures, but in the past I have noticed pictures don't tell the full story...  Does anyone have experience with a long distance purchase, especially through a Camping World?  Should I work through my local CW or just call the CW in PA?  I'm assuming I would want this to be checked out by a reputable RV mechanic before finalizing the deal and making the trip.  Any tips on how to find one? 

Any help or advice would be appreciated.  Thanks.

Where in PA?

Harrisburg

I see that allot,, in the spred of 900 miles you probably stumbled over a dozen good deals,,I have always been under the impression that Florida was the best place for deals because so many widows are selling motorhomes when the old man croak's while spending the winter..>>>Dan

I think our biggest issue is we prefer a diesel with a 34' max.  I've found the shorter diesels are not quite as common.  There probably are some near those retirement areas of Florida, but I haven't found any online recently.  No doubt after I purchase one 1000 miles away, the local market will be flooded with them...

If you're really serious about this RV, I'd go and look at it in person before committing any $$ towards a purchase.  Either make the 2 day drive or book a flight and a rental car.  Baltimore, Philadelphia or Pittsburgh might be cheaper than flying into Harrisburg.

I'm with Lou...go look at it in person. In our days of shopping for used RV's we discovered some of them smelled like gramaw Gerty died in them.

And you're right, as soon as you buy one 10 will come on the market at half the price!

Besides, Pennsylvania is a fun place to visit. Get some scrapple while you are there.

I live in Hamburg, Pa., to the east of Harrisburg and my Knowledge about Purchase of RV's is limited.
But, I do have a opinion about "scrapple".
To my taste, Habbersett brand is tasty when it is cut to 1/4 inch thick and fried crisp. I grew up in Philadelphia and even this brand has changed as a result of Governments restrictions.
Most scrapple bought in local restaurants is very bland and the texture is "feature" that varies the most..... They add (provide) Maple syrup to consume it. I compare this to putting Maple syrup on boiled shrimp  ha ha ha, ugh!

Now..., I just complicated buying SCRAPPLE for ya. The point is that one must put effort into an evaluation to buy anything. 


I have purchased 3 TT's always looking in person, BUT, boy did I goof up on first (used) purchase. My satisfaction with purchases got better in time.
I must always repeat over and over.... "I know that I don't Know!" I must put effort into purchase!



Go to our (this web site's library at top of page). Read and reread. Go to past post regarding our members EXPERIENCES. Make a game out of it. List features you are most interested in.... questions will develop and you will ask more questions....
Tires....  How old are they? Most important question..... 
It goes on and on.......
If you have time, search locally by picking RV's you like and then walk thru them while reading items in our sites LIBRARY!  Good Luck!

^X2^on the scrapple! Fried crispy on a sandwich! Haas is the best here in Lower Slower. RAPA, made locally here is second best.
As far as the RV,  I wouldn't drive 9 miles if it was to camping world.

The last long distance unit for me was starting a Camping World in Western Ohio.  Pics looked great, but it was "the rest of the story" that torqued me off.  It was a twelve year old vehicle, and of course the tires were 12 years old.  That added another 2400 before you could drive it off the lot.  I always bring a large piece of cardboard with me when inspecting vehicles and of course the exhaust was shot, another 800!  The good deal fell apart in 5 minutes.  My 3 rules to buying any vehicles- Indpect-Inspect-Inspect.  In between one and two drive it!

There is nothing for it except to go see. Odds are the pictures and ad hyperbole are somewhat short of reality, but as the old saying foes, you have to kiss some toads to find the charming prince.

kdbgoat said:

^X2^on the scrapple! Fried crispy on a sandwich! Haas is the best here in Lower Slower. RAPA, made locally here is second best.
As far as the RV,  I wouldn't drive 9 miles if it was to camping world.

Click to expand...

I know that CW has a poor reputation among some members here (including me on one issue) but don't knock their used coach sales until you know a bit more.  I mean that some of those used coaches are on consignment from their owners and we sold our travel trailer through them for the paltry price of $400 but it took two tries because we chickened out on the first trip.  Brought it to them, left it three days and backed out of the attempt to sell because we decided we could use it more.  They refunded the $400 fee with no questions.  Second time it sold in one day and they even did a bit of minor work on it for the same $400.  I am not renewing my GS membership this year despite being a Charter Member (0052) but I cannot knock every service they have.  However I feel their prices no longer are any better than can be found in many other places.  JMHO

Bill

I looked at Camping World, actually 2 different ones before I bought my TT. What I found about CW, like anyplace, depends on the salesperson, pot-luck, you get.  What I despise about CW is their monkey math, and the prices they post are only if you finance through them, if you have cash, or want to finance offsite, they are not interested in you, hence about a 10% premium, and no negotiation.  PA, Holiday time, they should give you airfare to come look at it, lol. Like Bill N implied and I agree, you couldn't pay me to step foot in CW again.  I found a smaller mom and pop RV center, was and still am delighted with my purchase.

Get an out the door price before investing in this project!

Ernie

Thanks for all the responses and advice so far, and especially for the reality check!  I'm not a fan of the larger chain dealerships that use high pressure car-dealer type tactics and 'monkey math'...  I've experienced before that pictures don't show many of the things that you all mentioned like smells, tire dates, delamination, soft spots, etc. 

I think we were just getting excited that we found something that looked good, checked most of the boxes, and was within budget.  We both still have day jobs, so we'd rather not waste our vacation time just to be disappointed or worse yet, get pressured into buying something we won't be happy with just because we drove so far.  Maybe we'll take some of our weekends to take day trips to the check out some dealers in the retirement areas...  Ideally, I'd rather wait until the first part of next year anyhow.

Thanks again for helping me think this one through. 
Chris

And now that I've found this site, I'll definitely start reading up to better educate myself.

chill63 said:

My wife and I are looking for our 1st RV.  We have located one that we are very interested in, but it's at a Camping World dealership in Pennsylvania, and we are located in Florida. The specs are great, and it looks great in the pictures, but in the past I have noticed pictures don't tell the full story...  Does anyone have experience with a long distance purchase, especially through a Camping World?  Should I work through my local CW or just call the CW in PA?  I'm assuming I would want this to be checked out by a reputable RV mechanic before finalizing the deal and making the trip.  Any tips on how to find one? 

Any help or advice would be appreciated.  Thanks.

Click to expand...

I don't know what you are looking for but have you looked at PPL.com? Hear is one short coach.
https://www.pplmotorhomes.com/used-rvs-for-sale/diesel-motorhomes/2014-thor-palazzo_rv-37560
Or
https://www.pplmotorhomes.com/used-rvs-for-sale/diesel-motorhomes/2011-four-winds-serrano_rv-35841
or
https://www.pplmotorhomes.com/used-rvs-for-sale/diesel-motorhomes/2008-tiffin-allegro-bay_rv-37526
OR
https://www.pplmotorhomes.com/used-rvs-for-sale/diesel-motorhomes/2005-fleetwood-expedition_rv-36169
OR
https://www.pplmotorhomes.com/used-rvs-for-sale/diesel-motorhomes/2004-winnebago-journey_rv-37455
Personally I wouldn't go shorter than 38-40. I think they ride and drive better.Bill

chill63 said:

My wife and I are looking for our 1st RV.  We have located one that we are very interested in, but it's at a Camping World dealership in Pennsylvania, and we are located in Florida. The specs are great, and it looks great in the pictures, but in the past I have noticed pictures don't tell the full story...  Does anyone have experience with a long distance purchase, especially through a Camping World?  Should I work through my local CW or just call the CW in PA?  I'm assuming I would want this to be checked out by a reputable RV mechanic before finalizing the deal and making the trip.  Any tips on how to find one? 

Any help or advice would be appreciated.  Thanks.

Click to expand...

Looks like a decent coach, has about the same floor plan as my Dolphin. I like my floor plan. It does seem to be missing the recliner. Seems to be a pretty good price, just might be worth the trip to check it out. Or CW may take it to a dealer nearer to where you are located. No harm in asking, the most they can say is no.

I would never buy any rv without a complete on site inspection.
I bought my current rv from camping world. I would never buy another rv from that company.
Just my humble opinion.
John, Just outside Tampa

I'm not sure where you have looked on line, but PPL.com is a great site.  100% consignment, easy to navigate web site.  Also look at RVTrader.com,  E Bay, and local dealer web sites.  Some here like Craigs List, too.

ENJOY THE SEARCH!  We pick up our first camper next weekend.  I have been learning on this site for 2 ? years, and looking for the perfect camper for a year.  I found a private seller on RVTrader, 200 miles away, still ln Kentucky.