IF YOU ARE THINKING OF PURCHASING AN RV, a word to the wise should be sufficient, or don’t complain later…
DON’T BUY AN RV AT LA MESA RV! Here’s WHY!
When we set out to make our BLOG in 2014 (which later turned into a website) it was mostly to catalog and report on all the places we travel to, but having grown to almost 100,000 views and having a steady and consistent following, a friend in the RV industry suggested we expand on our travelogue to also write about campgrounds and RV products that we come across, reporting on ‘the Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ (as it were). So, having owned four (4) different RVs in the last five (5) years (together), and Bill having had three (3) other RVs previously, living the RV lifestyle as ‘full-timers’, and having attended numerous RV rallies and shows, we decided we would add a commentary of both the good and bad points of the RVs we come to know about, for the benefit / protection of other RVers seeking to buy a new RV.
On April 30, 2020 we purchased a 2020 Tiffin Phaeton 40-IH at LaMesa RV in Tucson AZ. All things being equal, that is the LAST place we would have wanted to buy ANY RV, because all the references I have had about La Mesa RV have ALL been HORRIBLE. Our recent purchase from them has proven that despite La Mesa having had the only RV that we had chosen to buy, we might just have been better off not buying at all, so as not to have to do business with them.
For each of the issues we found on the RV, the delivery techs said that they could take care of it but that it would take a long time to order all the parts and that we would have to bring the RV back to them several times, whereas if we take the RV to the Tiffin Service Center in Red Bay AL, it would all be addressed and taken care of right away. Obviously they do not want to do any Warranty work and do not stand behind the RVs they sell.
So, we opted to do a ‘shakedown cruise’ taking it to the Tiffin Service Center in Red Bay AL, enroute (in a roundabout way) to our summer lot in Star Valley Ranch WY. Tiffin does NOT make appointments for service whether for warranty or otherwise, and does not accept any listing of all of the issues to be serviced. So, we had to to just make the trip (1,600 miles, one way from Benson, AZ) and hope our stay would not be very long, as our list was extensive, and we were sadly disappointed. (See POST: THINK TWICE BEFORE BUYING A TIFFIN PRODUCT. IT’S NO LONGER WHAT IT USED TO BE”).
Now, as to La Mesa RV, issues with the RV itself aside, this is not the first RV (vehicle) that we have purchased outside of the State of Florida, to be registered in FL. In 2015 we already purchased a 2016 Thor Challenger at RV Outlet USA in Ringgold, VA; and in 2017 we purchased a 2015 Fleetwood Discovery 40E at Ancira RV Center in Boerne, TX, before this purchase at La Mesa RV Center. Both previous purchases involved the sale amounts without any sales tax funds paid to the selling dealers in another State. as we would be paying the sales tax to the State of Florida directly, when we registered the sale, to get the electronic title issued and transfer the tag from our previous RV to that one.
At La Mesa RV, however, they would not allow the sale of the RV without their collecting the sales tax from us. They alleged and swore that because “Arizona has a reciprocal agreement with Florida, they have to collect the taxes and then send it to Florida. Bah Humbug! You just cannot believe a word they say, about anything. They have ONE purpose and being of SERVICE TO YOU is not it.
We were issued a 90-day paper plate, which has completely faded due to weather by now, and assured us that within 30-60 days they would have submitted the necessary paperwork to issue a FL electronic title and transferred our license plate to our old FL one. NOT! It’s been 54 days already and there seems no end to this.
For almost 60 days Mary has been on the phone, back and forth, with both Alliant C.U. (the lender), who wants the Florida Title, and with Cristina at La Mesa Titling Dept., trying to get everyone the documentation they keep asking for, while they are never willing to give US the documentation that we need to get our tags registered, with a Florida Title. Now we have received a notice from La Mesa Titling, stating that they have sent our paid FL sales tax, for a FL Electronic Title, to the Arizona DOT, for an Arizona Title and included an Arizona Registration, which we cannot use because we are Florida residents, NOT residents of Arizona (and do not want to be).
So Bill had to call Terry Bridgewater, General Manager of La Mesa RV Tucson and was told that .
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