Honestly? Okay, let me go to a junk yard and get a car that was in just a minor fender bender. I'll knock the dents out, maybe replace a fender or two, shoot some paint on it, and PRESTO!!! Here is a car for you! It retails at 14,999 but I'll sell it to you for oh...$7,500. How can you go wrong with this?!?
1) It will come with a Salvage or Restored Salvage Title. This is to indicate that at one time, this vehicle was wrecked to the point of being considered not worth repairing. The insurance company wrote it off, saying that the cost to repair the vehicle would probably be more that it is worth. It is considered Salvage, which means Junk.
2) That Salvage or Restored Salvage title will make it VERY hard for you to insure the item. Insurance companies MIGHT insure the item, but your premiums are going to be 2 to 5 times higher than those for an undamaged item. The insurance company can look at the records of the item and see the notes/information for the item's damage to which you may not have access.
3) IF BY CHANCE, an insurance company will cover it, I would be willing to bet that there will be several provisions added to the policy stating that ANY future claims of damage, not resulting from a NEW accident, will not be covered and you get to eat the repair costs.
4) If in the future, you find a better trailer that meets every single need you want and decide to use this one as a trade in...Yeah, that probably won't happen. The dealer is going to either see the Salvage Title, or do a CARFAX type search for you trailer using the VIN number, and see that this trailer has a past. They will then tell you that they can't take your trade.
5) If you decide to sell it in a private sale, the second the purchaser sees that Salvage Title, they are going to start asking LOTS of questions about it. Odds are you are not going to sell it, or will, but for an extremely reduced price.
6) That $4,000 dollars saved on the purchase of a WRECKED trailer? You will be lucky if you don't spend that and more chasing repairs and problems that were either not caught by the Salvage Crew who "repaired" the trailer, or one day, you and your family will be hauling that trailer down the highway when it catastrophically fails. Then you have not only your insurance to deal with, but possibly the insurance company of the other vehicle(s) that were hit or damaged by your trailer when it disintegrated at 65 mph. I'm pretty sure that that $4,000 dollars won't do squat in trying to cover the damages.
It is up to you...buy it or not. But I don't think there has been a single person on here so far that has said, HEY GO FOR IT!!! There are a lot of years of experience gathered here on this forum, telling you that this isn't a great idea...I'd take their advice.
Yes, this is the trailer of your dreams, but it could become your absolutely worst nightmare.
