How far to travel to buy fifth wheel?

[Fun2travel]

Hi, we've been looking for our fifth wheel for a couple years now. We are 1-2 years out now from FT,
weve decided we want the Heartland Landmark Key Largo. The model we are interested in is a 2014 and will not be manufactured
any longer as they are going to new models for 2015. There are only a couple left around, with the closest being a 7 hour drive from home.
My question for you is not so much that the dealer is far because I know we won't be in any one location for long. But my
concern is this is a pretty small dealer that has recently changed ownership. I've read how important the PDI is and I
wonder if I should be concerned about this being done by a new, small dealer whom I don't think probably has much experience
with this brand or the process. Their price is much less than the other ones I've been able to locate.
I'd like opinions, should I get this one, or be more concerned about the PDI than price. Next closest in price is at least 10,000 higher. ( I think they want to get rid of some inventory).
I tend to be more cautious because our current TT has had a water leak somewhere in the unit that has ruined all the floors and even caused the entry step to fall off due to the floor rot.
Thanks!

 

[danemayer]

Hi Fun2travel,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.

My opinion is that quality of pre-delivery work is more dependent on the tech than on the company. So even though a dealer might be small and under a new owner, the tech might be quite capable. Of course, how good a job any tech does is unknown until you see things go.

If the employees are unfamiliar with Landmark products, they may not be able to point out what every switch does, or where the winterization controls are located, etc. But they should have experience with all the major RV components because most of them are used across many brands.

We have a number of owner-written user guides that will help you fill in any blanks. And of course, there's a great bunch of friendly and helpful people on the forum who will jump in quickly to answer any questions you might have.

You should plan on staying at the dealer or nearby for a day or two to give you a chance to try everything out. That way you can get things adjusted if need be before you hit the road.

 

[Jim.Allison]

My first impression is that a new small dealer might be more on the ball trying to build his reputation!

 

[TXTiger]

I traveled from San Diego to Dallas TX to buy my Cyclone. My local dealer couldn't even come close to the discounted price I got. The dealer in TX had several of my model in stock and the next years model was already out so I got a great price. The PDI is performed by you the buyer, with the assistance of the selling dealer. If you do a detailed PDI you should be ok. Heartland will stand behind the warranty and you can go to any dealer or if pre-approved by Heartland any independent shop for warranty repairs.

 

[stevenssr]

My recommendation is to study up on PDI's and control the PDI process yourself. The dealer tries to control it but you are the boss in this case. Slow them down where needed and ask lots of questions. Preparation is the key. Know what you are going to check before you even get close to the PDI date. I've had such poor luck with Dealer repairs I end up at independent repair shops any way and they've been great. A dealer's number one priority is to sell units. None of them (in my opinion) have enough staff to repair all the units they sell in a reasonable amount of time. So, my suggestion is take the unit you want at the price you want, and find a good independent shop or local dealer to do your warranty work. Just my 2 cents.

 

[ronbarbbv]

My experience was somewhat different, as my local dealer was able to come very close to the lowest price I was able to obtain out of the area. But that was the 4th unit we purchased from that dealer, and since we are not going FT we will continue to rely on that dealer for service. With the large price gap it seems that you should take advantage of that price. All Heartland dealers will perform warranty work, and since you will be going FT your selling dealer would most likely not be maintaining the unit. After your PDI I would suggest staying in the area for a couple of days and thoroughly testing out your unit. There will no doubt be a few items that your selling dealer could resolve before you leave the area. Good luck!

 

[brianlajoie]

We travelled a little over a thousand miles one way for our rig. We saved considerable money on our purchase by buying the unit on line. We asked the dealer if we could arrive earlier than our arranged walkthrough time. In those three hours, we went through our 7 page PDI and attempted to test / operate everything we could. Since we are newbee's at this, we saved the walkthrough for those processes we needed help with. I think the dealer was accepting of this, because it gave us more confidence in our purchase. We are still very satisified with our purchase process and would do it again. Remember that no matter this size of the dealer, if you are not satisified with you PDI walkthrough, you haven't bought the trailer yet.

After our second trip recently, we have a few minor warranty items that I found a certified mobile tech to help us with. The tech was a fountain of information and knowledge that we were happy to recieve.

Best of luck finding your trailer!