Questions on dealers and service

[DCGD2023]

Anyone have any thoughts on their experience buying a Grand Design from, or having their GD serviced by, the dealerships at A&L RV Sales, Lazydays RV, Campers Inn RV, or Bill Plemmons RV? We're looking at a model that is available at those locations, and we're trying to decide whether we should just be looking at the model or whether we need to take into account the quality of the dealership and their service performance post-purchase. Would appreciate any feedback / insights.

Thanks, and Happy New Year!

[FT4NOW]

I think it depends on what you plan on doing yourself. I try not to bring the RV to the dealer so I don't really look at the service department reviews as part of my purchase decision. I purchased from Lazy Days Tampa in 2017 and had a good sales experience. I heard their service department was awful, but never had planned to go back there for service.

[jsm180]

I ordered parts from Lazy Days Tampa that were drop shipped to me from Grand Design. GD messed up and included the invoice to Lazy Days, Lazy Days marked them up over 100% and marked up the shipping as well. Nice profit without having to touch the product. I won't be doing that again.

[ajg617]

There can be quite a quality of sale/service experience difference between different locations of say CampersInn from what I have read. I'm happy with the service department we purchased from but not with the quality of the technicians (NH). I also was not happy that I had to completely purchase the unit before I was allowed to do the PDI. That said, very few issues so it was prepped fairly well IMHO. However, I am told (2nd hand) that all of the locations are different even under the same corporate ownership so YMMV. You should ask every dealer whether they allow you do personally do a full PDI before signing any documents.

We also looked at Plemmons in Raleigh but went there three times and were totally frustrated by salesman trying to sell us a Momentum on the lot when we knew we wanted to order a Solitude or totally ignoring us. I've heard good things about their service department but again 2nd hand. In the end, we decided to purchase from closest dealer (repeat purchase so good rapport with sales/service) and their price was lower.

[sande005]

It can be hard finding information about specific dealerships, but dig as deep as you can - BBB reviews, Reviews posted to Google, Yelp, specific searches here, within the myriad Grand Design groups on Facebook, etc.
Specific locations of a "chain" can have extremely varied levels of quality - one location may be great for many years, another may be the worst you could ever go to. So don't assume a brand-name dealership means much.
It may help to call each one's service department and present yourself as an owner that didn't buy from them that needs work (pick a random post here about a not too serious problem and year/model that someone else had an issue with), and see what their response is. Expect a long lead time to be able to get it in - that is typical with all. But be wary if they deny service at all because you didn't buy. Try to get a sense of whether they want you to drop it off with no completion date, or if they plan to fix it the same day. Some do the latter whenever they can, some take in units and keep them in limbo for many, many months.
Most try to avoid dealers whenever they can, but having one that does perform can be well worth the extra you might pay for the purchase, and then you have an additional leg up because you did buy from them...

[FordmanNJ]

I only have 2 experiences with dealerships. Both dealers were in PA.

1) 2011. Our first one was bought from Stoltzfus RV in West Chester, PA. It was an OK experience. I was not clammering to go back for the service or parts dept. I didn't think the sales experience was all that hot when I reflect back on the experience. Pre sale was "yeah your F150 can tow that. It's under this number. blah blah blah...." The PDI was kind of a joke. They just wanted to get the unit on the road. No follow up or anything as well.

2) 2018 We had some time in the trailer. Knew what we wanted in the next one. Had a reasonable layout in mind. Also I learned about how the tow vehicle really affects the buying process. Our old trailer with our old truck, should have been around 5,000 max weight and maybe 25 feet long. When I bought the new to me truck in 2018 to replace my wrecked one, I kept to the princples the truck will be purchased for an upgraded trailer. Since it was Fouth of July week, I found a dealership I had heard of before. Scheaffer RV. My wife said before we head out see if they are going to have something on the lot. It would be worthless to just walk a lot with nothing on it. We could do that at the Hershey Show. Walk around for hours. I found a few models that had peaked both our interests. We took the ride to the lot.

We checked in and were assigned a sales rep. First thing before walking the lot was making sure the truck we had could tow what we wanted. I had the specs on my truck. We went over my specs for the trailer. The wife went over hers. The sales rep basically said I think these models are going to work best for needs and the truck. WE want you going down the road safely. We looked at the models I saw on line. We liked them but we also didn't like some of the design features. However, we came across our current trailer I mean same stock number and everything while walking the lot. It was on the list of models to look at outside of our original list. We walked in. Said wow! We had a positive feeling about the trailer. Then we walked through a few more. Liked the layout however they were heavier than I felt comfortable towing and so forth. Came back to the trailer. Really envisioned it.

When purchasing it, our sales experience was vastly different than our first one. We managed to get a fair price for our trailer when our trade in was considered. Knowing what we had it was an upgrade for sure. When it was time to pick up the trailer, our PDI was much more in depth. Our PDI tech was engaged with us. He knew the product he was demostrating. Unlike the other trailer, the PDi tech was a college aged guy who found out that I knew something about RVs figured he didn't need to demo anything since I knew it already. Our PDI the demo tech didn't care and I learned a thing or two which saved our butts a couple of times in field camping.

As for after sale support, we took the trailer in several times for service work under warranty or recall. The work was done well and correctly. My paperwork was explained to me. I was on my way. There was even a time in which they did a repair while we were on the road. We just stopped in to drop it off, they looked at what needed to be done and asked if we wanted to hang out for while they make the repair. We said sure. They allowed our dog in the showroom. Gave him some water and us too. Since then, I have stopped in over the years of ownership for parts and other service needs. Never a bad experience.

That's my long winded experience of 2 different dealership experiences. I have no problem recommending the second dealership. I know others have used them as well. At my local campground, I am in an area in which several of the other seasonals have GD RVs all of them except 1 is from Tom Schaeffer. The 1 originally bought thier first trailer from them but when they wanted to go to a Solitude, price was a factor and TS was not able to meet the price. They wound up getting it from I think Meyer's after one of the shows. He was one of the only guys who was 50/50 about TS but did recommend them when it came down it. Even the non GDRV who bought from TS recommended them.

Now as for Lazy Dayz. I have a friend who bought a Class C toy hauler motorhome from them a few years back. Her and her companion (a friend of mine) bought from them. They had an OK experience. He told me they wanted the Class C so he could take the quad for gold panning. She had the money and said yeah I like that and let's do it. She found the motorhome in Florida. They flew down to get it. It took about 2 weeks. They got the motorhome. Since she never owned one, they made her taking a driving class on it. My friend did so they gave him a refresher. Then after the driving class, they camped in it for a couple of nights, found a bunch of things wrong with it. Turns out it took a few days to fix everything. Lazy days put them up in a hotel but they didn't have a rental to go anywhere. They were planning on driving home and camping along the way. By the time they were done, it was like a week and a half. Luckily they were both retired. Both of them like the motorhome now but said they would not go back due to their experiences with them and the service department.

[Cpb9294]

I have found, over 20 years of TT Rv'ing, 4 units.
First one I used warranty pia, setup appointment for 2 weeks away, dropped off, wait 2 more weeks. Get call to pick up.... oh we had to order the parts. My God, simple stuff a bathroom faucet and a ceiling vent cover...and this was a camping world!!! They had parts in stock, but no had to come from factory.

After that I became the warranty department. Problems are many, but easy fixes. Probably spent a couple thousand at most over the years, but in each case, fix was better than factory could ever do it, if they were even capable.

I don't mean to hurt feelings but...
If you're not mechanical, this is the wrong toy box to play in.

[trailrydr]

I ordered parts from Lazy Days Tampa that were drop shipped to me from Grand Design. GD messed up and included the invoice to Lazy Days, Lazy Days marked them up over 100% and marked up the shipping as well. Nice profit without having to touch the product. I won't be doing that again.

Not just there.... had the same thing happen at our dealership which has a great rep as well. Apparently, this is STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE at alot of dealerships across the nation, atleast, according to what MY dealership told me after I contacted them on the phone and complained about the very same thing. High markups on both cost and shipping, and all they had to do was REPEAT the order over the phone to GD.

Another thing thats common, was shipping the part straight to the dealership first, and then, to me. They wouldnt (or dont) allow direct shipping - probably so one doesnt see the invoice. $35 of parts (GD invoice price) with original ship cost of $15, ended up costing me over $130 to receive and put on myself.

I believe now, GD does allow for parts to be purchased directly thru them, but, I will try to find them (part numbers and availability) ANYWHERE I can first before even taking THEIR markups as well. The same parts, once I had the part numbers and found them available on the net, was only $35 shipped to me, not to mention SOONER as well. And I thought car dealership finance managers robbed us! This on top of the COVID experience of poor manufacturing practices and dealership delivery catches just feeds more lipstick on that pig. Even with very unfortunate parts sales practices to patron customers, dealerships are still a neccessary evil for purchasers until RVs are sold directly from the manufacturer to the public.

[ajg617]

I have ordered directly from GD (bluetooth module for the Jaboni) and Jaboni (replacement solar charge controller). Interestingly, Jaboni said they would much prefer to deal directly with the end customer due to all the paperwork required by GD. GD initially gave me a hard time since it was a warranty item but eventually relented as we were heading out on a trip. Jaboni just sent me a replacement and pre-paid slip for return of old charger.

[krsmitty]

Purchased our GD from Lazy Days in Tampa. Both Sales and Service has been good...so far.