Cross Country (twice) Pickup Camper Purchase Experience

[MN_Ben]

I currently own a 2000 Lance 1010 pickup camper. One day while traveling the back roads I came across a 2008 Lance 861 with a slide out. I took a look and really liked what I saw. Unfortunately, the center of gravity fell behind my rear axle on the 2002 F250 long box and I also felt I would be better off looking for one that fit the long box of the truck. This led me to an internet search.

I found Lance makes some nice campers to fit my long box. I imagine there are other manufactures out there that compare or maybe beat Lace in quality, but I am kind of partial to Lance since that is what I purchased after the first long hunt for a quality camper with all the features I wanted. The internet search led me to a Lance 981 Max. All the amenities I was looking for except for the window in the front bed area so we could watch stars and storms while falling asleep. We will miss that. The 981 has the slide out on the driver side instead of the curb side. I felt this makes more sense as most of the time one sets up camp along the passenger side of the camper under the awning. No sense of having a slide out taking up your awning space and also risking smacking your head on it from time to time. Mind you, I have never had a slide out so I do not know if one accidentally walks into them, but I can imagine it happens.

I contemplated the Lance 971 which is the exactly like the 981 except it has the dry bath. This dry bath reduces storage area (cabinet space) quite a bit. The only nice thing I could see about a dry bath is we would have a good spot for the litter box. But we don't even travel with our cat...... yet. Plus the Wife and I always use the CG showers.

So a search of a 981 led me to ads on campingworld.com/rvsales, rvtrader.com, craigslist.org, and every dealer list on truckcampermagazine.com. The easiest and widest search came from http://www.searchtempest.com/. I narrowed my search down to three 981 campers. None of which were close to me here in Minnesota, but I kind of expected I would have to travel to get what I wanted. One was in Colorado, one in California, and one in Massachusetts.

Added features, condition, and price were the driving factors in making my decision. Closest to me was the one in Colorado. Being close would save me a couple of hundred dollars in fuel as well as vacation time away from work. It was most expensive and sat on a dealers lot. This meant an additional cost of tax, something else that adds to the decision making. This one also did not have a side awning, a microwave, or any other options that could have been added. It had the blue fabric throughout the camper, I'm not the fondest of blue. I put this camper low on the list for now.

The 981 in California was in very nice shape and looked homey. It looked well cared for and had more options than the one in Colorado. I like the fact it had nice Carefree awnings on the side and back. It also had removable carpet, spice and knife racks, and a convection microwave. The owner used the generator and maintained it well. Oh yeah, the owner. Sometimes, well, often the initial contact of a seller can be odd. This is understandable if you have ever sold a big ticket item using Craigslist or any other public venue that scammers use to rip people off. After emailing the seller in California I would get one a sentence replies back which almost seemed like they were blowing me off. After a second and third contact and reply with short wordings, I kind of realized the seller was using his cell phone to email and it must be cumbersome to write long answers to the many questions regarding the camper. Finally he just said, "Call me". Which I did, after having to email him one last time asking for his phone number.

A real nice guy, as I would guess any truck camper owner would be. He apologized for the initial skepticism of the inquiry about the 981 as he is used to fighting off scammers. He described the camper and shared issues he has had and resolved. He answered my long list of question and I told him his 981 is on my short list of campers that I am interested in purchasing. After inquiring, he made the comment that he and his wife may be willing to travel east to take one last vacation so I would not have to travel so far to look at/purchase the camper. At a price a couple thousand dollars lower than the one in Colorado, this one just moved to the top of the list. In the back of my mind I was thinking of routes to take to California and how to turn it into a vacation.

One more search of the searchtempest.com site found me a Craigslist ad in Massachusetts. The first thing that caught my attention was the price. It was four thousand lower than the one in California and seven lower than the Colorado 981. The ad was short with a few pictures and a phone number.

I got a hold of the Massachusetts guy and heard all about the Camper. He said he priced it low (12,500) because his cousin backed into it with a truck that contained a ladder rack. The rack punctured a hole in the front of the cabover. I saw pictures of the patch and it looked like it was a very good repair. I told the guy I would like to come and see it and most likely, since the drive is so long, purchase the camper. I also told him I would like everything that may be wrong with the camper disclosed prior to the trip so there would be no surprises when I got there. I asked about the caulking condition, the generator, if there were any generator issues, water damage, etc,etc.

We sent a few email correspondents back and forth, as well as a couple of phone calls. He took additional pictures of the unit and sent them to me. I asked him if he was firm on the price of 12,500 as the add read "or best offer". He said he would take 10K for it. Wow, no haggling or nothing! Great! We hashed out how he may want to get paid and was OK with cash and a bank check. My incredible wife and I scheduled vacation from work and off we went to Massachusetts.

We set out from Minnesota and slept in Toledo the first night and Massachusetts the second. We met the guy and the would be future camper early Saturday morning.

My first impression was.... not impressed. All of the caulk around the unit has black on it, as if the thing was never washed. He told me the calking was all good in previous conversations. The patch in the overhead was there and looked just like the picture, no biggie. It was well patched and looked as if it will never leak. The awnings looked good which is great news. The side compartments were quite dirty, like they never got wiped out. The battery compartment and flush station were run down and never cared for. The grab bar next to the back door to get inside was rusty as were the legs of the electric jacks. Well, OK. Lets take a look inside.

Inside the color was a nice green. The camper had upgrades like the convection/microwave and the stainless steel front fridge. The fridge was cold as was the A/C after it kicked in. The Generator fired right up to power the A/C unit. There were little things that concerned me. The faucet in the bathroom had dirt around where it fastened to the sink indicating it has never been cleaned. I mean icky bathroom dirt. And I mean that faucet had NEVER been cleaned! I never lifted the toilet lid or checked for soft spots around the toilet. The bathroom door rubbed on the top frame slide. This made me inspect the ceiling. Then I saw missing trim where the wall met the ceiling. The normal white plastic trim piping was replaced with a bead of caulk. Fairly fresh caulk. The ceiling was stained in the area. I felt around the fantastic fan and found the ceiling had separated from the support structure above. Above the fridge area was similar signs of a problem. That area was rippled like paneling had been wet and then dried out.

I asked the guy about the ceiling and if there were any water leak problems. He said "no", and that he had noticed the item I was pointing out "just yesterday". He neglected to tell me he put calk in the area most likely hoping I would not see it. I kind of took a deep sigh at this point as this was not what I was expecting to find after communicating with this guy for a few weeks now.

I then went out and crawled up on the roof. The roof caulk seemed OK but did have the black color on it. Upon closer inspection, (really I could see this from ten feet away), there was a 3/32" crack in the caulking all the way around the fantastic fan. I thought to myself, "not good, this explains the ceiling inside". I felt the roof for separation and found it had come detached about one foot all around the fan as well as the whole area between the fan and the A/C unit. I climbed down and went back inside to talk to the guy.

I told him that the roof gave me great concern. He mentioned he had been scraping snow off it all winter. Earlier on the phone he indicated to me he kept it covered. I looked at my wife and I think she could tell I did not want this camper. I asked the guy if he was going to be home all day and if I could call him later as I wanted to go have breakfast and talk it over with my wife. He said "no problem". This was my exit as I knew in the back of my mind I was not coming back. I just felt bad for my incredible wife for having to put up with my pursuit of a camper. Although hours earlier she did mention she loves traveling with me!

My wife and I sat at a coffee shop hashing things over. I'm stressed. She's comforting and supportive. I don't think I mentioned it, but this is my purchase, not my wife's. One of these, "I have my money, she has hers" deals. I do accept, and respect her advise though on these decisions. I tell her "I don't think I want this camper." She said "what does your gut tell you?" I said "I am not going to buy it". "Then lets just enjoy our time out here" she tells me. And a pleasant relief falls over me. Some of it for having an incredible wife, and some of it for not purchasing "a project" I would most likely regret.

I called the guy back and told him I am going to pass on the camper. He apologized regarding me traveling all the way from Minnesota to Massachusetts and not liking the camper. I cut the conversation real short and just said goodbye. I did not want to get into how I asked him to be up front with any issues so I did not find out about them after the trip.

While enjoying our coffee I got back onto RVTrader.com to see if the #2 camper was still listed. It was. I called my #2 choice in California and left a message asking if his camper was still for sale. He eventually called me back and said it was. We chatted about my experience and the condition of his camper and he ensured me it was very well cared for, as he and his wife live in theirs for long periods of time.

While I was looking at RVTrader.com I noticed a camper that I had recently passed up because of the high price, but now the price had dropped by $2000. This price is now in line with the one in California. Low and behold this camper is only five hours away from us down in Pennsylvania. This camper looked and sounded well cared for and just moved into my #1 spot. I discuss traveling the five hours to see it with my wife. She is not too excited about being disappointed again and the possibility of not bringing the camper home with us as the bank check is now pretty much useless to us. I send off an email through the website explaining my window of opportunity to view/purchase the camper and leave it at that. We then go enjoy the streets of Boston.

After a morning walking the streets in downtown Boston we met up with my cousin. She took us to The Black Cow restaurant in Newburyport. We sat out on the patio and watched the sail boats and catamaran cruising along the Merrimack River. I did not feel bad about the camper as I got to visit with my cousin who I do not see too often. After walking the shops of Newburyport we head back to Boston and say our goodbyes, My wife and I then make our plan for a return trip to Minnesota via Niagara Falls. We retreat to one of the worst hotels in the Boston area, Best Western. I don't recommend it. Next time I will stay at my cousin's home. I should have taken her up on the offer of the guest room, but had already gotten a great rate on the hotel.

All packed the following morning we are about to start our journey home to Minnesota, stopping at Niagara Falls for some sight seeing. I drop the truck into reverse and all of a sudden the phone rings. It is the camper from Pennsylvania. It is available, just serviced at the local dealer with new waste valves and roof calking. After further conversation it sounds like it would be worth looking at. What the heck, a five hour drive is better than planning a trip to California.

We had south west to Pennsylvania, the falls will have to wait. On the drive down I play out in my mind ways to make this purchase work, having a bank check made out to someone else is not going to fly. The Pennsylvania guy told me he has a second person that he has been communicating with in Maryland coming to look at the camper the following day. If this is the one for us, I don't want to let it get away and end up planning a trip to California. I'm glad I brought along a couple of G's for a possible partial payment.

We drop down into a beautiful valley along route 309 and come up to the address the guy gave us. We pull in the driveway and see the camper. The first look is a relief. It is clean. No black caulk like the last camper. We meet the seller who is a very nice young man and inspect the camper. I check for water damage in the ceiling, roof and even the wings. None. The bathroom was spotless. The dinette and kitchen area were clean and well cared for. It had one busted latch on the hamper door but that is the only damage. There were factory upgrades like a Yakama roof rack. rear and side awnings, DVD entertainment center, Satellite dish/antenna, stainless steel fridge panel and a 2500 Cummins Onan generator. We could see this camper was well cared for.

So, now to hash out a deal for the purchase. The seller brought in his brother who was more on the business side of their 15 year successful concrete business. We agreed on a down payment of the cash I had and wrote up a bill of sale. The only down side was I would have to make a second trip back to pick up the camper with the balance of the funds. We were all happy shook hands and went on our way towards New York to see Niagara Falls. Along the way I insured the camper.

Back in Minnesota I prepared my current Lance 1010 to be put up for sale on Craigslist and a couple of Face Book Men's garage sale pages. I did not need to spend a lot of time cleaning the camper. Most of it was my incredible wife pulling all of our supplies out . Wow did we have a lot of stuff in there, too much stuff. A good wipe down, vacuuming, and exterior wash and she was ready for the selling block.

I took as many pictures as I could with my good Sony DSLR camera. The clean empty camper and good photos made all the difference. I have to agree with my incredible wife they look much better than the cell phone photos taken with some of our personal belongings in the pictures.

Calls started coming in the next day. After four days my camper is sold to a gentleman and his wife from Texas. Along with good communication and complete honesty, what really sealed his confidence of buying a sight unseen camper from over a thousand miles away was the extensive 45 minute video I took for him, pointing out everything I possible could for him to see. I tucked the 1010 back in the garage waiting for his arrival in a couple of weeks.

In the mean time my incredible wife and I prepare for another long trip out east. This time we will not be paying the $100 or so we spent last time on the toll roads. I mapped out a new route. We headed out late Wednesday morning after a couple of hours of work. We skirted the south side of Chicago, thank God. I never want to travel through there again. After the first day of travel we ended up in a cheap Extended Stay motel somewhere in the Toledo area. Back on the road the next morning and we made good time getting to our Pennsylvania destination, that beautiful valley along route 309. We see our new camper once again.

We make one last final inspection of the unit. The seller hands over the all the manuals and paperwork that came with the camper, and of course, the keys. I give him the remaining payment and we shake hands. The light drizzle stopped just as we start getting the thing loaded. The upgrades I have been doing to the truck for the last month or so paid off. The unit felt slightly heavier than the old 1010, but the well equipped F250 handled it well. Finally, the truck and camper are now one. They are a good fit.

Our first night out with the new rig.... Gander Mountain parking lot, along side a half dozen other rigs boon-docking for free just as we are. We hit two other campgrounds for a nights sleep on our journey home to Minnesota. We are eager to get it home and make it our own.

Monday morning we scrub her up real good. Every inch of the inside gets hit with cleaner. The outside, a good wash and wax. It feels much better now, must have been the left over cookie crumbs from the previous owner that made it feel a little off. Now that we are able to put our own camping equipment in the rig, complete with the mascot of a stuffed meerkat, it really feels like ours. And in two weeks, our true inaugural camping trip with the new girl. She should serve us well for many years to come.

As for the Lance 1010, the new owner is ecstatic to have found such a fine camper after traveling half way across the country. I know the feeling.

Ben

[pasusan]

Yah - I enjoyed your story too - thanks for giving us the whole thing!

Can empathize with your frustration at the long drive to find out the seller wasn't exactly truthful. We had a similar experience flying to Florida to pick up a classic car that was totally off what the guy said on the phone and in emails (and sometimes pictures can really fool you). Lost 1000 bucks on that trip!

We also had a similar story when buying our trailer - we found what we wanted, then searched for one. The first 2 we saw didn't turn out to be acceptable, but at least they were not too terribly far away. Then the third was perfect and we drove 1000 miles to get it.

Have fun with your new camper. 🙂

[nycsteve]

I enjoyed the story. I only have the attention span needed when its a subject Im interested in. I read all of your post 🙂 Good luck with your new camper.

[MN_Ben]

I guess it is time to change the picture in my signature.
I didn't realize so many readers traveled so far to get what they wanted like I did. I actually did the same thing in search for my 7.3 F250. Finally found exactly what I wanted in Utah. We met in Billings Montana for the exchange, I bought his truck and he bought mine. While I was upgrading to a F250, he was downsizing to a Ranger. Worked out quite well for the both of us, thankfully.
Ben

[Reality_Check]

Loved it... I read the part where you were in MA in the coffee shop with the wife, to my wife. And I just smiled. Goodness in a relationship comes through at the oddest and yet, most predictable times.

And for those that think spelling, grammar, etc, don't matter...go pound sand.

I've bought several things long distance... trucks, even the last camper, semi's, heavy equipment accessories.... There is a knack, feeling will you, for weeding one's way through CL ads and what not. Don't get hungry and trust your gut.

Thanks for the story

[dakonthemountai]

Thanks for sharing your story! What a fun adventure with a happy ending! Here's to many, many happy miles and nights with your new to you camper!

Cheers! 🙂

Dak

[slickrock_steve]

Well....I loved reading the account, and may even use his post as a supplemental guideline .

[bka0721]

Glad you had a successful conclusion to your purchase.

Like many here, they have gone great distances to find that one special Truck Camper. Yes, your posting was more of a story, than a report. In fact, well written. But like many others, I initially passed on the length but after reading the comments went back and read your post. Granted, 60-70% of what you wrote actually did not pertain to your Subject Title. Something more often than not, found in the Forum; Around the Campfire.

Thanks again for sharing.

b

[54suds]

gbopp wrote:
That's probably the longest and most detailed post I've ever seen on the forum. Congrats to the OP.

And thanks for using paragraphs. 🙂

ditto
🙂

[gbopp]

That's probably the longest and most detailed post I've ever seen on the forum. Congrats to the OP.

And thanks for using paragraphs. 🙂

[Stars101]

OP - the only thing worse than traveling a long distance to see a unit that wasn't represented honestly from a private seller is to do the EXACT same thing, only from a dealer!

Been there, done that. Still royally steamed about it. We did the same thing and couldn't believe the terrible condition of the "gently used" RV on the dealer's lot. Filthy, water damaged, broken siding, etc. And they knew we were traveling from a great distance.

[Stars101]

Quote: "Wow I read the first two paragraphs and realized this is too long for me and probably many here to read...."

Was it too hard to concentrate for the length of time it took to read the post? Or was it an issue with reading comprehension?

There are medications that can help with the first... and elementary schools that can assist with the second.

I only read posts that A) catch my interest and B) I think I might enjoy.

The OP's post captured my interest and I enjoyed the narrative - with ALL the details! Thanks for sharing. It gave me a chuckle to know that other people do the same things that my DH and I do 🙂

P.S. - If you find long paragraphs difficult to decipher why on earth would you comment on it when you never even read it!?

[jmcgsd]

Enjoy the 981. I purchased a 981 Max new in 2005 and had it until Feb of 2014. We really enjoyed it, but wanted more room so traded it on a TT. Then I miss d having a TC so now I have the trailer and the older Lance 880.

To me the 981 Max was the ideal TC. It was not too big, with the single slide you had access to the toilet and reefer with the slide closed, you could tow with a 24" extension, and it fit almost anywhere.

BTW, at least when we purchased in'05 the definition of "Max" was that there were hardly any options. Everything was "standard." I believe the generator may have been the only option on the Lance invoice. Convection oven, carpet kit, Saniflush, etc. were standard.

The other interesting thing, at least at our dealer was that they had both the 981Max and 1181Max in stock. They were priced exactly the same. We went with the 981 because at the time my wife thought she'd be towing a horse trailer.

[FireGuard]

Congrats, you will love the 981.
Sounds like an adventure and the search can be half the fun. Good job doing a thorough inspection and preventing a major headache with a leaking roof.
Of 5 TCs I've owned, the 981 was my favorite.
Watch your tires it's a heavy camper, I carried mine on a DRW.
Enjoy

[Yaj]

Wow I read the first two paragraphs and realized this is too long for me and probably many here to read....

And the issue you have with posts that long is the quoting of it above..^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

After the first two paragraphs I scrolled to the last sentence...


So all I can say is im glad the guy liked your old TC..

Post way way too long IMO and thats all I got out of it...


Sry......:h

I hope others enjoy it...






Wow I can't believe you quoted the whole thing just to try to make a point!
I ,for one, enjoyed reading the whole post. Quite informative and helpful if you are about to make a large purchase aways away.