Buying a 5’er that’s been lived in full time

[RedLionCookie]

My wife and I are shopping for a new to us fifth wheel. I recently found a 2016 Cedar Creek 33IK. I’ve talked with the owner over the phone but have not looked at it in person yet. He’s asking 30,000, I told him my budget was 27,000. It’s an hour drive to look at it. He knows my budget and told me to come look and he would negotiate.

According to him he works 12-13 days straight and is looking to retire. He lives in the camper full time. I know I’ll have a much better feel when I actually see it but I’m looking for some thoughts on the pros and cons of buying a camper that has been lived in full time.

[RedLionCookie]

Thanks for all the thoughts. The pictures I’ve seen look good. It looks well maintained. One man and a small dog. We are going to go see it next week. You’ve certainly given me some questions to ask. I’ll let you know what I find.

[Planning]

Lived in. No.

Essence of dirty socks and goat butt.

[rhagfo]

IBcarguy wrote:
There are plenty of used RVs on the market to chose from. Personally, I wouldn't buy one that's been lived in full time.

You would rather buy one that sits unused and likely unattended for 11 months out of year? Likely unheated, damp and cold, little critters in and out.

[Veebyes]

Lots of variables. Nothing wrong with buying a good quality 5er that has been lived in. Much depends on the seller. Has it been beaten to death or has it been taken care of? Smoker,dog owner, children? A user or one who fixes things as they go wrong? It could be a great unit or it could be junk

[colliehauler]

Agree with those that say go take a look, couple of hours drive is nothing. Some people take Immaculate care while others are slobs.

[ACZL]

Cedar Creeks as a whole are pretty well built units---even the Silverbacks. Folks have talked about the tires, but perhaps too, the coach was at 1 site and raised off the ground and sitting on blocks while it's been parked. Just asking/saying. I agree too that a 10 year old unit can look like new whereas a 1 year old can be trashed. After we cleaned up our old CC last year and delivered it to new owner, have to say with pride, she still looked like new and she was 12 years old (11 seasons of use). Worth the 1 hour drive to see anyways. Who knows, you may drive by a dealer or another private seller and stop to see. Good excuse to get out and have lunch as well.

[donn0128]

There is nothing wrong with an RV that has been full timed in. As long as the PO has taken care of and maintained the RV. In fact its probably better than one that sits for years at a time in one place. Stuff especially tires need to be exercised to help prevent damage.

[daireemt]

Pretty sure a visual will answer nearly all your questions. Also is it a semi dry or very damp climate?

[IBcarguy]

There are plenty of used RVs on the market to chose from. Personally, I wouldn't buy one that's been lived in full time.

[mtofell1]

You pretty much have to go look at it to see if/how bad it is. People's usages cover a wide range. Some folks can have a 10 year unit that looks like new. Others can completely trash something out in a year.

I agree that non-full time rated units are lower quality. For my current usage that works great. 15-20 nights a year the cheap materials should be fine. Later in life when I am out a lot more I'll need something higher quality for sure. There's no reason to pay for it now and not use it. So, a lot also depends on what you need from an RV now.

[rhagfo]

fj12ryder wrote:
A lot depends on the person and how he takes care of his stuff. One thing to consider is that some builders don't warranty a unit that is used full time. To me this says they don't consider their RV to be built well enough to be lived in full time.

X2
One thing to think about is if the current owner fixes items that break! We live full time in our 5er move at least every three months, either fix or improve as needed. Hope for that.
I would consider an hour drive a non issue, we drove almost five hours to get the unit we wanted!

[mowingman]

Could be a nice deal. However, if he is a smoker, or has indoor pets, I would not even go look at it. how much was the new price of that unit? If it is really clean and in good repair, then 35% - 50% off of new price, seems about right to me.

[ppine]

Personally I would never buy a trailer that has been lived in. I would much rather have an older model that is lightly used. Driving an hour to look at a rig you are interested in is nothing. Go look at it and then decide.

[donn0128]

30K for a 2016 seems awfully cheap.
Besides being a Silverback what else is wrong with it I would have to ask.
Heck my 2005 Cedar Creek is on the market for 20K. His must be a no frills, no options model.

[wildtoad]

Go take a look at it then decide. An hour or two isn’t that much lost time if it’s not what you want. Perhaps he has fixed most of the “New” issues and you may be getting a good one.