EBay, Craigslist or Other On Line Motor Home Purchases?

[larrymjones]

Hey All-this is our first post so be "gentle" with your responses, please. We've been Motor Homing for a little over a year and have the fever to "upgrade". We've been doing research on all the conventional sites, but keep noticing the large number of MHs available on EBAY and Craigslist as well. Many of these units seem inviting regarding their appearance and prices, but the whole process frightens us. We're wondering if any of you seasoned RVers has ever made such a purchase(s), and if so, we'd love to hear about your overall experience, please? Thanks in advance for your input, advice and comments.

[NMace]

I bought a truck camper and a 5th wheel on eBay, both new, from dealers. And bought a used truck the same way. I don't think I saved a bunch of money, but I found exactly what I wanted, and they offer a free buyer's protection plan.

Be sure to check the seller's ratings.

Very satisfied.

[frankdamp]

We found ours the "old-fashioned" way, by the local newspaper classified ads. It was about 30 miles away and being sold by its original purchasers at 8 years old and 12,000 miles. Their asking price was well below Blue Book and it was in excellent shape.

We put another 6000 miles on it in 3 seasons, but sold it after the 4th season as we hadn't used it. I sold it through a consignment dealer and wouldn't ever go through that again.

[Big_Blue]

Bought my Class A via eBay. Flew down to see, inspect & test.

Got a great deal & couldn't be happier.

Through Craigslist, bought the travel trailer, sold a tent trailer, & finally the truck.

[bsinmich]

My 2 in my signature were both found on craigslist. They both had clear titles and I was paying cash so they were simple deals.

[larrymjones]

Thanks to all for the insightful responses--very appreciated! We were always intending to conduct our own personal inspection, our main concern was regarding any financial rip offs, which several of you addressed.

Thanks again Y'all.

Larry and Marilynn

[Two_Jayhawks]

I have sold/purchased quite a bit on Craigslist & Ebay both are excellent sources. My last RV sold on CL last summer in about two weeks. Only hitch (for me) is I won't buy a RV sight unseen regardless of how many pictures, clean carfax, etc. So there may be a zillion RV's marketed on the web only the ones close enough to go see were included for me.

[jplante4]

Bought 2 and sold 1 on Craigs List. Just be aware of the scammers on both ends of that transaction. Do not reply to any buyer that is offshore, buying the rig for his father, will pay asking price sight unseen, will deal only through PayPal and will send an agent to complete the transaction. If you reply (even to say "go away") your email address will get on the list of real people that the scammers trade between themselves.

On the selling scam, the ad usually has pictures of a nice rig (copied from RVT or RVTrader) and the price looks like they just left a zero off by mistake (the price should be 33,000 and it's listed at 3,300). You send them and email saying "please confirm the price" and they have you. They're getting deployed to Afghanistan and need to sell the rig to move the family home in the next 5 days and they'll deliver the motor home to you all you need to do is send gas money etc...

[rdmike]

Bought on ebay. Saw the rv, made contact with the seller through email, explained my situation and budget and if he would consider my offer. The auction ended and he contacted me and we agreed to a price based on visual inspection. I gave him a 1,000 dollar deposit and a contract was signed by both parties to hold until inspection. If I do not purchase, he kept the deposit, if I purchase the deposit applies. We flew to the location, inspected and all was good. Paid the balance by cashiers check, title was given to me at the bank when cashed. Excellent purchase.

Make a documented list of questions (detailed) to have him answer and make part of the contract.

[Mike_Hohnstein]

Naio wrote:

rgatijnet1 wrote:
Buying from eBay is no different than buy from a newspaper ad or magazine ad or stopping by a dealer's lot.
It is just another source to find what you are looking for. The exact same cautions exist with all sources...a complete inspection by a competent inspector and YOU. Do not believe pictures and never send money without seeing the coach in person.

Yep.

I found my van online, test drove and inspected in person. It's been great for 4 years now.

That's the key, personal inspection.

[Fishinghat]

I've bought and sold thru Craig's list and haven't had any problems. However, I asked for and received a bunch of extra photos before traveling to another state to look and eventually buy a coach. I knew what to look for and accepted the premise that the seller wasn't going to tell me everything. He didn't, but that wasn't a problem. I fixed the minor problems (that he didn't have the ability or knowledge to do) and we're happy.

The most serious thing to watch for is roof leakage or any water damage. The other potential serious problem can be the drive train; engine and transmission, which can be expensive to replace. Brakes, suspension components, tires, etc. are all reasonably inexpensive to replace. The house components are supplied to the manufacturers by others and are normally reasonably easy to replace.

[Naio]

rgatijnet1 wrote:
Buying from eBay is no different than buy from a newspaper ad or magazine ad or stopping by a dealer's lot.
It is just another source to find what you are looking for. The exact same cautions exist with all sources...a complete inspection by a competent inspector and YOU. Do not believe pictures and never send money without seeing the coach in person.

Yep.

I found my van online, test drove and inspected in person. It's been great for 4 years now.

[rgatijnet1]

Buying from eBay is no different than buy from a newspaper ad or magazine ad or stopping by a dealer's lot.
It is just another source to find what you are looking for. The exact same cautions exist with all sources...a complete inspection by a competent inspector and YOU. Do not believe pictures and never send money without seeing the coach in person.

[darsben]

bought mine off craigs list AFTER taking to truck mechanic for a POWERTRAIN inspection, compression test, brakes checked etc cost me about $250.00 but I knew the rig was mechanically okay

[midnightsadie]

done both e bay and craigs list both have been good, never ever buy without inspecting the rv. if a deal sounds to good to be true? RUN .as the other post says it all ,use your head when dealing .