Anyone had any dealings with Lazy Days in Tampa?

[John & Mary Jo]

So far they have been very nice and accomidating. Just curious, always like to hear others input. We are looking to purchase a 32' Fleetwood Fair. The coach had one owner very clean low mileage. We even got to talk to the owner. Check it out let me know what you think.

Looking forward to any and all comments.
Thanks...
[edit]Removed incorrect link[/edit]

 

[Ron]

We bought our American Eagle new from Lazy Days in Aug 98.  Had no problems with them.  Our Salesman was Ken Ware.  We have been satisfied with all dealings with Lazy Days.

 

[Jim Dick]

Hi John & Mary Jo,

We have purchased two motorhomes from Lazy Days. The first experience was OK but the salesman forgot who we were after the sale. His name was Randy Schoelenburger(sp?) The second was great. Like Ron, we had Ken Ware. We have also dealt with Wayne Green. He befriended us after our first purchase knowing we would not be buying. He had a shot and did share in our second purchase but Ken knew a lot of ways to provide us with additional items relatively inexpensively. I would recommend either one but they are on the highline side of the business.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

We also have bought our motorhome there.  Generally the experience is positive, but don't think because everything is so nice that you don't have to bargain hard on the price or check up on details.  Make sure any agreed upon fixes or add-ons are written in the contract. Do not accept delivery until everything is as you think it should be.  The Lazy Days service department is booked to infinity, so "bring it back in a few weeks and we'll take care of it" is a nice thought but not a practical alternative.

Your salesman's responsibility ends when you sign the financial papers.  After that, you are a service customer, not sales.  I recommend holding off in the finance department until you have inspected the coach personally AFTER all agreed upon repairs/improvements have been made.  I shopped my own financing and insurance and told the Lazy Days F&I department what i was willing to pay for each.  They matched my best deal on finance but not on insurance.

 

[Jim Dick]

Gary,

Good point on finanacing. We went around several times between the financial officer and the salesman. Finally the salesman took the financial officer around the corner and when they came back we had our rate!

 

[PancakeBill]

Interesting read for me, I will be starting at Lazy Days in Sept.  One point though, at least I was told, that all salespeople handla all rigs.  Have to be there awhile before you can sell the highend stuff, but the highend stuff guys still sell the used low end stuff. Maybe as a point of helping the newer guys they may step back, but no division amoung the staff. 

In my dealings with them in the hiring process, the focus is on the customer.  This of course also rolls to common sense and business, need to make the deal you make.  Be sure you get everything in writing and be sure to be satisfied when you take delivery. 

 

[Jim Dick]

Bill,

I didn't realize they all sold everything. I know they used to have a division between motorized and towables. The high end sales people are over in the new Crown Club area so may not sell lower end unless someone asks specifically for them. It'll be interesting to hear your thoughts after you start.

I do know they don't bother you if you just want to kick some tires. Always thought that made a lot of sense. We've been asked by several if they can help us when we're wandering around. When we say we're just looking around they tell us to have a nice day and go on their way.

 

[John & Mary Jo]

I want to thank everyone for their replys. We are going over to Tampa to check out the 1997 32' Flair on Wednesday. If we like it it's ours. It looks pretty clean. We are dealing with a lady named Ann Akonom she a very nice lady. So..... if all goes well we will be coming home with a new coach. Any other suggestions as to extended warranties, or significant trouble spots with this vehicle when we are looking this rig over would be greatly appreciated. It's still posted on there website at Lazydays.com. It's the 1997 32' Fleetwood Flair.

 

[Ron]

IMHO you can get a better extended warranty than what dealers offer.

 

[Jim Dick]

Hi John & Mary Jo,

Most dealers seem to charge double what an extended warranty is worth. That might be a negotiable item during the buying process. I would recommend an extended warranty but shop around. I'm not sure who is still offering warranties but one used to be Warranty Direct. I did learn that some of them won't issue one in FL and I'm not sure why except it might have to do with the insurance regulations.

Also be very careful of the start date of the warranty. They seem to start from day one and, on new coaches, you already have a warranty. Not sure how long a warranty would be on a used coach. I'm sure others will be able to shed some light on this subject.

 

[John & Mary Jo]

Hi There  Ron  Jim thank you for all your good info.
I have contacted Warranty Services I guess they used to be Warranty Direct. They gave me a quote for 4 years/48,000 miles $1,548.00 with a $50 deductible. Also the mileage starts from the current miles on the vehicle now 30,652. So we actually will have 4 years/78,062 miles. I thought this was pretty good. If I remember correctly the dealership was gonna be about 3 times more. Let me know what you think.
We leave tomorrow to go do the final inspection of this coach. We are pretty excited!

 

[Ron]

I think you got a good deal on warranty. Much better than you would at a dealer.
Let us know how the final inspection goes.

 

[Charles]

We have mixed emotions about Lazy Days.

When we bought last year, it seemed they just could not do enough for us.? The only hitch in the buying process was our salesman was horrible about details and follow-up.

Then when we tried to have certain items taken care of by the sales manager who had made certain promises, all of a sudden things changed.? Two faxes and four phone calls since June 8, 2005 have not been returned.? This is inexcusable.?

This is ALSO after we had introduced the manager and a different salesman to some friends who were looking for a new coach.? They got to bid on the coach (but were not the successful bidder).

Let's see if this sums it up:? If a sales manager reneges on his representations, and ignores his customer's faxes and calls, and ignores customers who send referrals to them, hum... guess what signals get sent to the sales staff?

That being the case, protect yourself by getting everything in writing, as has been pointed out above.? In our case, we sent a confirmation letter of the representations and promises made, and thought that would be sufficient, especially since subsequent conversations confirmed those representations and promises.? It was not until we sought compliance that we got disappointed, to the tune of several thousand dollars.? Next week we may see if Mr Wallace, the president, wants his company represented this way.

I'm truly sorry circumstances beyond my control create the cause for this post, but it isn't like Lazy Days has not brought it on itself.

 

[Charles]

Gerrr.

 

[John & Mary Jo]

Wow Charles that really stinks  . We had the stats faxed over to us today on the coach and we noticed that the bed in the back shows as a double not a queen  :'(. We are going to take the ride over there tomorrow to check everything out.
I printed out the check list you all had posted (lots of good info, thanks) and plan on using it tomorrow. Not sure if we'll go thru with it or not. Will keep you posted as to what happens. I talked to the salesperson today regarding the bed being a double instead of a queen and she says well you know it looks like a queen and there's really not much difference. HELLO...... would you sleep on a double comfortably with your spouse. Yea he's my soul mate but come on we do need our space  .

 

[John & Mary Jo]

I'd like to especially thank Gary, Ron, & Jim for all your help. We went over to Lazy Days this past Wednesday to possibly buy the 32' Flair. They let us drive it and stay the night. We really didn't get to go over the coach by ourselves until they set us up on a site for the night. We made sure that if we did not like it we could squash the deal. That night my husband and I crawled all over the coach. Boy what a scary thing. Everything we touched either fell off in our hand or dropped on the ground (namely the outside hatches). The next morning we went back to our salesperson (Ann Akonom) and told her there was no way this was for us. We went and looked at a few more class A's. We just really weren't comfortable with them. When we originally started looking we were looking at class C's but Ann really thought a class A would be better for us. Thanks to that little angel on our shoulder we found the perfect coach for us. It is a 2000 31' Minnie Winnie with 30,000 miles on it. This is everything we wanted  ;D. We got to go over the coach with a fine tooth comb wrote down all of the discrepancies we found (which was very minor) had her put it in the contract and moved forward. We ended up spending the night in the garage so we would be first in line for the morning. They fixed everything and some. We are very very happy. Ann really did us right super lady that stands behind her word. For future reference for anyone you really cannot be in a hurry to get out of there. Although they do go out of there way to make you comfortable. Like you all said make sure you have everything in writing before you go to the financing officer.

 

[Jim Dick]

Hi John & Mary Jo,

Glad to hear things worked out for you. One cannot rush into buying an RV as you found out. I'm happy to hear they let you stay in it overnight before you actually purchased. Makes a big difference to be able to "see it" alone.

 

[Ron]

Congratulations on your purchase. ?I'm sure you will have many enjoyable trips in it. ?Will you be able to join us at one of the RV Forum rallies? ?Please upload some photos of your Minnie Winnie.

 

[UK-RV]

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.

 

[Bob Maxwell]

to UK-RV,

[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 ?]

Actually, these days most dealers warantee very little. The walls, roof and floor plus elec & plumbing are coverd by the RV manf.. The rest is covered by the warantee of the item's maker: chassis, refrigerator, toilet, AC, etc. They're glad to file a claim for you and collect what they'll cover and do that work. We get to pay the rest.