Opinion - Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation to be Monthly Guest Blogger

Re: Taylor Lautner needs to man up

I have to say that Greg you are usually spot on with your words but I have to disagree with you on this one. To elaborate more on wheat Rick said above..... I purchased a 5th wheel from McMahons at the Stanton location about 4 years ago and although the genreal manager (now gone) of that location was great, the sales team and service were not up to par.

When I picked up my new rig the walk through was a joke.. I was assured everything worked (the PDI) and they would not let me test anything. When I got it home, the water facets were all plugged at the screen spouts with assembly debris, the refer was not even plugged in (never test on AC even though I paid for PDI), the A/C did not work right, and the black tank was still full even thought they assured me they had emptied it. Also.. the trailer dog tracked and it took a lot of convincing by me that there was a problem. They finally fixed it after many months of the run around and putting the wrong axles back on the vehicle. I cringed every time I had to go in there for warranty work during that first year. a few years later, that location closed.

If the Prince has the money to sue, it is his every right and I hope he wins.

By Big Red on: Monday, September 06, 2010

Re: Louisville in the rear view mirror?

Aaron, you bring up some excellent points for discussion.

I think if dealers have a chance to see and buy before Louisville, they are going to do just that. You can also assume that they may see something at these private meetings that will not be on display in Louisville because the manufacturer doesn't have to show their "secret" to the world if they can show it to the dealers that account for 80% of their business (80/20 rule).

Dealers may still go to Louisville, but perhaps they will cut down on personnel, travel expenses, and may not be "buying" as much product and Louisville is intended to be a "buying" show. If people "buy" before they get there then they don't need as many people in Louisville.

As a manufacturer my objective is to get my best dealers to buy before somebody else gets them to buy - the 80/20 rule. This model makes even more sense when you consider the financial challenges, wholesale and retail, that still threaten our industry. You want to get the successful, stable, and financially strong dealers to buy while they still have flexibility and options with their credit lines.

Appreciate the great contribution to the conversation.

By Bob Zagami on: Sunday, September 05, 2010

Re: THE TRUTH ABOUT DIESEL EXHAUST FLUID (DEF)

. . . and then there's the original cost.

By Andy on: Saturday, September 04, 2010

Re: Keep the Internet in Perspective

David's comment above is great:

The presence of the internet has not increased the number of prospective consumers. It just changed the way we communicate with them.

How true is that? The Internet hasn't increased the number of people who want to buy products/services, but it does have a tremendous role to play in communicating and helping to build relationships.

As Dan states above though ... the Internet is just ONE tool in the marketing toolbox, and if used correctly can help turn out great results.

By Kevin | InteractRV on: Saturday, September 04, 2010

Re: Taylor Lautner needs to man up

I don't believe McManhons RV is well respected. I belong to a Class B RV club. We have over 250 members and not one member who has dealt with McManhons has ANYTHING nice to say about this dealership!! In fact it's kind of a inside joke how bad they are in our club.

By Rick Rotman on: Friday, September 03, 2010

Re: THE TRUTH ABOUT DIESEL EXHAUST FLUID (DEF)

Tony,
As rosey as you try to make this sound........you forget to mention some of the cons to this system. This secondary tank can only be filled at truck stops or dealers. From everything I have read, you will burn 1 gallon of this to every 66 gallons of fuel. So the customer making a massive cross country trip may find this to be a little interesting. Especially if they are averaging 10 miles per gallon. This fluid will freeze at cold temperatures and is ruined at high temps. So people in the Southwest or North are in trouble. Considering the safety meaurements taken to make sure that someone does not let their tank run dry - those procrastinators will be able to drive a whopping 5 miles per hour to find that truck stop on the Alaskan Highway for a fill. Now I only know what I have read......If I am wrong I am sorry.....but this technology does not sound all rosey and wonderful. I will gladly run all our old technology diesels till they are dead......rather than have to deal with this!

By seriously on: Friday, September 03, 2010

Re: Louisville in the rear view mirror?

The Jayco meeting, according to the RVB report, is a sales training session that will have approximately 500 people in the area the same time as these shows. The exact quote was: "Jayco, headquartered in nearby Middlebury, plans to bring in approximately 500 people for intensive sales training at its complex in Middlebury, Ind. The sessions run Sept. 20-23 and Sept. 27-30 and will involve sales training and extensive factory tours, reports Marketing Director Sid Johnson." Would you schedule such an important meeting when many of your key competitors and dealer principals might just happen to be in the neighborhood at the same time if you didn't want to invite a few of they over to the plant while you have some of your people there for training. The point here is not to criticize any company and I don't want to make any of the manufacturers guilty by association. I happen to believe in what is going on here and think the industry might give serious discussion to expanding on the original idea.

By Bob Zagami on: Thursday, September 02, 2010

Re: Taylor Lautner needs to man up

I instinctively know this stinks of steroid abuse!!!

By TROY on: Thursday, September 02, 2010

Re: Taylor Lautner needs to man up

I agree with T. They signed the contract and failed to deliver. it's just sad that in trying to get what he is due that he is giving them all this free publicity. In the end they will benefit from failing to satify a customer.

As for the push up contest which he has turned down it is a clear publicity stunt. Honestly I do not know this dealership but if I was in the market for an RV they would not be on my list. If they can't treat a high profile customer right and make light of his problems what will they do to a customer like me who isn't spending a fortune?

By Aaron on: Thursday, September 02, 2010

Re: Louisville in the rear view mirror?

I think these "shows" or dealer get togethers or what have you make sense as a side bar to Louisville. By bringing in your dealers at least those who will come you can sell to them now. Thus that frees up time at Louisville to work with dealers who couldn't come and focus on adding new dealers to your network where needed.

Louisville will still be around for the simple fact that dealers will want to see products they don't carry. Either to know how to sell against or to maybe add them.

Yes for large dealers the manufacturer come to you to sell product but that is normally only one demo unit. Here you can see them all and for small dealers this is the only way they get to see products they don't carry but may want to.

If anything this move shows that Louisville is too big for the larger manufacturers. They need to space out the sales to maximize them. Any sales person will tell you when you get too busy you take the low hanging fruit and end up losing sales because you don't have the time to handle them all. The manufacturers doing this are merely getting the low hanging fruit out of the way so they can focus on new sales at Louisville. A very smart move and one that a relative outsider like me can't believe they have not been doing for years.

By Aaron on: Thursday, September 02, 2010

Re: Louisville in the rear view mirror?

Jayco is not entering the feeding frenzy the last week in Sept.

By ed on: Thursday, September 02, 2010

Re: THE TRUTH ABOUT DIESEL EXHAUST FLUID (DEF)

There is more than one reason why the overwhelming majority of RV manufacturers, and commercial truck manufacturers, are using SCR technology with DEF. In fact, only one manufacturer in the entire industry, Monaco/Navistar is not using this technology, instead opting for extreme EGR. Not an exhaustive list but some of the reasons the significant majority of OEM's will be using SCR with DEF are the following:
1. Proven technology - DEF is already being used in hundreds of thousands of vehicles over hundreds of millions of miles in Europe. We're not aware of any vehicles racking up equal miles with the Extreme EGR technology.
2. Improved fuel economy - Customers will see 5-8% fuel economy improvement, making up for the cost of the DEF and then some. Regardless, we look forward to getting our hands on a MaxxForce with 2010 technology; however we have yet to locate one for sale in the market. Meanwhile, Cummins has produced over 25,000 engines, including for RV use, with EPA 2010 technology which can already be found in trucks and RV's on dealer's lots or in customer's hands.
3. With the SCR/DEF solution, we are able to provide increased horsepower and torque without increasing engine displacement.
4. Simple solution - Consumption rate of DEF to fuel is approximately 2%. If you run 10,000/year you'll need to fill up your DEF tank 3-4 times per year. Fill up is as hassle free as filling up your windshield washer fluid and provides the benefits above while meeting the stringent EPA guidelines.

As the blog says, see for yourself about these benefits and more at the facts about SCR website mentioned in the post.

By Tony Sippel, FCCC on: Thursday, September 02, 2010

Re: THE TRUTH ABOUT DIESEL EXHAUST FLUID (DEF)

You can avoid all of the hassles with the DEF and SCR by just purchasing an RV with a Navistar MaxxForce engine that uses EGR technology instead of the SCR solution. You will avoid the extra weight on your vehicle from the SCR components and avoid the hassle of having to use DEF in the first place. Better yet, why not look into the new Monaco Vesta, which has the MaxxForce engine and has been wind tunnel tested to improve overall fuel economy?

By Terry Wicker on: Wednesday, September 01, 2010