Hey Bagman, how have you been?
Agreed, on all accounts. Properly fixing a delaminated sidewall is not a DIY project. The lamination process the factories use is both compression and vacuum. If your garage has a large press and a large vacuum bag then sure. :B
The other issue is mold. I've done the Travel Trailer Rehab and as you can see, to do it right it is a complete rebuilding process.
I've also worked on and seen the damage from a leaking roof on this Winnie;
As we all know, black mold is a bad deal, unless you do a 100% rebuild chances are it will always be there.
With the low miles you have that adds a large value to the book price of your MH, and unrealistic amount, but lets use it anyway.
Based on that, yours has a low retail of $21,200 and an average retail of $25,600. If you don't consider the miles it books for $16,600 and $20,000. Now add in the delamination and I'm not so sure the dealer was that far off. He has to pay his guys X amount of $$$ to fix it, and how long will it take? If I were a dealer I wouldn't take in any MH with any delamination, for the reasons listed above. The unknown damage just wouldn't be worth the risk.
Ask yourself, in it's current condition would you pay $25,000 for it?
rgatijnet1 wrote:
In my opinion, you can spend a lot of time, and money, and even after it is repaired, the 1992 Monterey may still be only worth $1200.
I believe the only way that you can properly repair delamination is to completely remove the side wall, take it apart, replace all damaged wood and insulation foam, apply a better adhesive, and then put it all back together again using compression to hold the sidewall flat while the adhesive sets up.
To me this is not s DIY project and should only be attempted in a factory type environment. Even then, the time and materials involved would NOT increase the value of the coach being repaired. Of course, there is probably interior ceiling panels that also have to be dealt with as well as rotted floors from the leaks.
Stopping a roof leak is pretty simple basic repair work. Dealing with the delamination and other damage that has already taken place is the huge problem.
I would find another project Class A without delamination issues.
Agreed, on all accounts. Properly fixing a delaminated sidewall is not a DIY project. The lamination process the factories use is both compression and vacuum. If your garage has a large press and a large vacuum bag then sure. :B
The other issue is mold. I've done the Travel Trailer Rehab and as you can see, to do it right it is a complete rebuilding process.
I've also worked on and seen the damage from a leaking roof on this Winnie;
As we all know, black mold is a bad deal, unless you do a 100% rebuild chances are it will always be there.
TNGW1500SE wrote:
My 2003 Sunova 30B has de-lam on both lower sides. This winter (if I have time) I'm going to cut the bottom 2 feet of fiberglass off and remove the rotted wood. Then I'm going to spray foam insulation on it and cut that flat. After that's done, I'm going to cover the lower sides with diamond plate glued and riveted to the aluminum sidewall structure then paint to match. I'm also resealing EVERYTHING including all windows.
I think it's worth the effort. I've only got 20K miles on it and we looked at a new one. They wanted 90K for anything we'd be interested in and we'd have to upgrade the new one after purchase to get what we have now. Doing the work myself, I estimate costs at around a grand but even if I put a couple of thousand in this repair, I'll still come out way ahead. Diamond plate can be purchased on-line in 4x8 sheets.
The dealer offered 11K in trade. That was an insult. I know I could get 25K or better easily for it on Craigslist. They just wanted to steal it. I don't go back in there anymore. If they had offered a fair price we may have traded. Dealers suck!
NOTE: Above plan may change without notice. LOL
With the low miles you have that adds a large value to the book price of your MH, and unrealistic amount, but lets use it anyway.
Based on that, yours has a low retail of $21,200 and an average retail of $25,600. If you don't consider the miles it books for $16,600 and $20,000. Now add in the delamination and I'm not so sure the dealer was that far off. He has to pay his guys X amount of $$$ to fix it, and how long will it take? If I were a dealer I wouldn't take in any MH with any delamination, for the reasons listed above. The unknown damage just wouldn't be worth the risk.
Ask yourself, in it's current condition would you pay $25,000 for it?
