Newbie...in the search of a slightly used, couple year old travel trailer.
Looking for some help on things to steer clear of, things to get as in options, things to look out for when looking at one.
What should I be looking for / at when looking at one to clue me in to as whether or not it has or had issues.
Thanks

 

without experience... call in a Pro for inspection.. Really

water damage, floor, wall and roof material deforming. separating

 

Like Chuck said, either take a very well experienced friend or else hire a pro. Otherwise you better be lucky. I work on this stuff almost every day and in comparison to how things were built a decade ago, the new stuff is simply junk waiting to fall apart. My opinion.

 

Know the guy you're buying it from. That's harder than it sounds and rarely possible. I bought my trailer from my brother's best friend. Even then, I still did a ton of research. I found that the prior model year had significant delamination issues which were corrected by my model year. Also, that Fleetwood stopped making travel trailers (due to bankruptcy) two model years following mine. That meant no parts or support. Those weren't showstopper issues but it did affect how much I was willing to pay.

I used a site similar to Kelly Blue Book to give me a rough idea of how much the trailer should be worth. It gave me ammunition to negotiate the price down.

 

Try to buy from original owner directly if possible.
Bring an inspector when you go look at it. Nobody will balk if there's nothing to hide.

Find out what you want for a floor plan and go from there. It'll keep you from trading it for another one too quickly.
Buying one three years old worked out to half price on mine and it had two years of warranty on it still.

Griz

 

If all else fails, follow your nose.
When you first walk in, if it smells like old wet dog, there has been a water leak somewhere. If it smells like potpourri, the seller is trying to cover up the smell of mold or mildew from a water leak.

Take the time to press on every surface - walls, ceiling, floors. If you feel a soft spot, it's had water intrusion. Most campers use a significant amount of lauan, which quickly swells up when it gets wet. If you see any trim pieces that look like they have swollen up, you are looking at the surface of the water damage.

In a TT, water intrusion is the biggest problem you'll have to contend with. Appliances are rather hit or miss. I had to replace the upper half of a 15,000 btu air conditioner about a week after the warranty expired. Others have run without problem for 20 years or more. Ovens and stovetops are, IMO, more of a cleanliness issue. Look under the burners to look for mouse droppings, etc.

As far as options go, there really aren't any. When ordering a new unit, it might come with a booth dinette and offer a table with chairs as an option, but in the used market, that really has very little value other than from a personal taste standpoint. Your focus should be on floorplan first, this will let you eliminate a whole slew of campers that you aren't interested in. Don't have kids? Eliminate anything that says "bunkhouse" or has "BH" in the model number right off the bat. Do you want a rear living or a rear kitchen? How many slides do you want?
Then you can start looking for particular manufacturers models in the floorplan you like. Do you want Azdel in your camper? Azdel costs and weighs more than lauan, but it is impervious to rot, so can be a desirable material.
Aluminum framing in the superstructure rather than wood is another choice. Aluminum weighs less and doesn't rot, but it costs more and welds can crack. At least one manufacturer I know of fastens their aluminum frames with glue and screws.
Subfloor should be substantially thick and tongue in groove design is preferable, but again, costs go up.

One thing to look for in a travel trailer is the tongue jack. If the model you are looking at has a manual tongue jack then there's a good chance it is very much an "entry level" unit. The more bells and whistles a model has, generally speaking, the higher the build quality of the unit. Of course, mo' bettah costs mo' dollahs!

In the used market, one problem you are going to run into is sellers that are upside down on their loan. They bought the unit new and paid full price. Now they want to sell, but owe more than the unit is really worth. This is very common. Most dealers will take 30-35% off the price of a new unit before you even make it in the door. Right now is a great time to buy new 2018 models as the 2019's just rolled out last week and dealers have to clear out inventory to receive the new model year units.

 

Where do I find a Pro?
To me going to a rv dealer to find someone to look at it is sketchy as I'd wonder if their upfront or if they are just trying to lean you into buying something from them instead or possibly buy it out from under you so they can make a buck on it.

It is the floor plan that we kinda like, however not much in the line of kitchen counter top. And wondering if its
bigger than then we really need, for a few trips a year. But looking at the standpoint of... if a newer, but smaller one is going to cost more or the same, than
this one then theres options that need to be thought out.


Is there any particular manufactures you would avoid or would recommend?
Whats Azdel?
I do believe its a aluminum frame. Eternabond Solid Construction. Has a power tongue jack, thats a plus.
Want kitchen close to door, making it easy to get food outside if need be. Ruled out bunks, but need options for another bed that can be used if need be.

Hoping to go look at it this week.
What questions would you be asking?

Thanks

 

Finding a professional to look a possible purchase over takes no more than looking on the Internet for independent certified technicians. I did it a number of times when I was still in business. There is even a certification process now for certified examiners. Buying based on any particular brand is a mistake. Ultralites are built by gutting structure and using thinner and less durable components. I personally would avoid them.

 

purchasing a trailer is a lot like purchasing a HOME....

light and ultra-lite are paper and glue builds.. my opinion

I have a 2005 Coachman Cascade 29FKCS. Heavy.. but I live in it 5 months a year.. 4 years now...
and I pull it 2,000 miles in 4 days... twice a year... and DRY camp when traveling.
No issues.

a light weight would not stand up to THAT use. my opinion.

floor plan... we have a front kitchen.. with a front window.. and refrigerator is right next to the Door and stove is next to refrigerator. and sink is next to stove.
6 foot counter top... so the Floor Plan is very important .. TO HER

we replaced the couch with 2 lay-z-boy recliners.... so television is a straight on viewing.

 

In the not too distant future end users will not even remember when floors weren't made of sandwiched foam, screws weren't run into styrofoam, and cabinets actually were made out of real wood. Ain't progress grand?

 

But Steve I need to make sure my 1/2 ton can tow it though.... It's funny how the difference between the first trailer purchase and the second trailer purchase really is.

OP good luck with your search. Personally on a used trailer, try to find a floor plan you and your significant other like or strong agree with. Next make sure all the systems work. Seek guidance from an experienced trailer owner or independent RV tech as others said. Honestly look at the walls, roof, and floor. If you are handy, have the time and space, some of these items can be repaired yourself. This will save some time and money. Also look at the small things. Many items that are shot or require replacing will nickel and dime you. If I had the space and time, I would have gutted the rear of my old trailer and replace the floor that failed. But since I don't have either due to family schedules and work, the repair was mute and I moved on to newer and bigger things. Also to be honest, the newer trailers especially in the light weight classes are not all that great. If you were to purchase a new or newer unit, I would buy strictly on price and make sure I could repair any minor issues.

Good luck.

 

The half-ton towable phenomenon is an interesting one as of course the option to deal with weight is to purchase a smaller towable. And surprisingly, that is where the uptick in sales is right now. The hard sells right now are anything used over 20K. Instant sales are anything under 10K. "Handy man specials" bring an almost instant bidding war, but if you go that route make sure you have the time, skill, and buys to complete the work. It is not easy rebuilding a wall and even harder to do it and make it look good.

 

With new models coming out, not only are last years leftovers cheaper, but trades/upgrades will also be happening on used stuff for the upgrade crowd.

We found a used one where we had access to pantry, bathroom and fridge with the slides in as a minimum for obvious reasons.
Ours lets you go thru the whole TT with only a few cabinets not accessible and sleep without doing anything if needed. Bedroom slide is a wardrobe, so it can stay in if we're parking lot boondocking.
Access to bathroom via bedroom door was also on the list as well as a North/South bed orientation in trailer.
Our Outback 298RE is more "couples" than family oriented, but there is just the two of us and our 9lb Chihuahua. Just about 9k loaded out rolling down the road.

Griz

 

I'm think this is pretty well covered, however, my advice with be, after finding the floor plan you like focus 90% of your attention on the structure i.e. solid walls, floor, and slides as water damage is both expensive and hard to repair. All the other stuff is often nickle and dime like a water heater that doesn't work on propane, etc. Well, not nickle and dime, but not close to the same ball park as water damage.

Steve

 

Jokingly aside I'm not surprised. Initially when we were shopping for our trailer the dealer was not interested in our trailer cause it was a handyman special due to the floor in the bathroom. They said they would not take it in. However, during the day the sales rep reached out to us several times and the price got lower and lower for the new trailer as long as we included our trade, our price would get better. Probably what happened was the sales manager researched our trailer realized they would be able to turn it. It was considered a 1/2 ton towable unit with a great floor plan. The floorplan is the main reason why that trailer sold. Anyway, we got a better price. At first my wife and I thought about keeping the trailer and trying to sell it on our own but as the new numbers came in, it made the choice to turn over the title easier. No extra storage fees nor having to deal with low ballers or no shows. It was a no brainer. The price basically dropped from a good price from what I read for the summer purchasing season to a much nicer price in the same season.

Basically they were in our unit for next to nothing. Their cost was for the yard jockey to move the unit to a spot, fill the tanks and maybe have a tech walk thru the unit to test the systems. No major investments like for a fridge or A/C. I know they made money on all three sides of the deal. Front end (sale of the unit), back end( hold backs, financing, manufacturer incentives) and trade end (selling the trade in). If you think otherwise you are a fool. Speaking of which, they had the trade sold in 2 weeks. They had it listed for around 5 grand crossed out call for price. It sold faster than any other "as is" or "handyman" specials on their lot since several of them where still on the page from when I first looked for the current trailer we own. Overall I have no complaints with dealership where we bought from or how we were treated. I didn't feel like we were bent over a barrel or anything. Maybe we got a great deal on the unit since it was a 2018 " clearance" and it was coming due on the floor plan and they wanted the space for another unit coming in. So we won the lottery that day. Maybe they made 10 grand on us and took us as suckers and did it really well not showing it. I tend to think the price was most likely fair and probably close to dealer cost. They made a few thousand on the new unit and a few thousand on the old one.

Sorry for the side track however RV tech you probably filled me in on the missing piece to why the dealer because really interested in my trailer during the day before we came back in for the second look on our new unit. Great floor plan 1/2 towable was sellable for them too. They probably felt they could offer me a better price to get my unit as we showed great interest in what is now our new unit to us. Knowing they were going to win big on both sides.