Right now is a fantastic time to shop for RVs. RV sales are down significantly, and dealers have placed orders, but the number of rigs going out the door is lower than they’d like. As you’re shopping, you may come across a term “DSO” or “Dealer Stock Only”. What is this and why does it matter?
Essentially, what the RV company’s website is telling you is that the model is not currently in their production schedule. That may happen for a few reasons.
I’ve seen where an entire year’s production gets listed as Dealer Stock Only on a company’s website, only because they don’t plan to build last year’s model any longer. That makes sense, of course.
But sometimes a brand is also simply no longer going to build that floor plan. That’s another circumstance where the model will be listed as Dealer Stock Only.
That means that the floor plan is still relevant and they want to continue to list it on the RV maker’s website for a while, but they aren’t making any more. Therefore, the supply is limited to Dealer Stock Only.
Should I still buy a “Dealer Stock Only” RV?
While “last year’s model” is more of a big deal with automobiles, it’s much less of a thing in the RV space.
Also know that the clock on almost all RV warranties doesn’t start ticking until you sign on the bottom line. So, if the model is even two model years old, it’s still likely covered by that new RV warranty.
Can I still get parts?
I recently shared that it looks like the Lippert–Patrick merger, or is that the Patrick–Lippert merger, is back on. In that article, I shared that Lippert supplies $5,826 in parts per travel trailer sold and $3,970 per motorized RV. Patrick supplies, on average, $5,277 of product per unit.
When you look at any RV, the parts made by the RV company itself are pretty minimal.
With few exceptions, the frames, appliances, windows, doors, compartment doors, tires, wheels, axles, and much of everything else all come from suppliers. It’s pretty rare that an RV company really makes much of anything in an RV except, maybe, cabinets.
If the RV is framed in aluminum, the RV company might weld together the aluminum frame. But, again, those are from tubes provided from outside the company. The fiberglass walls and the sandwich that forms the walls are all built from parts sourced elsewhere and, usually, assembled by the RV company.
My point in all this is that even if the RV company that made your RV went bankrupt tomorrow, as long as the suppliers who sourced much of what’s in the RV are still around, you can likely get the parts you need to repair or replace components if they break.
One word of caution
There is one thing to be wary of in this circumstance. Know that almost every RV manufacturer has a strong recommendation to routinely inspect the seals on the outside of your RV. Typically, the recommendation is to do so quarterly.
Now, this doesn’t mean the seals have gone bad at all. But this is a bit of preventive maintenance so that if a seal is beginning to dry out or fail, you can catch it before there’s the opportunity for water to get in.
I honestly do not know of any RV dealership that would routinely inspect the seals on their inventory. So, if you do find a model that’s been on the lot for a long time, know that there has likely been zero maintenance done to it.
Further, tires on RVs tend to age out before they wear out. The tires on that super-great deal on the dealer’s lot may have already been sitting in a warehouse for a while before the RV company put them on the RV. So always, always inspect the date codes on the tires before you take delivery.
The recommendation in most cases is to replace an RV’s tires five years from the date of manufacture. The tires on a rig that’s been on the lot for two years may actually be four years old.
MORE TIPS FROM TONY:
- The changes for 2027 RVs that I am seeing and liking
- The customer service lesson the RV industry needs to learn
- The RV industry is listening, it seems
- RVing still wins when it comes to travel—My Amtrak adventure to Indiana
- Pricey fuel makes me a local explorer. Let me inspire you to do the same
RVT1269
