Does buying at a show affect local service?

[acadiaforever]

Newbie question: Those of you who bought at a show to take advantage of the great prices, what effect did it have getting service back home? A more general question for all of you: in your opinion, is buying locally important enough to look but not buy at shows? Do you find that local dealers have the ability to approach show prices?

Thanks for all opinions!

[speedster100]

well if it is from one of the local dealers representing at the show it shouldn't, good dealers are key to getting any problems you may have fixed satisfactorily... Saving Thousands of dollars may be a trade off for good service.

[1retired06]

We saw our 2015 floorplan at the Tampa RV show. When we got back to NC early May, went to our dealer and he gave us low end RETAIL trade-in on our 2010 and matched the show price. Options were about the same. 3910FB basically came with all the bells and whistles. Like many dealers, they give service priority to those who buy from them. Some dealers will provide service only to those who buy from them. Our old dealer in VA actually advertised servicing only to buyers as a marketing tool.

[richfaa]

If you are a good negotiator you can get a good price from most any dealer as you can at a RV show. Buying local depends on your RV use.We travel the country and are snowbirds a local dealer means nothing to us and we have never had a problem with service on the road.

[DQDick]

Even though we full time I would and have bought from a dealer near one of our "home bases". Buying from a far flung dealer is great if there are no problems and usually they are minor, but if you have one of the rare big problems sometimes discussed here there is no substitute for a really good dealer. That said, if your local dealer is crap you might as well buy at the show.

[jlb27537]

We go to the local 'RV Show" in the RGV every winter. The "show prices" most of the dealers post are 17% off list. You should be able to buy at about 40% off list.

When we bought our '14 3150RL local dealers in Mo and AR were about 7-12K above what we ended up paying buying from a dealer 800 miles away.

So to answer your question, buying at the local show, no value to me. Local dealer can match prices IF they want to, but some will, some won't.

Ask your self, how many times has the salesperson called me after I spent money on a large purchase. The car salesman, the realtor who just made 6%, etc. Once they have your $$ they move on to the next $$.

[CORattler]

Originally Posted by 1retired06

We saw our 2015 floorplan at the Tampa RV show. When we got back to NC early May, went to our dealer and he gave us low end RETAIL trade-in on our 2010 and matched the show price. Options were about the same. 3910FB basically came with all the bells and whistles. Like many dealers, they give service priority to those who buy from them. Some dealers will provide service only to those who buy from them. Our old dealer in VA actually advertised servicing only to buyers as a marketing tool.

It has been my experience with dealers that unless you buy from them they will not provide warranty service. This is disgraceful and warrants going elsewhere for purchase and service.

[CORattler]

Originally Posted by DQDick

Even though we full time I would and have bought from a dealer near one of our "home bases". Buying from a far flung dealer is great if there are no problems and usually they are minor, but if you have one of the rare big problems sometimes discussed here there is no substitute for a really good dealer. That said, if your local dealer is crap you might as well buy at the show.

Absolutely agree Dick!

[Beau2010]

We bought our rig more than 1500 miles from home simply because the locals could not come within $5000 of the Indiana dealer's price. We also have family in that area, so it wasn't just a trip to the lowest price dealer. Have had warranty work done from South Carolina to Arizona with not a whimper. The dealers that ask "did you buy it here?" are erased from our list and never called again. We have found several "good" dealers including, believe it or not, some CW shops. By the way, we are not full-timers; usually on the road about 6 mo. of the year.

[mjammersc]

Something to look for in the dealer as well is how good is their delivery service. Do they have a good reputation for their pre-delivery inspection and issue correction and are they willing to be patient while you go through your inspection and do they take their time to explain everything to you. We skipped over 2 dealers ~1.5 hours from me to go to one 2.5 hours away and am happy I did due to the quality of prep they did. I have used them for service a couple times when needed and they have been great as well (American RV in Grand Rapids in case anyone is curious - of course they were recently bought by CW so we will see if they change)