2021 View 24D new unit delivery delays?!?

dave5131 · 04-05-2021, 05:03 PM

Hi All,

I ordered a new 2021 View 24D from my local dealer in October 2020. They had a VIN# reserved for me and expected delivery was in late December. I received a call from the dealer on December 4th indicating my VIN # was inadvertently given to another purchaser. I was told my unit would be one of the first off the line in 2021. They noted there was a delay in obtaining the Mercedes chassis so they could build the RV. Therefore the expected delivery was in June. I called the dealer today (4/5/2021) to get a status and was told there has been a further delay and my unit is now not expected to come off the line until August 24, 2021! This is the end of the summer

Has anyone experienced this issue? It's especially disconcerting because my original unit was given to someone else! I'm just beside myself!

Winterbagoal · 04-05-2021, 09:40 PM

Did you pay a deposit? On the order?

dave5131 · 04-06-2021, 06:15 AM

I sure did! $5,000.00

rprochnow · 04-06-2021, 06:17 AM

Was the mistake by your dealership or WBO?

If WBO, then they should be able to get you an earlier delivery slot - and not require you to get an 8 month delay.

If by your dealer, then they should be prepared to bump another of their customers, especially if you're willing to accept some changes to your ordered configuration - or they should be working with WBO.

An 8 month delay due to a mistake by the dealer or WBO is unacceptable - even when the RVs are in short supply.

If this is your dealer - and you're willing to accept the additional 8 month delay, did they offer to provide you any compensation for their mistake - such as free maintenance, extended warranty, discounted upgrades, ...?

Or - you should start shopping around immediately to find another dealer. If this dealer did screw up your order - resulting in an 8 month delay - and they aren't willing to do he work to minimize that delay, even if it means inconveniencing one of their other customers - sounds like it's time to get a new dealership. How can you trust they'll deliver in August - and how can you trust them to provide future service and support???

**creativepart** · 04-06-2021, 09:01 AM

Unfortunately since demand is so high some unscrupulous dealers have been caught selling other people’s orders to new customers to get a higher price. I hope this is not what happened to you. But you might want to call Winnebago with your original VIN number to to see just how “accidental” that mix up was.

I’d discuss the whole issue with Winnebago and maybe there is something they can do.

It’s worth a shot.

dave5131 · 04-06-2021, 10:22 AM

Thanks for the comments.

If the delivery date is actually 8/24, that would be 10 months since my original order!!

You will see from my original post, I put a call in to Winnebago yesterday (4/5) and as of noon 4/6, I still have not received a call back. I hope to get to the bottom of this very soon

**creativepart** · 04-06-2021, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave5131

You will see from my original post, I put a call in to Winnebago yesterday (4/5) and as of noon 4/6, I still have not received a call back.

Oh, sorry. I read that you've called the dealer and the dealer's called you but I didn't see any mention of calling Winnebago?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave5131

I called the dealer today (4/5/2021) to get a status

When you spoke to Winnebago Customer Service were they understanding and helpful?

I'm not sure at this point I'd trust the dealer unless you know they are being straight with you.

Bobbit · 04-06-2021, 06:24 PM

If you could back out of your order I might be able to help. We purchased a 2021 View 24D. Picked it up at the Winnebago factory in Forest City Iowa August last year and drove it to our home in Arizona and put it in our RV garage. It was a spur of the moment thing because of the Covid.
In hindsight being 78 years we are thinking we made a bad choice and are thinking of selling it.
Bobbit

rprochnow · 04-06-2021, 08:46 PM

Recommend continuing to reach out to Winnebago about the stolen order.

If you paid a deposit and either the dealer or Winnebago sold your RV to someone else, then there should be some way to get them to put your order back into the queue - and much earlier than August delivery.

And if this is an instance of the dealer deciding to sell your unit to someone else (at a higher price), then Winnebago needs to be aware of this - and should take some action to remedy the situation and also address this practice with the dealership.

dave5131 · 04-07-2021, 06:08 AM

Why do you think it is a bad choice??

rprochnow · 04-07-2021, 06:44 AM

We were among the large number of first-time RV owners who purchased an RV last year in the middle of the pandemic, without ever actually experiencing the "RV life".

Since we had already been considering purchasing an RV prior to the pandemic, as we approached retirement, even though we had never owned or rented an RV, we had already done a lot of research on RVs prior to our purchase - and didn't experience any surprises after our purchase. We're satisfied with what we purchased - and with the experience we've since had - putting on over 17K miles on our 21VD since last June.

But, there could be quite a few of those first-time owners who will experience buyer's remorse - and we'll see some lightly used RV's coming onto the market over the next 12-24 months. It doesn't necessarily mean there's anything wrong with the RV - only that the customer realized they don't like the experience (driving, parking, setup, dumping, living in the RV, ...).

We're very satisfied with our 2021 View 24D - it has actually exceeded our expectations in multiple ways.

So if Bobbit has decided to sell theirs - they may be among the group of first-time owners that decided after-the-fact they didn't really want to own an RV...

Elkman · 04-07-2021, 11:16 AM

We flew 600 miles to buy a newly arrived 24D and drove it home. Had this not become available I would have continued to scan the ads for used motorhomes until I found one to buy. I paid $60,000 more to get the new 24D as compared to comparable motorhomes on the used market, so a very hefty premium.

The dealer obviously took your money and then sold your motorhome to someone else and you can either continue to be a victim or sue the dealer or get your money back and buy something else. If it was me then the choice would be to get my money back and go elsewhere. The dealer is a cheat and no reason to believe anything you hear from the people working there. The used RV market has improved considerably during the winter months and the warranty on the applicances and on the RV is only for one year so not much gained with a new motorhome where you get to work to sort out any problems or factory defects.

I would look for a motorhome with a 3-way fridge and where the prior owner had added solar panels and upgraded the batteries.

rprochnow · 04-07-2021, 12:19 PM

A note on the 3-way fridge...

Our 24D has a diesel generator, 250Ah of Lithionics lithium batteries and 480W of solar panels - with the 12V refrigerator.

During the recent Texas winter storm, I was stuck in Galveston without shore power for two days - and was able to get through without any problems with our View.

Even though propane was used only for heating the coach and hot water (which wasn't used much), during 2 days of temperatures below freezing, most of the propane was used to keep the coach warm.

The lithium batteries provided enough power to run the heater and the refrigerator overnight, using about 50% of the batteries overnight.

Even with the solar panels, still needed to run the generator for 1-2 hours each day to fully recharge before nightfall. Plus, because it uses the larger Sprinter diesel fuel tank, had plenty of diesel to run the generator - enough to run the generator continuously for up to 48 hours (though with the lithium batteries, probably only used 1-2 gallons of diesel).

The 12V fridge that comes with the new Views doesn't have the option to run off propane - but that turned out to be a benefit in the winter storm - plus the compressor fridge cools down much faster. When we pull our RV out of storage prior to a trip - we turn on the refrigerator and by the time we get home, it's already pretty cold to start loading up supplies for the trip.

Agree with Elkman - it sounds like this was the dealer's fault - and likely something they did intentionally - and probably sold the unit for more than your contract. Even if it means losing some time - probably better to get your money back and go to another dealer.

We purchased from Lichtsinn, even though they are 1000 miles away - they've been great to work with - and we'll likely make the trip up there every year to get their service department to do the annual maintenance.

lenore · 04-07-2021, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rprochnow

We were among the large number of first-time RV owners who purchased an RV last year in the middle of the pandemic, without ever actually experiencing the "RV life".

Since we had already been considering purchasing an RV prior to the pandemic, as we approached retirement, even though we had never owned or rented an RV, we had already done a lot of research on RVs prior to our purchase - and didn't experience any surprises after our purchase. We're satisfied with what we purchased - and with the experience we've since had - putting on over 17K miles on our 21VD since last June.

But, there could be quite a few of those first-time owners who will experience buyer's remorse - and we'll see some lightly used RV's coming onto the market over the next 12-24 months. It doesn't necessarily mean there's anything wrong with the RV - only that the customer realized they don't like the experience (driving, parking, setup, dumping, living in the RV, ...).

We're very satisfied with our 2021 View 24D - it has actually exceeded our expectations in multiple ways.

So if Bobbit has decided to sell theirs - they may be among the group of first-time owners that decided after-the-fact they didn't really want to own an RV...

This would be excellent time to sell, Several on Vita/Porto site traveled, found their future home, and sold their Vita/Porto for a profit over what they bought them for....

Neon · 04-07-2021, 03:04 PM

Gulp!

I ordered a new 24D in February of this year after not being able to find anything out there. The delivery date is expected to be June, but I have a bad feeling it is going to keep moving back.

I ordered it from a large national dealer so I hope they are reputable and perhaps have a little clout when it comes to deliveries. I do not have a VIN number, and not even sure when I should expect one.

Fingers crossed.

rprochnow · 04-07-2021, 04:38 PM

The dealership reputation is very important... And something we researched before committing to purchase from Lichtsinn - 1000 miles away.

Sounds like Dave ordered from an unethical dealership - who took their deposit and then decided to profit by selling their RV to someone else at a higher price and bumping Dave until late this summer.

dave5131 · 04-08-2021, 11:09 AM

So I spoke to a great guy at Winnebago and they are working on moving up my delivery date. As far as going to another dealer, there are no other dealers in my area that sell the View. Camping World sells the Navion, but I bought my last RV from then and there service was horrible. I also wasn’t in a position to drive 1,000 miles on my existing RV to Lichtens to trade it in either. I also can’t prove Buffalo RV sold my original unit out from under me either. I’ve been glamping for 20 years now, so know the ropes pretty well. I purchased my first Driver (Class A) in 2014. Prior to that they were all travel trailers. Thanks everyone for the discussion!

rprochnow · 04-09-2021, 07:08 AM

Unfortunately, Winnebago allows their dealerships to refuse or significantly delay service for RVs they haven't sold. Even if you have a dealership with a bad reputation nearby, you're somewhat forced into using them, if you want to get service locally.

When our 21VD had the coach door strut recall last year, I called our local Winnebago dealer to schedule service. They initially refused to schedule an appointment. I contacted Winnebago, who then contacted the dealer - and they then agreed to schedule the service, though there would be a long wait before they could get me in.

We'll likely end up making the 2000 mile round trip each year from Houston to Iowa to get Lichtsinn to do our annual service - and if we have anything needed between the annual service appointments, we've found an alternate dealer 4 hours away we can use.

Even if the sales team at Buffalo RV were unethical with the sale - the ability to get your RV serviced locally may be worth overlooking that (unless their service department is also bad to deal with).

Winterbagoal · 04-09-2021, 07:21 AM

My POS (point of sale, not the other) dealer closed down a year after we bought our 2018 N24V, after 40+ years in the biz. I guess I'm screwed.

Neon · 04-09-2021, 02:54 PM

I ordered my RV from a dealer approx. 420 miles from my home, and apparently have to pick the vehicle up at another location approx. 2000 miles from where I live.

The reason I went with this dealer was because I could not find any other dealer that would offer a decent price. All pricing I would see advertised recently was the outrageous MSRP. Of course no one has any inventory, but to order, I was hearing maybe 8% of MSRP.

One dealer turned down my offer of around 21% off off of MSRP on a 2021 they had coming in this April (2021).

In February. I finally ordered my 24D at around 29% off the MSRP. Put $7K on a credit card, now I wait. Hopefully, they don't come back and raise the price when it comes in.