6 weeks and counting...

[skyguy]

Well, my wife and I continue to do more than our share to help stimulate the economy. Today we plunked down a healthy deposit and ordered a brand spanking new 3670RL built to our taste! It has been three months of emails, phone calls, decisions, decisions, decisions.

As some know, we have had a Montana for 8 years, and truthfully it has served us well. We have had no major problems, nothing that others haven't had, and we have been real happy with the floor plan. But it comes time to move on...

I can't remember how I first heard about Heartland, to be honest. Then I found the Heartland forum, and I can't thank Jim B enough for his patience in helping me to get signed up for the forum here!! (Too much to do with SPAM blocking, I had to strip everything out to receive the acceptance email...) THANKS JIM!!

We wound up purchasing from a dealer in Grand Island Nebraska - it was a combination of fair price, and a real click between Tony Staab, one of the owners, and myself. Tony was fair and honest. I won't be able to say too much about their service, because we are 475 miles away in Colorado Springs.

For other's benefit, I will mention and rate on a scale of 1 - 10 the other principal Heartland dealers I spoke with... (10 being good)

K&C RV /Camping World Colorado Springs - 4.0 High $$$$, unwilling to even realistically deal. Hope their service is OK, they will be my servicing dealer I am afraid.

K&C RV / Camping World Denver (Longmont). 0.0 They made a great inital offer, even a great trade deal. Then when they did the paperwork on a model on their lot, the price wound up so much higher I was ready to call the cops. I won't say numbers, but the difference was 5 digits and the first number was more than one. They pretty much forgot to give me anything for my trade in on paper.

Capital RV - Elkhart - 10.0 Gary is a nice guy, and certainly had a bargain, but did not want to trade. If I had cash, I would give this guy a call again.

Mesa RV - Mesa, AZ. 1.0 They get a point for good ads. But gave me a very attractive price, and then the off the lot figure came in over 20% higher. Ow ow ow!!

There was a dealer in Texas who I took offense to simply because they swore up and down they could buy my used Montana at auctions any day for, well, almost nothin. I have a list of dealers who are dying to find out where the Texas folks buy their trailers!

Rich Sons RV, Grand Island NB. 9.5 Tony was the first one to actually respond to an inquiry I filled out on the Internet. I had quit filling those out, because no one would respond. He and I developed a working relationship pretty quickly, and we wound up placing the order. Nothing is complete until the check is signed and we are driving home, but I'll keep you posted! I had to deduct 1/2 point, because, after all, he is a die hard Husker fan, and I'm a Colorado Buffalo alum. I'm sure you football fans will understand

Sorry for the long tale, but maybe it will help others down the road!

(We did get a chance to talk with a BigHorn owner while at the K&C dealer today - he raved about his rig. And I also chatted with the service techs too - they had only good things to say about Heartland - their units for the most part have been QC'd very well before they arrive in Colo Spgs, and almost no problems after the sale.)

We are excited!!!!

Al Schlafli

 

[jimtoo]

Hey Al, welcome to the Heartland Owners Family.

Now the wait begins. Maybe it will pass quickly, just stay on the forum and get all the great little upgrades and ideas that the little lady and you will want to make it your trailer.

Jim M

 

[klindgren]

Hey Al, welcome to the Heartland Owners Family.

Now the wait begins. Maybe it will pass quickly, just stay on the forum and get all the great little upgrades and ideas that the little lady and you will want to make it your trailer.

Jim M

Congrats Al. I can tell you from first hand experience, Jim is wrong. It will be a horribly slow wait. Time will almost stand still especially as the nicer weather strarts arriving.

Mine's suppose to be here sometime this week and it still seems like it's a year away. Just hang in ther though. The wait will be worth it. Good Luck on your new BH

 

[2010augusta]

Congratulation Al, we were living in Colorado Spring when we ordered our Augusta, and since we did not have an RV already the guys at RV Capital were too good to pass on. I'm glad you found a deal/trade that works for you. GO RAMS.

 

[Dragoon]

Al,

Congratulations on your purchase. You won't be disappointed. We bought our rig at K&C in Colorado Springs in July last year. They WERE dealing then. We had some minor issues, and one major issue while there, and the Service Dept. couldn't have been better, excellent, in fact. Of course they may have bent over backwards for us since we purchased there, eh? We are originally from Nebraska and were headed that way from Colorado to see kids and grandkids and had planned to stop in G.I. to check the Bighorns there. However, the floor plan we wanted was in CO. We full-time now (10 years), so it didn't matter to us where we purchased. Anyhow, good luck, happy trails and go Huskers!!!

 

[rjr6150]

Hi Al
First off welcome to the family and would like to also invite you to the first CO. Chapter rally being held in May in the Springs. We were much like you except sitting between both dealers Grand Island and Longmont. Did pretty much the same as you I sent out requests for bids to four dealers one in KS, NE. CO. and WY. Actually the bid for NE. was slightly lower than K&C but Kathy and I just felt after dealing with our salesman for 2 years they should have the last chance. Went up on Saturday last year knowing were we going to either buy from K&C or be calling NE. on Monday. After they made the offer I pulled out the other bid sheet and stated you match and the deal is done today. They did and we've been happy ever since. As to their service would have to say top notch. As to dealing with units purchased from other dealers don't think you will have much if any of a problem. We had some friends who spent last summer needing work on their BH I gave him the name of the service manage there and one quick phone call and the appointment was setup.

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

Al, Welcome to the Heartland Family and congratulations on your order. It sounds like it was quite an adventure. I'm sure it will be worth the wait. When it arrives the weather should be perfect for that first trip.

 

[bsummit]

Congrats and welcome to the family of Heartland. You will really love the 3670 floor plan. We really enjoy ours. Be patient, 6 weeks will be here before you know it.
Bill

 

[skyguy]

Hi Al
First off welcome to the family and would like to also invite you to the first CO. Chapter rally being held in May in the Springs.

Thanks! We plan on being there!

 

[jbeletti]

Hey Al,

Big CONGRATULATIONS to you guys! That's awesome to hear. Glad the Montana worked our so well for you these last 8 years. Hope the Bighorn works out for you just as well.

Thanks too for posting the detail on working with the dealerships. It may help guide others. Thanks for leaving actual pricing out. Forum rules ya know

Glad you are going to make the Colorado rally. I assume you have attended MOC rallies in the past so you know what to expect at rallies. This is our first CO rally and a first for our Chapter Leaders there.

Not sure if you can swing it but if you want to hit the big time this June, make it to Goshen, Indiana for the North American Heartland Owners Rally as well.

Best of luck on maintaining your sanity these next 6 weeks!

Jim

 

[RVerFulltime]

Wait time may be short!

We just got the call from Great Lakes RV that our 2010 3600RL was completed. It took just over four weeks. That was fast!! It was so fast that we are a little worried, so we will be spending a longer time on the PDI.

 

[rckc228]

I order a 2010 Augusta with full body paint and it only took 6 weeks. Did a very thorough PDI and found only two small problems that my dealer repair within a day.

 

[Bobby A]

We have had our 3580 B/H on order for a few weeks, got the call the other day it goes in production on the 23rd, gonna make our way to the factory and see her before she roll of the line on the 25th. We are getting excited, but more excited once we get to see her. BTW, we had the same GREAT experiance with Gary/Rob at Great Lakes, and would of bought from them in a heart beat if we didn't have a trade in. We have a Montna Big Sky 2003, that we have loved from day 1, hope to have the same good luck with Heartland and the B/H

 

[skyguy]

Bobby -

Congrats on the quick call!

We had a hard time figuring out whether to go with the 3580, 3600rl, or 3670. I think we would be thrilled with any of them!

The note from Rich's said around the 15th - 20 April - that more like 4-5 weeks. Yeehaw!

Al S.

 

[Bobby A]

Al S
Yes, I'm sure what ever floor plan you choose, you will love, its kinda funny, we always know which one is right for us.

I think mine may have been built a little sooner but we ordered dual pane windows, so some extra time is needed for the factory to get them in, so I'm told.
Bobby

 

[sherry3]

We just took our first trip in our 3670RL and it was so nice, so roomy! Enjoy!!