Roadtrek Top of the Line models are bulit to order.....

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Did you know that for the most part with the exception of demonstration units at RV shows....the E-Trek, CS Adventurous and RS Adventurous are all customer ordered with a deposit and then built based on the customer specs......?

I found this out talking to one of the Roadtrek account executives who are in charge of sales.....he told me that the average time it takes to convert a Mercedes Benz Sprinter with the three top models is around 2 to 3 weeks....

That is a pretty long time compared to the lower priced models like the Carrado, Axion and Sunlight.....so... here's the thing... there's a price point for all this.....

Don't think that getting a van conversion in 4 to 8 hours... typical time for the Carrado is going to yield the same quality control as one of the top models...... it's just not possible.....

So.. in some cases..you get what you pay for.....

I discovered that only in the past few years ...2015 and later did Roadtrek really ramp up their production and mostly producing products for places like Camping World....

That's why purchasing a slightly used vehicle can sometimes make more sense?

What do you think???

[Learning]

Here's what the Roadtrek sales guy didn't tell you.... they can't deliver a CS Adventurous in under a year. I put my deposit down early in Oct 2017 (yes, 2017) and still don't have my rig. Every month they pushed out the expected delivery date of the chassis another month. Then, after they said they have the MB chassis and that it was in production, they said delivery would be early November. Guess what ... still waiting for it and all I get is a run around about its going to take another week or two.... super frustrated.
Anyone else have this issue or am I the only sucker waiting on delivery?

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Just sent you a PM....

[mumkin]

Originally Posted by Roadtrek Adventuous RS1

I discovered that only in the past few years ...2015 and later did Roadtrek really ramp up their production and mostly producing products for places like Camping World....

Actually, Roadtrek produces no rigs for Camping World. The only Camping World product is from Hymer... and they don't even like to put their name on it. It is the Sunlight Van One or Two.

Roadtrek's best selling products these days all go through their long time dealer network... the Zion and Simplicity rigs. They ramped up production because of increased sales of those two models (and also the Hymer Activ)

[booster]

I think the implication of this discussion was that Roadtrek is building all the Sprinter models to customer orders. I don't actually know why this would be particularly important to anyone unless they somehow think that this implies they are higher quality or desirability, which, IMO, I don't think it does.


If you take a look a the dealer sites, they have new Roadtrek Sprinters on their lots all the time, so these are not customer orders.



It is most likely the reference made by Roadtrek of "built to order" would just be they aren't building speculation stock to to be held until the dealers order them. That is what nearly put them under in 2008. Building to dealer orders is common in many industries and does not make a company a "custom" builder like ARV or Sportsmobile.



When you talk to a dealer, they will often talk of having a "slot" in the production schedule, usually to get you to order right away and sometimes to get you to take more accessories that are not wanted, to get the van sooner.


I don't think there is anything special or different in the way Roadtrek is doing things compared to other brands, with the possible exception of some very low end models. Most RV brands aren't big enough to risk speculative building of products. This way they put the risk on the dealers instead.

[Bud]

Originally Posted by booster

I think the implication of this discussion was that Roadtrek is building all the Sprinter models to customer orders. I don't actually know why this would be particularly important to anyone unless they somehow think that this implies they are higher quality or desirability, which, IMO, I don't think it does.


If you take a look a the dealer sites, they have new Roadtrek Sprinters on their lots all the time, so these are not customer orders.



It is most likely the reference made by Roadtrek of "built to order" would just be they aren't building speculation stock to to be held until the dealers order them. That is what nearly put them under in 2008. Building to dealer orders is common in many industries and does not make a company a "custom" builder like ARV or Sportsmobile.



When you talk to a dealer, they will often talk of having a "slot" in the production schedule, usually to get you to order right away and sometimes to get you to take more accessories that are not wanted, to get the van sooner.


I don't think there is anything special or different in the way Roadtrek is doing things compared to other brands, with the possible exception of some very low end models. Most RV brands aren't big enough to risk speculative building of products. This way they put the risk on the dealers instead.

booster, the nearest dealer to me and not a big one has 3 or 4 roadtrek sprinters for sale at the moment. But this initial false 'stuff' appeared to be an excuse, reason to then belittle, bash and trash the other roadtrek/hymer b's. Why is that? There seems to be some sort of recurring need to do this. You just commented on it less than 2 weeks ago. Then followed by the false camping world statement.......

It appears that this will continue indefinitely, very probable. Anyone know where a bet can be placed?

Bud

[booster]

Originally Posted by Bud

booster, the nearest dealer to me and not a big one has 3 or 4 roadtrek sprinters for sale at the moment. But this initial false 'stuff' appeared to be an excuse, reason to then belittle, bash and trash the other roadtrek/hymer b's. Why is that? There seems to be some sort of recurring need to do this. You just commented on it less than 2 weeks ago. Then followed by the false camping world statement.......

It appears that this will continue indefinitely, very probable. Anyone know where a bet can be placed?

Bud

Yep, and yep, plus another of the diesel vs gas threads was started also to generate some fighting. There have to be at least half a dozen others before it from the same source, with the same results.



Just how many times will the happen, is anyone's guess, but it does get mighty irritating.


Best advice probably would be DON'T FEED THE TROLL

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by booster

......................


Best advice probably would be DON'T FEED THE TROLL

Indeed. Perhaps a good mirror would help.

[Phoebe3]

I don't think it's trolling. Clearly, he spends more time writing about his van than traveling in it, and there may be a reason for that.

Based on his initial posts, he paid more for his van used than some new vans and then had to pour money into it. Perhaps more than he can afford. All of these gas vs diesel, new vs. used, etc. threads make me wonder if he's trying over and over to justify his decision, which, deep down he suspects was wrong. No doubt he now realizes that if he had spent as much time researching BEFORE his purchase as he has ex post facto, he might have made a better choice and so he just can't let it go.

I don't think it's trolling...I think it's a little sad and I'm willing to read and respond to his posts until he can either come to terms with his decision or sells the van.

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by Phoebe3

I don't think it's trolling. Clearly, he spends more time writing about his van than traveling in it, and there may be a reason for that.

Based on his initial posts, he paid more for his van used than some new vans and then had to pour money into it. Perhaps more than he can afford. All of these gas vs diesel, new vs. used, etc. threads make me wonder if he's trying over and over to justify his decision, which, deep down he suspects was wrong. No doubt he now realizes that if he had spent as much time researching BEFORE his purchase as he has ex post facto, he might have made a better choice and so he just can't let it go.

I don't think it's trolling...I think it's a little sad and I'm willing to read and respond to his posts until he can either come to terms with his decision or sells the van.

Well said, I also thought that being insecure in his decision he is seeking for ways to justify. Internet is indeed loaded with folks not knowing that they don’t know.

[booster]

Originally Posted by GeorgeRa

Well said, I also thought that being insecure in his decision he is seeking for ways to justify. Internet is indeed loaded with folks not knowing that they don’t know.

I also agree with Phoebe3, and the same has been mentioned in the past several times, except for I do believe that for whatever the cause, it is totally out of line to continually try to pick and cause conflicts on the forum. While, due to cause, he may not be a typical internet troll that causes trouble just for fun, the behavior and results are the same. So, troll/no troll, chose your term, but it is the result that matters, IMO.

[Learning]

I'm new to this as you can probably see from how many posts I've made, and would like to apologize for being so crabby on the one I sent late in the evening earlier on this thread.

Just frustrated with the waiting and delays, and really all I was trying to ask about was whether the 15 months I've been waiting is at all "normal". Full disclosure - in our order, my wife and I wanted the 2018 MB chassis and were not willing to take a 2017. Likely that was a part of it but I really don't have much info and so wanted to tap into a group that [I]really[I] seems knowledgeable about a ton of topics on this subject.

Does anyone have any info on why there is such a delay on these units?

My wife and I are really looking forward to starting our journey! And then I can contribute more and in more meaningful ways.

Thanks everyone!

[mumkin]

The key to getting an answer as to the cause of the delay is having a good salesman who has good rapport with his RT counterpart. And even then, it can be tough to get an answer that isn't mainly a guess. My newest rig was a special order... which necessitated its being moved in and out of different lines in their factory. It is a Simplicity but had to be moved into the Zion line twice. So, if you chose lots of extras that could be part of the delay.

That said, the 15 month delay is excessive (probably mostly related to the 2018 platform), but likely your only option at this point would be to cancel... and start over. Mine was ordered for a May delivery, but it didn't arrive until early July... then with the add-ons that were from the dealer, I didn't get it until late July.

Have you nagged your dealer? Called Roadtrek yourself? If you have your vin number - try calling the sales department at the factory.

[Marcus]

I was given a delivery date by the dealer after he had spoken directly to the factory. The date rolled by and no news from dealer at that point. The dealer contacted the factory. They had not even started on the build ad yet. So not being satisfied with the responses I told them I wanted to cancel my purchase and then lo and behold 2 days later I get a call from the factory that a miracle had occurred and a unit had suddenly become available. And two weeks later I picked up my unit. Sometimes playing hardball will work.

[Belzar]

I custom ordered a 4x4 RT CS about 2.5 years ago. Took 4-5 months to deliver. The biggest factor back then, and I assume now, is chassis availability... and Class B sales have grown considerably over the last 2 years plus 3500 Sprinters are not mass market vehicles. I was not given an "firm estimated" delivery date until RT had a delivery date from MB on the chassis and production could be scheduled. Still a lot of variables, but they delivered mine within a few weeks of estimate. I did not care if mine was a 2016 or 20017 since changes in those model years were minor. 2018-2019 entail more changes; its a new model from a new factory.

[Paul the Gardens]

Originally Posted by Phoebe3

I don't think it's trolling. Clearly, he spends more time writing about his van than traveling in it, and there may be a reason for that.

Based on his initial posts, he paid more for his van used than some new vans and then had to pour money into it. Perhaps more than he can afford. All of these gas vs diesel, new vs. used, etc. threads make me wonder if he's trying over and over to justify his decision, which, deep down he suspects was wrong. No doubt he now realizes that if he had spent as much time researching BEFORE his purchase as he has ex post facto, he might have made a better choice and so he just can't let it go.

I don't think it's trolling...I think it's a little sad and I'm willing to read and respond to his posts until he can either come to terms with his decision or sells the van.

Thank you so much Phoebe3 I tought I was alone reading between the lines of the post generated by individual number ? .indeed his purchase was made without research and after the fact it went on and on only to convince himself that buying used /diesel was the best thing . In fact it is to each his own, for me it was a new/gasser /converted to other it can be a custom 4x4 diesel to travel in the desert. But there is no need to argue only to justify a bad decision. Get over it sell the RV take your lost, and now that you are more informed buy another one. Best of luck,sorry for your loss, merry Christmas. Peace on earth.

[Belzar]

"he paid more for his van used than some new vans..."

Wouldn't surprise me. I commonly see asking prices on used RT's that exceed what I paid for a brand new custom order 2.5 years ago. I've even considered selling and getting another new one, but I now have it set up just right and all the initial "bugs" worked out. In a few more years, as I approach the end of the warranty period, I'll decide if she's a keeper (ie, is it worth the cost to replace the ecotreks).