Heartland underepresented in the Northwest

We visited the Seattle RV show this past weekend. There was a discouragingly small representation of Heartland products. There were a couple of travel trailers scattered around and one lonely Bighorn 3160 EL. This show, of course, is sponsored by dealers who bring inventory in the hopes of making sales. The only Bighorn dealer in the area (the largest metro area north of LA) has two trailers in stock and brought only one. There are no Landmark dealers in the metro Seattle market. If there were, we probably would have bought one instead of the Bighorn.

I know that Heartland and some other brands strictly limit the number of dealers in an area. This is done to avoid price competition (sounds a bit anti-consumer to me). The Heartland website explicitly mentions it. According to the RVIA, the West has the most per-capita RV sales in the country. The Seattle RV show is probably the largest event in the region.

Of course, there is the fact that most RV sales are for more inexpensive travel trailers. So, it stands to reason that there would be considerably more of them at the show. However, other 5th wheel, luxury trailers were considerably better represented than Heartland. I've never been inside a Landmark. Both my wife and I are curious to see the differences with the other lines.

Just sayin'.

The Spokane WA RV show was well represented with Heartlands, including, Landmarks, Bighorns, Big Countries, Cyclones, Road Warriors, Torque, and numerous different Heartland travel trailers. A lot of that has to due to the lack of dealer representation on the west side. It's my understanding that Fife RV is loosing their Heartland Product lines so that makes Spokane the nearest place for Landmarks and Big Horns.

Rod

For20hunter said:

The Spokane WA RV show was well represented with Heartlands, including, Landmarks, Bighorns, Big Countries, Cyclones, Road Warriors, Torque, and numerous different Heartland travel trailers. A lot of that has to due to the lack of dealer representation on the west side. It's my understanding that Fife RV is loosing their Heartland Product lines so that makes Spokane the nearest place for Landmarks and Big Horns.

Rod

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Spokane is a lot smaller than Seattle and over 250 miles away. If Fife loses Bighorn, then we are essentially orphaned. Also, does it make sense to you that a RV manufacturer would just abandon the largest market north of Los Angeles? This seems pretty odd to me.

I don't really understand the business side of the RV industry. Are manufacturers always looking for new dealers for their products, or are the dealers beating down the doors to carry some line but are restricted by the manufacturer? Does Heartland have franchise agreements or specific criteria the dealers must meet, or can any dealer just call up the factory and place orders? Is it ever Heartland's decision when a dealership stops carrying their products?

branson4020 said:

I don't really understand the business side of the RV industry. Are manufacturers always looking for new dealers for their products, or are the dealers beating down the doors to carry some line but are restricted by the manufacturer? Does Heartland have franchise agreements or specific criteria the dealers must meet, or can any dealer just call up the factory and place orders? Is it ever Heartland's decision when a dealership stops carrying their products?

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I wonder the same things. I do know that Heartland does decide if a dealer can carry a brand. It also says on its website that it restricts the number of dealers within a geographic area to protect pricing. I don't know about revoking dealerships. I also have to wonder why such a large market is essentially abandoned by Heartland.

For20hunter said:

The Spokane WA RV show was well represented with Heartlands, including, Landmarks, Bighorns, Big Countries, Cyclones, Road Warriors, Torque, and numerous different Heartland travel trailers. A lot of that has to due to the lack of dealer representation on the west side. It's my understanding that Fife RV is loosing their Heartland Product lines so that makes Spokane the nearest place for Landmarks and Big Horns.

Rod

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I contacted Heartland. Fife RV is not being dropped. According to Mike, the Western sales manager, Fife will be expanding Bighorn sales and service. Apparently, the minimal representation at the show was part of some sort of plan.

My wife and I are RV show addicts. We live in northern Indiana, where almost all of the RV's are made. And it is rare to see a heartland unit of any brand at most of the shows we have gone to. And even rarer, to see a heartland RV at a state park. Cant hardly swing a stick at most parks, and not hit a keystone or forest river product it seems.

I heard this from Fife RV that they were no longer going to sell Heartland. I just assumed it was correct, but you know how that goes, never assume anything.

Rod Ditrich

SeattleLion said:

I contacted Heartland. Fife RV is not being dropped. According to Mike, the Western sales manager, Fife will be expanding Bighorn sales and service. Apparently, the minimal representation at the show was part of some sort of plan.

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For20hunter said:

I heard this from Fife RV that they were no longer going to sell Heartland. I just assumed it was correct, but you know how that goes, never assume anything.

Rod Ditrich

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Who knows? Apparently negotiations have been going on regarding continued dealership and service. It is about time that we get good Heartland representation here. When we had our trailer in for its warranty service this fall, the service facility yard was full of Bighorns. I was very surprised. There had to be 10 of them. I do hope we have a dealer on this side of the state.

I couldn't agree more!! We definitely need a Heartland dealership on the west side that sells and works on all of the Bighorns, Landmarks, Big Countries, Cyclones, Road Warriors, etc..

To by a Landmark in Washington you either have to drive out of state down to Oregon or to the east side to RnR RV. Although I think that RnR is an amazing dealership, it is a 6 hour drive and that gets a bit tedious.

Rod

SeattleLion said:

Who knows? Apparently negotiations have been going on regarding continued dealership and service. It is about time that we get good Heartland representation here. When we had our trailer in for its warranty service this fall, the service facility yard was full of Bighorns. I was very surprised. There had to be 10 of them. I do hope we have a dealer on this side of the state.

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For20hunter said:

I couldn't agree more!! We definitely need a Heartland dealership on the west side that sells and works on all of the Bighorns, Landmarks, Big Countries, Cyclones, Road Warriors, etc..

To by a Landmark in Washington you either have to drive out of state down to Oregon or to the east side to RnR RV. Although I think that RnR is an amazing dealership, it is a 6 hour drive and that gets a bit tedious.

Rod

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I would be happy if it is Fife. Their service, while slow, is very good. The sales side isn't so good. It's strictly a "used car" sales approach. They're honest but shifty.

I couldn't agree more! I loved the service that I received from Fife RV and the attention to detail and great customer service that I received from James (the service advisor) overtime I had my bighorn in there.

I will call him in the next couple weeks and see if they are indeed going to continue their service and sales for Heartland. If so, I will take my Landmark to them.

Rod

SeattleLion said:

I would be happy if it is Fife. Their service, while slow, is very good. The sales side isn't so good. It's strictly a "used car" sales approach. They're honest but shifty.

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For20hunter said:

I couldn't agree more! I loved the service that I received from Fife RV and the attention to detail and great customer service that I received from James (the service advisor) overtime I had my bighorn in there.

I will call him in the next couple weeks and see if they are indeed going to continue their service and sales for Heartland. If so, I will take my Landmark to them.

Rod

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James has been great with me. I go to Bonney Lake. James was at Gig Harbor, but when they closed that location, he took over at Bonney Lake. About two months ago, our bedroom slide wouldn't close. James sent a tech to our house. It turned out the cables were not adjusted correctly, and the system tore itself apart. The tech returned with new parts and adjusted it correctly. Things are fine now. Before James, Bonney Lake had a guy who talked a great game but got little done. Interestingly, they yard at Bonney Lake had a ton of Bighorns in it when we had our warranty work done.

SeattleLion said:

Interestingly, they yard at Bonney Lake had a ton of Bighorns in it when we had our warranty work done.

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Bob,

I can honestly say after more than 20 years of RVing and owning several different brands and manufacturers, there is no perfect RV and the quality control in the entire industry is very lacking. But, with that being said, I have NEVER had a company treat me as well as Heartland has. Every problem I have had with both my Bighorn and now my Landmark has been addressed with absolute compassion and the true desire to fix it and make me happy with my product. They fixed multiple problems when I first got my Bighorn, but after those were fixed, I had no other problems with it the rest of the time we owned it. That appears to be the trend with the Landmark as well. Other than the few fit and finish things, the only real issue we have had with the Landmark has been the AC which was a design issue with not having enough exhaust vents installed in the bedroom, which Heartland quickly authorized the dealership to install another one to alleviate the problem. Since we have not had any hot weather since that repair I am unable to say for sure that it has been fixed, but I have no doubt that if it is not Heartland will not hesitate to step up and make it right. That in my opinion is the total difference between Heartland and the other brands we have owned, is that Heartland truly wants me to be happy with my purchase so I come back. The others made us feel like they didn't care if we were happy, they had our money and that was what they wanted.

Rod

Did my post come off as critical to Heartland? It shouldn't. I was referring to Fife RV service, which I like a lot. Heartland has been very good to deal with since we bought our trailer last year. Our warranty is about over. All in all, I love the Bighorn. It is perfect for our needs. We had AC problems too. Both units would only run on high fan. Both were replaced this fall under the warranty. Heartland made sure that vendors did the right thing for us.

We all know the deplorable quality in the industry. I'm waiting for an import to come in with excellent quality. Then, maybe it will spur our US industry to do the right thing. I do agree, that most of our issues were fit and finish with the exception of poor adjustment of the bedroom slide. We had problems with the convection oven and the AC's, but they are hardly Heartland's fault. All in all, over 30 warranty issues were fixed on our trailer. I'm starting to think that the best RV to buy is a one-year-old, pre-owned Bighorn or Landmark. That way, someone else had the warranty issues to handle.

Bob

SeattleLion said:

Did my post come off as critical to Heartland?

Bob

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Oh no, not at all. I just took the opportunity to talk about how awesome Heartland's customer service has been in spite of the quality control issues. We are on the same page here, Bob.

Rod