How to read RV dealer reviews and pick a dealer you won't regret

Last fall I pulled my 27-foot travel trailer into a lot off I-35 near Oklahoma City, one of the Class A motorhome dealers in OKC, to get a slide seal looked at. The service writer tapped at his keyboard and said, “You bought this from us?” I hadn’t, though I’d compared motorhome dealers in Oklahoma City before I bought. He shrugged and told me they only do warranty work on units sold on that lot, then pointed me toward RV dealers in Oklahoma City who might help.rd a row of dusty trade-ins out back. Made me wonder if pop up camper dealers in OKC pull the same routine. That day changed how I read any dealer’s reviews. I start with service ratings now, not the sales ones. When you’re shopping, RV dealers in Oklahoma City all have sales pages that look the same, but the real reputation sits in the service lane.

I worked the sales desk at two RV lots in north Texas for eleven years, so I know exactly how a dealer earns a five-star sales review: a smiling salesperson, a monthly payment that sounds low, and donuts at the walk-through.

Separate sales reviews from service reviews

Sales reviews and service reviews are two different businesses wearing the same logo, so I split them into two piles and ignore the star rating. On my next purchase, I’d pull up dealers across Oklahoma RV dealers and sort their reviews by the word “warranty” or “repair” before anything else.

I saw this pattern on my old lot all the time. One sales review glowing about the free hitch ball sitting right next to a service review saying the same dealership kept a rig six weeks waiting on a water pump. Backwards.

The same split applies with different dealer types. Camper van dealers in Oklahoma City sell to plenty of first-timers who don’t know to ask about service wait times. Five minutes reading the two-star reviews on the service side will teach you more than the the five-stars on the sales side.

Read the 2- and 3-star reviews first, then look for patterns

The two- and three-star reviews are where the truth sits, because nobody bothers to fake a mediocre review.

Four people in three months saying the title took ninety days is a pattern. At my old lot we had a sales manager who promised weight-distribution bars and then “forgot” to write them on the we-owe slip. Usually on a Saturday when the buyers were in a hurry. The dealers with a hundred five-star reviews and no two-stars are the ones I worry about. Nobody is that good.

Plenty of Class A motorhome customers write long reviews about a slide that leaks after the first rain. Pop-up buyers write about a canvas seam that ripped in a thunderstorm. Both tell you whether the dealer fixed it and how long that took. The dollar figure on the coach doesn’t change the pattern.

How to read RV dealer reviews: check the dates and volume

Dates tell you more than volume. A bad summer and a good winter is a staffing problem, not a bad dealer.

I look at the dates on the negative reviews first. If the bad ones bunch up in the summer and the good ones come from winter, that dealer has a staffing problem during the busy season. My old lot hired a part-time tech every spring, and we still ran three weeks behind by June.

Compare volume against how long the dealer has been in business too. A new dealer with ten reviews might be the best in town, but you’re guessing. A dealer with reviews going back eight years and a steady drip of two-stars about the same thing is a known quantity. I’d rather take a known average than an unknown gamble.

Watch how the dealer responds to negative reviews

A dealer’s response to a bad review tells you more than the review itself, and an argumentative owner is the clearest warning sign there is.

The owner on my old lot answered every one-star review personally with a long defense. Never helped once. A dealer who argues, deletes, or reports bad reviews is a dealer who doesn’t fix problems. A dealer who owns the mistake and makes it right in public is rare, and I’ll drive across the state for that.

One caveat: dealers sometimes offer a free oil change or a $50 gift card for a good review. If you see a pile of five-stars that say “Great peopel!” and “They made it easy!” with no mention of a specific person, unit, or repair, that’s vague and short. Usually incentivized or written by an employee.

I found a video that walks through how to spot a good dealership before you buy, worth a watch if you’re in the market.

Verify the dealer’s license and complaint record before you call them

You can check the license and complaint record in about ten minutes online, and it will save you a drive across the state.

Every state has a licensing board for motor vehicle dealers and many have a seperate RV dealer license or a division for complaints.

Then check the consumer complaint records. A few complaints are normal for a high-volume dealer. You’re looking for a pattern that lines up with the two-star reviews: title fraud, odometer tampering, selling over MSRP without a signed buyer’s order. If the state has sued them, you have your answer.

Do this before you call the dealer. Ten minutes and you maybe save yourself a drive across the state. I drove three hours to buy my travel trailer from a dealer with a clean license and two complaints in five years, both resolved. Worth every mile.

Call the service desk before you ever walk in

Calling the service desk first is my favorite test, and it works every time I’ve tried it.

A good service writer will ask what kind of awning, whether it’s electric or manual, and how long it has been stuck. If they can’t answer a simple question over the phone without me bringing the rig in, I hang up.

That call also tells me wether the dealer runs a real service department or a warranty clearinghouse. A real department has techs who can diagnose over the phone. A clearinghouse has a receptionist who schedules you to bring it in so they can “run diagnostics” for a $150 fee before they even look at the awning. I would never buy from a dealer that can’t answer a basic service question on the phone.

Use a dealer directory page, but verify every name on it

A directory page is a starting list, nothing more, and the verification is the whole job.

When I started writing for this site, I sat down and looked at our own directory pages for Oklahoma and Oklahoma City. The motorhome dealers in Oklahoma City page shows ratings and review counts pulled from third-party sites, and I clicked through every dealer on it.

That search alone will cut the list in half.

If you’re not sure where to start, our sibling post on RV dealer fees: doc, prep, freight and the add-ons to question explains the line items that show up in review complaints, and if you’re shopping smaller, the post on buying a Class B camper van from a dealer covers that niche.

The dealer I’d buy from next week

If I had to buy a unit next week, I’d skip the dealer with the highest star rating and pick the one with the longest, ugliest three-star review that got a personal, specific response from the owner.

Here’s my test for you: this weekend, go to a dealer’s review page and read the ten most recent two- and three-star reviews. If you don’t own one, call the service desk and say you’re considering a used unit on thier lot and want to know how fast they can get it ready for delivery. Hang up and see how you feel. That feeling is you’re answer, not the star rating.

Keep reading

• Buying from a pre owned RV dealer: as-is, warranties, certified
• Buying a former rental RV from a dealer: the deal, wear and checks