Forum Discussion

Explorer

Jun 22, 2014

victim of dishonest Seller

My wife and i were looking for a nice Travel trailer at a decent price for our first RV purchase. A fellow i used to work with told me through Facebook that he was selling his 2005 KZ Frontier 2505 for a good price. i was interested in the deal so i went over to his house to take a look... the decals were faded and cracked and he had told me that it had been sitting for almost a year. it did need some caulking but he said it didn't leak at all anymore and he had replaced a small section of the floor and part of the interior wall in the same area...the rest of the camper is really nice and well taken care of.. the inside looked to be in really good shape.. the repair seemed solid from what i could tell and there was no mold smell, just the typical smell of a camper in storage (growing up my parents had motorhomes and toy haulers)... we agreed to a good price and my bank transferred the money into his account since he still owed some money on his loan. we financed the trailer only for a couple years since the price was decent compared to the used trailers we saw at the retail RV lots.

well, i get the trailer home and lower the awning... he did say the awning needed to be replaced... i was fine with that... the upper mount towards the back was loose and there was no caulking either..behind the awning in the stowed position there was a crack in the fiberglass at the bottom corner of the window...i could see the backside of the foam insulation....uh oh...i also noticed that there was a soft spot around the window as well...

i went inside the trailer and lifted up the cushions for the dinette and saw that the new floor he had put down was lifted... as soon as i touched it i knew the wood was rotted....i took pictures and sent them to the seller... he said he was sorry and swore he didnt now it was still leaking...he offered to help repair it...i told him not to worry about it and it seemed like a small issue and easy fox since he already fixed the issues prior... at this point i still believed he didn't know...........

well, i pulled the dinette out and quickly i realized there was a much bigger problem....the new 3/4 inch plywood under the wood laminate had been replaced but was only held down by a few screws, the back left corner was not only soft and rotted but so was the entire rear end of the replaced floor.... the wall that the dinette mounts too was soft at the bottom....the more i removed, the more i found...rotted luan wood, puddled water under the floor, soaked insulation and the most horrific foam panel insulation repair i have ever seen....it was installed and not even bonded to the fiberglass wall, just sitting between the luan interior wall and the aluminum frame structure.. the water damage was coming from the window not being sealed, the awning brackets not being caulked and a crack behind the awning arm in the fiberglass

i followed the rot to the other side of the trailer.. sure enough, the water traveled to the other side so that part of the floor was rotting as well.... in order to remove the rear floor i also had to unbolt the couch and furnace..... here is where it gets scary... the wires going to the furnace to power it were bare touching the top of the furnace and laying behind it...and yes, they were energized but not hooked up....none of the ducting was hooked up and there were schematics in the drawer near the furnace....i hooked up the furnace correctly and guess what... it blows on high only , won't heat with LP gas flowing and won't shutt off with the thermostat..

as soon as the seller found out the extent of the damage and the electrical issues with the furnace, he began to completely ignore me... he seemed so concerned when it was a small issue and now he realizes that i know what a shoty job he did repairing it...i have no doubt now that the water damage was to the same extent when he made the repairs and he just simply covered stuff up to unload it on someone....

i have been in the Air Force for 19 years now as an aircraft mechanic but in also a pretty good carpenter and have done several renovations to my home and others..... its not the work that bothers me since i am very capable to fix this, its the dishonesty and the money i am spending to fix the trailer..... my financing is through USAA and I'm going to call them and inquire about the seller not notifying me of an ongoing leak and damage... I'm sure if they knew, they would not have financed the trailer again in my name..

i bought it and its now mine... what are some legal implications the seller could face because of not identifying the ongoing leaks at the time of sale? its obvious he new since he refuses to respond back to me and his bandaid repair was just to cover up damage....there may be nothing i can do legally so if i have to fix it and suck up the costs so be it..i just hate dishonest people, especially the ones you think you can trust since they served with you in the military until they retired....

Trevor

Marauderer
Explorer
Aug 11, 2014
Trevor, it has been a journey and overall you have done it well. I haven't been cruising these boards recently some because of the same reasons that you mentioned. I am learning (slowly) to just ignore nasty people and as there are a lot more good folks that are willing to help you with your problem. I come up to Julian at least twice a year and have found Hagan-Stone state park southeast of Greensboro very nice. About 2 hrs from Pikeville.
TrevorL
Explorer
Aug 11, 2014
thanks guys... progress is coming along nicely... resolved the title issue... come to find out, the sellers ex wife wanted money out of the deal and didnt believe her ex husband when he said i bought the camper for payoff...lol... well, she finally signed the title... as of right now, the floor and wall are completely repaired.. finishing up some painting and then laying down new laminate flooring... i will post pictures when i get a chance.
MrVan
Explorer
Aug 08, 2014
proxim2020 wrote:
RedRocket204 wrote:

eh, never mind those who feel it necessary to kick you when you are down. Unfortunately, you will run into those with superiority complexes from time to time but it doesn't change who you are.

...water off a duck's back

Anyway, keep on posting as it would be nice to see the outcome of all your hard work. So, some pictures are in order...hopefully some where you are out enjoying your trailer too!

X2. There's still lots ready and willing to educate, discuss, or help those who have questions or thoughts. I'd go out on a limb and say most on this forum fall into that category. I for one would be interested in the outcome and steps taken for the repairs. I treat every thread I read as a learning opportunity. Just ignore the negatives and remember that your postings could teach something to somebody else.

X3
Community Alumni
Aug 08, 2014
RedRocket204 wrote:

eh, never mind those who feel it necessary to kick you when you are down. Unfortunately, you will run into those with superiority complexes from time to time but it doesn't change who you are.

...water off a duck's back

Anyway, keep on posting as it would be nice to see the outcome of all your hard work. So, some pictures are in order...hopefully some where you are out enjoying your trailer too!

X2. There's still lots ready and willing to educate, discuss, or help those who have questions or thoughts. I'd go out on a limb and say most on this forum fall into that category. I for one would be interested in the outcome and steps taken for the repairs. I treat every thread I read as a learning opportunity. Just ignore the negatives and remember that your postings could teach something to somebody else.
RedRocket204
Explorer
Aug 07, 2014
TrevorL wrote:
responses like RandAcamp's is the reason i dont post much on here... its frustrating enough having to deal with my situation without jackass comments....

eh, never mind those who feel it necessary to kick you when you are down. Unfortunately, you will run into those with superiority complexes from time to time but it doesn't change who you are.

...water off a duck's back

Anyway, keep on posting as it would be nice to see the outcome of all your hard work. So, some pictures are in order...hopefully some where you are out enjoying your trailer too!
CampingN_C_
Explorer
Aug 07, 2014
Our last camper was bought used from someone who used it very little. He had documented annual roof treatments from the dealer. It was well taken care of. I looked it over VERY carefully before buying.
Fast forward one year, I was fixing some (self induced) damage and discovered the entire back wall was rotted. No signs of any repair or cover up attempts. I firmly believe the PO didn't know about it nor did I for the first year I had it. I might would have sold it not knowing myself if I hadn't had to dig into it.

I've also bought new and had leaks from day one!

Two types of campers out there:
One's that have leaked.
One's that are going to leak.
TrevorL
Explorer
Aug 07, 2014
responses like RandAcamp's is the reason i dont post much on here... its frustrating enough having to deal with my situation without jackass comments....

MrVan wrote:
RandACampin wrote:
You should have fully checked out the camper BEFORE you bought it. Instead the title being "victim of a dishonest seller" it should read "I'm a victim of myself". You have no one to blame in this matter but yourself.

Thanks for the advice!
MrVan
Explorer
Jul 30, 2014
RandACampin wrote:
You should have fully checked out the camper BEFORE you bought it. Instead the title being "victim of a dishonest seller" it should read "I'm a victim of myself". You have no one to blame in this matter but yourself.

Thanks for the advice! It is completely worthless and inappropriate!
TrevorL
Explorer
Jul 01, 2014
you do have a point, it can go either way.. i have bought and sold alot of performance cars and ive always made sure everything was exactly the way it was advertised and i always give all records with them and very thorough bill of sale. on the other hand you can deal with people who either dont know what they have and honestly mis advertise or the shady individual who knws what they have and pull one over on some one.. Camping world seems to have alot of used campers that you can tell have sat there for a long time..most are overpriced and several have visual damage. it really botheed me when they tried to deny the severe damage to the camper with the slide out that was falling out of the camper... even with repairs, i will have less than $7,000 invested in my camper with the reapirs and a bunch of upgrades im doing and ive seen them sell for far more than that.. i know the water damage that i am repairing takes a big hit on the value but when i do decide to sell the TT later on to upgrade i will have full documentation and pictures of all the work ive done so the prospective buyer will know what they are buying.

camperforlife wrote:
TrevorL wrote:
Camping world tried to pull a fast one on me... i looked at a TT they had for sale on the used lot... the slide out was literally hanging out of the camper and all the structure around it was cracked.you could see daylight around the slideout from inside the camper.. i pointed this out and they said it wasnt a big deal, it just needed supports under the slide out....

moral of my story, im not buying used ever again..lol

2freelife wrote:
We are embarrassed to admit we also bought a trailer from a private seller that we discovered is in bad shape. We should know better. The seller lied about everything although he seemed to be so nice. We will never buy from a private party again because of this experience. We've put lots of money into the trailer to get it up to par. Now that we've fixed everything we no longer like this trailer. I'd like to just trade it in, & move on. When there is money involved sellers may not always be honest.

Trevor, we have bought 2 new and 3 used trailers and the used by far have been the most trouble free. My brother has a now 2 year old trailer that he bought new and the last trip out was the first trip something did not break or fail.

My point is you can really look over a new or used trailer but the bottom line is it can be a******shoot with either. All you can do is crawl all over them before you make the purchase and then cross your fingers.
camperforlife
Explorer
Jul 01, 2014
TrevorL wrote:
Camping world tried to pull a fast one on me... i looked at a TT they had for sale on the used lot... the slide out was literally hanging out of the camper and all the structure around it was cracked.you could see daylight around the slideout from inside the camper.. i pointed this out and they said it wasnt a big deal, it just needed supports under the slide out....

moral of my story, im not buying used ever again..lol

2freelife wrote:
We are embarrassed to admit we also bought a trailer from a private seller that we discovered is in bad shape. We should know better. The seller lied about everything although he seemed to be so nice. We will never buy from a private party again because of this experience. We've put lots of money into the trailer to get it up to par. Now that we've fixed everything we no longer like this trailer. I'd like to just trade it in, & move on. When there is money involved sellers may not always be honest.

Trevor, we have bought 2 new and 3 used trailers and the used by far have been the most trouble free. My brother has a now 2 year old trailer that he bought new and the last trip out was the first trip something did not break or fail.

My point is you can really look over a new or used trailer but the bottom line is it can be a******shoot with either. All you can do is crawl all over them before you make the purchase and then cross your fingers.