Shipping Trailer

[IdaD]

Anybody ever shipped a trailer a long distance? I'm buying a used fiver and am struggling to find much inventorying my local area. My wife has a pretty specific idea on the floor plan she wants, which doesn't make it any easier.

Any opinions or experiences would be welcome!

[maxum1989]

Read Transfuelers post carefully. Right on target. I buy and sell all sorts of things on Ebay and Craigslist. Boats, trailers, campers, whatever. My advice to you is don't get emotionally attached to anything until you know its a keeper. Don't rush it. Take your time. I've driven up to 1500 miles one way to get the right deal. To date, I've never lost on a deal yet, but I'm careful.

[TransFueler]

Don't let the naysayers & old ladies bring you down... 😉

We've bought three big diesel pusher motorhomes on eBay: "sight unseen". Kept each one for a couple years, used them a lot. Sold one for about what we paid for it, one for $5500 more than we paid, and one for $1200 less than we paid.

It's not all that tough to do. Learn the market for what you want to buy. Asking prices are irrelevant, it's selling prices that matter. Very easy to do on eBay. (By the way, if you do have a problem, don't expect eBay to do anything to help you.)

Establish a real value on what you want, then drop that number by several thousand. Example: we've bought motorhomes that are advertised by dealers for $75-80K, real value around $65K, we paid $55K. That allows for the inevitable cosmetic spruce up, etc. Plus a cushion in case there are more serious issues, but you would in reality have to fix those on any used coach.

Secret Tip: In general, RV extended / aftermarket warranties are fundamentally worthless.

In our case, buying motorizedhomes, we flew in and drove home. In your case, you will in all likelihood drive to pick it up. That does make a case for closer rather than further.

My proven technique to scoring exceptional values on eBay RV's:
1. Research and know your market. Thoroughly... Check SOLD listings for reality...
2. Research and vet the seller. Pretty easy to do these days... Be especially interested in past eBay feedback, or worse, if the seller has no feedback which might be because they closed their account with horrible feedback and are reestablishing themselves all fresh & clean.
3. Be willing to make small repairs, clean up, etc. If you want a new coach, buy one...

We're currently looking for a 37-40' fifth-wheel to stay in whilst we build a new home. As usual, the better deals appear to be in Flahrida or some such other far flung locale. I'll probably look more in the AZ area, as there are indeed a lot of used trailers there. I think ye old ancient midwest northerners flock there, and then the old man croaks and granny wants to sell. Great buying opportunities! :C

I would encourage you to search the southwest, as that's an easy drive to pick one up. I also have a good friend in PHX who actually owns a 5th wheel trailer, and at my request would go look at it in person, with no bias... P/M me if interested...

Happy Hunting!:B

[cant_remember_I]

The trailer we really wanted was about 200 miles away, the runner up was at a local dealer. I chose the local dealer for a few reasons. 1. I wanted to keep my money in state. 2. The local dealer was actually really nice and responsive. 3. For warranty work, they are just down the road instead of a days travel.

[CarlT100]

IdaD wrote:
Okay you guys have me rethinking things a bit. Maybe I'll wait for the weather to improve and try to focus my search on somewhat closer population centers in the west. It's just frustrating to see trailers out here priced so much higher than you guys back east seem to have available, but I guess that's just a byproduct of the lower population density we have out here.

You have made the right choice. I learned the hard way to never buy a used RV without hiring a good, independent certified RV tech to inspect it.

[rhagfo]

IdaD wrote:
Okay you guys have me rethinking things a bit. Maybe I'll wait for the weather to improve and try to focus my search on somewhat closer population centers in the west. It's just frustrating to see trailers out here priced so much higher than you guys back east seem to have available, but I guess that's just a byproduct of the lower population density we have out here.

Good choice! We only traveled about 250 miles each way to get ours. Did a two hour PDI and then towed it home.

[IdaD]

Okay you guys have me rethinking things a bit. Maybe I'll wait for the weather to improve and try to focus my search on somewhat closer population centers in the west. It's just frustrating to see trailers out here priced so much higher than you guys back east seem to have available, but I guess that's just a byproduct of the lower population density we have out here.

[fj12ryder]

Buying a trailer without a thorough PDI is pretty foolish. You could easily find yourself spending more than what you planned on, fixing all the things that weren't quite what they were represented to be. A salesman wants to sell, pure and simple.

I might do it for a $500 trailer, but not for something that costs 10 times that, and not a chance that I'd do it for something in the price range you're considering. Unless, of course, you have lots of money and are willing to risk it. In that case, send the money to me and I'll see you get a great trailer.

[RAS43]

WeBeFulltimers wrote:
I would NEVER purchase any kind of RV without seeing it with my own eyes and I don't mean pictures!

Totally agree! Buying without seeing and trusting a dealer's employee is formula for disaster. Think hidden water damage!

[B_O__Plenty]

I'm thinking it would be in the $2.25 per mile area plus being older you can probably count on some tire trouble plus maybe bearing trouble. Keep in mind the person hauling it to you probably has to go back empty..I wouldn't even think about doing it. Wait until you get some vacation and look for one maybe in the Phoenix area. Tons of them for there on Craigslist. It would be a nice vacation to drive there, shop around and pull it back..

[SoundGuy]

IdaD wrote:
I was hoping you guys would get on here and tell me how easy and inexpensive it is to ship a trailer. :B

Nobody "ships" a rig that size ... the only trailers I've seen being "shipped" are popups and a few very TTs and hybrids that are small enough to fit on a trailer, otherwise they're towed one at a time by a contract driver, no different than if you towed it yourself.

[WeBeFulltimers]

I would NEVER purchase any kind of RV without seeing it with my own eyes and I don't mean pictures!

[wrgrs50s]

Personally, I think its a huge risk purchasing a rig unseen and would never rely on a salesman to be trustworthy. Even if he is honest, there are so many devastating problems that may be overlooked by someone other than yourself, or a friend with lots of experience with RV's.

A salesman's most famous words; Trust me its a steal of a deal, and If I were you I would jump on it....

You really have to inspect an RV to be sure every item works as it should and there is no roof leaks, plumbing leaks, holding tanks and termination gate valves working, window leaks, soft floor, smelly odors, suspension is not worn out, tires are not more than 3-5 yrs old, etc...etc.

It cost a fortune to fix these things at over $100 per hr labor charges, plus parts.

It can sure dampen your spirits to find a number of these problems after the fact.

[IdaD]

I was hoping you guys would get on here and tell me how easy and inexpensive it is to ship a trailer. :B

I'm in southwest Idaho and most of the inventory seems to be the eastern midwest or even the east coast, so we're talking a lot of miles. There are also those pesky Rocky Mountains between here and there during the winter (I'm assuming prices are lower now than they'll be if I waited till spring). I also work full time and have young kids at home so it's not too easy for me to just drop everything for a 4000 mile road trip. Maybe that's going to be the only way to do it, though.

As far as personally inspecting the unit goes, I guess I was thinking I'd rely on photos and having a sales guy go through everything on the trailer with a video camera. I'm trying to keep it in the $10-15k range so I'm not investing a huge amount of money in it and I don't expect to get something pristine (I don't want to take out a loan on a trailer).

Appreciate the feedback so far, and keep it coming.

[gbopp]

Are you planning on personally inspecting the unit you buy?
I would go pick it up myself.

[Veebyes]

How far is far? Whether it is you or a professional tower, somebody has to to deadhead one way before or after. Paying somebody else means per mile plus other expenses.

Do you earn much more per day than what a tower will charge you?

If the model or floorplan is that specific then going the distance is worthwhile otherwise 'she who must be obeyed' will not be happy. You do know what happens when 'she' is not happy don't you.