sleepy dealer

[Dave&Kathie]

We put a down payment on a new manufactured home that we are buying from a dealer in West Sacramento,CA. The home was built in Washington State. We told the dealer and the installation contractor several times that the home had to be delivered to our private land before the rainy season began, because it has to be pulled up a steep hill to the home site. We made it clear that if the home could not be delivered before the rain, that we would keep it at the dealer storage yard untill it was dry enough to do the job. Without any prior notice to us, the home showed up at our home site, but was not pulled up the hill because niether we, nor the installer had any idea the home was on its way from WA. The installer did not schedule a installation date untill a week after the home arrived, and of course the rain began before the scheduled installation date. The delivery drivers said they called the dealer twice while in transit to let us know that the house was on its way. Now our beautiful new home is stuck in the mud at the bottom of the hill, and we are still waiting for the installer to come to our site and determine what to do next. Do you think the dealer is responsible for this mess? If not, then who is?

[rmurray]

Sounds like a bull dozier is in order...If you can get your car up the road...a bull dozier can get the home up the road..

First place to call is the dealer...what has he said about the situation..

Most purchase agreements hold the buyer responsible for extra ordinary costs of getting the home to the site...but..you seem to have done your part and informed the dealer that you would not be responsible for extra effort in the event of rain...Just remeber...the dealer should not be paid until the home is delivered....he should be willing to reach into his pocket for the extra money...a bull dozier should not cost more than a few hundred dollars...$800 tops..

Good Luck

[Bill Fry]

Rental on a small dozier without a operator in the southeast is about 50 (and up) dollars a hour.(excluding delivery and fuel)On the west coast its probably five times that.If you do go that route make sure whom ever is pulling the home knows what they doing.It would be quite easy to damage the home seriously when you put that much torque in front of it.

[Greg Collins]

We here in the west are used to using " House Cats ". There are several transporters in No. Calif. who have these. DO NOT use a " DOZER" they are designed to destroy things and thats just what they will do. I know of about 15 House Cats in CA and 10 in AZ, the cost is negligable compared to the can of worms a dozer will be. FYI, A House Cat is a crawler that was built only for the purpose of moving manufactured homes on private property. This means they are usually operated by people with knowledge of manufactured homes. The cost is usually about $ 800 to $ 1,200 for a few hours ( you can get alot done in 3 hours ). Trust me your dealer knows about "crawlers" or "House Cats".