going to look at a camper-YAY

[liv luvs disney]

We are leaving in 5 minutes to go look at this camper we found on craigslist. I have a feeling this is a "good deal", but of course I haven't seen it yet, so who knows! I looked at NADA to see the value of this camper, but I'm not sure of the exact features. Will let you know how it goes, but feel free to throw some advice at me. We are not buying today, but will buy Monday if I get good feedback from ya'll, the camper meets our needs, and NADA says the camper is worth $6000. TIA!

Selling our camper. 2000 Aerolite Dutchman Cub Camper. this camper is so nice and new like inside. This is a very nice fiberglass siding camper with fold out queen/king on one end and full/queen on the other. It is fully equipped with roof air, heat, full bath with tub shower, stove with oven, microwave, fridge & freezer, outside shower, awning. It 's weight is 2450 and can be towed with about anything.

 

[Shan-man]

Olivia, did you mean to add a link to the ad? I think folks would need that to give any advice.

 

[liv luvs disney]

Yes, Shan, I did. Sorry, I was in a MAJOR hurry! Anyway, I feel like I have egg on my face. The hybrid was very,very clean inside, but something told me it was not worth $6000. After we left, I called my Mom to look up the value and she told me it was worth about $2000. My husband called a guy that goes to our church who co-owns a camper dealership and he said not to pay more than $1900 for it. Maybe the couple that owned the camper gave $6500 for it last year, and thought it was worth $6000 this year. Again- The camper is 9 years old and the family that has it now are the second owners. It was purchased locally with the first owners being local as well. Of course, none of that really matters. This was our first "look" and we both agreed that we just need to be patient. (How many times did Rog hear that in his quest for his pup?)

We stopped by Chilhowee RV on the way home just to gander more than anything. It's a good thing we weren't ready to buy because I believe we would have only been recognized had I pranced around nude! I did ask to see one camper and was told it had been sold. "Okay, may I just see it for floor plan purposes?" The disgruntled employee replied in an agitated voice, "Ma'am, I said it has been sold." (I might add here that the employee was coming out of the "sold" camper and it had no sign on it as such.)Obviously we left.

Shan, I just tried to copy and paste the craigslist listing, but it won't work. I guess I'm too stupid to do it. I really need some help in the computer world! It's a wonder I was able to figure out how to sign myself up with the Dis! Argh, I really I need a nap. Camper searching will wear one out!!

 

[liv luvs disney]

Testing...seeing if this works.

http://knoxville.craigslist.org/rvs/1263528505.html

 

[SCCamper]

We stopped by Chilhowee RV on the way home just to gander more than anything. It's a good thing we weren't ready to buy because I believe we would have only been recognized had I pranced around nude! I did ask to see one camper and was told it had been sold. "Okay, may I just see it for floor plan purposes?" The disgruntled employee replied in an agitated voice, "Ma'am, I said it has been sold." (I might add here that the employee was coming out of the "sold" camper and it had no sign on it as such.)Obviously we left.

You'd think in this economy, dealerships would be jumping through hoops to try to get you to buy something. It's hard to find good customer service.

 

[stacktester]

You'd think in this economy, dealerships would be jumping through hoops to try to get you to buy something. It's hard to find good customer service.

Keylime had the same poroblem. Must be nice to turn business down. Too bad another salesman who would've serviced you better wasn't up front.

 

[liv luvs disney]

You'd think in this economy, dealerships would be jumping through hoops to try to get you to buy something. It's hard to find good customer service.

Keylime had the same poroblem. Must be nice to turn business down. Too bad another salesman who would've serviced you better wasn't up front.

Yeah, I was gonna say that there was a whole thread about bad service with camping dealerships not too long ago. It's sad, but it's their loss. Even though we were not ready to buy today, we are going to purchase in the near future, but will not spend a dime there.

 

[RvUsa]

You know it really is a shame. Our little local dealer is going out of business, and has everything up for sale including the building. He has always treated us great, we bothered this poor guy for years, and he always treated us like we were the only ones on the lot. Heck one Sunday, we had been looking at the TT we have now, and were just about to go ahead and buy it, when we were going by and saw they had got a used 5er in, so we just pulled in to see what it was. We were walking around it, when the owners son was driving by, he had never seen us before, and didn't know we were dealing on the TT right next to the 5er, but he turned around came back, got out, introduced himself, and offered to show us it. Now that is how all salesmen should treat potential customers!!!

Good luck, and remember the cheapest deal isn't always the BEST deal!!!

 

[keylime359]

What a shame! I was so fustrated! I would recommend going to a show and looking for the floorplan you like. Ask if they have anything similar used. Maybe people at the show will be trading in and you can get first dibs!

 

[LarryJ]

Can't speak to the 2000 year Aerolites, but I personally would not buy one of the newer Aerolites. They have an engineered frame with sections cut out of the I-beam and a couple of models had frames that bent and had to have supports added. We actually looked at one new model at our local dealershiip when we were shopping for a new trailer a couple of years ago and DW poked her head in one and said "NOPE" looks cheap. Now others might have a different opinion, but that was hers and mine FWIW.

Larry

 

[liv luvs disney]

Can't speak to the 2000 year Aerolites, but I personally would not buy one of the newer Aerolites. They have an engineered frame with sections cut out of the I-beam and a couple of models had frames that bent and had to have supports added. We actually looked at one new model at our local dealershiip when we were shopping for a new trailer a couple of years ago and DW poked her head in one and said "NOPE" looks cheap. Now others might have a different opinion, but that was hers and mine FWIW.

Larry

Thanks Larry. I thought this hybrid was pretty solid for a nearly 10 year old model. I have camped for 30 years with friends. I always remember them having Winnebagos and currently have Forrest River rvs. Both of which seemed to be good "brands" to me. I never looked at them with the idea of actually purchasing one though. It was always a place for me to sleep more than anything. Now that we are in the market for one, I don't want to purchase something that is going to fall apart or come apart in 6 months! More than likely, it will have to be used unless I can talk DH into selling one of his vehicles...preferably the one that he hasn't driven in 8 years! But that belongs on the angry thread I guess.

The hybrid we looked at yesterday I would have purchased for a couple thousand, but after looking at new pop-ups and seeing that I could get a new one for what this family was asking for the hybrid, I'm glad I didn't. I would rather have a hybrid, but I'll take a pop-up. Also DH will be pulling whatever we get with a '96 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x4. The GVWR on it is 5000 lbs. I read an old thread by Rog, but it didn't help me understand that whole dry weight/ GVWR, hitch weight thing. Maybe when DH gets up from his Sunday nap, he can explain it to me.

Are there any specific RV brands that we need to steer away from besides the newer Aerolites?

 

[disney4dan]

Are there any specific RV brands that we need to steer away from besides the newer Aerolites?

Hey Olivia, just saw this thread and it seems we are both going through the same process. I posted a link (in another thread) to a survey of RV brands and how the dealers rated them with respect to quality and warranty, and it seems that Keystone and Jayco have a lot of models in the top ten.

My biggest doubt is the Keystone model we are looking at is not on the list. I'm telling myself that the fact that the manufacturer has several models on the list will mean that they are a good company to deal with.

As several people have mentioned, Jayco really seems to be a good brand and we were impressed with the quality of our old one. Had it not been for the water damage that I did not find early enough (any trailer can get this problem), I think it would have served us well for years.

If looking at used, I would highly recommend having an inspection done by a qualified person, especially if doing a private sale. Check the roof for signs of repair, patches. Ask about what maintenance has been done. Did you know that they recommend replacing the "donut" seal between the air conditioner and roof every year? I did not, and read that recently on the RV.net blogs about routine roof maintenance. I did know to check the roof each spring, and check the seals around windows and doors, but I wonder how easy it is to tell if the seal is getting porous if not visibly cracked or open?

 

[liv luvs disney]

Hey Olivia, just saw this thread and it seems we are both going through the same process. I posted a link (in another thread) to a survey of RV brands and how the dealers rated them with respect to quality and warranty, and it seems that Keystone and Jayco have a lot of models in the top ten.

My biggest doubt is the Keystone model we are looking at is not on the list. I'm telling myself that the fact that the manufacturer has several models on the list will mean that they are a good company to deal with.

As several people have mentioned, Jayco really seems to be a good brand and we were impressed with the quality of our old one. Had it not been for the water damage that I did not find early enough (any trailer can get this problem), I think it would have served us well for years.

If looking at used, I would highly recommend having an inspection done by a qualified person, especially if doing a private sale. Check the roof for signs of repair, patches. Ask about what maintenance has been done. Did you know that they recommend replacing the "donut" seal between the air conditioner and roof every year? I did not, and read that recently on the RV.net blogs about routine roof maintenance. I did know to check the roof each spring, and check the seals around windows and doors, but I wonder how easy it is to tell if the seal is getting porous if not visibly cracked or open?

Thanks for the insight. We have never purchased a camper so we are wanting to take it slow. I checked the link out and it helped. We are okay with buying new or used depending on the price. We really do not want to go into debt, but it looks like we may have to (a little) to get what we want. I mean we could pay cash and "settle", but I just don't know.

We have so many friends and family members that camp that I was thinking their approval of what we find would be okay with me. But, seriously, I am not sure even they know all of the ins and out of campers. Like I highly doubt most of them replace their donut seal every year! I bet my Dad doesn't even know what it is. He thinks with a set of pliers and duck tape, you can fix anything.

I am gonna check out RV.net. I may have to spend a some time on there (which means less on here) at least until we make our final decision. Though DH suggested last night that we put the camper thing off until Winter. I am gonna continue to at least research.

Again, I hope it all works out for you and your family. Keep us informed!