Tips Needed for Buying first Travel Trailer

wintersun wrote:

I was surprised initially when looking at used RV's how lightly used the majority were that were for sale. Often people would only use them 2-3 weeks out of the year and quite often had not used them at all for the past several years. I saw numerous ads where it stated that the stove had never been used or the toilet was never used by the owners. I know people, including my wife and I, who have never used the shower in their RV's preferring to use the ones at the campgrounds and parks.

I would agree with this. Our first TT was a little 19-ft, no slide model, brand new. It was great, but within 18 months we knew it was too small for 2 adults, 2 teens and a standard poodle. It was just about immaculate and we got almost what we paid for it on trade. Our next one was a well-cared for 30-ft with a huge slide. It was a great trailer, but too big for our SUV.

When we were looking for our current trailer, we knew we wanted to downsize to something similar to that first one. Our kids are grown and no longer camp with us, so we didn't need the bunkhouse and we don't care for the slide and it's upkeep. So we found a nice 25-ft, no slide, about 5 years old in near-perfect condition. It even had that new trailer smell--it couldn't have been used very much. We are loving it and we can put it into practically any site. I think we finally got it right!

I prefer well-kept, used TTs--no water damage, no odors, very clean--but I can see why people like new. Our first trailer had no problems at all. We never had to use the warranty(although we did have to use the insurance when I hit the awning of a restaurant because I was looking at Mt. Shasta :R )