# Florida RV dealers



## DocR (Jul 26, 2004)

Hi,
I'm am plain novice looking to purchase a new class A model. I found Lazydays of Tampa on the internet and plan a flight from Connecticut to Florida to search. What other RV dealers are in the vicinity - 150 or so miles of Tampa?

Another stupider question. If you buy a new RV, how does the warranty work - i.e. where do you go for warranty service or repairs? There is a Chevy, Ford dealer in most towns, buy in most NorthEast states there a few RV dealers.

Thank you
DocR


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## Cindy Hendricks (Jul 26, 2004)

Florida RV dealers

DocR,

We have a zip code radius search on all our Dealer page (new, used, parts, service and rentals).  I searched on the New RV Dealers page for dealers within 150 miles of Lazyday's zip code and here are the results:  

http://www.rvusa.com/rvdealers2.asp?type=new&miles=150&zipcode=33584&Submit=Go+>>

You may need to copy and paste that URL into your address bar.

Hope that helps!
Cindy Spencer
RVUSA.com


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## sismiller1 (Jul 27, 2004)

Florida RV dealers

Hi,
Dusty's RV sales center, 7400 State Road 60 East,Bartow, FL 33830, (888) 539-4177 is a wonderful dealership. I've went there on several occasions, looking, asking questions and test driving an Alpa See Ya...great coach, but they have them all!
Ask for Roxy, she does a great job. 
Their web site is www.DUSTYSRV.com
Bartow is in Polk County, which covers Lakeland, Winter Haven, etc. Lakeland is about 15 miles East of Lazy Days. Anyone in Lakeland can tell you how to get to Bartow, state road 60.
Have fun looking!!


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## janicenlarry (Jul 29, 2004)

Florida RV dealers

I bought my 99 Winnebago Chieftain from Lazy Days new prior to full timing.  Great sales dept and they have wonderful free classes on a variety of subjects for the novice.  Also free lunches any time you stop in.  It all falls apart in service which is typical for 99% of RV dealers.  They back wall the unit which means 2-3 returns to get the job done right, mechs are sloppy and arrogant and not too sharp.  I finally learned to compile a list of my problems and then head to the factory in Iowa where they treat owners like gods and the work gets done right the first time.  Slide and Jack problems I take to the mfgr, HWH also in Iowa & genny problems to Cummins-Onan (all over the country).  Each of these places treat you great and the job gets done right.
And believe it or not,my Winney had far fewer problems than most other mfgs, especially Fleetwood.  It has turned out to be a dream machine for full timing.
Bottom line, Lazy Days will give you the best deal on a new unit but take it elsewheres for service.  Are you hung up on a new unit?  There are a lot of good units available privately and you wont take that terrible depreciation when you drive off of the lot.


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## Cash (Jul 30, 2004)

Florida RV dealers

DocR,

Glad to meet you.

This is my take on Lazydays and Fleetwood.

www.pacearrowproblems.com

Best of luck, in your purchase.

$Cash$


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## copleysrv (Aug 5, 2004)

Florida RV dealers

Why would you reward a dealer for bad service. You said 99% of dealers service is bad.Well of course their service is bad if you went to lazy days and bought with the intension of having someone else to service it. Why is that? Possibly it could be because  customers want the best price and do not worry about service till after the fact. I can usually match or beat Lazy Days price so don't say their the best. You just have not done your shopping. If customers want better service they better stop pinching pennies and worry about what is going to happen after the sale. I challenge anyone to compare my dealerships service record with lazy days. If you have a problem at Copleys rv you talk to the owner, owners son. Every day we are on the lot here to serve you. BRIAN COPLEY


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## rlmurraysr59 (Aug 5, 2004)

Florida RV dealers

Copleysrv:

I know you took the remarks personal from your response.  Unfortunately, the big dealers, "Stupor Sores", or is that Super Stores, put all RV dealers in a bad light.  I bought my Southwind from a stupor sore in Belleville, Michigan called Walt Michael's RV.  I can assure you, I did not pinch pennies.  Nor do I believe that anyone else who buys a brand new Class A motorhome is pinching pennies.  

I have owned it for three years.  Not one time in those three years have I ever talked to anyone in the service department of Walt Michael's RV Stupor Sore.  I have talked to the operator until they replaced her with an automated system then I only listened to a recording over and over and over again.  I did talk to the parts department once about a part that fell of my motorhome while on the road.  I ordered a replacement, waited 6 weeks for delivery, saw the charge on my credit card, tried to call them about the part to no avail, bought the part from another dealer, received the part from 
Walt Michael's RV, returned it for a credit, they kept the part and the money was still charged to my account.  

I am sure you are a great dealer with a splendid reputation for taking care of the customer, before, during, and after the sale.  I have been to a couple of dealers for service that I felt would have given me the same treatment if I had been fortunate enough to buy from them.  But Walt Michael's had the unit I wanted and I thought with all the advertising he did, plus being located next to a Camping World store, that he would provide great service after the sale.  It is also unfortunate that we do not find out about websites like RVUSA until after we purchase our rv and we do not find out about dealerships like yours until after we have made a major mistake.

If I am ever in your area of the country I will be sure to stop in.  I worked for General Motors for over 35 years.  Until the Japanese hit our markets in the early 80's with small fuel efficient, high quality cars, the domestic automakers could have cared less if the door handle fell off when you got the new car home to your driveway.  And when you took it in for service there were dozens of other cars in front of you.  It wasn't unusual to wait a week for a minor repair only to get it back and find out it wasn't fixed.  I happened to be involved in the quality turn around at General Motors.  They finally empowered the people assembling and manufacturing the parts to shut things down if quality was in question.  It isn't perfect but you don't see long lines at the dealerships anymore.  The Japanese, and others, competition hurt us severely but it turned out to be good for the American consumer.  I will put any GM product up against any foreign manufacturer on the market today.  But just remember, because they are foreign they don't have to report their recalls and problems like the domestics do.

So a little competition for the domestic RV industry might just be what will wake up these manufacturers so they stop slapping things together and shipping them off to the dealer to be fixed.  People don't blame the dealer, they blame the manufacturer.  Then they get mad at the dealer for not fixing what the manufacturer should have fixed in the first place.

Just some thoughts.

Good luck and thanks for caring.


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## rlmurraysr59 (Aug 5, 2004)

Florida RV dealers

Doc R:

I am going to assume that your are looking to purchase a gas motorhome class A.  If you buy one with the Workhorse Chassis, like I have, you will have to take it to a Workhorse Dealer for chassis, transmission, or engine service.  Ford does the same thing with their chassis.

This is one of the bad things about owning a motorhome.  When something goes wrong with it the dealer will say, "You have to get in touch with Norcold, or Dometic, or Coleman, or whoever made the appliance you are having problems with.  I have had a few disagreements with manufactures or dealers that try to pawn off the problems.

If I buy a new Chevy and the alternator goes out I don't go to Delco, or if the radio goes out I don't go to Delphi, or if the transmission fails I don't go to Hydra-matic.  So why would I go to a Coleman dealer to get the airconditioner on the top of my motorhome fixed?  Why wouldn't I just go to the dealership?  Why would I have to contact A & E if my awning malfunctions and I need warranty work?  But they will tell you they don't service airconditioners or refrigerators, or awnings, or whatever.  It must be nice to be in a business where you can slap things together and if they don't work you can blame it entirely on someone else while keeping the money in your pocket.

Just my opinion.


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## ARCHER (Aug 5, 2004)

Florida RV dealers

Ron, I have to disagree just a little with you.  My RV dealer, Stout's RV in Greenwood Indiana will service it all (including brakes, A/C, Frig, Furnace, water heater, etc., etc.).  I have never gone to them where they said.....sorry, contact manufacturer.
Guess it all depends where you live and who you deal with.


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## rlmurraysr59 (Aug 5, 2004)

Florida RV dealers

Archer:

I bought my Holiday Rambler from Stout's.  I never considered them to be a Super Store dealer.  I searched for quite a while before buying my Holiday Rambler Travel Trailer from them.  Unfortunately for me, they were about 6 hours from where I lived.  The trailer turned out to be a hand full.  I blew ten tires in three years, the brakes disintegrated on the first trip home from Stout's, and the drain valve for the kitchen gray water tank came off in my hand and when I had to fix it myself I found out that Holiday Rambler didn't seal the belly pan and it was full of water and dirt.  Not a pretty picture.  In the three years I owned it I replaced the brake mechanisms three times.  No one could ever figure out what was causing the problem.  Not even me.  In response to my complaints to Holiday Rambler I received a pretty nasty letter from their customer relations department.

Stout's was always nice when I talked to them and I felt they had given me a really good deal on the trailer.  I had a very good friend who owned a 1978 Holiday Rambler trailer.  It was well built and comfortable.  I wanted what I considered a top of the line travel trailer to.  Mine came no where near the quality that his did.  I was told that it was because Harley Davidson owned the company for a few years and they did to Holiday Rambler what AMF had done to them a few years before.  Raked the profits off and didn't put anything back into the business.  

I know that if I had taken the trailer back to Stout's they would have fixed it.  But there was a small dealership called, Circle K, in Lapeer, Michigan, where I bought my Starcraft, that fixed all the problems with the Holiday Rambler.  All but the drain valve that is.

I hope I never have to fix one of them again.

I also hope we haven't talked the original poster out of buying an rv.

Good Luck and Great Camping.


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## ARCHER (Aug 6, 2004)

Florida RV dealers

Ron, sorry you bought a lemon.  Personnaly, I would not buy a HOLIDAY RAMBLER.  Yes, Stouts has always been super to me when I had to take my WINNEBAGO Class A (older 1989) in for any service and/or repairs.  I did not buy it from them, but they have given me great service when needed.  Too bad you live so far from them.
Yes, I hope we did not scare the original poster.  Hope you have found a better camper.


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## happycamper (Jan 16, 2005)

Florida RV dealers

 :blush: 
Just wanted to share wirh you an experience and recommendation for *Copleys RV *in Hobe Sound Fl.  We were looking for an rv on internet for best deal and stock.  We especially wanted a HolidayRambler. Found one we liked on Copleys site. Call them and they promised us the rv was as stated on web. I was very skeptical and leary as we wold be taking a day of vac and fly down, rent car and check it out so we were cautious. Took the chance, Arrived, met the family and saw rv.  Boy, was we impressed! RV was as promised and we bought it, made plans to come back and pick it up.  Things that we asked for, changes, were as expected when we arrived again for pick up.  There service dept was gracious, surberb, friendly. We could not have had a better experience.  We were there most of the day in training.  I saw several customers come and go and many were repeat customers for purchase & repairs - I heard nothing but praise from these repeat customers. This was a few years ago.  Within the year we hope to purchase our retirement dream motorcoach.  Even though we live in Atlanta, WE WILL GO BACK TO COPLEY'S FOR OUR PURCHASE AND DRIVE BACK FOR ANY SERVICE NEEDED FOR REPAIRS AS IT WILL BE WORTH THE TRIP!!!!!!


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## turnipbwc (Jan 16, 2005)

Florida RV dealers

The two RV Dealers where I live sell the RV but do little to service them. I took mine to one and they would not even change the oil or greese it. I called the other one and same thing. At the time I owned a Chevy RV Class B and took it to the Chevy Dealer that I had bought 3 pick-up trucks from and they wouldn't change the oil or greese it because it would not fit on their rack and they were to lazy to crawl under it. I will never buy another truck from them for that reason. I took it to another Chevy Dealer 10 miles away and they couldn't get it on their rack either but they did change the oil and greese it.
I now own a Dodge Class B RV and the Dodge Dealer will work on it. I guess you know by now my next pick-up truck will be a Dodge. As for the RV Dealers I don't trust any of them. If I lived closer to Copleys RV I think I would try them the next time from what I read what HappyCamper said. So Brian Copley if you read this you have to be one of a very few RV dealers that are trustworthy.
turnip


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