Buying Used with Delamination?

[StaceyM]

We are shopping for our first travel trailer, and on a pretty tight budget. We found a 2007 Keystone Zeppelin that appears in some pictures to have a de-lamination problem on the front and back panels. We haven't seen it in person yet. Any opinions if we should walk away? The price is pretty good, but not sure how expensive repairs could be. If it's just a cosmetic issue, we could live with that for the sake of our budget.
Thanks!

[dodge_guy]

goducks10 wrote:
It may not be delam. A lot of times the front and rear are not bonded panels. On the front the filon panel is just folded over the front and fastened on the perimeter. The rear is the same way and could have a large window or in the case of a rear kitchen it could have the vents and covers used as part of the sandwich process. Our Heartland North Trail was that way. It had what looked like delam but was in fact just puckers in the filon form expansion.

We have a Camping World dealership next to the freeway and when I drive by and the sun is at the right angle you can see all the wavy puckers on the back of the Keystone Laredo TT's they sell.

If you like the trailer and the price is good it's worth checking out. It could just be a cosmetic thing.

I agree, my buddy had a Keystone Outback and the front wall was the same way. He fiberglass (filon) is not attached to anything so what looks like Delamination may just be normal. Look it over real good for signs of water damage at the front and rear lower interior corners.

Ugh! And now I just read that this is a 4 year old post. Curious to know what the OP found and did?

[OleManOleCan]

Walk away. There's more than one fish in the sea.

[wing_zealot]

You do know you are responding to a 4 year old post right? I'm pretty sure he's made up his mind by now.

[Huntindog]

How cheap is cheap?
I don't think delamination is possible for most to fix at a reasonable cost... But that doesn't always mean the unit is worthless. It may be possible to get many years of service out of it. I would look it over carefully to see if there is rot, if not, and it is servicable, and so cheap that I did not care if I never got any money out of it down the road..... I would consider it.

For instance. When I bought my house in a great neighborhood in 1991, my realtor dissed the house as it backed up to a busy street. Said I could expect a 5-10% hit on the price when I sold it.... I asked him if that was true of the price I was about to pay/bid then (it was a HUD auction home)... He said no, that I was actually getting it a lot cheaper than that. So at that time, I would not have been able to afford a house in that neighborhood that did not back up to that busy street. I won the bid, bought the house, and still live in it. Someday I will sell it.

[Huntindog]

How cheap is cheap?
I don't think delamination is possible for most to fix at a reasonable cost... But that doesn't always mean the unit is worthless. It may be possible to get many years of service out of it. I would look it over carefully to see if there is rot, if not, and it is servicable, and so cheap that I did not care if I never got any money out of it down the road..... I would consider it.

For instance. When I bought my house in a great neighborhood in 1991, my realtor dissed the house as it backed up to a busy street. Said I could expect a 5-10% hit on the price when I sold it.... I asked him if that was true of the price i was about to pay/bid then (it was a HUD auction home)... He said no, that I was actually getting it a lot cheaper than that. So at that time, I would not have been able to afford a house in that neighborhood that did not back up to that busy street. I won the bid, bought the house, and still live in it. Someday I will sell it.

[goducks10]

StaceyM wrote:

goducks10 wrote:
It may not be delam. A lot of times the front and rear are not bonded panels. On the front the filon panel is just folded over the front and fastened on the perimeter. The rear is the same way and could have a large window or in the case of a rear kitchen it could have the vents and covers used as part of the sandwich process. Our Heartland North Trail was that way. It had what looked like delam but was in fact just puckers in the filon form expansion.

We have a Camping World dealership next to the freeway and when I drive by and the sun is at the right angle you can see all the wavy puckers on the back of the Keystone Laredo TT's they sell.

If you like the trailer and the price is good it's worth checking out. It could just be a cosmetic thing.

I'm wondering if you're right on this situation... maybe it's not delam at all. In the pictures the front and back panel look all over wavy, not exactly like the bubbles I've seen in other pictures of delam. How can I find out if the panels on this particular model are attached that way?

Thanks to everyone for your advice. We're seriously considering your warnings to RUN :).

I guess you could call the manufacture and ask. Other than that you would physically need to go see it. You can just push on the front and rear and feel the flex. I have a 5th wheel that has a filon type rear. It's bonded and not just hanging there fastened on the edges. You can really feel how solid it is. It's built just like the sides are. No waves or puckers.

Personally I would look else where. I just don't think I could stand to look at the wavy front and back ends of my trailer no matter how cheap I got it for. Then if you sell it a few years down the road you will have to deal with these issue from the sellers end of it.

[Nvr2loud]

m11nine wrote:
Many used RVs will seem cheap from the outside, especially compared to new retails, but the used market is not that liquid and prices are far lower than you may realize (Better than a timeshare, but worse than your last new car.) One with such potential problems should be virtually given away, IMO.

I think its a very bad idea to take this risk when there are tons of bargains out there with no damage at all.

Get a lot of hands-on, in-person, advice from friends before this deal, please.

+1 very good advice.

I like your "better then a timeshare" comment, those can certainly be money traps LOL. We purchase all our timeshare weeks resale from others who have learned the expensive way! Same with the TT, we only purchase used.

[westend]

Maybe this one in Roanoke VA with a dent in the front cap??

[2012Coleman]

Why don't you post/provide a link to the pictures?

[hohenwald48]

Everybody seems to say "run". I think a lot depends on how much you are to do any of the work that might be necessary. If you're the kind who has to call an electrician to change a light bulb then "run" might be the answer. However, if you are able to rebuild a totaled DC3 then "run" might not be the appropriate thing to do.

Depends on your skill levels, desire to invest the time to repair if needed and determining if there is even a problem in the first place.

I don't know you. Maybe others do. At any rate, if there is in fact some long standing delam then there may be a bit of work to do. If you get it at the right price it may still be worth it.

[penguin747]

Run

[lizzie]

We sold our Crossroads Sunset Trail that had delamination issues to our neighbor for about 1/2 of it's recommended retail. They were very familiar with the TT and I had all of the receipts from the work that had already been done. Fortunately the unseen issues were not severe; no mold or mildew and only a small amount of rot. They got a good TT at a reasonable price, we got some of our money out of it and felt comfortable with an honest sale. The point being that delamination is not the end of the world. You need to be pretty sure you know the extent of the damage, whether or not you can repair it inexpensively, and you need to get it cheap. lizzie

[StaceyM]

goducks10 wrote:
It may not be delam. A lot of times the front and rear are not bonded panels. On the front the filon panel is just folded over the front and fastened on the perimeter. The rear is the same way and could have a large window or in the case of a rear kitchen it could have the vents and covers used as part of the sandwich process. Our Heartland North Trail was that way. It had what looked like delam but was in fact just puckers in the filon form expansion.

We have a Camping World dealership next to the freeway and when I drive by and the sun is at the right angle you can see all the wavy puckers on the back of the Keystone Laredo TT's they sell.

If you like the trailer and the price is good it's worth checking out. It could just be a cosmetic thing.

I'm wondering if you're right on this situation... maybe it's not delam at all. In the pictures the front and back panel look all over wavy, not exactly like the bubbles I've seen in other pictures of delam. How can I find out if the panels on this particular model are attached that way?

Thanks to everyone for your advice. We're seriously considering your warnings to RUN :).

[ugh]

If delamination is caused by water getting behind the panels, would there be molds? That is what I am afraid of.