Taking Delivery Tomorrow

Well I made it back to Phoenix and everything went great! Thanks for all your comments and suggestions.

Frank

Hi Haze2,

The walk through will be good and thorough if you insist on it being so. Some dealers will do things right. Some need help. If they need help, dispense it politely but liberally. You might want to have one person follow along and have the other one taking a series of videos. There's a lot to remember. Video will help.

It's a good idea to stay at or near the dealership for a day or two after taking delivery, before your long trip.

Before signing the papers, talk to the Service Manager and arrange that if you find anything that needs to be adjusted or fixed during that day or two, that he'll have it fixed immediately while you wait. That conversation can include the sale and finance people, but you must have the Service Manager's agreement.

Of course if something needs to be repaired where parts have to be ordered, you'll have to make a decision about how to manage that. You might have to pay to have parts shipped overnight delivery. Or you could drop the trailer and pop up to Elkhart and back in one day to pick up parts and have them installed the next day.

Not saying that will happen. But you should allow time to get things right just in case.

I would highly recommend downloading and printing my Pre Delivery Inspection doc (link in my signature below) and planning to spend at least 4 hours going over the trailer using this document.

Make sure you have a notepad...camera...flashlight...clothes that can get dirty.

Ask the dealer to have trailer connect to sewer, AC power and water and cable TV.

If possible, request to stay in their lot overnight, as this will force you to use most of the equipment in the RV.

Congrats Frank on your new Big Country! Watch the weather reports, last I heard there was a chance for some freezing rain Monday late.

Congrats on your new BC. Make sure they have the basement walls open and water hooked up so they can look for any minor leaks that could occur behind the UDC. You get all wrapped up in that new rig and don't look at all the trivial stuff that will show up later. Again, congrats and hope to meet you down the road.

Besides what is mentioned above I like to spend some time going over the trailer by myself and look for small problems. You will get things that need fixing done quicker if they are fixed before handing over the check or signing papers. The quality of the dealer's service department is the key. JMO
Don

If all goes well, we will be ordering a 3560 SS in a couple months. Once it comes in (hopefully late April) will make a 2.5-3 hour trip to dealer to go over it and jot down any/all findings that need addressing before actual pick-up/delivery of it to us. Day of delivery, BEFORE signing rest of paperwork and handing over check, WILL do the walk thru 1st and take note of findings from 1st trip to see if corrected. If not, no check. May even go down day before so dealer/shop can get trailer/truck hitch matched up so it's somewhat level. Will be a all day trip as it is so no need to rush shop on same day for hitch leveling.

There are some things that you can't find until you are out on the road actually using the RV.

As far as dealerships having a cable hookup to try out the coax wiring . . . good luck with that!

Also check to make sure everything is tight and greased in your suspension, wheels, wheel bearings etc. Took ours in shortly after purchase and turns out 3 of the 4 wheel bearings had very little grease in them (after many conversations with people who had issues). You have a long trip ahead to worry about wheel bearings. Also worth looking at the axle/leaf spring u-bolts, ours were not tight what so ever, had to torque all of ours down quite a bit.

Congratulations on your new rig! BC are very nice! Hope you have a good trip home!

My suggestion would be to have the dealer fill the fresh water tank, and then turn on the water pump. Clear the air from the water lines by opening the hot and cold water faucets at each sink or shower, and cycle water through the toilet. Then, when you are going through the rest of the PDI, listen for the water pump to cycle on. If there are no leaks, the water pump should not cycle on. If there is a leak in any of the pressurized lines, the water pump will cycle on to repressurize. I feel this is more reliable than looking for leaks visually.

Good Luck, and enjoy the experience.

Baker,
what does it mean to have the basement walls open??

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Haze 2,
What made you decide on the dealer in Hamilton, Ohio when you live in Arizona?

What made you drive clear to Hamilton, Ohio for a 5th wheel?

REDDOG7571 said:

What made you drive clear to Hamilton, Ohio for a 5th wheel?

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The price I paid for the Big Country in Hamilton was thousands less than the best price I could negotiate in Phoenix. Even with the expense of driving to Ohio and paying for a week of hotels I still saved thousands.

haze2 said:

The price I paid for the Big Country in Hamilton was thousands less than the best price I could negotiate in Phoenix. Even with the expense of driving to Ohio and paying for a week of hotels I still saved thousands.

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I'm with haze2. I purchased from Hamilton OH. They beat the dealers in NC and VA by $11k and no washer / dryer from them, so closer to $13k with that addition. Check them out - Jeff Couch's RV Nation rocks!


I was turned on to Jeff Couch's RV Nation by my grown kids. They have several friends in New England that bought from there. He beat the dealers in NC and Va on my 2015 BC by $11k.

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LKG_Ram said:

I'm with haze2. I purchased from Hamilton OH. They beat the dealers in NC and VA by $11k and no washer / dryer from them, so closer to $13k with that addition. Check them out - Jeff Couch's RV Nation rocks!


I was turned on to Jeff Couch's RV Nation by my grown kids. They have several friends in New England that bought from there. He beat the dealers in NC and Va on my 2015 BC by $11k.

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Click to expand...

JC's also beat dealer here in NY by 9 grand. In fact after we bought ours and brought it home, dealer here STILL had their '17 unit on the lot for more $$ than we paid for our '18 and their had less features!!