US RV Dealerships

Hi all,

I've looked and looked but can't for the life of me find a section within the forum that has dealer recommendations made by purchasers of RVs.

I'm guessing that this isn't allowed becuase they can't be substantiated and it could be construed as advertising??

I was hoping to find a recommended dealer or dealers in Central Florida.

I'd be happy to receive pms if it's not appropriate to post publicly.

Ta 8)

As a newbie here too I was wondering the same thing. The dealership that I bought my 5'er from has been very good to me from the sale all the way through service needs. I think a dealer like that should be recognized. (Sorry, this one is not in Florida).

Posting here about dealerships is OK, with a few common sense restrictions (see below), although we don't provide a "recommended" list. Individuals here, myself included, occasionally report good and bad experiences with various dealers. I don't have any personal experience with dealers in central Florida.

FWIW our forum rules say:

Attempts To Organize Boycotts
Please do not attempt to use the RV Forum as a platform to organize a boycott against a company. Rants against a manufacturer, dealer, or repair shop for real or perceived mistreatment are generally not acceptable. On the other hand, reports of poor quality products or poor service, giving the circumstances, are generally acceptable.

I am glad to hear that!

I would like to recognize a dealer that has been a joy to buy from and has taken care of my needs in a timely fashion when I needed them. That dealer is Northgate RV Center in Ringgold, GA. They are locate just a few miles south of Chattanooga, TN conveniently off of I-75. They also have other locations but I have not dealt with them personally although I cannot believe that they would be any different.

The purchase was straight forward without any of the "games" many dealers employ to make you think you are getting a better deal than is reality. It really was nice to have someone to deal with that treated me with respect to my common sense and my time.  I have recommended them in the past and will continue to do so.

We have bought our last two coaches from Lazy Days in Seffner (Tampa), FL. They are a huge dealer with a tremendous selection and great prices, though you still have to bargain to get the best offer. After sales service can be spotty, varying from outstanding to mediocre. Overall we have been pretty happy (we went back and bought a second coach there, which I think says it all).

You can email me for more details and even a recommended sales person if you like.

We (regrettably) bought our coach at Garanty RV in Gilroy, CA. At the first pit stop on our maiden voyage another RVer, who saw our GRV plates, knocked on our door and asked about our experience. He listened patiently to my tale of woe, then said "I've bought two coaches from them, similar story to yours, and I won't be buying from them again".

I talked in person with the owner of GRV in Junction City, OR. He thanked me, but offered no consolation prize other than "sorry". When we subsequently walked into Country Coach in JC asking to see coaches and they referred us to Garanty RV down the street, we said "no way".

I understand that the GRV location in Gilroy was subsequently closed.

I spent a lot of time at a number of dealers in the central florida area and bought from North Trail in Fort Myers.  I bought what is called an entry level coach and found they were motivated to sell a good name vehicle at a price I never thought I would get.  Fall is the best time to buy for many reasons.  The sales people and finance people were all very helpful and truthfull.  I studied all the brands for over a year and thought I knew more than the salesmen did at some of the small dealerships on the east coast but I was never told an untruth at North Trail or Lazy Days for that matter.  The service at North Trail has been quick and corrected the problem the first time but thankfully I bought a good product and have not had to use them but once.  I don't hear great things about Lazy Days service but the thing about the internet is people are more likely to complain than to complement so that is why I am responding to your question.  I would go to North Trail first if I ever want to trade up.  I will be happy to give them first shot at my business.  But that is just me.

Denis Shaw
2007 Newmar Baystar 3202

I'm said repeatedly here and in person that our next RV will be bought through DeMartini in Grass Valley, CA. They also have a location in Indiana. I've met Tim DeMartini on a number of occasions, and spent several days at his Grass Valley location earlier this year. This guy is as straight as they come, and he'll usually come out with his best price up front.

Numerous other folks I've talked with, including several friends and forum members, have bought multiple coaches from Tim and all have the same positive story.

I wish I'd bought our current coach from Tim. But, having shopped for a long time, we decided we were buying a coach that day and knew what we wanted. DeMartini was closed on Sunday, so we went to the other place. What a huge mistake.

I worked for Lazy Days until just recently.  I have friends that worked at North Trail.  Not a bad place, but they don't have clout like LD.  Depending on what you are looking for, for instance, if you want an Airstream, neither one will be the place.  If you want a Tiffin, either will work.  I will vouch for any of the LD guys, but if you ask I will recommend one or two that I know will treat you great. 

Now, if you need a toad, come see me.

We bought our MH at Suncoast RV in Cocoa, Florida.  We got a good clearance price on the unit and were satisfied with the dealer.  We did not have much call for after-sale service, though, since we made sure they took care of everything that we knew about before handing them the check. 

Here is a website where users can rate RV dealer service.

KodiakRV said:

Here is a website where users can rate RV dealer service.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the link!!

Don't forget, people liketo vent.  If you are ticked you will look for a place, if happy, you assume that is the way to be for everyone and don't typically post about it.  I looked at the listing and about the only excellents were based on 1 review.  LD has 14 reviews and gets a fair.  I know that their service is not perfect, that at times the techs do things when viewed frm the door seem extremely stupid.  It happens.  But when you also consider that their surveys which are sent to all customers come in with a 95% rating or above, you have to wonder about these rating sites. 

So, read them, but take them with a grain of salt.

I noticed that the Cocoa Suncoast, the dealer got a not so good rating.  Yet, this poster had a great service.

It will all really boil down to what RV (if new) you are looking for.

Good advice Bill.

When I bought my MH new a couple of years ago from a dealership near my home, they seemed very upfront and helpful - after all they wanted my money in a big way.  I asked about resale value during negotiations and the Sales Manager showed me the current Nada guide book which showed a one year old unit selling retail for more than I was about to pay for my brand new one.  I asked him to put it in writing, that should I trade up in a year or two, using their company, I would get at least  20% of  the then current retail price.  The look on his face was priceless...I think his jaw still suffers from gravel rash.  He hemmed and hawed and quickly changed the subject to what a good deal I was getting today.  What he didn't say was what he, or any other dealership,  would pay as a trade in if and when that time came.  They will only offer 'wholesale pricing' irrespective of condition .  Now that might change if I was interested in a rig in the high $200K or greater range, because they have more wiggle room.  Nevertheless, I was recently offered a 'trade-in'  price almost 45% less than my original purchase price at various dealerships.  They just use the industry standard with very little deviation. 

In truth, I expected the depreciation but I didn't expect dealerships to treat me as if I had the plague when potentially trying to trade in.  The original dealership told me they wanted my repeat business and I told them they would have to earn it...they haven't.


BT

Here is the way we did it for both Monaco MHs we purchased.  We bought a Monaco 40 foot Executive and ordered it with about $4,000 of custom factory modifications (90 day delivery time).  Monaco then sent the"build order" to six different dealerships that I chose.  BTW, I talked to many dealerships about them getting a build order directly from Monaco and asked if they wanted to bid.  Six of 'em did.

Each one called me and we talked and I chose Guaranty RV in Junction City fully knowing that I would be paying the $1,500 extra for Monaco's FACTORY delivery.  You see from the beginning I was NOT going to depend on any dealer's delivery or dealership service.  My goal was to get the best price that was possible which I did!

Then Monaco called and told me when to come to Coburg, Oregon for my factory delivery.  On the morning of the delivery I stopped by Guaranty RV with my cashiers check and picked up the paper work so I could register the new MH in Nevada.  At about 10am that morning in Coburg I showed Monaco the paid-in-full paperwork and we drive around with a service tech and then went directly to Monaco's service facility.

For the next 3 days (really 2-1/2) the service tech was our full time helper while we tested, ran, drove and lived in the coach.  They had their own checklist and I had my own 10 plus page checklist to ensure that I checked and ran EVERYTHING in this "house on wheels." 

Here is an example of factory delivery, the panel that shows the water levels for the gray, black, and fresh water levels was not working consistently.  The tech checked everything and he even had a couple of other techs recheck his work.  The final decision was that the panel itself was defective as delivered from the panel's mfg'er so he went to the parts department, got a new one and it worked perfectly.  My point is, it may have taken me one to three trips back to a dealership to fix a problem like this. 

BTW, I did pay $1,500 for this but was not charged the $650 dealer delivery charge.  I feel that it was worth every penny in both the professional service I received at Monaco's service facility and in me not getting upset with dealership service or the travel back and forth to/from the dealership.  In fact, I really enjoyed the time at Monaco's service facility because there is a whole host of things to do.

Whenever we purchase a new coach we will do it the same way.

JerryF

PS, Before our Monaco coaches we did this very same thing when we purchased two different Lazy Daze Class C coaches.

PancakeBill said:

Don't forget, people liketo vent.  If you are ticked you will look for a place, if happy, you assume that is the way to be for everyone and don't typically post about it.  I looked at the listing and about the only excellents were based on 1 review.  LD has 14 reviews and gets a fair...
I noticed that the Cocoa Suncoast, the dealer got a not so good rating.  Yet, this poster had a great service...

Click to expand...

I was trying to be careful to not imply that we got GREAT service, but that we were satisfied with them...

I'm very high on user ratings.  That's the first thing I look for when buying something at Amazon or Newegg.  I think RVServiceReviews "suffers" from not having enough reviews, not that the venue is flawed.  I think encouraging folks to post reviews there will help that.  Their cousin site, RVParkReviews, is excellent, IMO.

I agree, the site does not have enough reviews.  This is why it is not worth all tht much.  Using LD as an example, 1 reviews yet in the reporting time there were over 1000 deliveries.  Hardly a statistical sample.  You cannot assume that the fair rating will hold.  Other dealers same thing, 1 review for how many actual deliveries?  Did YOU post a review for your delivery? 

I have bought 3 rigs from LD, I haven't posted.  Mine were fine, no problems.  I was an eployee at the time, so if they were going to screw it up, they would darn sure do mine!

It would be interesting to see Private Party sales posted.  Not individually, but as one group.  Would people be more forgiving to a non-dealer?  Would they conplain about unseen items the seller would be sure to know about but not disclose?

(just saying)

PancakeBill said:

...  Did YOU post a review for your delivery? 
...

Click to expand...

I guess I never considered RVServiceReviews.com as a place to review RV purchasing experiences.  Their tag line is "Where RV Owners Evaluate Service Facilities!"  I took that to mean it is for when you have a problem and take it to a place for service... 

Buying ad PDI is a service.  My whole point is that a place where people vent, where 14 replies out of 1,000's of service jobs is hardly a place to get true views of a facilities worth. 

I understand the frustration of having a unit in for service and it takes longer than you feel it should.  OR that you need to bring it back.  I hate that myself, I don't know that there should even be a valid excuse as to why it happens, but it does.  Some things are harder to diagnose than others. 

In cars, they plug it into a diagnostic computer, it reads the falut codes, it tells the tech what to replace, the book says how long t should take.  The do it, it is fixed.

In RV's it is not that simple.  Some items are, these you never hear about because the dealer fixed it first shot and nobody ever posts. 

I know I have stated my point numerous times, but here it i again, an online review with small amount of negative posts, is hardly a bellweather for the quality of work at a dealership. 

While on a trip to the East Coast from Oregon this last winter my slide out started binding. 

Before I left on the trip it was doing the same thing and I had it adjusted before I left.  Worked Great for about 30 in and outs.  Then in Winston Salem it started doing it again.  After 3 days of having to use it it was apparent that it needed attention again.

I took it to a dealership/CW and they diagnosed it and got the warranty OK and ordered parts.  It took almost a MONTH while I waited close by.  Was this the dealerships problem.  I think not but it was frustrating to me.  I think my wait was do to factory and warranty wait times but it would have left a bad taste in my mouth had it not been for the very friendly and seemingly capable service writers at the dealership.  It was fixed and probably been in and out 50 times with no problems. 

I had other things done at this dealership and always done in a timely manner with not hangups.  Good people.

Sometimes it is not the dealership that is the problem.  What made it OK by me was the constant phone calls from them expressing there exasperation as well.