We purchased a new Grand Design 2018 Solitude 374 TH from Wilkins RV in Bath several months ago. I waited this long to write a review because I like to see how the dealer handles post sales follow up and service – everybody feels great the day they pick up their new rig but it’s how they feel months afterwards that counts. This is the second coach that I purchased from Wilkins, the first one being a Heartland Bighorn from their Churchville location. As far as service goes, I use their Victor location because it is convenient to where I live and because I have always received excellent service from their service manager, Tim Henehan.
So, to start at the beginning, I was totally satisfied with the sales and service out of the Churchville location when I owned my Bighorn. All the promises made by Mike Sullivan during the sales process were kept - the delivery had a few minor hiccups but those were efficiently handled by the Churchville crew and we loved that coach.
When it came time to move up to a bigger model, we selected the Solitude and worked with the folks in Bath because that location is a Grand Design Dealer. Again, the sales process was seamless, and the coach was delivered on time and configured exactly as ordered. However, life is not a bed of roses and neither is the RV acquisition process. When the coach was delivered, I had a major issue with the tires provided by the factory. Without going into a painful amount of detail, I simply did not want the tires that came with the coach. Considering this is a three-axle rig, 6 tires are certainly no small order and the manufacturer seemed to be intransigent (don’t misunderstand – Grand Design is an excellent outfit, but this was one of those points where we had to agree to disagree). To smooth out the bumps, Wilkins stepped up to the plate (the owner, Brian Wilkins was personally involved), swapped out the skins and I picked up the coach – a week late but still smiling.
The point of the above is simple – nothing in life ever goes as expected, especially when you are buying an RV (at least that’s my experience). What separates the good dealers from the lousy ones is how they handle the problems. You can have a major issue that upsets you, but if the dealer is professional, you’ll still be smiling at the end of the day. It’s great if you can save a couple of hundred bucks (minor change when considering the cost of an RV and the length of the financing) but when you need to have the dealer stand behind the product and they won’t because they are the “low price leaders”, you’ll wish you had purchased from a solid dealer. We shopped for this luxury coach all over the US and Wilkins pricing was extremely competitive, but still at the end of the day we chose to pay a couple of hundred bucks more rather than get the “low price” from a dealer who we would likely never see again in Florida. Of course, pricing must be competitive, but the “rock bottom” price rarely equates to the lowest cost. Minor savings often equate to major problems.
To put a bow on this rather lengthy review, Wilkins has always done right by me, their entire team (sales, service, parts, finance) in all of their locations is superb and if you purchase an RV here, you can count on being treated fairly and honestly. We love our new Solitude and we feel very good about having purchased it from a top-quality dealer such as Wilkins. If I didn’t truly believe this, I certainly would not have given them my business a second time.
