Typical Dealer's PDI Form

An RV dealer selling a new unit will say that they will be performing a "PDI" - or Pre-Delivery Inspection - before releasing the RV to you. However, their inspectors, frequently just technician employees, may not be well-trained or certified. They are frequently rushed, and therefore prone to miss some issues. And the dealer always falls back on the warranty, claiming if you actually do find a problem, all you have to do is "just bring it back and we will take care of it."

What the dealers do not tell you is once you drive or tow the RV off the lot, you will never deal with the Sales or Finance departments again. You now have to deal with the Parts and Service Department, and while they are obliged to repair warranty-eligible problems, there is no requirement of urgency for them to make the repair. In fact, for major issues, delays in completing the repair may be in the order of many months, in which either you must leave the RV at the dealer or have an RV you can't use for all that time.

Finally, unlike with cars, there are no "Lemon Law" protections with an RV - you cannot void the sale if there are repeated repairs for the same issue or multiple repairs on different issues.

Private Sellers

When purchasing a used RV from a private seller, or even a used RV from a dealer, almost universally the sale falls under a legal principle called an "As Is Sale". In short, whatever is discovered to be a problem after the sale is your problem now, and the seller cannot be held accountable to take care of it or refund your money. Inexperienced buyers will believe that verbal statements made by the seller, such as "It's in great shape!" "There have never been any problems!" or "There have never been any leaks." as enforceable terms, but they are not. In the advertising business this is called "puff." Legally these are considered unenforceable opinions and the seller cannot be held liable for making good on them.

The only exception is if you add a written "warranty clause" in the sales contract such as "Buyer gets a full refund if the engine fails in 6 months or 5000 miles" and a dealer MAY agree to such language, but a private seller rarely will agree to this - you are on your own.

I can hire a mechanic to inspect my car; can't they inspect an RV too?

While there certainly may be auto mechanics that have "school of hard knocks" experience in inspecting RV's, the vast majority of auto mechanics rarely encounter one. For the larger Class A diesel RV's, the engines and transmissions need expert diesel mechanics in specialized shops.

You hire a certified professional home inspector to inspect your home, not a local handyman or unlicensed contractor; why should inspecting an RV be any different? An informed RV buyer hires an independent, third-party certified RV inspector. These inspectors have no allegiance to any dealer or seller and can confirm a high level of experience and training.