I Bought A Travel Trailer I Had Never Seen (in person)

[DallasSteve]

I bought a travel trailer that I found on the Internet having never seen it in person. The dealer's ad is still up. I'll post a link below. I searched RV Trader and other websites to get an idea of what was available and what was a good price.

I wanted a new bunkhouse model with a separate bunk room. I'm not using it as a bedroom. I'm using it as storage and for my electronic piano. It's long, 36 feet and my truck is long and it has been a nightmare for me to drive and park, but I'm settled in my summer RV park where I plan to spend 6 months in North Carolina so the stress of driving it is behind me for now.

I started searching back about December knowing that I wanted it before April. I priced similar models in Texas and they were at least $5K more expensive. Some may have had more features like a second AC or something, but I was going for economy and I was even willing to take the "sticks and tin" version like this one. I know the Jayco name so I wasn't too worried about value in that respect. I found this one in Knoxville, Tennessee and I thought, "I'm going to North Carolina. I'll just pick it up next door." So I also saved some money not pulling it over 1,000 miles and paying more short term parks.

I closed the deal in February sight unseen, except I had seen their Internet photos. They agreed to let me keep it on their lot until April 30. I picked it up on April 4. Am I satisfied with the trailer? Well, I don't know if I would say satisfied. There are a lot of cheap build items in the trailer and I'm not happy with a lot of the storage in the kitchen, the bed sucks, and the front door doesn't close very well. I'm concerned some day I won't be able to get it shut. But I can work around those things. I would say I am satisfied with the purchase and I would probably do it again because of the price. It serves my needs and I think I got a good deal.

Edit: Part of the reason I was willing to trust the dealer is because it is part of a chain of family owned dealerships around the Tennessee area named Dunlap RV. I looked them over on the Internet and took a calculated risk. I didn't get burned, but it could be a risky approach to take. Maybe very risky.

My New Jay Flight - The Dealer's Ad

[Trackrig]

I flew from Alaska to Colorado to buy our DP sight unseen. I had over 100 pictures of various things I wanted to see.

I drove from Alaska to Idaho to pick up a Nash TT, again with a lot of pictures.

You need to know something about what you're buying, get a lot of pictures and have a lot of talks with the seller. It's certainly doable.

Bill