Texas RV Dealer makes a good move

[garyp4951]

https://www.rvbusiness.com/

[elkfarmer]

I think this is more of a logistical concern. I believe the end product will be better at the stores but this will allow Funtown to do a PDI before it leaves the area and be sent to the dealer network with a minimal PDI upon delivery. This cuts costs down significantly when most of the units are shipped to corporate in Cleburne and sent out to the other 11 stores. They already sell units alot cheaper than anybody else because of volume. I don't think this will have much of an effect upon the price. The initial cost of the new overhead will be justified and recouped eventually. They already did a pretty good job of PDI if you have seen the condition most units show up there. I found the back lot where newbies arrive and have seen the same trailers in the indoor showrooms with good results. Maybe this venture will allow quicker repairs at all the dealerships in case of repairs. This was my concern when shopping new a while back. At that time it was nothing for people to wait months on getting the trailer back. This had to do with all the new units being shipped to Cleburne and of course the number of units in need of repair and lack of space because of said volume. This in turn sometimes gave a less than ideal result in work performed.

[laknox]

Chainwright wrote:
Hmm, so how much of the cost is past on to the end consumer? How much is he actually charging us?

The industry is so bad, IMO, that it likely won't cost Fun Time anything. Between p.o.'d customers who don't return, to the pittance the mfrs pay for warranty work, I'd bet it's likely a wash, at minimum. You deliver a product that doesn't need warranty work, time after time, who's going to have happier customers, more likely to buy again? Who's going to have a more streamlined service center that's not having to deal with loads of piddly warranty issues, so =real= work can get done more quickly?

Lyle

[laknox]

https://www.rvbusiness.com/blog/texas-dealer-fun-town-rv-setting-up-elkhart-pdi.html

Direct link to the article.

FWIW, I think this is an excellent idea. I'll be interested to know what happens if they find a really major issue. Will they just then tow it back to the factory and force them to fix it, or will they just return it outright and tell them to take it off their invoice or replace it with another one?

Lyle

[minnow]

If it were me, I'd run the new RV thru the PDI bldg. leaving it hooked up to the delivery vehicle and finding any defect, I'd tell the delivery driver to drag it right back to the factory 2 miles up the road and let them fix it.

[newman_fulltime]

TxGearhead wrote:
Digging a bit deeper....wouldn't any work Funtown does be warranty, paid by Heartland? Not sure how it would work with the reportedly low warranty labor paid by manufacturers. If Funtown loses money on that deal I guess the consumer ultimately will pay it.

Fun town will just price the unit out accordingly with work done to it and hide it in the fine print

[TxGearhead]

Digging a bit deeper....wouldn't any work Funtown does be warranty, paid by Heartland? Not sure how it would work with the reportedly low warranty labor paid by manufacturers. If Funtown loses money on that deal I guess the consumer ultimately will pay it.

[bucky]

Chainwright makes a valid point about the end cost to the consumer.
The way the manufacturers spread brands all over he//'s half acre a simple warranty repair may include a trip of hundreds of miles, loss of use of the unit for weeks or months, and another trip of hundreds of miles. Or 2.
I'll pay the extra money to avoid all of that.
The consumer today is so focused on a "deal" it's ridic. You generally get what you pay for.

[packnrat]

time will tell, if they do provide a "better" unit, i can see people going to them to buy from, his sales go up, maybe only a couple clicks. but others maybe down a number of clicks.

[newman_fulltime]

Cover up for a distribution hub instead of having their lot loaded with trailers for the other lots

[Chainwright]

Hmm, so how much of the cost is past on to the end consumer? How much is he actually charging us?

[gitane59]

wanderingaimlessly wrote:

Planning wrote:


It is a fantastic sleight of hand that the RV industry takes advantage of: "It would be too expensive to build it right, but don't worry, there is always enough time and money to fix it".

I have a feeling that they have calculated that a sufficient percentage of people will just accept what they get, and then either fix the problems themselves or pay someone to do it, therefore saving the Manufacturer the cost and headache.

Manufacturers generally only design and build them well enough to get from the factory to the dealer and to a campground once. Manufacturers figure the vast majority of units sold will never move another mile once they arrive at a campground site so why build them rugged enough to survive the pounding going down the roads of America for thousand's of miles when the vast majority will never see the road again once delivered to a campground.
Like my Heartless oop's Heartland. The curb side slide out lower seal system design was so pathetic it did not have a hope in you know where of keeping water out while splashing down the roads in rain storm's. There was no mechanical structure within 18 inches of each end of the slideout to compress the wimpy seals together when the slideout was closed.
All Heartland's I have looked at after finding this out are built the same. I know I 'm not alone with having water running cross my floor after driving through a rain storm.

I can just hear the manufacturer now.
You drive through a rain storm with your unit? You can't do that, you will void the warranty.
This dealer's PDI process will never catch design build problem's like this.

[SidecarFlip]

bucky wrote:
You have to think outside the box in today's world. They just knocked it down and burned it with this concept.
One thing that troubles me is the employee pool that they will be hiring from. The pay plan will be the key. Amish quality my buttocks.

Now, now. My wife has dealt with them for years, she knows just about everyone of their sneaky tricks and there are plenty.

[SidecarFlip]

azdryheat wrote:
As I've said before, trailer builders are paid by the piece so they work to kick as many down the line as they can. There is no one doing any sort of quality control checks. My trailer is proof that no one is checking what the factory line workers are doing.

So is my TC.Overall not bad but still some shoddy workmanship by the coveted 'Amish' craftsmen.

[Bipeflier]

Good for them, however they sell 9,100 units out of over 483,000 made last year. That leaves 473,900 units that can still be junk. They aren't going to move the overall quality needle very much in the industry.