Need help with a Exterior problem

[Adrian2Door]

I was looking to buy a new Trailer but the trailer has some cracks on the exterior. I was wondering if anyone has an idea what it could be and if it repairable for a reasonable price.





Pictures https://imgur.com/a/5rEHOm1

[Adrian2Door]

Gdetrailer wrote:

badsix wrote:
most totals are because of the labor cost. if your skilled and have the tools to repair, yes it can be a good deal. but probably not for resale.
Jay D.

^^^THIS^^^

IF you were to attempt to have a RV dealer repair major damage it will cost you an arm, leg, both your kidneys, first born and perhaps if you are lucky your heart as well..

Dealer labor is not cheap, going shop rate can be anything between $100-$160 PER HR..

I suspect the trailer from the little bit of picture will easily hit 100 man hrs at a minimum just to remove the outside and inside paneling and re square the slide then replace any broken studs or structural parts then reassemble..

100 man hrs at $160 per hr for the labor alone is $16,000.. and I suspect that is being on the low side of the real cost to repair properly..

This is ONLY a project for someone who is a HANDY MAN and has a lot of spare time on their hands and yet the result WILL be a trailer that IS unsalable due to the salvage title..

In other words, a "LABOR OF LOVE".

And yes I have rebuilt not one but to completely rotted out trailers, my current trailer took NINE MONTHS of me working every night for 2 hrs and every weekend (8-10hrs per day on the weekends).. It is not for the faint of heart..

Ya thanks for the information I’m gonna stick with getting a trailer with interior damage because I have experience in repairing it.

[Gdetrailer]

badsix wrote:
most totals are because of the labor cost. if your skilled and have the tools to repair, yes it can be a good deal. but probably not for resale.
Jay D.

^^^THIS^^^

IF you were to attempt to have a RV dealer repair major damage it will cost you an arm, leg, both your kidneys, first born and perhaps if you are lucky your heart as well..

Dealer labor is not cheap, going shop rate can be anything between $100-$160 PER HR..

I suspect the trailer from the little bit of picture will easily hit 100 man hrs at a minimum just to remove the outside and inside paneling and re square the slide then replace any broken studs or structural parts then reassemble..

100 man hrs at $160 per hr for the labor alone is $16,000.. and I suspect that is being on the low side of the real cost to repair properly..

This is ONLY a project for someone who is a HANDY MAN and has a lot of spare time on their hands and yet the result WILL be a trailer that IS unsalable due to the salvage title..

In other words, a "LABOR OF LOVE".

And yes I have rebuilt not one but to completely rotted out trailers, my current trailer took NINE MONTHS of me working every night for 2 hrs and every weekend (8-10hrs per day on the weekends).. It is not for the faint of heart..

[Gdetrailer]

Lynnmor wrote:
I know of a trailer purchased recently that was totaled and it had very minimal damage. A dealer will do the assessment and determine that the cost of repair is too much giving him the opportunity to sell a new unit.

If the damage to the trailer in question is limited to the slide, I would buy it in a heartbeat.

:R

Dealer does not "asses" anything, your INSURANCE ADJUSTER is the one that "assesses" the damage, determines how much labor by industry standards, cost of materials then writes up and submits the paperwork and cuts the check.

The INSURANCE ADJUSTER will determine from the labor and materials cost to repair vs the value of the trailer. IF the cost to repair EXCEEDS THE VALUE (pretty darn easy to do with a depreciating asset like a RV) then they SCRAP THE TRAILER (IE TOTAL).

They sometimes will cut the check then offer the trailer at scrap value to the owner of the trailer with the caveat that it is no longer insurable.

Some states may prohibit that, PA if title gets marked salvage it MUST go to a SALVAGE YARD, do not pass go, do not collect $200. Salvaged title cannot be registered and plated, to get rid of the salvage stamp would require getting a RECONSTRUCTED TITLE and you will have to show proof of parts and repairs. Reconstructed title will lose the manufacturers name and date of manufacture..

[badsix]

most totals are because of the labor cost. if your skilled and have the tools to repair, yes it can be a good deal. but probably not for resale.
Jay D.

[Lynnmor]

I know of a trailer purchased recently that was totaled and it had very minimal damage. A dealer will do the assessment and determine that the cost of repair is too much giving him the opportunity to sell a new unit.

If the damage to the trailer in question is limited to the slide, I would buy it in a heartbeat.

[mgirardo]

Keep in mind, the insurance company deemed it too expensive to repair properly and totaled it.

-Michael

[Gdetrailer]

Adrian2Door wrote:

jfkmk wrote:

BarabooBob wrote:
That may be a "new' trailer but it is also a damaged trailer. I think that there is something wrong to have that many cracks in the sides. Maybe the frame is screwed up and putting tension on the side panels. I personally would not buy it.

I agree with this! This trailer is new??

The trailer is a 2018 but has a salvage title do to storm damage.

AND yet another person who will be whining about the title getting branded "salvage" down the road..

Honest to goodness, unless you are willing to do ALL as ENTIRE LABOR WORK you will never, ever be able to "recoop" the labor costs of this type of repair.

You have a compromised structural repair, most likely will need to remove the interior paneling and the exterior fiber glass in order to straighten out the racking which happened.

You most likely would be further ahead to build a completely new from scratch slide then remove the damaged slide and put your home built slid in place.

There is no telling just how bad the racking damage to the wall but it was plenty enough to rip the fiberglass AND the wood substrate under it.

RUN, do not just walk away from it.. There is way too many better used RVs out there and I doubt you are going to get a "deal" on a auction/salvage unit and it will have a salvage title to haunt you the rest of your life too boot.

[Grit_dog]

That could be a steal for someone. And maybe totally serviceable as is depending how you use it.
The problem is, if you have to ask the internet, it means your not very well versed in the subject, so with that, be very cautious of what you’re getting.
Those cracks “seem” like maybe slide was out in extreme wind. And got racked?

[Woodtroll]

No matter how cheap, it's not worth it unless you have money and a lot of your own time to put into it. If you don't have time and knowledge to do it yourself, that means you will be paying a professional to do all the repair work, which means you could spend that money on a different trailer.

Short version, in most cases I would say PASS! Good luck with your decision.

[badsix]

have you checked to make sure the slide go's in and out? can't really tell from the pictures but it looks like maybe something came down on top of it. looks like most of the damage is on the slide. do you possibly have more pictures? you can get the new siding material from most any major rv repair place, they will have it on a roll. if you can get it CHEEP it might be a good deal. I've bought a few totaled cars before, i'm in the autobody business. if you buying it for yourself good, if your trying to make money off of it good luck. that salvage title will kill you.it may be ok after you fix it but NO ONE will want to buy it.

Jay D.

[GrandpaKip]

Any competent fiberglass repair guy could fix the cracks. Paint would be the biggest factor and you seem to have that covered.
Can’t imagine it would cost over a grand, as long as there is no structural damage.
You will also have a salvage title which can affect resale, trade in, etc.
Only you can determine if it’s worth it. The price would have to be pretty phenomenal for me to take it.

[rfporzio]

Just move on!! Plenty of fish in the sea.

2012 Tacoma
2018 Prolite Plus S

[Mfan]

Run away

[SidecarFlip]

Storm damage? Now I'm wondering if maybe the 'storm' blew it over on it's side or twisted it in some way. Filon is brittle and the only way for it to crack like that is if it was stressed.

Problem is, it really cannot be repaired without panel replacement unless you can get it for a rock bottom price and just cabbage up the cracks and call it goo. Will be ugly but workable (if the price is low enough).