Lazydays parts dept in Tucson closed

[akeagle]

We took a 3 1/2 hour trip to the Lazydays dealer in Tucson a few days ago to visit their parts department. Was quite surprised when one of the sales reps said the parts dept was closed a couple months ago. When asked why, the rep said they just couldn't compete with Amazon's pricing anymore.

Thought I'd let everyone know in case, like us, anyone was thinking of making a long trip there to get RV parts.

[Eagle5]

Hi akeagle,
So many businesses are throwing-in the towel. My local dealer Roy Robinson finally sold-out to Camping World. Fortunately, the same crew is working both sales and parts, so no issues, but it was a local family business; now owned by the larger chain.
Eagle5

[creativepart]

That Tucson location has been dwindling for years now. They have lost the majority of top brands they used to sell. The LaMesa dealership across the street from them has grown a bunch and taken their brands. Plus their parts department is better stocked.

The last time I visited their parts department everything on display was old stuff at high prices.

I hear they’ve got better inventory at their two Phoenix locations.

[Ray,IN]

Originally Posted by Eagle5

Hi akeagle,
So many businesses are throwing-in the towel. My local dealer Roy Robinson finally sold-out to Camping World. Fortunately, the same crew is working both sales and parts, so no issues, but it was a local family business; now owned by the larger chain.
Eagle5

It's odd to me the company would be sold after having it's best year since 1958. https://www.zippia.com/roy-robinson-...48020/revenue/

Many of these are not a buyout, but rather CW assumes control and operates as (insert dealer name) dba Camping World.
For instance Stouts RV of Indianapolis is still legally the same owner, but dba Camping World of Indianapolis
Tom Stinnet RV of Jeffersonvile was the same way until 4 years ago, when Tom Stinnet terminated the arrangement and re-assumed running the business.


Back to Lazy Days; yes Amazon is responsible for closing many businesses in the USA IMO. What people don't realize is the vast majority of the items they sell are Chinese knock-offs of USA products.


A little known fact about Amazon sellers is, a potential seller must tell Amazon what they pay for a product to re-sell, and Amazon sets the final price that's advertised on the Amazon website. I assume that is correct; a well-known Amazon seller told me that in an email.

..

[NomadRider]

Originally Posted by akeagle

We took a 3 1/2 hour trip to the Lazydays dealer in Tucson a few days ago to visit their parts department. Was quite surprised when one of the sales reps said the parts dept was closed a couple months ago. When asked why, the rep said they just couldn't compete with Amazon's pricing anymore.

Thought I'd let everyone know in case, like us, anyone was thinking of making a long trip there to get RV parts.

I'm not sure why anyone would take a 3+ hour drive without confirming that they'd have the part you need - unless of course they enjoy a long car ride.

To be fair though, there are a number of large RV dealers within mile of there including La Mesa, Freedom RV and of course the ever "popular" Camping World.

[bigb]

Sorry to hear akeagle, I remember when Lazy Days was Beaudry RV, when I was a kid I worked for Bob Beaudry cleaning showrooms at his Chrysler/Plymouth dealership. Before Lazy Days we used to go to the restaurant at Beaudry RV where they had really good food and live music.

It's easy to keep a business going when the economy is rising, when things begin to slow the cracks begin to surface and it seems like the ones who grew the fastest and biggest suffer the most when the brakes are applied.

Speaking of restaurants we have driven 3.5 hours to Deming to eat at Irma's, in fact the last trip to Denver we couldn't decide if we would go North out of Tucson through the White Mountains or take I-10, Irma's was the deciding factor.

[akeagle]

Originally Posted by NomadRider

I'm not sure why anyone would take a 3+ hour drive without confirming that they'd have the part you need - unless of course they enjoy a long car ride.

To be fair though, there are a number of large RV dealers within mile of there including La Mesa, Freedom RV and of course the ever "popular" Camping World.

Our main mission that day was to take Mrs Eagle's sewing machine in to be repaired. Lazydays was a side trip. Saw La Mesa across the road but perhaps wrongly I assumed they would be the same as Lazydays.

We did stop at nearby Camping World, but they didn't have what I needed in the right color. Both LD and CW recommended Sandy's RV, a small RV parts store a few miles away that supposedly carried hard to find RV parts, but they didn't have it either.

What I was looking for was the 1" wide vinyl trim insert used on many of the Winnebago motorhomes I've seen for years. The rigs, like ours, were tan in color (I think Winnebago calls it Champaign) and the trim strips matched.

Last fall when we were returning from our trip to Indiana and passing through El Paso, one of those strips that runs from the top of the front cap all the way around and down next to the entry door, came loose and was flapping in the wind. After stopping to cut the offending strip off, we continued on home. Local sources carried several colors of the strips but not in tan. Black, white, and a couple off-whites, but no tan. They couldn't even special order it.

Back to Sandy's RV: the clerk there said she recently had an opportunity to talk with a rep from one of the major RV parts suppliers in the country. He asked her what his company could do to help her business increase the business she could do with his. She said she knew his company also sells to Amazon and that Amazon's prices almost always undercut the "little guys" and asked him what he could do about that. He didn't have an answer.

And finally, about the tan vinyl stripping that apparently is no longer available: the lady at Sandy's suggested going with a contrasting color like black. At first, I didn't like the idea, but as time goes on, I'm warming up to it.

[akeagle]

I had also posted this info on IRV2. Among the comments there was one saying that the Lazydays location in Tampa is swirling the drain too.

[ke4jr]

I agree, unless our beloved Seffner/Tampa LazyDays gets their act together, they too will see their business down the crapper! Customer service, maintenance service and overall customer treatment and value is just about gone!

[wahoonc]

Many of the RV parts departments are their own worst enemy. I needed a vent pipe cover, I did not care what color, if it was the correct one great, if it fit, that was great too. I drove 31 miles one way only to find out they had just sold the ONE that they had in inventory. This was after a call to verify that they had them in stock. I was told "Oh yes we always keep plenty of those on hand"... must have been a freaking run on them or something.

So after driving 60+ miles round trip and wasting over 2 hours of my time I came home and ordered the correct item from Amazon for a couple of bucks less.

The LED ceiling lights in my 2014 Itasca Meridian are starting to flake out one by one. I called a Winnebago parts supplier, they had them at the not so bargain price of $26+ each. I pulled one and found the manufacturer's website and part number. I can order them in pairs for ~$20 a pair directly from the importer.

I needed sealant while I was chasing the vent cap, the sealant that they had in stock that I could use was over 3 years past due on its shelf life date. And the list goes on.

I realize they have to stock what the current units are using vs what an older one does. However, universal parts like sealant and plumbing vent covers?

Aaron