New Purchase...How important is your dealer?????

[srlollar]

So my wifey and the kiddos finally found the 5th wheel we love, the 2014 Cyclone 3100. I have been getting quotes from a dealer in Elkhart and also from 2 local dealers in Houston. I was able to get the lowest price from a dealer in Houston and he actually has a unit on his lot that we LOVE. My question is, how important is the dealer when it comes to repairs? Since I have multiple Heartland dealers in the Houston area will I receive the same service from any of the Heartland dealers in the event I need warranty work? This particular dealer I plan on purchasing from has HORRIBLE service reviews on the web which concerns me. I have a Camping World here but they did not give me the best deal. The Elkhart dealer, while not face to face, was the MOST informative about the unit and much more customer centric. WHile I feel I could get Camping World or Elkhart to match the pirce, they do not have the unit in stock and I would have to order which is not necessarily a bad thing....is it? Advice, suggestions????

Thanks from a first timer.

 

[cookie]

Hello Srlollar and welcome to the forum. This is a great place to get and share information about Heartland products as well as other things.
There are different thoughts as to how important a local dealer is with regard to service.
Full timers don't have a local dealer as they most likely will not always be in the same area as the selling dealer.
There are others that wind up with long waits for service if they go to a dealer other than the one they purchased from.
Dealers always want to take care of their customers first. Others later.
Then their is the independent servicing business.
With prior notice, Heartland may approve them for warranty work.
Personally I like a local dealer. And for me, I paid a little more than the online volume dealer, but the extra cost has value with regard to servicing.
At least that has been my experience.
If you order a new coach, you will get exactly what you want. Like upgraded tires that are highly recommended. Level Up if it's in the budget. Fireplace, and on and on.

Peace
Dave

 

[olcoon]

I feel the dealer is a big consideration in buying a coach. Dave talked about several things & makes good sense. If you buy from a dealer that gives you a good deal on the rig, and horrible service I don't think it would be such a good deal after all. You may spend the next year fighting with them to get warranty work done, & possibly still not get everything done in a satisfactory amount of time with quality workmanship. The dealer we bought our Elk Ridge from gave us a pretty good deal, at least we thought so….but we got horrible service & had to fight with them to get our slide out fixed & then it really wasn't fixed correctly. See if you can find some people who have dealt with them, ask for some references. I'd be looking at their turn around time, and quality of work.

 

[scottyb]

I also gave my local dealer a little benefit of doubt. However, my dealings with their service dept. have been pretty sketchy. After my 1st bad experience and a 6 week wait, I decided to take on every repair that I am capable of doing myself. I would rather replace a water pump or transfer switch myself rather than tow my rig 60 mi each way to drop it off and pick it up several weeks later. I have even used Heartland customer service to implement this and having parts shipped to me direct. I know there will be things that arise some day that will have to be repaired by a professional. I will probably go through HL customer service and find another repair service. My conclusion is that I didn't benefit at all by buying locally.

 

[Westwind]

Then there is the high priced - lousy service department dealer. You really have to do your home work and not be in a hurry to get the unit. I took a chance and went with the low price dealer 240 miles away. He gave me a fair price, added a washer - dryer and a 2nd AC and the price was still fair. I know if I had needed service the problem would have been taken care of.
We are snowbirds and I can say that the two problems we had were not anywhere close to the dealer, and I still was able to get service in warranty at a Camping World. Many of the FW's components have warranties that exceed the trailer so any authorized service center will be approved by Heartland.

 

[iawoody2]

I guess we feel very fortunate that we got a fair deal, and a great servicing dealer in Ketelsen RV in Hiawatha, Ia. Only 40 from home.

 

[srlollar]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I am calling Camping World to see if they will match quote I received from other dealer as I feel Camping World has more to offer in ways of service. ANy additional feedback would be much appreciated......Even on Camping WOrld of which I have found mixed reviews on this forum.
Shane

 

[olcoon]

Yep, Camping World's service is kind of an iffy deal. Just like any other major business, I think it mainly depends on who is in charge of the individual store, and who they have working there. This year Camping World bought out a local family owned RV dealership, that had an outstanding reputation. They kept all of the old employees, even most of the family members that had owned the dealership. It didn't take long for 99% of them to leave, and now when you go in there, it's hard to even talk to someone to ask a question. Service…from what I understand it's a real cluster, & FUBR! I'm almost to the point that unless I really need something, & know where it "should" be I'm not going to go in there. Buy a rig from them…not a chance!

 

[NWILSON]

Since there is no definitive answer to this question, I would take the best $$ deal. I could then use the savings as a cushion to cover any expenses I may incur in getting things fixed when necessary. If the selling dealer winds up being helpful I'm money ahead. If not, I have the money to get things taken care of anyway.

 

[TravelTiger]

An article in RV PRO magazine said that dealerships are not obligated to service RVs they don't sell. They aren't franchises of the manufacturer, like car dealerships. They make more money doing repairs than warranty work, so that gets priority.

I've had the best service from Heartland authorized independent mobile RV repair. (Though it wasn't a mobile service call, I took it to them.)

When visiting at Explore USA in Canton, TX I noticed they had a large sign that said "their customers come first, and get priority service". They were very gracious to host a lunch for the HOC. I will definitely consider them when purchasing, but not for service now, since I'm not a current customer.


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[JohnDar]

In a nutshell, the dealer can make or break your RV enjoyment, regardless of what rig you buy or how great a "deal" they give you. It's all in how they take care of you after your check clears.

 

[tmcran]

IMO,if you are thinking of buying from C W in Katy,think again.

 

[dave10a]

I do repairs myself for even the warranty stuff. It would be nice if Heartland would reimburse me for warranty work ;-) If one is unable to do their own work and are at the mercy of a dealer, I would think the dealer is very important. I purchased my unit from Camping World in Ocala and that was very big mistake because they we curtious and nice, but incompetent. Other Camping Worlds may provide competent service, but it is a crap shoot. There is absolutely no advantage buying from Camping World at a higher price as I originally thought. I tried using a Heartland dealer in Connecticut, but since I did not buy the unit from them, they quoted 2 months before they could look at it. Fortunately, Heartland would authorize and independent service organization to do warranty work with prior approval. I never used one and wonder how the payment would work out. I would hope Heartland would provide a credit card number for those independent service organization to bill against rather than you paying out of pocket and waiting for a check in the mail. The question should be: how to determine a competent dealer--

 

[jassson007]

I bought from dealer in Elkhart as they have me best price even after paying my fuel to go and get it. The nearest BC dealers were over two hours in either direction so could not buy local if I wanted to. I did try and ask a local road warrior dealer if he would service it as we had mutual friends with the owner but I was very rudely told that they don't do any warranty work as they lose money. Thankfully I never bought anything from him and in fact the two road warriors he has on his lot have been there almost a year now.

As far as service, I have two friends in the business, one is an independent shop and the other is a mobile guy. I suited estimate to HL to have warranty items fixed so they could make sure he was not gouging me and then I paid bill after work was done and submitted invoice and HL reimbursed me in just over a week. I was extremely happy how things worked with the mobile guy especially since we live in ours.


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[westxsrt10]

IMO,if you are thinking of buying from C W in Katy,think again.

or ask for service in Albuquerque NM, or Boise Id.

 

[chiefneon]

Howdy!

We are considering purchasing a new 2014 Cyclone 4000 to fulltime in. As fulltimers finding someone to due warranty work sounds like it will be a problem. I have already been told by one dealer that if we did not purchase it there did not want to work on it. So my feelings are to find the best deal we can on a unit we want or order it. We as a read here have any wannarty work done by independent RV service. Does this have to be cleared by Heartland before the work is done?

"Happy Trails"
Chiefneon

 

[GeneF]

I purchased my tt from Camping World while we were on a trip. Kind of an impulse buy. Horrible experience. PDI person knew less than I did about the tt.

Took the trailer to a local Camping World after we finished trip. Robert was my service contact and he called weekly to let me know what was going on. Parts ordered then wrong ones sent. They had the trailer for about 3 months. While most of the work was good, some had not been done. Good and bad experience here. However, since it was taking so long, Campingworld gave me two roof vent covers.

With our Jayco, I had a problem with some rot. This was supposed to have been repaired by a Jayco dealer but was not done well. I did not purchase this from CampingWorld but the service manager fit me in over the 4th of July and helped me to recover $1800 from the Jayco dealer for work not done.

On our last trip, I had a slide issue. Went to a Camping World and they fixed the slide so I could continue on our trip.

At another Camping World, I stopped in because of a problem with my hitch. Service guy took me right in. Did adjust the hitch but missed tightening the saddle correctly.

Overall, I have had up and downs with Camping World. I am not convinced that they are the best for warrantee or other work. So much depends on the individual serviceman and his knowledge of how to fix something.

Found that I had to make sure that they understood the problem and show them what the problem was.

At $119 an hour labor rate, I would assume that they would have well qualified techinicians.

All of the Camping World's have readily accepted doing warrantee work without any questions.

So, again, my experiences with Camping World has been a mixed bag.

 

[Westwind]

Mine too, Not too impressed with the warranty service we received from CW in Tampa, we had an appointment and waited all day for work to begin, they made me move my trailer three times after we unloaded the storage compartment. It was ugly or very entertaining to someone watching. At 4 O'Clock they proceeded to take the hot water heater out of the trailer only to tell me that the electric thermostat was shot, I told them that at the beginning. I had to call Heartland to get warranty authorization. It wasn't a good experience.

 

[Speedy]

I would purchase the rig that is on the lot and really get a bargain price for it since the season is over. Yes, ordering has it's advantages but if it shows up wrong or with production line changes you're not made aware of you'll be quite disappointed. Having the rig in front of you where you can spend hours going over it prior to a formal PDI is worth not getting exactly every option you may want.

We drove from Minnesota to Indiana to purchase our BC, got a great deal 16K savings from local dealers and it has not been to a dealer for service since picking it up. We have been full-timing in for 18 months now and warranty is expired but the small issues that came up I just fixed and moved on.

 

[LuckyLargo]

The dealer is meaningless. Get the best deal. I fell for the dealer service thing on the last 5er I bought. 6 months after purchase they closed their doors. This time I am fulltiming it. Who knows where it may break. Odds are no where near where I bought it. If a dealer won't do service on my rig because I didn't buy it there chances are I don't want him to. Not a customer first kind of dealership. If you advertise "fulltime use" you have to understand fulltime lifestyle and that usually means moving around. Heartland says on their booklets that you should buy locally but locally is a temporary thing for fulltimers. Heartland should take action on these dealers, it is also their reputation on the line.