mkirsch wrote:
My suggestion is you throw out the notion of looking for a specific unit, or even a specific range of years, and just look for one that is in acceptable shape and within your budget. Even if it's older.
Once you get into 12+ year old TCs, it's all about how they were used, maintained and stored. If it was not maintained it will be junk. Ideally you want to find one that hasn't been used much and was kept in a building when not being used.
Brand, build quality, manufacturer support are meaningless on a TC more than maybe 5 years old. At that point it doesn't matter how well it was built, if the owner doesn't take care of it, it will be junk. A good 12 year old camper is a good 12 year old camper, whether it's some brand that doesn't exist anymore, a bottom of the barrel brand, a middle of the road brand, or a top of the line brand. Start with a good camper and maintain it, and it will serve you well.
Exactly.
I can be a top tier camper that wasn't maintained and stored outside unprotected with no upkeep and be a landfill candidate or a economy unit that was taken care of and kept inside and be pristine.
The 2 factors that impact any used unit no matter what it is, TT 5er, tent camper, toy hauler or whatever is maintenance and storage.
If I was to buy a used unit from say CL and the sell stated it was kept inside and maintained, I'd want to see where it was 'inside' at and maintenance records or at least some half used tubes of Dicor or Sikaflex....:)
Far as appliances and convenience items go, no matter if it's top tier or economy, all the appliances will be similar, you want to look hard at the structure and if something don't work appliance wise, no a deal breaker, it can be replaced.
