Epilogue: Reflections on Buying a Diesel Pusher
The last element of any "managed" project is inevitably the "evaluation phase". It's intended to be a critique of what happened, and offer guidance for similar future projects. This last article will attempt to do precisely that.
After we'd reached our decision to purchase a Country Coach, we tried to objectively identify the primary motivations which led us to our ultimate choice. Admittedly there were a few things about all of the coaches that we didn't particularly like. Sometimes it was floor plans, sometimes a noise factor, sometimes an uneasy feeling about a salesperson. But that's just human nature, and in the final analysis it was the positive motivations that resulted in a final decision.
With hindsight, we now believe the information we "valued" the most was owner input. We had spoken with dozens of diesel pusher owners during this past winter in the Southwest. And we'd catalogued what we'd learned. We even spotted some "patterns" to their comments. As our search intensified, we visited not only the manufacturing facilities of the three coach builders, but, equally importantly, their service centers. We spoke with owners who were where they were to address "problems". These owners, particularly at the end of the day on Friday (when they knew they'd still be there for the weekend), were an excellent source of information and opinion. Added to these personal discussions were well over a hundred emails sent to us by owners of diesel pushers. These electronic comments offered advice, suggestions and opinions. And while all three of the coaches we were considering scored well, one became our personal choice.
Another factor that contributed to our choice, and which may have been in part coincidental, was our acquiring a more in-depth "feeling" for Country Coach -- the Company, not just the product. Our first contact was not with a dealer salesperson, but with Kevin Atkinson, a sales representative employed by Country Coach. We found Kevin to be highly professional and extremely knowledgeable about the Country Coach product. We also appreciated the fact he was able to speak in terms of the attributes of the product he represents, rather than deficiencies in competitor units. A casual email follow up brought Country Coach's Director of Marketing into the picture. When we visited their plant in Junction City, Carol Taylor-Clay made a special effort to meet with us and introduce us to others there. And a couple of weeks after doing the tour at Country Coach, we received a very nice letter from Jim Reab, who had taken us on the tour of the manufacturing facility. Through these contacts we began to get a "feeling" for Country Coach. And we were favorably impressed with what we were learning.
When our research on the various coaches was substantially complete, there was one last, but crucial factor -- price. While we could of course compare the MSRP on each of the units, that did not really answer the question about how much each of these three units would cost. While our purpose was not to acquire the unit which had the lowest price tag, we were keenly interested in comparing "value". We were prepared to pay "more" for better "value". But that would mean that the price differential would have to be, at least in our minds, justified.
This was in some ways the most difficult phase of the project. There is no template for the process of purchasing an RV. And we believe prospective owners approach this phase of the process with many different techniques or strategies. We know of no "correct" strategy. The only course of action that made sense from our perspective was to be as knowledgeable about the product as we could possibly be, and then deal honestly with carefully selected sales persons. Our purpose was to get a "fair deal", which would not necessarily translate to the absolute lowest dollar cost. We knew our investment would be not only in a product, but in the dealer that we would look to for continued support once we took delivery. Our premise was that a dealer is entitled to a reasonable profit on any sale; and that we were entitled to getting the best possible price consistent with that premise. Much easier said than done!
At the same time we were collecting owner comments concerning coaches, we were inviting comment as well concerning the RV dealerships through which they had been sold. We asked owners how they rated the quality of the buying experience. We were interested both in their satisfaction with the fairness of the deal, and with the quality of the "after sale" experience. We concluded early on that it was not just a dealership we should be interested in, but the specific sales people at each with whom these owners had done business. We used this information when we moved beyond the "research" stage, and on into the "buying" process. In each case where we made a contact at a dealership, we did so on the basis of a recommendation.
Said otherwise, we didn't simply walk into a dealership and become the property of the first person who greeted us. We explained where we were in the process, and let them know we had contacted them on the basis of owner recommendation. We identified a "primary" sales person with respect to each of the three coaches we were considering. And we explained to each that in return for their spending time with us getting to know the details of the coach, and doing an extensive test drive, they could look forward to our business if we were to select the coach they represented. But the caveat was this: We would ask for a proposal from them on a specifically described coach (base price plus all selected options and any other costs). And we intended to "test" this price by getting additional quotes on an identical unit ordered from a different dealer. We said that in doing so, we would not (and we did not) "shop" their price. And we said that likewise we would not disclose to them a price we had received elsewhere.
In getting additional prices to "test" the first proposal, we would not commit to accepting the lowest bid. It was our position that if the proposal from our primary dealer's representative was fractionally higher (but within reason), we would nonetheless award them the business because of the time they would have put into the sale.
We don't mean to suggest that the approach we adopted would be suitable for another buyer. We do feel it served its intended purpose in the case of our own purchase transaction. We believe we were treated fairly by the sales personnel we worked with, and it's our sense that they responded in kind. Did we get the "best" possible deal? Probably not. But on the basis of extensive research we do think we were able to strike a fair deal. And that was our primary objective.
We made a number of observations about the buying process that deserve comment. Much has been written about the tactics of RV sales people. And it's usually not favorable. After all, they have exclusive knowledge of precisely how much profit is in each sale, while we, the buyers, have at most a "best guess". We're also aware of stories that some buyers will "accept" a price, only to learn later that there are other costs which were not included in the "price". Unquestionably buyers need to be alert to all sorts of "sharp practices", as well as to high pressure tactics which some salespeople use. Yet in our experience there are "good" RV sales people out there as well. And you're most likely to learn who they are by getting references from persons who have done business with them.
And we can't help but note that it's not just RV sales folks whose practices are often called into question -- it's RV buyers as well. We've spoken to several persons whose livelihood is based on selling RVs, and who have experienced the "1-800 Game". Apparently too many of us are preoccupied with getting the last penny out of a transaction, and we sometimes fail to recognize the legitimate time and effort an RV salesperson has put into the sales effort. We hear tales of a salesperson working untold hours, over a period of several months, to help a buyer reach a choice on which unit to purchase. At that point the sales person furnishes a proposal, and the buyer heads for the telephone to "shop" the price to any number of other dealers who are anxious to close a sale which has involved zero investment of their time or money. We fear too many of these instances involve a buyer taking unfair advantage of a salesperson -- by letting them do all the work, but not be rewarded for their efforts. Could it be that these are some of the same buyers who later bring a "1-800" purchased RV to their local dealer, and complain that their service needs are not properly handled? When it comes to the process of buying an RV, we think fairness is a two way street.
We'd also note that we reacted more favorably to some sales persons than others. We visited many RV dealerships during the research phase, and always made it clear we were not presently into the buying phase -- and we didn't want to impose upon their time. Nevertheless, even in the course of some of these casual conversations we found ourselves reacting negatively to certain "pitches". Probably the one that we found the most distasteful was: "Once you get a price on what you're looking for call us and we'll beat it". We could never feel comfortable contemplating making an investment in a dealership which expressed that attitude. To us it implied a dealership which had little interest in an "after sale" relationship -- such as warranty service.
Another practice to which we didn't respond positively was "bashing the opposition". In many cases we probably had gotten to know the products better than some of the sales people. And each of the units we had focused on is capable of being sold on the "good" features it has. After all, we were there to find out what's "good" about Brand A, not what's allegedly wrong with Brand B.
And finally, there's a point beyond which being informative and being helpful becomes just a bit too aggressive. Each time that happened, we quickly recognized it was time to disengage and move on.
Our decision to purchase a Country Coach led us to select Guaranty RV in Junction City, OR, as the selling dealer. We had previously had a very favorable referral from a satisfied Country Coach owner to Susan Graham of Guaranty RV. Susan worked with us over a period of weeks. She has a low key, well informed style that we appreciated. We can report favorably on our experience with Guaranty RV in the purchase phase of our relationship with this dealership. We'll add to this commentary once we've had the opportunity to sample the "after sale" experience.
We met a number of helpful RV sales persons during the course of our research. In this respect, there are two dealerships which also were brought to our attention by owner referrals, and which would certainly be on our own list of dealers to consider if we were ever in this position again. One is Great American RV in Fife, WA; and the other is Okanagan RV, in Osoyoos, British Columbia.
WHERE WE GO FROM HERE:
This articles concludes the mini-series which documents our experience in purchasing a diesel pusher. We think that much of what we've discussed here would be applicable to the purchase of any RV -- whether new or used. And once again we're pleased we said at the outset that (I) there's no such thing as a "perfect RV"; and (ii) there's no RV that's "right" for everyone. The best one can do is to find the one that will work best with one's personal RVing lifestyle. We're confident that we've done that for us, even though we appreciate that others having the benefit of the same research could have made different choices.
We intend to do three follow up articles as an addendum to this series. The first will be an evaluation of the "delivery process", when we get our first introduction to our new coach at the factory in late summer. We know we have a great deal to learn about this type of unit, and we hope we'll be able to share some insights with our readers.
We will subsequently do an article which provide a sort of non-technical product review of the Intrigue (and diesel pushers in general); and another which discusses our after sale experience with the dealer with whom we've opted to do business.
Perhaps just as we thought we were getting to the end, we realized we're now almost to the beginning!