Info from a Canadian RV show

cruisefx · 10-29-2015, 05:45 PM

I was at a local dealer in Ontario this past weekend for their fall event. They had representatives from Thor, Newmar, Roadtrek and PleasureWay.

I asked when the Thor Gemini/Compass were coming to Canada and the rep could not give me an answer. He had not seen the product himself.

I mentioned to the PleasureWay rep that I noticed that their current lineup is made up of 4 Sprinters and 1 Promaster as it seems they have stopped the Excel, Pursuit and Prestige. So I asked if they were going to build on the Transit and he said no. He indicated that they were not happy with the ride/performance and that they were too many changes to use with their current floorplans. As far as he knew there were no new floorplans in the works. They are trying to keep up with demand. Two weeks ago, Toronto had the fall RV show and there was no PWs on display. I told him that it was disappointing for a large Canadian city RV show not to have a Canadian product on display. He told me that he had to push to get the 2016 models for the dealer show that I did attend as they arrived within the week before the show. Their 2016 - 30th anniversary edition does look pretty luxurious.

I had a quick chat with the Roadtrek rep and asked about the current electrical issues. The topic did not go anywhere too far as he indicated that they had great sales at Pomona. I asked how many Ecotreks were actually on the road and he said 40....I had heard that there were rumours that RT would stop building on the Chev chassis and he denied that. He said that there was a great demand in the US for the Chev chassis but it was a question of getting them in a timely basis.

As with PW, the RT display at the Toronto RV show was limited. They had a RT 170 and a CS Adventurous. They brought a 210 but it was sold so it was locked. I was there on Day 1 of a 3 day show so that was disappointing. There were no Zions. There were no LTV units either.....I guess Canadian companies don't care to market to Canadians...

Since RT hosted a 3 day training at the factory for their dealer network this past week maybe all the dealers will know how to handle the new electrical systems

mumkin · 10-30-2015, 04:00 AM

40? Highly unlikely... as mine was one of the first out the gate and I got it Aug 19. Some may be on dealer lots. Maybe ordered? I can't believe that many would be on the road with none of their owners tech savvy enough to be on the net bragging about how well they were working. I would think that RT would be paying them to show up.

From the posts on Roadtrekking, it seemed to be mostly salespeople getting up to speed to sell the systems at their little conclave. Someone from my dealer's service department went and I plan to try to talk to him tomorrow to see if he could get any answers on my underhood generator that RT is ignoring. From what a couple people posted, I don't think there was any discussion of how to fix the current problems with the Ecotrek.

Odd that there were so few Canadian builds there... perhaps it is bad timing with the 2016s like with PW... or just too many shows in too short of a time. The sales people get spread pretty thin with all these shows. With LTV, last I heard there was still only Don and Dean to handle them all. Not as though they are short of orders.

I too wonder when the Chevy will disappear from our choices. I suspect that it depends on two things... Zion sales/popularity... and when Chevy decides to stop making the platform. That has been a rumor running around for the last 2-3 years. I don't think that GM has yet made any decisions yet. They have adopted the small Nissan van and there was rumor of them adopting the big Nissan van... one can only hope not... butt ugly thing and not an appealing RV option.

wincrasher · 10-30-2015, 04:34 AM

I wouldn't read anything into being a lack of product on display at a late fall show in Canada - they are going into the off-season. I'd expect a better showing at the Spring shows.

Not surprising that everything is groovy with Ecotrek according to Roadtrek. Keep selling and work out the bugs later!

As we've said before, the issue with the Chevies is supply from GM. Customers are still buying the 170, 190 & 210. Until those sales drop off in favor of the Euro-vans, I doubt RT will change anything. If I was them, I'd be looking hard at transitioning those models to Transits - with the powerful engine choices and option for duals (to use on the 210) they could put together a compelling offering. But there is alot of cost to doing that that may be hard to justify if things are still selling well as is.

cruisefx · 10-30-2015, 04:35 AM

I had been reading the various posts in this forum and on FB so I knew that there were new RT electrical issues abound and thus doubted that number. Not all the new owners are going to be on FB or forums but the number sounded ridiculous to me. He did say the word 'proprietary' and I cringed ...LOL....

I suppose the Canadian RV market is small and thus the reps go to Hershey, Pomona and Tampa. I did not expect the company reps to be at the Toronto show but I expected that local dealers would have inventory. In January 2014 when we began to look for a class B, we were interested in LTV and called Dean to find out why there were no dealers in Ontario...the largest province in the country. He said that there was a dealer. So we checked the dealer website and there was no mention of LTV. We also asked whether they would attend the Toronto RV show and he had not planned on it. We expressed our disappointment and within several weeks, the dealer website was updated and LTV posted that they would be in Toronto. Made a point of meeting Dean and now this dealer seems to have sold many units since that time.

We ended up getting an older RT as we were really attempting to dip our toes into Class "B"ing before spending on a new rig. Now with the difference in the exchange rate....US manufactured rigs are going to be pretty pricey up here.

It was a good idea to start with an older rig, to figure out the 'must haves' versus the 'wants'. We have even visited Advanced RV. As a Canadian, buying new in the US may not be a good idea.

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