By Ron Burdge
LEMON LAW ATTORNEY
When you get ready to buy a new RV, there are a five questions you should always ask the dealer first, before you sign anything at all.
#1: The PDI. The how, when, where and what of the PDI (pre-delivery inspection) is certainly one of them. And it is absolutely right that it should be done when it hits the new dealer’s lot. Be forewarned, though, that some dealers don’t do a PDI until just before or after a sale is happening. And when they tell you about it, ask for a copy of the inspection form so you can see what repairs were needed just to make it saleable. The more things they had to fix, the riskier it is to buy it.
#2: Lot Rot. How long has the dealer had the RV on its lot? The longer it sits without being sold, the greater the chance there will be things wrong with it, some of which you might see and some of which you won’t see at all (maybe not until you are going down the road at 60 mph). When the unit sits too long without being sold, dealers call that “lot rot.” Generally you want to stay clear of problem RVs that the dealer hasn’t been able to sell. Dealers know what their “turnover” is (the average amount of time an RV sits on their lot before it is sold). If they won’t answer your question, you should be very concerned. In fact, that’s true for any question you may have.
#3: Service Department Process. Ask what it is, how does it work. You don’t want to bring your RV into the shop any sooner than the day they are going to start working on it, so ask. Some shops make a repair appointment when you call up and know they most likely won’t be able to actually start the job for weeks after the date they give you. They do that because once it is in their shop they know they have it captive until they can get around to it. Service work that is waiting to be done is better for their profit than waiting for the work to come in. Better for them but worse for you. Making loan payments while waiting for your RV repairs to be done does not a happy camper make.
#4: RECT. Every dealer knows their RECT number and that number is more important for you to know than it is to the dealer. RECT is the “repair event cycle time” in the dealer’s service department. In other words, it is the average amount of time it takes from when the RV arrives at their shop to when it is ready to go back to the owner. Some dealer repair shops simply work better and faster than others. To you, this number tells you about how long you can expect your RV to be unusable to you when you need something fixed, warranty or not. You want it to be the smallest, shortest number you can find.
#5: Get the 9 Magic Words. “We warranty this RV to you for 3 days.” Ask the dealer if they will give you their own 3-day warranty that if anything goes wrong in the first 3 days, they will fix it for free – anything at all. But be careful because they might just give you lip service and say “yes” and ignore it later on when you sign the sales papers. So when they ask you to sign the sales papers, that is the time you tell them to first write down on those papers that they warranty this RV to you for 3 days. You want it handwritten on the sales contract (they often call that the “Buyers Order” form) and written down by them – not by you. I am a lawyer, so take my word for it that in most states, when the dealer salesman writes that down on the sales contract, in most states you will automatically get a four-year warranty that the RV is “merchantable.” Believe it or not, that is very often a far better warranty to you than the factory’s “limited warranty” paper will turn out to be.
So what do you do if they won’t write down that they give you their own 3-day warranty? Walk away. RV dealers are a lot like politicians: They will promise you anything to get what they want, and at dealerships what they want is your money. If they won’t stand behind what they are selling to you for 3 days, how can you trust them that they are selling you an RV that is reliable, one that will work, one that will last for at least 3 days anyway? You can’t. Don’t forget those 9 magic words because they are legal. They can give you a whole lot more RV protection than you may think.
Ron Burdge is a long-time supporter of RVtravel.com and a highly regarded RV Lemon Law attorney. He can be reached at his website or by phone at 888-331-6422.
I would ask for a seven (7) day without question warranty. Seems three days is too short. Also, before “taking final delivery”, I would take as long as I want and not be pushed through a PDI inspection. Thanks! 🇺🇸
I would ask where’s the bathroom? Then use it and leave.
One of the best training classes I ever took was in contract negotiations. One thing in particular has served me well for decades:
“If it’s not part of the contract it’s not part of the deal.”
When a salesperson makes a verbal representation to you, such as “We do xxxx”, your immediate response must be:
“That sounds great! We’d like that. How can we word that so it’s part of the contract?”
When the salesperson tries to deflect it by saying something like “No need. We do that for everyone.” your immediate response must be:
“Since you do it for everyone I see no reason why you cannot hand write it on the contract. Because you are already doing it so there is no extra expense.”
If they refuse you have your real answer. Keep hammering them with the request to have it written as part of the contract and soon the verbal promises will stop.
And ALWAYS immediately write down the item on a pad of paper so the dealer knows you’re keeping track of them.
Most importantly, when the contract gets dropped in front of you, check it to assure it contains everything you wanted written in and that the wording is as you want it, not vague language that can be argued.
Refuse to sign the contract until everything is acceptable to YOU.
At that point the dealer is 99% committed and likely will just add what you want, but will try to wait you out until you cave. Don’t cave in. If it’s getting late tell them you’ll come back to sign and ask them to call when the contract is revised. And then leave.
The dealer knows if you have kids with you, the pressure is on you to get out of there. Leave the kids at home.
And most importantly, STOP TALKING!
Way too many people talk themselves out of a good deal by trying to be nice or trying to “meet you halfway”. Stick to your terms. The dealer very likely is making far more money on the deal than you could conceive so there is no need to buy something that is not perfect for you.
The dealer sells hundreds or thousands of their product every year whether it’s an RV or a car. They know how to sell, they know how to deflect your objections, and they do it all day long. Selling is their job.
You, in contrast, might buy one RV or auto a year and more likely far less often than that.
They have the experience and the knowledge of what it takes to maximize their profit. That includes trying to be your false friend.
This is a business transaction, nothing more.
“And most importantly, STOP TALKING!”
I spent much of my career negotiating purchase contracts for a very large international company. While periods of dead silence…sometimes long periods measured in minutes, not seconds… will be uncomfortable, but stay silent once you put the ball back in their court.
My experience was always that once the contract was signed it was rarely looked at again…
UNTIL SOMETHING WENT WRONG AND I NEEDED IT. Even if you think you can trust the individual you dealt with, what if they are gone tomorrow? That’s when having a complete written contract with the terms you need comes into play.