We backed out of the deal

rjxj wrote:

rgatijnet1 wrote:
I just inspected a motor home that a friend purchased, after the fact. When the second owner bought the coach, there was no slide topper. For what ever reason, the topper had been removed. The second owner kept the coach for one year, used it, and upgraded to a newer coach. He sold it, at a very decent price to the new owner. When my friend bought it, he knew that there was some water damage, but it was not severe. After looking at the coach, I will concur that the water damage is minor.
The problem is that the second owner DID NOT know that there was supposed to be a slide topper. When he sold the coach to my friend, he disclosed that there was some minor damage, but did not mention about the missing slide topper, since he did not know about it. The new owner is now looking at having to purchase a new slide topper, as well as repair the water damage. I'm guessing that this may cost him $2500-$3000, which, in addition to the new tires he is planning to buy, is a hard hit in the wallet. The price of the coach is still a bargain.
The facts are that people are NOT always aware of what a coach is supposed to have, even if it is something like a slide topper. What is obvious to some of us that have owned numerous rigs, is not so obvious to a newbie. The same goes for water damage. Most people do not notice it until it has gotten quite severe/expensive. The seller of this coach to the OP may have not known about the repairs or any of the previous history on the coach. He might have bought it from a dealer that glossed all over the negatives and only talked about the positives. Without hearing from the seller, it is all speculation, but it does teach us all of the importance of a complete inspection by a KNOWLEDGEABLE individual.

But, didn't the seller and the buyer both stand there and know that they were looking at it with no topper? The tire date code is on the sidewall and cant be hidden. Just wondering

No, the seller, the second owner, did not know that there was not supposed to be a topper and since it only had one slide, there was nothing to compare it to. As far as I know, not all coaches have toppers. This particular model did, however but the second owner did not know that it was missing. The original owner removed it and did not disclose it to the second owner. The new buyer knew about the tires which he why he planned to replace them. NO surprise there.