Worth repairing?

Question

I had a seal fail around a slide out that quickly advanced to a cracked sidewall. We took a 12 hour trip over rough roads, and 10” crack appeared above a slide.

Is this worth fixing? We tried to trade it in and the dealer basically didn’t want it. It’s a nice 7 year old 38’ fifth wheel that usually sells retail around $26,000 on the used market. I was willing to take $13,000 on wholesale trade, but when we arrived, the dealer walked away from the deal and said the rig is totaled. Of course as we hooked up and were leaving they ran out to offered us $10,000, but we were already tired of dealing with them.

Is a crack worth fixing and on an otherwise good shape camper?

bdpreece · Answer

Before you do anything else drill a small hole at the end of the crack to stop the crack from spreading,  Next get some bids on the repair as this is something that should be repairable.

bb_tx · Answer

Probably broken welds or frame members at the front. You need to have someone experienced in frame repair evaluate it for you and get an estimate of repair costs. Then you can decide how to proceed.

agesilaus · Answer

Ditto on the above two posts. If the walls are fiberglass I'd check locally for fiberglass shops, often boat repair shops, after the cause is found and fixed. Why give up an otherwise good RV?

valhalla360 · Answer

I'd certainly get an estimate. If the resale is really $26k, you can get a lot of work done for $16k.

txiceman · Answer

It can be repaired.  The front cap may need removal and part of the sidewall. You are probably looking at $5000 or so for the repair.Ken

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Worth repairing?

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