Looking to buy first toy hauler Advice? Reccomendationd?

[icecoled007]

Hello,

I am looking to buy my first ever RV. I found a Fun Finder XT-190 and was wondering if you can help provide some insight to me.

I have a 1500 Silverado and am looking for a light toyhauler. The XT 190 looking to fit the bill well. I am looking to haul a Polaris Sportsman 800 which seems to be at the upper hend of the XT190's storage space (48"x83"). I know Cruiser advertises the availabel storage as 50x80. Do you know if my atv will fit at 83" long?

What else should I look for or keep an eye on when buying it? Its a 2008 model and has the original tires on it. The owner said it is about ready for new tires. The owner said the front window has leaked slightly once upon a time and has caused a small amoutn of delamination up front. I am looking to travel 300 miles to pick it up so I have not seen it in person.

He is willing to sell it for $6,500 with the equilizer hitch included. I would be driving around 700-800 miles round trip to get it. Does this sound loke a good/fair/or poor price? He also said the awning has some minor damge to it as well from wind and driving down the road.

Thanks for you help/advice. Sicne this is my first RV and I am new into this I appreciate any advice you have.

How is the build quality of Cruiser RV? Is the delamination up front a mojor concern? It seems hard to find a decently price toy hauler here in Colorado (prices seem higher here then elsewhere). What other brand/types should I look for.

Thanks in advance!

[TacoMan13]

Blackdiamond wrote:

I don't think there is a TH on the market that would be safe to tow with your taco.

Meh, I cant wholeheartedly agree. From all that I'm finding, these seem to be fairly capable little trucks for what they are.....although I had your same thought pattern initially.
You aren't wrong in implying that cautionary intelligence needs to be applied with the size/weight/TW of my purchase, but if I'm planning to weigh in at half a ton under gvwr LOADED then I don't see where the limits would be pushed beyond reason? Here's a link to what I'm talking about...
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/towing/27460-show-us-what-you-tow-102.html

[Hokie_Camper]

Good luck. I have an F-150 and been looking for similar toy haulers. The XT-190 seems to be the "perfect" size, and setup for what I want/need. The biggest problem is that they seem to be very rare and I've yet to see one in person.

Your Chevy should be fine pulling an XT-190 unless I've totally messed up all of my calculations and the numbers are totally out of whack.

What's so sad is that the mindset is 3/4 ton truck to tow a toyhauler. What folks don't realize is that not everyone wants a massive trailer to tow one motorcycle. In my case, I really like the idea of the XT-190 as I'd love to find something reasonably priced that doesn't feel like a cargo trailer. So the front bunk is very appealing. And as you probably know finding a trailer in the 19 to 20 foot range with a front bunk and is light enough to tow with a 1/2 ton is hard to find.

[icecoled007]

Thanks guys. You are right, I decided to pass on this one and shop around some more. I got excited quickly - as I am sure it is a good deal, I am not sure its completly right for me.

Thanks a ton everyone

[porknbeanr]

All good advice. My two cents worth would be the trailer would have to be darn near perfect to drive that far. Also, I think you need to factor in the cost of fuel especially if you decide not to take the deal. The price doesn't seem that great especially with known damage but I am comparing to what is available here in Cali.
Good Luck and let us know what you decide.

[jandjbaums]

Thats a long way to drive to check out a trailer. If you can get the seller to measure everything inside to see if it can fit thats one thing, but unless you bring the quad with you and see if it fits, it could be a bad buy. We have a Stellar 18ft. and pull it with a Tacoma. Trailer weight with 2 quads, 50 gals. of water, 18 gals. of gas, weighs out at 6500#s. The Tacoma handles it well. Fuel mileage isnt good but we dont go but within 300 miles. The truck should be fine. I would keep looking.

[Blackdiamond]

TacoMan13 wrote:
I'm in the same boat. Debating a small TH to tow with my Tacoma, or just pull the trigger on a Tundra to get more TH options. Although the payload isn't as much as a 3/4 or 1 ton, the Tundra is an overbuilt 1/2 ton in the brakes/trans/drivetrain dept. I've always been a Toyota fan, this is my 5th Toyota truck ( 4 Tacoma & an early Tundra )
I've been researching for months now ( still a year away from actually committing on a purchase ) and what I'm finding is add 30-50% to your budget so you'll get a quality RV to KEEP instead of scraping up just enough funds to buy into a substandard one that you'll be trading/selling in less than 5 years. Good luck on the hunt

I don't think there is a TH on the market that would be safe to tow with your taco.

[garry_owen]

icecoled007 wrote:
Thanks Garry - the owner stated that the fron window leaked a little and caused the delamination. He said nothing else leaks. He said it looks like the hole for the window was cut to large in the factory. He has since resealed it and now it is mostly a non-issue

Thoughts?

tough call there. you have to depend on his word.

if he is confident if the repair i would ask him to spray it with a garden hose, or at least a spray bottle, and see for your self whether it still leaks.

when you first look. smell and see if you can detect a moldy smell. try to get as good a look as you can below the leak. tap, push and feel if the wall feels sound. try a spot on the wall away from to see what it should sound feel like. other than removing inside or out side coverings thats about all you can do.

[TacoMan13]

I'm in the same boat. Debating a small TH to tow with my Tacoma, or just pull the trigger on a Tundra to get more TH options. Although the payload isn't as much as a 3/4 or 1 ton, the Tundra is an overbuilt 1/2 ton in the brakes/trans/drivetrain dept. I've always been a Toyota fan, this is my 5th Toyota truck ( 4 Tacoma & an early Tundra )
I've been researching for months now ( still a year away from actually committing on a purchase ) and what I'm finding is add 30-50% to your budget so you'll get a quality RV to KEEP instead of scraping up just enough funds to buy into a substandard one that you'll be trading/selling in less than 5 years. Good luck on the hunt

[icecoled007]

Thanks Garry - the owner stated that the fron window leaked a little and caused the delamination. He said nothing else leaks. He said it looks like the hole for the window was cut to large in the factory. He has since resealed it and now it is mostly a non-issue

Thoughts?

[garry_owen]

icecoled007 ;

wouldn't buy any travel trailer of any kind or size that showed water damage.

water intrusion can be tricky to repair and stop, easy for more damage to occur that cant be seen and most don't notice or try to fix till damage is done sealing in mould and damage thats ready to haunt you later

a small stain or bubble on the out side can lead to rotten framing and wet insulation.

in moffet county for a bit and here is a sight a lot of the locales use.

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=231&cat=436&category=142


im sure you can find a trailer you can use with your truck and quad. 1/2 and 3/4 ratings have become blurred to point of being useless over the years.

[Y-Guy]

Beyond the weight issue one thing you really need is a good inspection of the RV before you agree to buy it. A good base check list is the Tom Boles' Pre-Delivery Checklist from here. For toy haulers you need to also inspect the fuel station, so bring a gas can with 3-5 gallson to empty into the tank and pump back out. Then inspect the ramp door to see if it's showing signs water damage or cracking.

[Ric_Flair]

As you will no doubt find out, dry weight numbers are next to meaningless

[icecoled007]

Thanks guys - I think I will be stuck with this truck awhile. That Fun Finder has a dry weight of only about 3400 lbs.

My truck has the ability to go to about ~8000 lbs (4x4, 08 w/ towing package)

[Ric_Flair]

My advice would be to get a bigger truck first. You won't be able to haul much of any kind with a 1/2 ton.