great times in our 13ft trailer

I agree with the new memories crowd. Have had seven TT/5ers over the years and each hold memories good and bad. You will love the new one as you will be sharing it with your grandchildren and passing along a love for RVing.

My lovely wife has had an emotional attachment to EVERY SINGLE CAMPER we've owned, swearing that she'd never want another, that it was the perfect camper, that we couldn't possibly let it go... Well, after I find a new unit that actually does fit us perfectly at THAT time, she's hanging up the for sale sign and can't wait to commit to the purchase of the new one with down payment afforded by sale of the last!

Point being, you'll always remember the great memories with your old camper, and really fall in love with the new one and make new memories, especially with new campers joining you! Just make sure you pick a new unit that really appeals to you and you'll be a Happy Camper all over again!

Enjoy!

P.S. - At 9 years old, it falls into what has been the traditional timeframe for out with the old, in with the new for campers! Eight to ten years was the typical for "rolling" campers (i.e., actually used to travel and not parked as seasonals) until just recently with the mass growth in the market and resurgence in camping. Long-winded point being, you should be able to get a fair price for it if clean, everything working, and you sell privately. I'd start advertising it! Good luck.

ken56 wrote:
Just keep the darned thing! Trade in value wont be enough to make much of a difference in your pocket book. Will the grand kids be joining you on your trip to Custer? They will have an absolute blast if so. You will too. Be safe and have fun.

Either keep it or sell it to some friends for cheap.

I've had 3 previous trailers and I sold all of them to friends. That way I have friends to go camping with and I still get to see my old trailers.

If you only go camping with the grandkids once and awhile take them to parks where you can stick them outside the camper in a tent. I admit that 3 and 6 is a little young for that though. Once they ate 7 and 9 your good to go with the tent idea. Not every park will let you do this but, there are some in my area that will.

Just keep it for now! If you were getting a fairly large amount for it and needed that money for down payment to buy the new one, it would be different. But if they would give you less than a couple thousand, just hang onto it for a bit longer. If you start camping in the new TT and your emotional attachment lessens, put an ad on Craigslist or something... you'll probably get way more for it that way than you would from a dealer anyhow. And you get to meet the future owner and tell him the trailer's history and memories.

The other thing is, sometimes people wind up regretting their trade and wishing they had the old TT back. When you keep the old one, it's totally reversible. Trade it and it's gone for good.

I do know several people who own and use more than one camping unit, depending on where and how (and with whom) they are traveling.

Given that it was only 10k new and it is now well used, i suspect the trade value is 2k or less. I would give it to one of my kids, but none of them can tow. I would like to find some young person who is outdoorsy but cant afford a camper and just give it to them. I'll have to think on that.

I'm glad to hear that i'm not the only one who gets attached!

When we sold our first 13 foot Fun Finder, my wife got all choked up, but she has now gotten equally attached to our new 13 foot Fun Finder. This weekend, the Wall Street Journal ran a story about how people are building "tiny" second homes, "as small as 1200 square feet." Just for laughs, I went out and measured the inside of our trailer -- it is 76.3 square feet, and that includes the interior of the cabinetry. Since it is just the two of us, that is just enough room -- we have spent six weeks at a time in that little box. But with kids or grandkids or pets, probably not.

Stpauligirl, have you thought about donating the old trailer? There can be some significant tax savings!

Another idea is to keep it for guests to use. I do that I my seasonal site. I keep a Wildwood for friends and family.

Profdant, i am an admirer of the tiny house movement! I have often thought that Jay Schaefer and his followers should plagerize the floorplans of rv's for their tiny houses. No ladders or lofts! Everytime i look at tiny house swoon, i think of the compact efficiency of my trailer.

Who would i donate it to? Is there an organization?

Bucky, it is really 76 square feet, inside, front wall to back wall, side to side. 82 inches wide, 134 inches long, 10,988 square inches, divided by 144, equals 76.3.

And stpauli, the local NPR stations are usually very good about accepting donated RVs and cars. (See below.) We have donated two cars to our local NPR outlet. Our old trailer, however, was in high demand, as we discovered when we looked on Craigslist. We bought it used for $7000, used it a lot for seven seasons, and then sold it for $4000 to a private party. To be honest, I put a lot of "sweat equity" into the trailer, making as many improvements as we could. But we were pleasantly surprised that we had lost only $3000 in return for more than 300 nights of use.

Minnesota Public Radio Vehicle Donation Program

Humm, you know I have some friends (Shawn and Lisa) that have grown children and are looking for a new TT. Maybe they would be interested and would buy it from you. They would give it a good home and because we are all in MN maybe you could visit if from time to time. I bet Lisa would be willing to send you pictures in the mail too of them out camping in it.