How do you find a great RV dealership? Can an RV dealership make a real difference in your RV experience? How important is the price of an RV when choosing a dealership?

RVs will require maintenance

RVs are hand built as quickly as possible and then towed or driven to wherever you are, on public roads. Most RVs are built in Indiana so the further you are from there, the more miles your new RV may have on it before you ever see it. An RV may have left the factory in perfect condition but the trip to the dealership can sometimes shake things loose.

This is what should be addressed in a dealership’s Pre-Delivery Inspection or PDI.

Why an RV dealership makes a difference

The caliber of an RV dealership makes a huge difference. RVs are not like cars. They need maintenance and service. Potentially a lot of maintenance and service.

An RV dealership isn’t just the place where you’ll buy that new RV, but likely the place where you’ll have it serviced as well. And, trust me, it’ll need service. I’m not saying that RVs are poorly built. However, when you combine a design that focuses on weight savings that’s built in a big hurry and then driven on the roads that can be pretty horrible in the US, you have the recipe for needed repairs.

Not only is the purchase a part of the dealership’s responsibilities, but so is service after the sale. This is where a dealership can make such a big difference.

Local dealerships are under no obligation to service an RV you bought elsewhere. And, in many cases, they don’t have the capacity to do so. A good dealership will, naturally, do their best to help you in an emergency situation. But know that for regular service and warranty work, you’ll likely need to return to the dealership where you made your purchase.

Our story on why won’t my local RV dealer honor my RV warranty

How to find a great RV dealership

There are a number of ways you can shop for your dealership, even before you start shopping for an RV.

• Check reviews on Yelp and Google

  • People generally leave reviews when they’re either very angry or really thrilled. Check to see if there’s a pattern to the angry reviews. When looking at reviews, check how recent they are. It could be that things that needed attention at the dealership in the past have been corrected, potentially with a personnel change. Or, good things have gone wrong.

• Talk to other RVers

  • If you’re not yet an RVer, you’ll quickly find that most RVers love to talk about their RVs. If you see someone stopped with a decal displaying a local RV dealership name on their rig, ask the owners how their experience played out. Most people will be quite vocal in their experience.

• Shop locally

  • More often than not, a locally-owned dealership works to maintain their reputation in the community. There are certainly good larger operations, but locally-owned dealerships with team members who have been aboard for a long time often provide the best service. In fact, many of these operations thrive on word of mouth advertising.

• Shop small

  • There are a number of large chains in this business and some of them do serve their customers well. But there are also some real horror stories from these companies, particularly around unscrupulous finance practices and worthless warranties.

• Trust your gut

  • If you walk into an RV dealership and get a bad feeling, your gut is probably right. A good RV dealer will listen to what your wants and needs are and show you rigs that match that desire. However, many’s the time I listened to prospects, showed them what they wanted but based a recommendation on my own experience. No matter what, a dealership team that listens and respects your wishes is a good one.

• Are they RV owners?

  • I always like when someone at a dealership is also an RVer. They can better appreciate the things that make a good RV and can help steer you in the direction of better features and functions over the long term. I would ask the people you’re speaking with at a dealership if they are RVers themselves. You’d be surprised how few are.

The service team

The service team at an RV dealership is probably the most important asset at the place. As such, I would strongly recommend looking at their service department to see how they operate. Is the place in good shape? Do they have the equipment they need?

If you’re buying a motorized RV are they able to maintain the running gear of the rig?

Is there someone on staff who is trained to service the various appliances in the RV? Can they work on plumbing and electrical? All of this will matter down the road.

Most places where the techs are certified in specific areas will also display those certifications. They are a point of pride with the techs and with the company itself.

You might meet with the service leader at the dealership even before you talk to anyone in sales to see if it’s possible to even make an appointment in a timely manner. Do they offer basic services like routing check-ups and winterization? What’s their lead time on getting repairs scheduled?

RV PDI - Pre Delivery Inspection

Before you ever see your RV, the RV dealer is expected to check the RV. The timing of this inspection varies greatly by dealership.

For example, some RV dealerships do a thorough inspection before they even accept the RV from the transporter. Others wait until the RV is sold before they conduct the final inspection.

This pre-delivery inspection is intended to catch any issues the RV may have before you take it off the dealership lot. But the caliber of the inspection can vary greatly. You can ask your dealership what is included in their pre-delivery inspection. Many dealerships will have a checklist that their techs use to conduct the inspection.

This thorough testing of all systems absolutely takes time but it’s better to be sure it all works before you test it in the campground. This is also why you can’t just walk into an RV dealership and walk out with an RV. Typically a PDI has to be scheduled and performed before the RV leaves the lot.

Here are some things a PDI, or Pre-Delivery Inspection, may include.

• Inspect the exterior for leaks and seals. These are the bane of all RVer’s existence so making sure the RV doesn’t have seal issues is critical.

• Test all systems by fully operating them. This means water, electrical, climate control, entertainment, slide rooms, leveling and jack systems, the whole lot. They should run the AC and the heater no matter what time of year it is. What is their procedure to make sure the water heater and water pump are functional? They should also check all the appliances to make sure they function in all ways.

• See all these tests with your own eyes. Don’t rely on a checkmark on a piece of paper to show that everything works. Make sure you see the systems work, and know how to make them work.

RV education

Another aspect of testing all the systems in your RV is sharing how it’s systems work with you. How the dealership imparts this information to you varies greatly including who takes responsibility for showing you all the systems.

For example, at the dealership I worked at the tech who was responsible for all the testing was also the one who explained the systems to the customers. But it’s not uncommon that your salesperson does the explanation. Sometimes it’s a third person whose sole responsibility is the walk-through.

There is a lot that goes into this process and we have several resources for you:

• Podcast episode about taking delivery of your new RV

• Article about taking delivery of your new RV

RV financing

There are a lot of ways that dealerships can scam you, but one of the easiest for them is in the finance department. There have been a lot of articles written about finance scams at RV dealerships including patterns of very bad behavior.

We have a podcast episode with an RV finance expert that is well worth a listen. But the simplest piece of advice is to know your finance options before you even walk into a dealership.

The dealership may have some really good options and some dealerships, including the one I worked for, was directly partnered with local credit unions. But not all dealerships behave this well so it’s good to have your situation figured out before ever stepping foot in the door.

• RV financing tips from an RV finance expert

Warranties

There are a lot of warranties on any new RV. There is the general “bumper to bumper” warranty that might be obvious, but RVs are made of components from a number of key suppliers. Some of those companies have their own warranty and that may be longer than the general warranty on your RV.

For example, many RV appliances including air conditioners, refrigerators, water heaters and other expensive components often have two year warranties. These companies may serve you directly and may authorize work at any selling dealer and even some independent repair shops.

Some RV companies, knowing how great the shortage of qualified repair technicians is, have also begun working with independent repair facilities to cover warranty work there. If there’s a local independent RV repair shop, you might ask them if they are authorized to do warranty work on the brand of RV you’re considering.

I had suggested attempting to make a service appointment before you even buy an RV at a dealership - some types of service procedures may have months of backlog at one dealership. Yikes.

• We have an article on why your RV dealership may choose not to honor your RV’s warranty here.

• We have an article on shopping for an extended warranty here.

RV shopping horror stories

Working at an RV dealership, I got to hear lots of fun and often sad horror stories from prospects who ultimately bought their RV from us because of how we treated them. Here are some fun ones:

Customers

Not all the horror stories were about other dealerships. We had a few customer horror stories ourselves.

• Our finance manager was also a sales person. There was a customer who insisted that their Toyota Corolla would have no issues towing a 14,500 pound Cedar Creek fifth wheel. They were quite adamant about it to the point that we asked them to leave. How would you even put a fifth wheel on a small sedan?

• A customer bought an RV for their college-aged child to live in with the understanding that the RV would come back after the year as a used RV. The child had absolutely destroyed the RV in a year’s time to the point that we didn’t want it back as a used unit. This had been a beautiful high-end travel trailer that was now almost junk.

• One customer tried to file a warranty claim stating that the couches were defective. It turns out there had been some sort of big disagreement and, in fact, someone staying in the RV had taken a knife to the upholstery.

• A customer wanted me to file a warranty claim because their RV leaked. They sent me a video showing the slide room only partially opened during one heck of a rain storm. When I pointed out that the slide room couldn’t seal properly if it weren’t either all the way open or closed they offered to edit the video. Nope. That one’s on you, buddy.