Anyone had any dealings with Lazy Days in Tampa?

UK-RV said:

Hope you don't mind me adding an enquiry onto this thread.

When you buy the RV - let's say from Lazydays in Florida - is it ONLY that dealer that can carry out warranty work, or can you choose any dealer/workshop for repairs ?

Just curious, as we wouldn't want to have to travel from Alaska to Tampa to get things sorted.

Thanks.

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Unfortunately, one can't give a firm answer to that question. The manufacturers encourage dealers to do warranty work for all buyers but some refuse and in most cases the manufacturer is powerless to do anything about it. In general though, I have found dealers to be willing to work on my coach even though I didn't purchase it from them.

UK-RV said:

Hope you dont mind me adding an enquiry onto this thread.

When you buy the RV - let's say from Lazydays in Florida - is it ONLY that dealer that can carry out warranty work, or can you choose any dealer/workshop for repairs ?

Just curious, as we wouldnt want to have to travel from Alaska to Tampa to get things sorted.

Thanks.

Click to expand...

As an example, if you buy a Fleetwood product any dealer handling that product should honor the warranty. However, if you did not purchase from that dealer you may have to wait some time before they can schedule the repair. Not a pleasant thought but more reality than fiction. The best place to obtain service is from the manufacturers service center. Not always a convenient thing to do.

One time when we had a problem we called the manufacturer. Told them the problem and they recommended a dealer to do the work. We mentioned we had been told that they might not service us since we did not buy there. The mfg then called the dealer and conferenced us on the call. We explained the situation and they told us to come in as soon as possible.

Thanks for the feedback guys

Paul.

John & Mary Jo,

I believe the ABSOLUTE best way to buy a new coach is to order it with the specific things you want and take factory delivery.  We bought two Monacos that way.  In both cases we went to the factory and spent 4 days there.  They assigned a service tech to our coach for the four days.  Everything was fixed perfect because the factory has both the expert service techs and they have any parts needed right there.  Also, if the tech assigned to you and your coach has a problem other techs come over and help him.  The cost is $1,500.00 which we gladly paid.  If your dealer has a delivery charge you can save that amount.

JerryF

Jerry,

I agree with you on factory delivery. However that does not help with ongoing repairs unless you can always go back to the factory service center. When we had the Country Coach it was impossible to do that everytime. With the American Coach we do it most of the time. The other repairs are usually taken care of where I hang out in the summer. Fortunately we don't have a lot of repairs to do.

Purchased a 1999 Country Coach Allure through Lazy Days for delivery at the CC factory in Junction City OR.  Traded in a 1993 Pace Arrow Diesel 36 Ft.  Did the entire deal via phone and fax.  Drove the Pace from Virginia to Florida and delivered it to Lazy Days, they checked it over, then it was off to the finance office, gave them a cashiers check for the balance and by 3:00 PM I was on an airplace to Oregon.  Picked up the Allure the next day, a great walk through with the CC factory guy.  Stayed at the factory site for two days, then drove the Allure cross country, via San Diego since it was Jan.  All-in-all it was a painless experience.  The Allure was great, but unfortunately not enough slides (only one) for my wife, so in 2003 we upgraded to an Intrigue. Lazy Days did okay by us.

Hi Periscope Man,

We had the 98 Intrigue with no slides.

Does Periscope Man mean you were a bubble head??

:'(The worst experience in my life of motorhome owning is lazydays service. Buy from a smaller dealer.

? We just bought a 2001 Winnebago Adventurer 35' at Lazydays.? The salesman, Mr. Chris Cooper, was great.? When presented with a list of makes and models we were interested in, he deleted some and added a few and moved some within the list.? Then he showed us why he made the changes by taking us to various coaches and demonstrating the differences in construction and quality.? He showed us many units within our budget, as well as some below our budget.? He steered us away from very low mileage vehicles, as well as the ones that had been used by full-timers.? We narrowed our choices to two coaches and test drove both.? He offered to pull them side-by-side, which we accepted, then he left us alone and said "stay as long as you want, even all night".? Right off the bat, his pricing was fair (we had done Internet research and had actual sale prices for similar coaches, as well as a N.A.D.A. book).? When asked about contacting prior owners, he quickly agreed, as long as the seller had specified they did not want to be contacted (which he would show us on his computer).? We are very leer of salesmen, but Chris Cooper was a rare find...knowledgeable, professional and honest.? He kept us informed during the entire sales process.? We had previously decided not to trade in our older RV, but to sell it ourselves.? Chris asked to be kept informed on the sale, in case a customer was looking for a smaller, older Class C, as our 1989 Toyota Winnebago Warrior was a good, reliable starter RV.? Our purchase price was below Used Retail and we are very comfortable with the deal.
We had researched Lazydays before making the four hour drive.? In their park we spoke with four RVer's, three of whom were repeat customers at the dealership.? Two were "happy" with Lazydays, one was "very content".? The MH we bought was sold new at Lazydays, to a Michigan buyer that came back five years later to upgrade.? The MH we did not buy had just been delivered and still had an older Lazydays sticker on it.?
We have no experience with the service division, except for being shown a coach that was inside a bay.? The two men working on it stopped and answered our questions about kitchens on slides (giving the same answers, but with a bit more detail than what Chris Cooper had said).? The work they were doing on the upholstery seemed to be above par, and they did not rush us out.
We made the right choice in going to Lazydays, and were very, very lucky in getting Chris Cooper as our salesman.

We just purchased a new 2006 Fleetwood Southwood Storm from Lazy Days, we live in New York on Long Island and started the deal on the internet. We looked at several in different places in Florida, RV dealers in New York just don't want to do business with their residents they want top dollar for everything. Lazy Days was great and would buy again from there tomorrow, our sales person was PJ Wilcox a sincere person willing to accommodate and help. What ever we needed she took care of, everyone we dealt with was the best.

We purchased a used Dolphin 37' Dec 2004 and we were treated ok. Only thing I would stronly suggest is make sure the person doing the del walk through knows about what ever you buy.  The guy that did ours did not.  We came from a trawler after 5 years and we knew more about the rv than he did.  Also, make sure you use everything well before the 30 days warranty and list everything that is wrong.  If you stay on top I think you will be happy.  i do think they have changed a bit since we purchased as we went by a year later since we were at camping world next door and it did not seem as friendly!
Good luck and happy trails!
cheryl

Also, make sure you use everything well before the 30 days warranty and list everything that is wrong. If you stay on top I think you will be happy. 

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That's it in a nutshell, Cheryl, and it applies to any and all RV dealers.

If it is OK, I will pass this comment about Chris to him, we are on the same sales team!  As to not being as friendly, well that might be a bit of a coin toss.  I think we are very friendly, I know I am, but you never know if you might get someone on a bad day. 

Bill,

It's good to see some positive reports to balance some of the negative ones. That's one thing about this forum - folks say it the way they see it, good or bad.

Hi Cheryl,

As one that does orientation for new customers I cannot agree more. If the person doing the orientation doesn't know the product you will not get all the info you need. I also realize that one individual cannot know all the details of every rig that goes out the door. It's a challenge to keep up on all the new inovations and changes in new RVs. One must ask questions on anything they are not sure about. If the tech does not know the answer then they should find it before you leave.

UK-RV said:

Hope you dont mind me adding an enquiry onto this thread.

When you buy the RV - let's say from Lazydays in Florida - is it ONLY that dealer that can carry out warranty work, or can you choose any dealer/workshop for repairs ?

Just curious, as we wouldnt want to have to travel from Alaska to Tampa to get things sorted.

Thanks.

Click to expand...

I know I'm responding to an older message -- but I thought I'd throw in our experience: We had a Fleetwood Tioga Montara, National RV Sea Breeze, and Great West Van, and in all cases, we were able to use a private repair shop for both manufacturer warranty issues and extended warranty issues. I don't know whether that's "typical," but they represent three different manufacturers.

And a quick "Hi!" to the many people who helped us out when we purchased and enjoyed our various motorhomes. We miss RVing to some extent and occasionally look at each other and say, "Should we?"? ;D So far, however, we continue to enjoy our plane flights, car trips, and hotel stays.

Hope everyone is well -- from Judy and Stu Madnick!