WE PUT THE OFFER IN - BUT ONE CONCERN - LINK ADDED FOR UNIT!

I would not buy that unit. I agree with the other poster that said it could be a stress fracture with damage to the interior support. We had that happen on that horrible I 476 PA turnpike. It cracked our outer fiberglass above the slide and twisted an interior support. $2,700 later, it was fixed, from the inside out.

Just read your decision to recind and personally, I think you made the right decision as I doubt you want to pay $17,000 or even $10,000 for a "can of worms". Not what RVing is all about!

Might even have cooked your GOOSE!

Just where I thought you would find a crack. Yes it is frame/structure flexing and there's no real way to stop the RV from flexing in the future EVEN when patching it correctly so it won't leak and still doesn't look like a eyesore bandaid patch. It's not the crack appearance that's the real long term problem. It's the water intrusion that the crack allows into the wall structure. The issue doesn't stop there as water flows downward and the floor is next and will rot and you'll likely have mold be growing in the insulation and the floor area and under it.

The crack must be sealed and covered! The RV's flexing WILL continue because of the actual way and/or the design of the RV's structure as it's flexing significantly around the RV's wheels. The problem long term is NOT going to go away! However, if there is no damage internally now and the crack is sealed/fixed and you make sure it stays sealed, the RV still make do what you want it for. Your description of the crack issue sure does lower what you should pay for the Schooner though by several thousand dollars! You are buying an RV that has a known, seen, and verified problem and you must decide if you are willing to take a chance. May be a fine choice or you may be left with a rotting RV in a few years. Not likely the RV will just break in the middle unless the beam over the slideout area spanning the opening has broken free and allows a lot of extra bending and flexing and ultimate frame fatigue and then fractures. Then the slide side would be prone to dropping down at the rear of the RV. Not good and not repairable for any reasonable amount of money! It will be scrapped!

In RV's, especially towables, the RV unit will be NO stronger than the frame and suspension that's under it supplying the support and carrying the weight on it going down the roadways with bumps etc.

You have some decisions to make and they are big and none will likely leave you totally happy!

MeAgain, this was not at a Florida resort, it is here in NE Oklahoma where we are.

Yes, it does sound kinda twisted and I have talked to a couple RV repair places and the information was not good. Possible structural damage at a cost of $3-5000.

I called the place this morning and told them we were rescinding our offer due to the crack. We did NOT have any money down on this.

Again, thank you all for your input. We LOVED the coach, it was a perfect fit, but something really didn't "smell" right and now the crack. :(((((((((((

OH, one more question! Do you plan on traveling with it, or just leaving it at a Florida resort? That could effect your decision!

Chris

I looks like a nice trailer, but sounds pretty twisted! This guy - that guy, so on, so on and on. If you do not have money down, I think I would walk, as there might be other surprises and with middle people involved in the sell you have little recourse!

What we are looking at is a 2003 Prairie Schooner 29Fks? It is in immaculate condition. This is a PRIVATE sale, however, the person selling it is NOT the person that owns it. Here is the link to it:

http://joplin.craigslist.org/rvs/3843274101.html

Now if you look at the 6th picture where it shows the two slides, it is the second slide from the front. The crack is ABOVE the slide - NOT ON the slide. It goes from about where the slide fits against the body and up to almost the top near the roof. Evidently it has been sealed. It is directly over the tires, so DH is thinking this is flex, but we are not experts.

The story behind this as far as we know is that someone bought it from Texas at a dealer....brought it down to Grand Lake to this resort and wants the owner of this resort to sell it. We were told it had something to do with a membership to this Pelican Landing. A trade of some sorts, but it didn't really make much sense to us. We were told the guy bought it from this dealer for $15000. This person who owns it now is the second owner. It doesn't even look like it has been used. The Prairie Schooner on the front cap is peeling off, but other than that, everything is in perfect condition.

The guy that is selling it for the other guy said that the $19500 is with this membership to these other campgrounds...we don't want that, so it would be sold without the membership for $17000. We offered $15000, but didn't discover this hairline crack until AFTER we made the offer.

Make more sense now?

A crack at the corner of a slide out indicates that flexing is occurring at that area. It is most common in bedroom slides in the front overhang. Patching the crack will not stop it from re-occurring unless something to done to fix the flexing. Or if it is straight up at the corner, then gluing on a trim strip with 3M 5200 will hide it.

If you are buying this from a dealer, ask them to fix and warranty the repair or let you out of the deal. Depending on how much you have down, it might be cheaper to walk from the deposit verses the repair cost if it comes to that.

If you are financing it, they you may have to point this out to the lender to get them to kill the deal, if the dealer wants to play hardball with you.

It is best to not start with a known problem, and shame on this dealer for trying to sell it with the crack, or maybe they did not see it. What are they saying about it?

Chris

I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole...run from this one. Too many other good ones for sale!

If it's fiberglass with gel coat the problem could just be a hairline crack in the gel coat. This is very common to boats. If that's the case I wouldn't worry it won't hurt anything but the best advise it to have it checked out. When buying used boats it is a common practice to have it surveyed by a professional marine surveyor prior to purchase. I don't know if there is such a service for RV's but if there is I would strongly recommend paying a little and get it done.

-BC-