I’ve had a really miserable week. Partly because I’ve ended this week a bit under
the weather; but mostly because I can’t tell you about owning a new RV, the good
news that should have started this past week.
The call came to me a week ago Friday. The new RV I ordered had arrived, and the
dealership wanted me to arrive this past Tuesday to participate, per my purchase-order
agreement, in the PDI (pre-delivery inspection).
And so I drove off at 4 a.m. this past Tuesday morning,
feeling both stress over the amount of activity this day would require, and
extremely excited to know that Tuesday evening should find me pulling my new RV
into a commercial RV park, for the night, before a Wednesday drive back to my
neck-of-the-woods.
Let me start at the end:
Fact 1: the specific new unit I ordered, from a
dealership associated with a manufacturer well-known for its long history of
quality product, had multiple SIGNIFICANT issues uncovered during the
PDI.
Fact 2: the
service department’s actions and reactions to the rig’s anomalies caused
MULTIPLE instances of immediate damage or potential future damage.
Because of Fact 1 and Fact 2, Tuesday afternoon found me
driving away from the dealership without the rig, choking back emotional
frustration, AND with my original deposit refunded to me by the
dealership.
I was exhausted
and dehydrated. I had no RV for the
traveling lifestyle that is so important to me.
By Tuesday night I was throwing up at home and entering a multi-day
loss-for-words process.
The good in this story is that I did not make a significant
or costly mistake.
The good is that I was
not harassed nor bullied by the dealership.
In fact, when it became apparent in MY mind that I was NOT going to purchase
this damaged new rig, the service manager went with me to talk to the sales
management team. He did not have to do
that. As you might guess, the
conversations were not easy. But they
were not angry conversations (in my presence); my version of integrity would
not allow that.
The good in this story is that I was NOT an ignorant
customer. I knew the details of how the
systems on this rig should work, and I knew the importance of being present
for the PDI. If I had not been
involved in the PDI, but simply shown up for the usual customer “familiarization
training” after purchase—it is most likely that I would have driven away with a
mal-functioning and damaged rig. How
many RVers do that? A lot. I hear them talk about their lemons.
So I’m not really sure where to go with this particular
story, as I don’t want to vent about the multiple problems uncovered and/or
created. I decided sharing my life-lessons,
based on this experience (and former successful RV purchase experiences), might
be most useful. If you know someone
considering an RV purchase, you might want to share it.
(This blog post will focus on being a knowledgeable
buyer. The next post will focus on being
a wise buyer, when it comes to ensuring no harm is done to your rig.)
Part
1: Be a Knowledgeable Buyer:
1.
Do
NOT ever sign a purchase agreement for a new or used RV without negotiating, in
writing ON the purchase agreement, to be present during the PDI (pre-delivery
inspection). Dealerships will try and
tell you they can’t do this; dealerships will try and tell you that you can NOT
be in their service bay. But if you have
NOT signed a purchase agreement, and it is obvious that this nonnegotiable
request is the only reason your signature has not landed on the contract page,
my three-time experience, at different dealerships, is that the dealership WILL
agree to this.
2.
Make sure your presence at the beginning of PDI, and during all
aspects of PDI, is written onto the purchase agreement (contract). Make sure the salesperson has coordinated with the service department manger
before you or the salesperson signs the purchase order. I’ve had one experience where the sales
MANAGER said yes, but the service MANAGER said no. I requested they talk to THEIR manager, the DEALERSHIP MANAGER. He said yes. This point is very important: if only the salesperson was involved in your
PDI negotiation, you could show up to a hostile service team not expecting your
presence. If the dealership will not
agree to your PDI presence being written on the purchase order, I believe you
are at the wrong dealership. I’d walk
away.
3.
Do NOT treat your presence during the PDI
as a training session to ask questions.
Do your homework. Have the owner’s
manual and other pertinent specifications studied BEFORE arriving. Most owners’
manuals are available via the web. Be
knowledgeable about the major systems of your RV, from the psi for the tires to
the method of waste-water tank management, to the operation of electrical and
plumbing systems. Service personnel are
not training personnel. But if you
demonstrate knowledgeable, useful, hands-on help, they may just teach you more
than you know. And it may turn out that
they learn something from your knowledge.
4.
If you need a cheat-sheet, create one
before you go and have it tucked into your pocket. Don’t pull it out to lecture or advise the
service department; pull it out for yourself if you can’t remember important
information. I walk away from the bay if
I need to look at my cheat-sheet. To
develop my cheat-sheet, I ask myself: What are the critical systems that would
cause me to be side-lined on the side of the road? What key system failures would prevent me from
continuing a camping trip? I arrive at the PDI knowing how those
systems should nominally work and what checks SHOULD be done during PDI to
confirm proper operation.
5.
Be prepared to work and be helpful. If I showed up at PDI appearing to be looking
for service mistakes or judging the service person’s work, I would not be
welcome. I make it clear from the
beginning that I’m present to help if they wish, for their successful day, and
to make sure that the rig is thoroughly checked out, for my successful day. I’ve done everything from holding a
flashlight for the service person inspecting (or replacing) an item difficult to
see; to running the water in sinks and shower (to fill the grey tank and watch
the monitoring of the grey tank fill); to flushing the toilet (to fill the
black tank and watch the monitoring of the black tank fill). These last two examples are CRITICAL as they
gave me assurance that no water overflow would occur while the service person
was performing other PDI work. The added
bonus: you can evaluate the accuracy of
the monitoring system.
6.
Arrive dressed to be working with service
personnel. Closed-toed shoes,
relaxed-fit jeans, loose-fitting T-shirt and baseball cap are my attire. I knew this past Tuesday would have 95 degree
heat, but I also knew the service personnel would not be in shorts; neither
would I.
7.
Support the service department’s order of
events for conducting the PDI; be a follower of their process not a dictator of
your cheat-sheet material. Don’t ask
open-ended questions about what they are planning to do. Remember, from their perspective, they’d
rather you not be there. Proving
yourself helpful, by THEIR definition of helpful is important. And THEIR definition starts with the unspoken
rule of: Don’t get in their way.
8.
If something seems wrong, or missed, or
incorrect, speak up then—don’t wait until the end of PDI. Speak up with what my mother would call a “helpful
voice” rather than an accusatory voice.
9.
Be aware that the service department and
sales department are different departments.
I would NOT interact with the sales department during the PDI, until the
PDI is successfully completed and I am ready to complete the sale and purchase
the rig; OR until I’m certain that the number of off-nominal issues found
during the PDI (or caused by the PDI) result in my not purchasing the rig.
The
Best PDI will probably find a few problems—don’t be surprised.
I was involved in the PDI and successful purchase
of a 28’ Airstream a few years ago. I
noted that the plumbing inspection and testing did not involve the exercising
of water cut-off valves. At my request,
two plumbing shut-off valves were exercised that would not have been checked if
I had not been present. Both cut-off
valves leaked in the “off” position. On discovery,
the service person replaced both valves as a part of the PDI. The result:
I never had a problem with the rig during its multi-year use. If this cut-off valve check and replacement
had not occurred, the first time I shut off the water to the toilet (a step in
my method of cleaning it), water would have leaked from this valve over the
floor. A service-warranty trip would
have been required during peak traveling weather. I would NOT have been a happy camper.
Remember: no PDI will inspect and test every function
of an RV. Do your homework on the
critical systems; understand what should be tested to ensure proper working
order; talk to other RVers on their good and bad experiences of what does and
doesn’t tend to fail; and be a positive, knowledgeable customer.
So without telling tales about what was wrong with the
rig I ordered, I can say with a glass half-full: I did NOT make a costly and frustrating
mistake. I did NOT buy a problem rig
because I was a Knowledgeable Customer.
But do know, I am so very sad and frustrated and a bit distraught
over NOT having a forward plan for my beloved RVing lifestyle.
My next blog post will finish with my lesson of not purchasing this RV. And this week? I’ll go on a daytrip, for
that’s the best I can do; for now.
Smart girl!
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