I try to give local places 1st shot when making a purchase. Last 3 major purchases were not exactly in my backyard so to speak.
1. Late 2014, was looking for new F350, cc, sb,4x4, 6.7. Dealer whom I bought my '03 from didn't have anything except fully loaded trucks (which I didn't want). Told them what I wanted an in reply, they told me "Something like that has to be ordered". To me, sounded like they really didn't want to look, but rather sell what they had. Ended up buying from a dealer about 2 hours west who had truck in stock. Local dealer's sale dude whom I was talking w/ before, was a tad PO'd cuz I didn't buy from him and I told him I had to act swiftly and they didn't have anything in stock as I had the '15 in for some type of service at "his" dealer. Oh well.
2. Jan/Feb '17, we started the process of looking at new coach. Local dealer at that time (3 hours away) was closest dealer for Big Country. Started things @ 1st w/ them, but then googled to see who else sold BC. Located another dealer 2 states away. Got price from instate dealer and then did same w/ out of state dealer. Short of it, out of state dealer was cheaper by 9 grand. All instate told me at last conversation was "Thanks for calling" when I asked if his last price was his best price and I told him he was still too high. I was WILLING to still go w/ instate if they had come down 3-4 grand, but nope. Few months later, same instate dealer opens up a shop in my backyard, but not handling BC, BH yes--BC no. Their sister dealer sells BH. Another dealer opens up a shop in my backyard as well and he's selling BC. Darn near kitty corner to each other. Had a problem w/ the BC. New local dealer wouldn't touch it as they told me they hadn't gotten their "service/repair" certificate from the state yet and I didn't buy from them. WTH??? Spoke w/ the BH dealer (again sister to whom I spoke w/ back in Jan/Feb), they agreed to look at it and ultimately repaired it albeit at their sister dealer who had the BH line just over an hour away. Took a couple trips, but got fixed. Haven't spoken since to local BC dealer.
3. Concerned about being over on tires on the '15 F350 w/ trip to FL this summer, prompted us to look for a dually. Only 1 in NY had a dually that wasn't fully loaded but not sold on color. Found 1 in NY, that was in price range, not what we wanted. PA dealer turned up having a pretty darn close one, but no go. Dealer in MD had 1 that fit the bill to a T and within price range. They didn't want to give me anything for a trade. Back to the NY dealer (1/2 hour away), figured, what the heck, at least go and look at it. Ends up it really wasn't all that bad and had the options I would have ordered anyways. They gave me a decent trade, so we made a deal. Now, enter dealer from my '03 truck. I had asked them to look up the specs/options on a truck I saw in FL (used) BEFORE I bought the '17. Sales dude asked I'd buy from them and told him they didn't have anything in stock for less than "X" dollars. He didn't even offer to say "What if we were able to locate/get one". So they lost another sale. Will be taking the '17 in for some service/warranty work soon to '03 dealer as they are closer. I spoke w/ the service mgr and told him my story and he asked who I spoke w/ in sales and I think he was annoyed w/ sales dude as he felt that they should have gone the extra mile to assist me. Too bad he's retiring, super nice guy.
So point is, yes you can find deals out of your area and in cases very much worth the while. Sadly, you may be placed in bottom of barrel when you need service cuz you didn't buy local. IF by chance you have a good relationship w/ sales dep't of "X" product and yet didn't buy from them, you may get service w/o a problem. At least that's what I've encountered w/ above. Sorry for the long story.