Buy from National RV Detroit?

We're looking at a Sunset Trail 29SS.  The closest dealer, National RV Detroit (Belleville, MI), is gigantic but seems only interested in moving a huge volume of RVs.  I found out last night that they are owned by the same people that own Terrytown RV in Grand Rapids, MI.

National RV Detroit appears to have the sales pressure set to "high."  I wouldn't mind using another dealer, but the 3 closest dealers are ALL owned by the same people.  I drove nine hours to get my current RV and was hoping to find someone a bit closer.

I was disappointed to fnd out that Gillette's RV is also owned by the same people that own Terrytown and National RV Detroit.  If I don't get a good feeling about National, I guess I will consider going out of state again.

When I was getting my 29SS this past August, they offered me the best price.  However after carefully considering a lot of other variables (took an Excel spreadsheet to do it) I ended up buying elsewhere.  Some of the factors that went into that decision was feedback about the seller; purchase pressure; how I was being treated via phone/email etc. etc.  I also tried to take into consideration how I thought the dealership would respond after the sale.  My gut told me that National wanted the sale, and wouldn't want to hear from me again afterward!

I ended up finding a place an hour or so closer to home that offered my a price that was very close (closer after some additional negotiation; and almost the same on the day of pick up due to some additional negotiation).  They were great to deal with, and I got a pretty good PDI; a thorough cleaning; 2 of my kids were with me and were fine for the 6 hours I was there!  I also received a coupon sheet for 19 free nights of camping in western PA (stay two nights, one of them is free) at 19 different campgrounds; 2 weeks of camping in Gettysburg & NC (1/ea); and 1 week of free camping down by Disney, FL!  They also happened to be running a "special" fuel card offer when I showed up so that's what brought my out the door pricing to almost the same as National.  There's some fine print to the camping offers, but it was all provided up front.  The staff were pleasant to deal with and while I haven't needed to take the unit back, I'm a whole lot more confident that they'll take better care of me than National.  Clem's Trailer Sales in Ellwood City, PA.

Tiara was another that was on my shortlist, but Clem's rose to the top.  You're in MI though and that could play a bigger role in your decision making.

I think it was through a general Google search, but plenty of pages deep where I found some comments on another brand's forum that said they did get a great price (drove from a long way down South to get the deal!!), however the PDI was minimal and more of a Q&A (they had inferred that they were experienced Rv'ers to the seller) and that they had determined to use the brand dealerships for any issues as the seller was a wholesaler not like a dealer.  To them, so far, it was worth it as it saved them a few $k on the sale (FW) and as they were considerable distance they didn't care about follow up.

The fact that I had to dig so deep also did nothing to instill any confidence in them

Once I found a local dealer that was within $1k of Nationals quote on their first offer I decided to go with the local guy and negotiate to whatever I could, chalking the rest up to supporting a real dealership that would hopefully be there for me if/when I need them.  Fortunately for me they came within 00's but then offered all of the camping deals which thus far has saved us almost $200, plus I've still got 2 weeks camping next year for free and a 1 week camping by Disney FL to look forward to!   I also was looking for a new WD hitch and having it installed; they offered me a pretty reasonable deal that would have it taken care of while I was doing paperwork and the rest of the PDI.  They even helped troubleshoot a brake controller issue on the way out for the test drive and provided some assistance in getting it set for the new trailer brakes.

I would say that if you don't care about post sale, are really comfortable with the great PDI documents available here and on the web, and are confident that you will be thorough in your checking everything and setting it up etc. then consider them.  However if the price difference isn't all that great, use their quote and negotiate with an actual dealership that you can consider using after the sale.  They may even match the $, but even if they don't it's probably worth that little extra knowing that they offer (hopefully) more of a hands-on sale, set up and seeing you leave safely, plus being there when you really need them approach.

This may seem like taking it too far but I built an Excel sheet that listed the 15 or so quotes I received and had weightings for things like +ve & -ve feedback, distance, included options, financing, add-on warranty & other extras pricing (they always will try to sell you stuff), willingness & costs of installed options (I wanted air vent covers pre-installed in a color of my choice), cost of WD hitch & install etc.  I also asked what their typical PDI looked like and how long they anticipated it taking and made a note of that.  Be sure to know whether you're getting full propane tanks and a battery with box etc.  Were the black plastic container tubs under the dinette included? (I've seen some dealers charge extra or not have them present!).  I put all this information into a table and created a point system!!  My wife just shook her head and looked: