Uh oh....you guys done with the RV life....or upgrading? You can go to Home or try for a forum that is specific to what brand you own. We own a Heartlnd and there is an entire forum dedicated to Heartland owners. I am pretty sure there are others too.

 

I have had better luck selling parts and other misc stuff on facebook than craigslist or ebay. I think part of the reason is I can look at stuff in my hometown and a mileage radius around it rather than the closest craigslist city. Half the stuff I see on craigslist is a repost from a further away city.

 

Changing, never stopping...

When we bought our Montana High Country 313RE we had a different plan for life in mind. We thought we would be full time RVing. The plan has changed and we are now going to try and keep our house and camp/RV like we really prefer to do. Which is boondocking/dry camping in the mountains and away from concrete. The further away from concrete, the better for us.

State Parks and the like are really the only places we can get our current trailer into, and that does not go well with our new budget (since retiring from military) that we are going to live on. We love staying at state parks, but even at $20 a night it adds up quick.

The Montana is a relatively shorter trailer at 36 ft, but still a bit long for what we want to use it for. So, we are going to sell it and get something in the 26-28 ft range in a 5th wheel and give that a shot. We think that will give us enough space inside to be comfortable on the rainy days, but still small enough to get into the mountain free camping sites that we really enjoy.

I have put in my resignation at my current place of work and my last day will be the 25th of May. We are going to try and make memories and collect experiences instead of making money and collecting things. It is a bit of a leap of faith for us, but we only get one shot at this life, so we are going to try and make the most of it while we still can.

Byron, our 1st pick of new to us trailer is a Heartland Sundance 267RL. There is a Dutchmen Denali that we like too, but the bedroom slide in the Heartland is key for me. We have the bedroom slide in the Montana and love it.

We are just about ready to list Montana, and thought I would call upon the FTE to see if they have any ideas. We had a 30 ft travel trailer we sold on Craigslist before the Montana 5th wheel, but that was only listed at $10K and sold for $9K. Getting into the larger trailers, it is more difficult to find someone with $30K that they are willing to hand to a stranger. Trading it in is not an option based on the estimates we have been given so far from dealers. At least time is on our side and we do not need to rush.

Your brand specific forum idea is a good one that I had not thought of. Thanks for the advice.

Heard this song on the way in this morning, I thought it was pretty fitting.

 

I don't have Facebook, but I just asked my wife to see if she knew of a classifieds section on Facebook.

Thanks for the advice.

 

 

I have done that for small things too (parts, furniture) and have been very successful, especially Facebook. Make sure you go back and keep it updated as it will refresh the post (e.g. back to the top for Craigslist) or notify a potential buyer if they have liked/tagged your ad (some apps allow people to "follow" ads) to let them know you've updated your ad and possibly rekindle interest.


The guy who bought my dad's 5er lived almost 3 hours away. This was his first RV trailer and he had never driven one before. He drove down in his dually, paid for the trailer, then my dad took him to a parking and gave him a crash course in towing. The guy definitely jumped in with both feet with a Jayco North Point 377RLBH (42' long and about 15K lbs) as his first trailer so you never know where an interested buyer is going to come from.

How many of us would have made it a day to go get our 7.3L? I know I would have. IMHO RVers are the same way and are willing to go out of their way to get what they want.

Just my .02

 

We do not have a problem traveling to get exactly what we need. While living in GA we bought the travel trailer from a dealer in PA. We bought the 5th wheel from a private seller in Milwaukee WI. Selling something like this is new to us because we have been (thankfully) pretty spot on with our big purchases in the past.

When we bought our 7.3 I called the guy Thursday afternoon. Told him he was 600 miles away and I could be there by 3 PM on Friday if he would hold it for us. I told him I was bringing cash and we would be there. We showed up, looked the truck over, test drove it and then drove away with it. Looking back now the clutch was trashed, but everything else was as he said it was. We don't mind traveling at all, just needs to be worth the time and effort is all.

As for payment types, this is something that I am unfamiliar with as well. I have written down the following in a draft for the ad. Thoughts?

---------------
Acceptable forms of payment are wire transfer, certified bank check that is verifiable at time of purchase or cash.
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We are confident the right deal for selling and buying will come along, just have to get our course of action set first.

 

 

Country radio needs to play Alan Jackson and artists like him more!

Happy Humpday Y'all!

I use FB for a local classifieds, seems to be a little cleaner than CL/eBay.

 

"Certified checks" can be forged easily. Include a condition requiring "once cleared at both banks".

As for electronic transfer, only do that if you set up a completely separate account which is not linked to any of your other existing accounts, then move the money yourself to one of your existing accounts and close the "transfer" account. That will protect you from any potentially unwanted intrusion in your existing money pockets.

 

As for the certified check, I was planning to Google the bank name and information, then call and verify the check with the agency I called before accepting the check and handing over the title. I am not willing to take a phone number directly off the check to call. That is about the only way I know to do it.

I will contact my bank and see what services they offer in the way of receiving wire transfers in order to keep both parties separated and safe. I suppose I could have the funds sent to a temporary savings account that is not associated with the other accounts and then close the savings account after the transfer.

Thanks for the input.

What a pain in the *** this is turning out to be. I wish that dealers would not low ball the value. I am willing to take a hit, but cannot take a 50% hit on the value. I understand they have to make money too, but the do not have to rob us on the price.

EDIT: Just called and spoke to USAA (our bank) and spoke to them about the best and most secure ways to transfer large amounts of funds. I am comfortable with what they told me in the way of advice. Still a pain in the ***, but I have to remember that most people are honest and want to do the right thing and that it is that one bad apple that can make the entire batch seem bad.

In addition, it looks like spring may have finally arrived to north GA. High 60's today, 70's tomorrow and near the 80's by the weekend. ABOUT TIME!

 

Fun week ahead. Parents wanting to borrow my truck n 5th for their anniversary vacation next week Gotta figure out how to schedule in a dewinterize, repack bearings, and get 5th all ready, while finally getting around to changing diff fluids on my 1 day off before then. I'll also have to give them a crash course in driving my deisel 350 instead of their OBS gas 250. Hope mom drives. The way dad drives he'll lug it in 6th at 900 rpm for 5 hours in the Ozarks watching the lie-o-meter instead of any of the other guages. Debating setting the chip to stock, or +50 tow and disconnecting the cable.

Crazy Sous, here I'm looking at going to a larger 5th, n you are looking at smaller

 

Just the thought of my Mom driving my truck, regardless of trans, by itself... that thought was never even in the realm of possibilities, it's inconceivable. My Dad tells a story of when he and my Mom were first married and they moved from their first apartment in Queens to farther out on Long Island back in '64, and for some reason my Mom had to drive my Dad's '62 Mercury Meteor coupe, with a 3 spd. Apparently Mom didn't like stopping or starting, so as the story goes every time she came to a red light she turned right. My Dad sold the car shortly afterwards and bought a '58 Pontiac station wagon. <facepalm emoji needed here> Oh yeah, Mom was pregnant with my older sister at the time. My Mom's car was a '55 Chevy 2dr sedan, with a bullet hole in the back fender thanks to my Uncle. Yeah, my family has car stories ...

 

Mom's 1st new vehicle after they were married was a special ordered '88 5spd chevy 1/2 ton. Countless times growing up mom would back the boat down the ramp in 1 go with onlookers' jaws dropped, dad however, could probably back their 5th down pikes peak if he had to. Mom won't even ride with dad in her prius anymore. He watches the lie-o-meter in it going 40 on the highway bragging about mileage . Mom wants to get somewhere alive and on time, after a few years towing with that OBS and getting 5-6 mpg dad became hyper-obsessed with mileage