RV Purchasing over the Internet June 6, 2007
Posted by jim in RV, internet.add a comment
As we get closer to actually putting the house up for sale, I’ve been investigating the use of the internet to purchase an RV. I’m talking about more that just looking at a dealer’s inventory, I’m talking about actually using the internet to purchase our fifth wheel RV. So far the results have been disappointing. I submitted a quote request to one dealer who called me to say the quote was in the e-mail, but I’ve never gotten the quote. I suspect that this guy was disappointed when I told him that I was comparison shopping and wanted to see his pricing before deciding whether to buy from him. I’ve never gotten a follow up phone call or e-mail, so I’m giving up on these folks for now. One other dealer I contacted and asked to come to their lot to look at some of the models since I haven’t seen this manufacturers’ fifth wheel models yet. The return e-mail discouraged actually coming to the lot so I’m putting these guys on hold for now also.
What do I expect when dealing over the internet? First, I expect to get a quote when I submit a request rather than get a phone call. This is typical of how automobile dealers use the internet and it looks like at least some of the rv dealers are the same. (Could rv salesmen have been car salesmen in a former life?) Second, I expect to be able to actually see what they’re selling somehow. Either tell me what you have on the lot, offer me a factory tour, or tell me where there’s going to be an RV show where you know I can see what I want to buy.
Finally, I’d like to be able to engage in an intelligent e-mail conversation and/or chat with a salesman so that I can get some definitive answers to my questions. I guess that I’m one of a dying breed who finds the written word superior to any other form of communication.
Fulltime RVing and the Internet June 4, 2007
Posted by jim in RV, Retirement, internet.4 comments
Since my last post, my wife and I have settled upon selling our house and becoming fulltimers — living full time in an RV. We’ve settled upon buying a fifth wheel once the house is sold.
I’m currently investigating how I’ll be connecting to the internet. It looks like some campgrounds now have wifi. Satellite internet connectivity is also a possibility, but it is somewhat expensive. I’m currently leaning towards using campground provided internet, hotspots, and library hosted internet until I find that it doesn’t meet my needs.
I’ve bought two new computers — a desktop for my wife and a laptop for myself. It looks like many of the fifth wheel RVs we’ve been looking at will have an office area where a desktop unit can be housed. Now I need to figure out what applications I’ll be needing when we’re not online.
