Shopping experience and a question...or 2

Hubs and I are shopping for an R-pod. We have found a very good deal on the model we want. The dealer is located in Iowa. I would prefer to shop locally, so I have contacted a few dealers here in TX within a couple hours drive. I talked to a salesman today that was explaining why he can't offer ANY type of discount or come even close to the package price we have found. In the conversation he proceeded to tell me (actually felt like a scolding) that Forest River only requires dealers to work on units that that dealer sells. In other words, that no one else will be required to do warranty work on the unit except for the dealer who sells it. What?! Is this true?

I am very much looking forward to owning our very own pod, but dealers make me wanna hurl. I wouldn't buy from the fella I talked to EVER and they all make me feel like I need a bath after talking to them. I guess what I'm most trying to wrap my head around is this policy by FR if it is true. Has anyone heard this before?

I was so rattled by the convo with that salesman that I was having a difficult time locating their policy on their website. I looked again. It's there.

Copied and pasted from their website:

1)     Forest River, Inc. dealers are independently owned and operated businesses so priority service and scheduling is at their discretion and is often provided to customers that purchased their unit at that dealership.

2)     Purchasing locally allows customers to establish meaningful relationships with a dealer, enhancing the RV experience through assistance with product questions, user tips or RV regulations for your state or country, and much more!

3)     Canadian customers must meet requirements to bring an RV purchased out of the country to their home. These requirements may involve additional inspections and certifications, taxes and fees. Your local Canadian Dealer is a professional at meeting these requirements.

4) Scheduling timely warranty repairs and adjustments through a local dealership provides far greater flexibility and convenience to you, the customer


They do a fair job in sugarcoating it, but basically you're on your own when it comes to warranty work. I haven't compared other company's policies, but for all I know they could all be this way.

Here is the rub for me. We have several FR dealers very close to us, but none carry Pods. The closest Pod dealer is 1.5 hours away. So, at BEST to buy locally we would still have to travel 90 mins for warranty service.

And yes, warranties are generally only 1 year. But my goodness, look how much money is being spent! Pods are at the lower end, but what if you spent 50k on a toy hauler and were told, sorry you will be put at the end of the line behind EVERYONE else. Maybe I'm just old fashioned, but this seems like a bad policy to me. Stand behind your loyal customers for goodness sake.

All transportation and franchises in America are required to perform warranty work for the company to their own customers first. If you choose to chase price and your local dealer won't work with you, that has nothing to do with Forest River. Any FR dealer can do the warranty work even if they don't sell pods, and some will be happy to earn your business. Forest River will direct you to one that will do the work, if you have a recall or serious issue. My selling dealer does not have a service department or do any work, FR sent me to a dealer about 20 minutes away.

We wouldn't be having all this discussion, concern, etc regarding warranty work and where to get it done if FR had some form of QA-QC.

Originally posted by NormanHill We wouldn't be having all this discussion, concern, etc regarding warranty work and where to get it done if FR had some form of QA-QC.

Without getting to off topic...

It's a house, that moves, built to a price point.

If you live in an "median household" in the USA, you spent 10x the price of a pod, and as much as you love said house and how well it's built.. Hook it up to a truck and drag it to the next state at 60-80 mph.. see what you think then.

Feel free to make a trip to the factory. They not only are good people, trying to build a good camper, at the Goshen plant, the QC person is very nice, and does a good job near as I could tell. IME, most DEALERS do a very poor PDI, and most all the things we hear of should have been caught in the PDI. The FB group has a copy of the PDI checklist from FR in it's files section. If I was buying a new camper, no matter where from, and I would sure as heck have it in my hand at pickup.

The funny thing is, MOST owners have few to zero issues with new pods, but they don't come on the internet and vent near as much as the people who do.

BACK ON TOPIC, op, we have had several instances reported, of dealers who just will not service a unit they didn't sell. Happens with EVERY brand of TT, even Airstream. The odds of you having a warranty issue are pretty slim, at least anything more than some loose trim or molding or something.. but IT can happen, and it's good for you to have been told, even if the dealer was a ^%#) about how they told you.

All that said, there is nothing in or on the pod that much different than your house at home.. if you or you SO are any kind of handy, almost any issue is no big deal to sort out. ALL the appliances are warranted by the manufacturers, most for longer than the FR warranty anyways. You have to do the footwork, but things like the fridge have a 2 year warranty.

You can take the gamble, save the $3K, and maybe have to spend some of that "savings" on paying for a repair, or having to do some paperwork to get FR to cover a repair through some other dealer.. (both have happened) But probably, you will just save the money.

AND I will add, as I have said before, "it's better to have a good dealer than a good camper, because one can be fixed"