# To Buy Or Not To From Lake Shore Rv I Live In So Cal



## letscamp (Jan 22, 2010)

First off I have to say this site is load of info, you could be looking into every page and learn something new every time you log on. So an early thanks to everyone and their input!!!

I have been looking around for a 300bh and so far here in so cal its been tough. I don't plan on buying till April or May. Every dealership I have been looking at either has one or two and wants one or both arms and legs for it. The dealerships who don't have them say they will order one, it will come 7-10 weeks and will also cost lots. Around 27k to 34k, most don't want to haggle and neither do I after dealing with most of them.

I came across Lake shore and they seem good until I looked on the some of the pages in this section. I understand some people have bad experiences with them, yet I also noticed some who just don't follow the rules! Yet most of you loved just about every thing about them. So to put all the bull aside and talk numbers here it goes. (Also don't worry, no time change here! So I won't be late to the PDI because a time zone and have to wait for anything!.... lol planning on having it delivered to me yeash!"

I emailed them late fri night and by sat morning I got a call from Steve Schuitema. He layed everything out and said for $24,500 I can have it in my driveway 2 to 3 days, just give him the word. I thought that was too good to be true! I called back with more questions and he called me back 10 min later.

My questions for everyone who had theirs delivered and or when to pick theirs up is...

Tax, how does that work buying out of state?

Registration once in their home state?

Warranty service once they are back home..how does that work?

And please please please.. Any other info, tips, thoughts about them, and stuff you wish you knew now that could have helped?


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## Ridgway-Rangers (Apr 18, 2008)

For the tax, when you register it with DMV, you pay the sales tax in your area.









I live in Nor-Cal so I feel your pain.

with that said, your registration is done through CA DMV.

We did not get ours from Lakeshore but many have and have been very happy. You may be able to have someone near the dealer do a PDI for you. Warranty work can be done through any Keystone dealer.

Good luck,

Brian


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## mmblantz (Jul 1, 2007)

There's a 2010 300BH that just posted on here from a member for $22,500. You might want to check with them first.--Mike


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## Calvin&Hobbes (May 24, 2006)

As stated from Brian-

Sales tax/ registering the trailer... handled by the state you live in. Kills 2 birds w/ 1 stone, so to speak.

Warranty work... Should be covered by any Keystone dealership. But, this is up for debate as some feel you wont get timely repairs, as you didnt buy from_________. (fill in the blank) Personally, we've had our camper for 4 years, and never had it back for repairs. If your handy, most repairs can be done by yourself...think of it as a mini house- same problems, things are more compartmentalized though and any repairs I pay for I subtract from the savings I had by purchasing from lakeshore- 7K in my case).

The ONLY issue I can see that might happen by a delivery as opposed to picking up in person, is if there is a problem with the PDI. I would make sure they know that you want a thorough walk through PDI, and can the delivery driver do it without any issues. PS... Let them know you are a member of Outbackers.com, and tell them that we have a PDI checklist which is second to none!

oh yes- welcome aboard!


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

mmblantz said:


> There's a 2010 300BH that just posted on here from a member for $22,500. You might want to check with them first.--Mike


I don't think that is the delivered price to Cal.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Calvin&Hobbes said:


> As stated from Brian-
> 
> Sales tax/ registering the trailer... handled by the state you live in. Kills 2 birds w/ 1 stone, so to speak.
> 
> ...


X 2 on everything mentioned above.

I purchased mine from Lakeshore but picked it up myself.


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## johnp (Mar 15, 2004)

I've had two delivered from them with no problems worth even a phone call. The PDI does not exist if you have it delivered they claim to do it before it leaves. Honestly I don't think they do it as it comes the way they receive it from the factory. The driver only has you inspect it for delivery damage and sign for it. I would still buy from them in a heartbeat and save 10k. They give you all the paperwork needed to register it. I had to pay the MI tax and then pay RI the other 2% tax your case may be different. One thing that is true with buying from them you can use it for two seasons and stil sell it or trade it in your area and not lose a penny trust me on that one.

Good Luck


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## mmblantz (Jul 1, 2007)

CamperAndy said:


> There's a 2010 300BH that just posted on here from a member for $22,500. You might want to check with them first.--Mike


I don't think that is the delivered price to Cal.
[/quote]

I was only suggesting it because people do come down on their price to sell and they are sometimes willing to meet you to do it. Could save them some money. I missed the part where it had to be delivered---Mike


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## letscamp (Jan 22, 2010)

mmblantz said:


> There's a 2010 300BH that just posted on here from a member for $22,500. You might want to check with them first.--Mike


Thanks mmblantz I emailed the guy he lives over 2000 miles away so unless the price is really good I would consider it, however if its 1 or 2k more delivered to my driveway new I think I'd rather do that. I have never bought a new anything.


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## W5CI (Apr 21, 2009)

We bought our new 210RS from Lakeshore, no one else came close on the price, i thought it was a misquote until i paid for it. no can come close to their prices. and great to deal with. Marcie wasnt there when we went to pick it up so i didnt get to meet her.
Danny in Ar


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## hautevue (Mar 8, 2009)

Our experience w/Holman Motors (very close to Cincinnati on the east side) will probably duplicate yours w/Lakeshore. In a word, the savings were so great that I do not regret for a minute any hassle w/local Keystone dealers who say I go to the back of the line for warranty work since I did not buy it there.

One thing I'm VERY glad we did: we picked it up. It's 500 miles each way from Baltimore, MD to Cin. Since I saved about $7K, it was easy to justify my going there and picking it up myself. The big benefit was the PDI. I dragged a great PDI checklist off this site and sent it to Jamie Holmberg--she said it was fine and "bring it on!" They spent about 4 or 5 hours w/me, and then we "camped" on their lot ("Just put it up against the fence and hook up the power. No water hookup but your fresh tank is full.") We found a few small probs that night; they fixed them first thing in the morning, and we then left for home.

If you can possibly get the time off, I recommend you simply drive to Lakeshore (or Holman) and pick it up. My 1000 miles of driving, a motel the night before delivery, a campground on the way back, plus food, etc., was under $500. And if you're a "newbie" as I was, having the dealer put on the hitch, level the unit, and so forth will be a real help. Delivery will not include a hitch installation, something I did not want to tackle. Holman put it on and got it dialed in in less than 2 hours while the PDI guy spent time showing me all the stuff I needed to learn. Good luck!


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

Here's a suggestion if you don't want to take the road trip to pick it up. You could fly to Lakeshore, do the PDI, and then fly home and have it shipped. Then the only concern would be dmage from transit, and that would be very simple to figure out since you would have seen the trailer prior to shipment. I'm betting the airfare is under a grand so you'd still save a significant amount of money.


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## letscamp (Jan 22, 2010)

Nathan said:


> Here's a suggestion if you don't want to take the road trip to pick it up. You could fly to Lakeshore, do the PDI, and then fly home and have it shipped. Then the only concern would be dmage from transit, and that would be very simple to figure out since you would have seen the trailer prior to shipment. I'm betting the airfare is under a grand so you'd still save a significant amount of money.


Thats a good idea. I'm hoping that I could trust them enough that when it gets delivered it wont have too many problems. To the guys in here who had theirs delivered where there and major problems?


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

I know you are looking to have it shipped, but we drove from Oregon to Lakeshore last summer and the family had a GREAT vacation. Saved about $7,000 on our 301BQ...AFTER fuel costs.


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## daslobo777 (Mar 24, 2007)

Hi,

We had our 23RS delivered to AZ. We were worried about it as having something new and costly delivered prior to ever seeing it. We, too, saved so much money compared to local dealers. Our driver was very considerate and said to take our time checking things out, but basically it was just sign that he delivered it without damage. We then took the PDI checklist and went from there. We had faulty tires and a few minor issues that were taken care of immediately. Tires were shipped directly to the house and taken to tire shop and the other punch items done at the local dealer. I recommend having it delivered as you have warranty to cover any issues. Have fun with your purchase.

Cristy


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## letscamp (Jan 22, 2010)

daslobo777 said:


> Hi,
> 
> We had our 23RS delivered to AZ. We were worried about it as having something new and costly delivered prior to ever seeing it. We, too, saved so much money compared to local dealers. Our driver was very considerate and said to take our time checking things out, but basically it was just sign that he delivered it without damage. We then took the PDI checklist and went from there. We had faulty tires and a few minor issues that were taken care of immediately. Tires were shipped directly to the house and taken to tire shop and the other punch items done at the local dealer. I recommend having it delivered as you have warranty to cover any issues. Have fun with your purchase.
> 
> Cristy


Thanks for the info it really helps.


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## daslobo777 (Mar 24, 2007)

My DW chimed in above - so I will add just a few other thoughts.

We saved approx. $9K (incl EQ Hitch purchase) compared to other local dealers. We then spend $2K to have it delivered for a net savings of ~$7K. I would do it again in a heartbeat with those kind of savings. The "driving to pickup idea" is a good one - but for us it was not reasonable to drive from AZ to MI, although others have done it farther. As stated earlier it helps if you are handy with electrical/mechanical so all small things can be fixed easily if anything comes up. However, I "developed" a good working relationship with two local Keystone dealers and now get good response from them if any dealer service/warranty repair is required - so no negative there.

The other item I would like to mention is that the EQ hitch was dumped in my lap by the delivery driver still in the box. Although some may see this as a "hassle" I actually looked at this as a learning experience since I did not have any previous TT or WDH experience. I spend time studying the hitch setup reqmts and how to level the TT/TV. By doing this I now have the EQ Hitch and TT/TV level "dialed in" for a very nice towing experience and I know that if I have any problems on the road I can easily handle them with the experince of assembling everything together.

Have fun camping.


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## FlashG (Jun 23, 2007)

I cyber-shopped Lakeshore and a few other mid-west dealers with my recent Montana purchase.

My local dealer price matched Lakeshore after adding the shipping charges.

I did find other mid-west Montana dealers that were selling for less than Lakeshore.


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## rsm7 (Aug 8, 2009)

daslobo777 said:


> The other item I would like to mention is that the EQ hitch was dumped in my lap by the delivery driver still in the box. Although some may see this as a "hassle" I actually looked at this as a learning experience since I did not have any previous TT or WDH experience. I spend time studying the hitch setup reqmts and how to level the TT/TV. By doing this I now have the EQ Hitch and TT/TV level "dialed in" for a very nice towing experience and I know that if I have any problems on the road I can easily handle them with the experince of assembling everything together.
> 
> Have fun camping.


This is an excellent point. My dealer installed mine and I didnt like the way it pulled. I took it apart and read the directions and reinstalled it. I'm STILL playing with the adjustments dialing it in. We have snow now but when the weather breaks I am going to tweak it again. I think its a tad high. I like knowing how it works. When you think about it, it's a pretty important step to safely getting where you're going and you should be very familiar with it.


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## daslobo777 (Mar 24, 2007)

FlashG said:


> I cyber-shopped Lakeshore and a few other mid-west dealers with my recent Montana purchase.
> 
> My local dealer price matched Lakeshore after adding the shipping charges.
> 
> I did find other mid-west Montana dealers that were selling for less than Lakeshore.


I agree and wanted to give business to the local shops and we gave them the opportunity to match with the added delivery cost and they said there is no way they can match it. We had a keystone dealer in Texas come in a bit under but we would have had to drive there and after factoring our gas, camping, time off etc. we just went with Lakeshore. Ideally, we wanted to pick up in MI, but didn't have the time (days off) to do it. I definitely would try to get a matching price in your area first. DH actually heard about Lakeshore from someone in CA while he was there on a business trip who had delivery to their house and indicated that noone else could come close and that is how we found Lakeshore.

Cristy


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## azthroop (Jun 16, 2007)

We looked around everywhere and could not get a dealer in AZ to match Lakeshore's price, so we loaded up the four kids and dog (puppy at the time) and did a whirlwind family vacation to MI and back. We went through Four Corners, up through CO into WY, where we stopped and purchased massive quantities of fireworks! On to Mount Rushmore, toured a missle silo, took the ferry across Lake Michigan and then camped out at Lakeshore overnight so we could thoroughly check it all out. Then we did the home trip through Indiana, Illinois, etc. and back to AZ. It was awesome!! Everyone had a great time and I would completely recommend doing it!!

Our experience with Lakeshore was excellent. They did the PDI with us and we went through it inch by inch and after spending the night we had a few more fixes. They did it all with a smile and had it going. We even had them weld on a really nice hitch. They took it down the road to have it done, but it was top-notch.

I agree with pretty much everything else that was said before me!!

azthroop (Jim)


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

daslobo777 said:


> I cyber-shopped Lakeshore and a few other mid-west dealers with my recent Montana purchase.
> 
> My local dealer price matched Lakeshore after adding the shipping charges.
> 
> I did find other mid-west Montana dealers that were selling for less than Lakeshore.


I agree and wanted to give business to the local shops and we gave them the opportunity to match with the added delivery cost and they said there is no way they can match it. We had a keystone dealer in Texas come in a bit under but we would have had to drive there and after factoring our gas, camping, time off etc. we just went with Lakeshore. Ideally, we wanted to pick up in MI, but didn't have the time (days off) to do it. I definitely would try to get a matching price in your area first. DH actually heard about Lakeshore from someone in CA while he was there on a business trip who had delivery to their house and indicated that noone else could come close and that is how we found Lakeshore.

Cristy
[/quote]
Here's the funny bit. The local OB dealer to us will not come close to Lakeshore's prices traditionally (Haven't priced them since the meltdown but there show price was a lot better than before), and I'm only 3 hours from Lakeshore.


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## twincam (Jan 11, 2010)

We too saved over 5k by buying at lakeshore rv, plus having our new outback 230rs delivered was the best!! give them a call if you are in the market, whether you drive there or have it delivered its obvious by all the posts that they have the low price. happy camping....


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## letscamp (Jan 22, 2010)

Thank you all for your input in buying at lake shore. One more question: How did you all who bought from there who are out of state pay for it? Is it easier to just use the dealership or shop around at different banks/online brokers?


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## johnp (Mar 15, 2004)

I found their rates to be good. Both times we faxed a few thing back and forth and that was it done. Loan paperwork came about a week later. So easy it was scary.

John


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## daslobo777 (Mar 24, 2007)

johnp said:


> I found their rates to be good. Both times we faxed a few thing back and forth and that was it done. Loan paperwork came about a week later. So easy it was scary.
> 
> John


I agree it was easy which made it scary. When we purchased I didn't trust the rate quoted and did checking on my own locally only to find they did have the best rate so we just went through Lakeshore. Also, at the time our credit union did not deal with RV loans.

Cristy


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## letscamp (Jan 22, 2010)

Great! well hearing this all makes me feel a lot better about just going though them, I too checked my credit union and its was sad and funny at the same time. They are great at everything but ours in general is a joke when it comes to rv's, tt, boats, and off road stuff. The least of a loan they offered was 15k and that has to be paid back in 5 years at most. Everything else was sky hi past 25k.

How much do most of you end up paying each year? for insurance?


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## twincam (Jan 11, 2010)

Glad to hear that we have been able to help you with your decision, its certainly a big one! Im sure you will be happy, say hi to all the staff at lakeshore rv from all the happy campers here at outbackers!!


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## ZHB (Mar 17, 2009)

letscamp said:


> How much do most of you end up paying each year? for insurance?


I have RV insurance thru National interstate and it runs about $350 for the year. Full replacement cost.


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## N7OQ (Jun 10, 2006)

I got my trailer from a local dealer $800 cheaper than what Lakeshore could deliver one to me. If I had the time and could have driven out there and picked it up then I might have done that way.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

N7OQ said:


> I got my trailer from a local dealer $800 cheaper than what Lakeshore could deliver one to me. If I had the time and could have driven out there and picked it up then I might have done that way.


Any local dealer thar can beat lakeshore or holmans should get there name up here as a place worth visiting.


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