RV Dealers, Heartland Products and Heartland

Shortest Straw

Caught In A Mosh
I am hoping that I can get an answer to a question and rather quickly at that. Will someone please explain why I cannot go into a dealer that already carries Heartland products and order one they do not carry? Case in point, we are interested in an Edge or Torque TT toy hauler. Preferably the Edge. The dealer we bought our NT from just flat out said no but he would be willing to sell us SOB right now. The sales rep I bought my NT from moved to another store further south and she is not having any luck either. I have also chatted with a sales manager at another dealer about an hour and a half away and no luck there either. I have talked to the Edge rep at Heartland and not one dealer in my state is set to even have them. It looks like the closest dealer with the Edge is in Texas. So I guess my options are a trip to Tx in hopes I actually like the Edge, or buy SOB. I have heard "we can try and order you one in" but does anyone actually buy anything sight unseen? I don't.

Why would Heartland NOT want one of their new products to be seen in my area? It seems it is much harder than it needs to be.:confused:
 

danemayer

Well-known member
I think that when Heartland contracts with a dealer, the dealer gets territorial exclusivity for certain models. So if they sell Cyclones, they are the only dealer within xx miles who is authorized to sell Cyclones. There may be a second dealer 20 miles away authorized to sell the very similar Road Warrior. And that second dealer has territorial exclusivity for Road Warrior.

So dealer #1 can't get you a Road Warrior and dealer #2 can't get you a Cyclone.

Perhaps Edge and Torque fall into that type of situation. Or perhaps the dealer prefers to sell another brand at that price point. Sometimes manufacturers give dealers special incentives that motivate them to push a particular product.
 

codycarver

Founding Wyoming Chapter Leader-retired
If I understand your question you are trying to buy a brand from your dealer they don't carry. Kind of like trying to buy a Buick from a Chevy dealer. It's not that Heartland doesn't want you to see it they just don't have a dealer offering it in your area YET.
 
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Shortest Straw

Caught In A Mosh
I definitely understand what you are saying. From my own searches and talking to Heartland the nearest dealer with either is over 500 miles away from my front door. Looks like if we decided to stick with a Heartland product we will be postponing this idea for the year. It is really hard seeing a new toy parked for the winter! :cool:
 

Mburtsvt

Well-known member
I am hoping that I can get an answer to a question and rather quickly at that. Will someone please explain why I cannot go into a dealer that already carries Heartland products and order one they do not carry? Case in point, we are interested in an Edge or Torque TT toy hauler. Preferably the Edge. The dealer we bought our NT from just flat out said no but he would be willing to sell us SOB right now. The sales rep I bought my NT from moved to another store further south and she is not having any luck either. I have also chatted with a sales manager at another dealer about an hour and a half away and no luck there either. I have talked to the Edge rep at Heartland and not one dealer in my state is set to even have them. It looks like the closest dealer with the Edge is in Texas. So I guess my options are a trip to Tx in hopes I actually like the Edge, or buy SOB. I have heard "we can try and order you one in" but does anyone actually buy anything sight unseen? I don't.




Why would Heartland NOT want one of their new products to be seen in my area? It seems it is much harder than it needs to be.:confused:

I would use the dealer locator on the Heartland web site to make sure your dealer can sell the line. I have to go 160 miles and pass 3 RV dealers that sell some of the Heartland product line to order a Bighorn.
 

MTPockets

Well-known member
We placed our factory order for the Big Horn with the dealer who at the time was about 1200 miles away. All he had to do was place the order and take our money... We knew exactly what we wanted, which options, had it all written down on a build sheet, and shopped by phone.. Worked great for us.
 

Shortest Straw

Caught In A Mosh
My brother lives in Austin so he wouldn't mind either. Looks like we may have to make the trip. From what I was told today camping world will be carrying the Torque only and while it is comparable to the Edge, the store here is well known for receiving bad reviews. I have never had to travel outside of my area to purchase a rig I wanted so if it goes that way I will just make it an adventure!
 

Bohemian

Well-known member
I'll be looking at dealers all up and down the east coast over to Michigan and Ohio. I have a list of about 30. The closest is 140 miles. Another is near where our son's family lives about 450 miles from us.


Dealers are licensed for each product by lines. They are required to order a minimum per line for which they are licensed. It's an expense for a dealer to carry a line. They can not afford to carry every line. Some with multiple sites work it out some they can swap lines.
 

goldenbetty

goldenbetty
We traveled 264 miles to get our Bighorn and saved 7k by doing so. Two dealers within 100 miles of our home would not meet the price. Never will regret this purchase and how far we went to get it! Go for it!
 

Mburtsvt

Well-known member
We traveled 264 miles to get our Bighorn and saved 7k by doing so. Two dealers within 100 miles of our home would not meet the price. Never will regret this purchase and how far we went to get it! Go for it!

This kind of brings up a larger discussion. I went almost 1700 miles away to get a better percent off of the MSRP on a Bighorn I ordered. I have an issue with what the value of a dealership really adds. I know this will cause a lot of debate, but after 5 RV’s this is becoming a bigger issue with me. In Oregon the difference was almost 10K more than the same unit in Ohio. I know almost $2500 of it was in transportation cost, (Heartland to Dealer), but I just could not rationalize the rest just to be 175 miles away from my closest dealer.

In Late April, early May, we will head down to Ohio and pick up the unit. We will spend two weeks in the area just to shake it out and head back to Montana in late May. At the end of the day the money saved will more than pay for the trip.
 

MTPockets

Well-known member
Many people shop, as you and I did, while many more want it today. A friend in Spokane, WA purchased a new Corvette from a Pennsylvania dealer, saving a few thousand. We purchase many items online and get great service and quality. I believe the market continues to evolve as the Internet has opened up opportunities to save for those who are savy users.
 

Mburtsvt

Well-known member
Many people shop, as you and I did, while many more want it today. A friend in Spokane, WA purchased a new Corvette from a Pennsylvania dealer, saving a few thousand. We purchase many items online and get great service and quality. I believe the market continues to evolve as the Internet has opened up opportunities to save for those who are savy users.


I’m kind of glad we headed down this mole hole. I can’t be too critical of the overall dealership system. They need to be profitable to survive - just not from me. Last year my wife and I switched from one brand, (it’s initials are GD), to Heartland mainly due to the dealer information and posted sale prices, (MSRP only) for several of their RV’s. In videos from the “owners” of GD they spent more time discussing how they were innovating the dealer network. Very little was said on how their “go to market strategy” would benefit the customer.

Despite MAP policies, ( the bain of competition), on several RV’s I could still get the sale prices from dealers via the web. The dealer with the higher percent off MSRP got my business! It was a strategy that paid off for me!


I think everyone should understand what the MSRP is and how much of a percent off of it is a good sale price. Walking on a dealer lot is the kiss of death.
 

Westwind

Well-known member
I bought our 2012 Bighorn from an out of state dealer 240 miles away and saved at least $7K. The closer dealer an hour away wasn't responsive at all. We visited, took a tour of a couple of Bighorns, not models we wanted (No WD hookup 8/2011) and wouldn't quote us a price nor would they return our calls. It was a sale only, we had sold our 02 TT. I contacted our dealer by Internet, told him what I wanted, he had the unit on his lot it just needed two items. I quoted him a price, he couldn't do that, but we ended up agreeing on a slightly higher one we were both happy with. I got about 30% off Heartland's MSRP price - very fair - easy to work with - helped us get good financing terms. We are finishing up our 4 year of snow birding and love our Bighorn. Be Comfortable with your dealer and deal!
 
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