Buying Your First and USED Trailer!

[GroundHog]

There are plenty of horror stories of buying a used RV with an engine.  The bigger, the more you need to be able to inspect down to lug nuts. My neighbor was sold a Bill of Goods and learned the hard way.  That is his story, not mine to tell.

Trailers are less complex and without the engine, transmission, generator, slide outs... and on and on to consider.  Some people would think a trailer in tow is Spartan with appliances. Not true, there are plenty of things that can go wrong. But... those of you who want to be flexible in your travels and capable of a serious inspection before purchase, a Travel Trailer used can be a great purchase.  Not another person's Money... Pit buyer for the first time.

Buying NEW has its advantages and its limitations. A warranty.  First you have to use the trailer enough to find any problem to be covered by a warranty before it expires.  If it is your first trailer... you also have no clue as to the Hitch that is best for you, your vehicle and trailer length.  Our first trailer was used at every opportunity.  It was new. The biggest issue were the factory 14 inch tires were C Rated tires that just do not hold up.  Everything else worked fine and we sold it 12 years later, with people lined up to purchase it.  It was a 2006 Airstream 23 foot Safari with factory minimal Solar.  When we sold the trailer we walked the buyer through and demonstrated that everything was operational.  He knew nothing about trailers.  He would have purchased the trailer even if nothing was working inside.  You do not want to be this customer when the seller wants to  sell AS IS, because of problems.

Lesson #1:  If you can find a friend who has owned a travel trailer and is mechanically inclined... bribe him to help you to inspect the trailer you are interested. This is on a Lot... or in a RV Garage at someone's home, or parked along side a home.  If the exterior looks... beat. RUN AWAY.

Lesson #2:  Search the Internet for price ranges.  Options and options and options cost money.  What you are buying may be a stripped version or one with every bell and whistle.  It makes a difference in value.

Lesson #3.  Of course, these 'options' need to operate and be functional.  If the seller has no access to POWER... ask them to bring it to your home and you will provide POWER.

Lesson #4.  Propane appliances.  Hot water tank needs to be checked for condition and then fill with Water.  Fire up the propane and hot water tank. Fire up the furnace.  Fire up the Refrigerator.  If the Propane tanks are EMPTY.  RUN AWAY is a good option.  Without Propane these are very expensive to replace or repair.

Lesson #5.  Toilets.  Flashlight.  Sure... this may sound 'creepy' but, look down the toilet into the Black Water Tank.  If there is a pile of Bat SH$T and it stinks... RUN AWAY, unless the owner offers to clean it out.  A responsible trailer owner will not leave this Guano Pile to harden up and clog up the Black Water Tank.

Of course this is just the beginning.  This Forum has many experienced BUYERS and SELLERS to jump in and add to my short list.  If no one is interested, I will rest my case and go on my way.  There are good buys that you pay more for and they are worth it... and there are some that the seller knows the sale is always AS IS on a used trailer sale and dumping it onto the first ignorant buyer.

If no one else is willing to add more caveats to buying USED... why not some of you who are thinking of buying a used trailer ask some questions.  I am familiar with Airstreams from 2006 to 2019.  The components attached within and outside the trailer have similar suppliers if not the same.  Just a different exterior.

One last winded comment.  Buy a trailer that your vehicle can EASILY tow... first.  You do not want that 30 foot trailer and discover your Jeep will not pull it too far.  Otherwise you will be buying a tow vehicle, maybe a different hitch and the trailer's wheel bearings are rusted solid and tire rot cracks are obvious to everyone but... you.

 

Edited December 30, 2019 by GroundHog

[rickeieio]

Well, nobody else wants to go next, so I'll chime in......

 I won't bore you with the tents, truck caps, etc.  We've owned three rv's, all purchased used.  First was a 1977 Apache pop-up, got it in 1986.  Towed it with a '78 F-250 4wd.  Trailer weighed 3500#, and surge brakes were junk.  Going down Wolf Creek Pass, west bound, with both feet on the brake pedal made a believer out of me.  No issues with the trailer itself other than normal age items, and lots of tires due to a tweaked axle.

Next was a 40' CargoMate 5er.  No slides, looked like a car hauler with windows, which it was.  Very nice garage, spartan living space.  We thought we were in heaven.  First trip to Colorado, going down Monarch Pass, DW asked why I was fiddling with brake controller and tapping the pedal.  I said I was just making sure everything was working.  She asked what would happen if trailer brakes failed, to which I replied, "we'd go home in a bag."  Search began for a HDT.  We towed that trailer to Alaska, all over Colorado, and various shorter trips.  Put new roof, axles, and 17.5" rolling stock on before we traded it.

And our current coach, a 2008 Newmar X-Aire toy hauler.  Former owners full timed in it for 4 years, and we've had it for over 5.  So far we've upgraded tires and wheels, brakes (BluDot, air over hydraulic), replace all the skylights, repaired one slide roof, and a slide floor, upgraded a couple of lights.  That's about it.  Almost forgot, 21 tires.  Yes, that's right, we've put 21 tires on that coach.  It had the original May-Pops on it when we bought it, so I put on 6 new tires, jumping up several load ranges.  1000 miles later, brake controller failed, then woke up and clamped down with vengeance.  Much smoke and through the cords on all 6 tires. Three years later, road debris took out the middle tire on drivers side, and flailing rubber snapped off both monitors on remaining tires, resulting in 3 more tires needed.  Last winter I bit the bullet and bought 6 new 17.5 wheels and load range H tires.  

Tow vehicles:  Several F-250s and 350s, and since 2010, a Volvo.  Bought it w/ 700k miles, now has about 750k.  We've spent around $12k-$15k in repairs, mostly because of two incompetent repair shops ($8k combined, both Genuine Cummins shops).  Normal repairs include replacing original clutch, steer tires, rear air bags, cab suspension bags and shocks, a/c repair, and shifter.  All told I think the repairs likely are no more than you would expect with a dually in the same service, and we had no interest cost, since we bought well used and only paid $19k back in 2010. 

There have been a few occasions where having the HDT saved our bacon. We had a brake wire get torn away by road debris in Alaska, a ground wire with intermittent connection, and outright brake controller failure.   The last one was in hilly country pulling a 21k# trailer. 

Whew.  That got longer than I expected.  Bottom line, to me, is that no one camper style or age works for all of us.  For now, we enjoy taking a car and two motorcycles with us.  Some day that will change.  If I weren't "fiscally sensitive", we'd have a nice used dp with a stacker.  If I were alone, I'd likely have a slide-in on a flat bed truck.  But alas, I'm a tight wad.

[Kirk W]

What is best in an RV is mostly dependant upon the people using it, what they want to use it for, and their preferred lifestyle. We have owned 6 very different RVs, starting in 1972 and we considered each of them to have been right for us at the time.