Was Born Free ever 100% Factory Direct?

[stevek]

I have only been around here since 2012 and with out first motorhome.
Back then I thought BF was only factory direct. But it was not. Has it ever been?

When looking for our first motorhome we looked at Lazy Daze which is 100% Factory Direst. They have ZERO dealers.
We even went to the factory and saw them being built.
Wonder how much having a Dealer adds to the price of the motorhome?
As far as I know, LD is still going strong
Plus has a strong Forum and real "cult" following/ owners. Kinda like us BF owners.
Granted, maybe not quite the quality of BF, but still well built at very competitive prices shown in my link.


http://www.lazydaze.com/FEATURES.PDF

[shilohdad]

Yes, Born Free for most of its life has been factory direct. At various times they have experimented with various types of dealer networks. Our first contact with a real live new Born Free was in 2005 or 2006. It was at a dealer in PA. Evidently that was the first year for that experiment. The dealer was not very enthusiastic, but allowed us to look it over in detail.

We actually got our 2006 24RB in late 2006. It had been on a dealer's lot in Arizona. Born Free brought it back as they ended that round of dealer experimentation, modified it per our desires, and sold it to us at a discount.

There was then several years of no dealers, only factory direct, until they started trying another dealer network several years ago. That is the one your are familiar with.

Does anyone know anything more about earlier attempts at dealer networks?

[shilohdad]

An addendum to my last post. As I remember, the dealers in that 2005-2006 time frame had to sell at the fixed factory price, thus really couldn't "deal." I presume they got a fixed percentage of the sale price. That probably explains why the one dealer we visited wasn't that gung ho. It may also explain the failure of that experiment with dealers.

[bigdipper]

We were on AK caravan trip with John Dodgen in 2007. He went on at great length about an earlier experience with selling through dealers which almost bankrupted the company. It sounded as if, during a downturn in business, that either "committed" purchases were not made, or that units provided on some sort of consignment were returned. John was quite firm that "never again" would they sell through dealers. As we know there have been at lest two tries at that since, one while John was still running the business. I could say more, but this is likely sufficient.
Ralph

[whemme]

For many, many years before Born Free experimented with dealers, they had a factory store in central Florida - don't remember the city it was located in.

[karls]

That Florida dealer was in Clermont. That's where I bought our 1998 24RB for $30K with 98K miles in 2005.

Today it has 232K miles and runs fine and uses no oil.

Only a few problems with this excellent coach:

The rear bumper/trailer hitch steel fatigue cracked and needed a major welding/beef up.
The A/C roof gasket leaked, but was easy to replace.
The electrical distribution system needed replacement (thanks for the help Bill).
Commode replaced due to water and fume leaks.

As for the Ford part:

Two new radiators
Drive shaft support bearing
New sway bar
Blown out spark plug (Due to poor Ford engineering - only four threads in the aluminum head. Corrected after 2003)

A bit of (to me) amazing trivia: While trying to stay awake driving across Nebaska I did a rough calculation of the number of times the Ford V-10 engine valves have opened and closed. It turns out to be not far from the number you get by adding three zeros to your odometer. Thus, those red hot exhaust valves in that Triton engine have slammed shut 232 million times and still work perfectly!

Due to the solid quality and wonderful factory support I couldn't be happier with our choice.

Karl Striedieck

[whemme]

Karl,

Just a minor point but I think it more accurate to call the Clermont, FL location a factory direct store rather than a dealer.

[bigdipper]

To follow up on the factory direct comment, in 2001 there were at least three. One Carson City, NV, one So. CA, one FL.
Ralph

[bcope01]

The one in San Diego was at the Holland Motorhomes dealership. This was a Class A motorhome dealership, with one or two Born Frees and Chinooks hidden away at the back of the lot. You had to twist the arms of the sales people to get them to show them, as the real money was in the Class A motor homes.

Bill

[perleys]

There has also been a dealer in Boerne/San Antonio area. They have one Born Free left to sell.

[John S.]

There has also been a dealer in Boerne/San Antonio area. They have one Born Free left to sell.

That is where I bought my used one. Someone purchased their and traded it in on a king aire 45 foot