Buying a New RV From a Dealer

Do I really need an inspection on a new RV?

If you are purchasing an RV from a dealer, ALL RV's being considered for purchase, whether new or used, should undergo a full, independent third-party inspection. Your salesperson won't ever tell you this. They will say something like "One of our certified RV techs will do a full pre-delivery inspection..." or "You don't need an inspection, if there's a problem it's always covered by your warranty..." While these statements may be true, Expert RV Inspections & Service still recommends that you hire your own NRVIA certified inspector.

The RV Industry is more popular today than ever. RV manufacturers are building hundreds of RV's every day, at a pace faster than ever before just to meet demand. Just like with cars, RV manufacturers can make mistakes; if these are not discovered they can cost you a lot of time, money and aggravation.

At the dealer the technicians will typically perform what is called a Pre-Delivery Inspection or PDI. These technicians generally are not certified inspectors, and are usually very busy. In order to meet their repair job quotas they will typically spend the least amount of time possible to complete a PDI on your RV, frequently taking less than an hour. The PDI may miss important items, and if the buyer finds problems after the sale, it falls to the buyer to deal with any warranty issues with the Parts and Service Department.

If you are purchasing an RV from a dealer, one of the biggest benefits of an Expert RV Inspections & Service professional inspection is that it is performed before you take delivery of the unit. Any buyer of an RV from a dealer, new or used, will be asked to sign a purchase order - a legal requirement to buy the RV. You should always add the following clause to this document - "... subject to my final inspection and approval, which if not given will cause for all monies tendered to be refunded." Hand write it in on the bottom near the signature and make sure their finance officer initials it; always ask for a copy to take with you.

What this clause now allows is that you can refuse to take delivery / agree to the loan / hand over your money unless you are entirely satisfied with the RV in all its aspects. So if the Inspection Report reveals an issue that needs to be addressed, you can insist it be repaired / addressed before you drive or tow it off the lot.

Do NOT let the salesman or finance staff try to talk you into taking your RV home before you get all the issues resolved if you are buying an RV from a dealer. Once you take delivery every problem now becomes a warranty issue, and you have no recourse in demanding a fast repair. An unscrupulous dealer may even try to claim that the issue was caused or worsened by you after you took it home, and may even refuse a warranty-covered repair. Once you refuse to take delivery, and more importantly to them, refuse to finalize the financing, the salesman does not get their commission, the dealer does not get to arrange financing and/or collect the money due on the sale and the RV sits on the lot, but they can't sell it to someone else because technically it was sold to you. So the dealer has a serious incentive to satisfy your issues as fast as possible, so that you will take delivery and then they can get their money.

What if the Dealer Disagrees with the Inspection Findings?

An Expert RV Inspections & Service professional inspection is a thorough, comprehensive and independent inspection performed by an NRVIA Certified Inspector who has no financial interest in the sale completing or not. It does not benefit us at all to find spurious issues with the RV. While all final decisions are yours, if you are buying an RV from a dealer, we would recommend if the dealer refuses to address the issues detailed in the inspection report that you seriously rethink going through with the sale at all by invoking the above "subject to ..." clause in your sales contract or purchase order, or renegotiate the price down to reflect the future repairs to the issues discovered.

And of course, ALWAYS get everything that is stated or promised by ANYONE in writing.