Looking at a 96 Lance Squire 500 in the frozen tundra

hoping you don't have rot in the rails that the tie downs are bolted too. look it over good.

Follow up,
First off, thanks all of you for your in site..
Drove down to Dayton take a look at her Sunday, thought the weather cleared up but wow, what should have been a 2 hr ride turned out to be an all day adventure.
Camper showed no signs of rot, water damage or leaking from what I could tell, all appliances worked as best we could tell. Roof was free from any major dents, looks to be the factory seal job though. Water tanks were empty best I could tell, hot water tank also empty. P-traps did have frozen water in them and water pump had frozen water in the filter. I pulled the pump, did not see any signs of cracking, time will tell. The owner fired up the generator and I was sold. I took a chance and gave him 2500.00 owner was not to happy with the price, I’m not sure how I feel about it yet, but she is mine. Got her back home and noticed the tie down areas are pulling away from the seams ¼ to ½ in. Eeek..
So I got the water pump in the house thawing out, took out the p-traps, pored anti frees down the shower and toilet and plan on letting her sit till warmer weather.
The tie down area has me bothered. I have the understanding that this might be a common occurrence with tie downs being too tight in rough road conditions? Any recommendations on repair? What are your thoughts on buying price, too soon to tell?

A suggestion:

Don't run the water pump when it's below freezing with no long time heat in the TC. If there's any water left in the pump housing and is frozen, it will shear the impeller in the pump as it tries turn in the frozen water. Lance water pumps are not cheap pumps! Antifreeze put in the fresh water tank without being able the run the pump to push it thru the lines won't do any good and it can leave a taste in the tank that is hard to get out. The only safe ways to thaw the system out is to heat the TC for a couple days in the cold you have there or move the TC in to a heated building a sit for a couple days before you mess with the water system. The entire TC is very cold and way below freezing if it's sitting outside in Ohio now. You don't have a lot of options at the temps now.

BTW, our 97 Lance Squire was a 4000 loaded with all the options available then. We'd ordered it for use on our 2500 truck.

good luck then, I do hope it all works out for you.

Dome, If I thought the camper would be there till warmer weather comes, I wholeheartedly agree with your wisdom.
My instincts suggest someone else will snap this beauty / beast up by then.

I don't see to many of these in my price range..

I'd worry about the spring thaw, how much water is frozen in the roof area not to mention all the water lines, tanks and water pump? Just me but I wouldn't even thing about checking out till warmer weather.

Would it be foolish of me to think I could poor a gallon or two of rv antifreeze in the fresh water tank, power on the water pump power on the hot water heater and if water comes out where it is supposed to, and not where it isn't. Then do you think I could be reasonably sure it isn't in too bad of shape?
Or, what, Id damage the hot water heater, brake the water pump and still not know till it all thaws out?

Thanks all for your input.
jim.

The white foam insulation that surrounds the burst hot water heater was also destroyed on ours. A typical Atwood 6 gallon water heater will be $350-$450 depending on features.

Overall, if there are no leaks and all the wood seems good (check in the corners next to the nose underneath the mattress) and the appliances work as advertised, doesn't sound like a bad price.

Lance campers are known to have clearance light leaks on the front; skirt rot at the rear; wood rot above the rear bumper; and soft wood where the jacks mount.

In very good condition, $3000 is a very cheap price for a 96 Lance 5000. Look for evidence of any leaks as some do not caulk as they should. The 96 etc Lance's have a one piece aluminum roof and it will last longer than a person's lifetime. Just need to maintain the caulk oround openings etc every 5 or so years if in constant sun. We have had two 97 Lance's and they are excellent but how it's been maintained and used as that will make huge differences. Yes, the lines should have been blown out or antifreeze put in but there's a good chance nothing has broken.

I have the 96 Lance Brochure saved on my laptop, just have to look for it, and if you'll PM me an email address, I'll send you some of the pages with all the specs etc for all three 96 Lance TC's models ( Squire Lite, Squire, and Lance Legend) different sizes that I had scanned and saved in .jpg from my travelnutz gmail account.

We put over 140,000 miles on the Lance 9-1/2' Squire model alone including trips to Alaska from Michigan before we'd sold it in 2009 for $4,900 and it was still in excellent condition and everything still worked and no leaks ever. Never needed any repairs in the 12 years either. BTW, the person/friend who bought the 9-1/2' Lance sold it this fall for $5700 and bought a used larger Lance TC as their 2 kids have grown and needed more room.

We now use our still new big 11'4" Lance Legend 990 (was called 11'3" in 96) since in 2009. Both were ordered new optioned to our likings in 1997 but due to wife's back and neck issues, she couldn't take the stiff jolting ride of the dually it was on so we sold the dually and we stored the big less than a month old 990 Lance inside in one of my buildings and used the 9-1/2' on our other 2500 truck. She's had many operations and lots of metal brackets, plates, and screws and she's doing much better now! Do what you gotta do!

Thank you JumboJet.. any in site on how tell about the water heater other than thawing it out? Are they are stuck in there pretty tight. I have never had a lance so I am unsure.
How dose the price sound to you. How much is a hot water tank?
jim