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Old 06-12-2019, 10:58 PM   #1
SirCampsalot
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Let Me Run This By Y'all

I have read some posts about price over anything else. Long story short forget about "patronize your local dealer and you will receive better service or service at all because you are one of their customers". As many have experienced it can be 4-8 weeks to get anything done even simple things. So in stead go where you get the best price and your better off finding a good local certified RV repair facility. RV dealers are in the business of selling RV's with a side line of repairing RV's. RV repair facilities are only in the business of repairing RV's.

So what says you?
 
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Old 06-12-2019, 11:41 PM   #2
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It seems like both can be true. Some have had good experience traveling longer distance to get the better deal and have done well getting hooked up with a good service provider. Others, like me, were able to buy close to home from a dealer that has taken good care of us without long wait times. Very responsive and helpful. Sounds like if you do your homework it can work out either way.

Edit: I think that's why this forum can be so helpful. If someone is looking to buy in a particular area chances are good that someone else will have good insight for where to purchase...or not purchase.
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Old 06-13-2019, 02:55 AM   #3
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I think a lot depends on where you live and what facilities are nearby. We bought based on price from a dealer five hours away. We are very lucky that a dealer 45 minutes away has no problem servicing our unit, and in a timely manner as well. We are also very lucky that there is an approved repair facility (they do not sell new trailers) 15 minutes away. We use both places for service and/or repairs.

Now here’s a thought: if you get offered a unit at a good price some distance away, contact your local dealer and ask if they will match it. The dealer 45 minutes away told us they would have. Of course we did not know at the time we bought.
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Old 06-13-2019, 04:43 AM   #4
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Customer service ends the moment you pull off the lot. Here in my part of Florida ( Fort Myers) there are mainly 4 rv dealers. North Trail, Lemasa, Gerzenys, Camping World. all of them except gerzenys sells or has sold Montana at least here in fort myers. First on the list and we bought ours from is North trail then they lost it to Lemasa and now camping world has it. all in a just a few years. So if you bought from Lemasa recently, warranty work is now at camping world. Go Figure. I understand why North trail no longer has it due to they mainly focus on class a now and offer the Jayco brand trailers as they sell there class a motor homes.
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Old 06-13-2019, 06:30 AM   #5
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Our local dealer is GREAT. 2008, 2012, and 2018.5 new Montanas and have never had to leave one of them overnight for repairs which have been few because they properly PDI their units. Northgate RV Ringgold, GA.
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Old 06-13-2019, 06:57 AM   #6
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Since we are longtimers and not in our local area for long periods of time we purchased for the best price at a very good dealer about 65 miles away. We have never had poor customer service from any dealer anywhere when on the road and need service .We contact the Keystone service center and they find us a dealer or repair facility.

If you have been to the fall rally you understand that Keystone does not carry parts, The order process is dealer to keystone, keystone to vendor, vendor to keystone, keystone to dealer, dealer to you. We are taking our Montata in to nearby not a Montana dealer today to have our main awning replaced. It took a bit over 3 weeks for the awning to arrive from Keystone once ordered. This particular dealer is less than 3 miles from our driveway and has no problem with repair and maintenance of our Montana. We also are not far from Goshen/Elkhart(@ 250 miles) and for any major repair after calling the service center and having them find us the proper repair facility
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Old 06-13-2019, 07:05 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SirCampsalot View Post
I have read some posts about price over anything else. Long story short forget about "patronize your local dealer and you will receive better service or service at all because you are one of their customers". As many have experienced it can be 4-8 weeks to get anything done even simple things. So in stead go where you get the best price and your better off finding a good local certified RV repair facility. RV dealers are in the business of selling RV's with a side line of repairing RV's. RV repair facilities are only in the business of repairing RV's.

So what says you?
I say do what you think is the best for your own situation, you can't make a general statement like this.
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Old 06-13-2019, 07:30 AM   #8
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Agree with Bob!
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Old 06-13-2019, 07:37 AM   #9
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Agree, many variables. Many dealers will not do warranty work if they did not sell. If they do, they may put you at the end of the line. Some RV repair facilities/mobile rv techs will not handle warranty work with Keystone or Dometic. Buying a good third party extended warranty will resolve most of that.
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Old 06-13-2019, 07:52 AM   #10
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Within the past month I have had the need for 3 repairs. The refrigerator, the landing jacks and the water heater. The refrigerator problem was solved here at little cost ( Carl and magnetism). The landing gear was repaired by a mobile RV service and was expensive. The water heater (control board) and some other small things by Camping World, in one day, at a reasonable price. In the future I will continue to come here first and use Camping World when needed.
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Old 06-13-2019, 08:35 AM   #11
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The horror stories are frequent. But that doesn't mean it is true for all. When we bought ours new, a couple months later I was having an electrical problem. I called the dealer, he said bring it in, they began work that day, and had it ready two days later.


A good friend bought his Montana from a different dealer actually closer to us than the dealer I bought from. He had some warranty work done on his and they did it quickly. He mentioned to the service manager that I also had a new Montana. The service manager told him to tell me to bring mine to them if I ever needed work done and they would take care of me. Fortunately I never had any other problems I could not take care of myself.


Like most all service oriented businesses, it all depends on the quality and goals of the owners and management team.
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Old 06-13-2019, 09:49 AM   #12
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Bill is correct it ALL depends on the management team. The service manager’s philosophy as it relates to service is the driving force for all the dose or dose not happen to the customer.
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Old 06-13-2019, 11:02 AM   #13
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Like Bill said a business gets its personality from the person running it.
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Old 06-13-2019, 11:21 AM   #14
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One factor to consider is how far you have to drive to get the deal. If you get 15MPG without towing and 10MPG towing and Diesel costs 3.00 gallon, then it costs you 50 cents per mile of distance. If you travel 500 miles to get to the dealer with the best price then that's 250 dollars of expense, not including wear and tear, DEF etc. Not to mention your time, meals along the way and possibly motel stops. Now if the winning dealer is fairly close it wont be that big a deal. I've heard people going 1500 miles to get a deal... that would have cost roughly 750 dollars out of pocket just for fuel. Worth it? YMMV as they say.
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Old 06-13-2019, 12:06 PM   #15
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I drove to Idaho to get my unit. Out of state was 17k less then in state and that does include California sales tax rate. Also got top dollar on my trade in 250.00 less then I paid
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Old 06-14-2019, 10:15 PM   #16
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Get the Best Deal from Recognized Dealer

My experience has always been to get the best deal from a reputable dealer regardless of geographic location. This works for me - regardless of the deal type - RV, truck, car, boat, etc. Of course there are delivery costs associated with remote buys that have be factored in. Service is a separate consideration.
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Old 06-15-2019, 08:00 AM   #17
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We have always had a extended warranty (service contract) on both our Montana,s. We are 14 years and over 130K miles on the road and have never been turned down by a dealer , repair facility or mobile service.

Dealers do not like to do warranty work as it it is usually paid at a different rate by Keystone. They will normally be glad to do the work out of warranty at their going rate. Doing warranty work for their customers is good business to attract repeat sales.

We are long timers and not in our local area most of the year so it made little difference were we purchased the Montana however it was the nearest Montana dealer that happened to be 65 miles away.

We just had our main awning fabric replaced at a local Keystone dealer that does all the repair and maint on our Montana of course it as out of warranty and ordered and installed at their normal rates.

It took 3 weeks for the awning to arrive from the vendor and another 2 weeks to get in to have it installed.
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Old 06-15-2019, 09:40 AM   #18
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We drove from AZ to Michigan 2000 miles each way to get this rig. I was being quoted more money for a 2014 rig than this 2015 bought in July of 2014. Was able to go there and back and still saved several hundred dollars. Got a year newer rig and a descent trade in.
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Old 06-16-2019, 08:44 AM   #19
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We bought a Montana once and the dealer gave us head of the line service for one month if we found issues. After that they said get in line and good luck.

In general, our experience is find a good mobile repair or a shop dedicated to repairs, no sales. These guys tend to work like it is their livelihood.
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Old 06-19-2019, 01:13 PM   #20
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Originally Posted by SirCampsalot View Post
I have read some posts about price over anything else. Long story short forget about "patronize your local dealer and you will receive better service or service at all because you are one of their customers". As many have experienced it can be 4-8 weeks to get anything done even simple things. So in stead go where you get the best price and your better off finding a good local certified RV repair facility. RV dealers are in the business of selling RV's with a side line of repairing RV's. RV repair facilities are only in the business of repairing RV's.

So what says you?
1000% agree.
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