New or used?

[jf504mp]

I just finished reading the post of LJ4174. Sounds like he got a lemon. I don't intend to hijack his thread but I am going to be looking for another camper. I am fortunate that I live in central Indiana and can drive to Elkhart In. where there are a lot of choices since many campers are mfg. in that area. There are many dealers with lots of trade ins to look at also.
I like to look at used campers for just the reasons he wrote about. I would be sick if I were in his place.
Am I being paranoid? I sure don't want to lay out money for a brand new one and end up hating it because some one on the assembly line wasn't doing their job that day!
Buying a trade in you can expect some imperfections and know you have to live with them or fix them yourself.
If you have the time to comment on your preferences and why, I think it would be very helpful to others. Thanks for reading this and I am looking forward to your comments...John

[loulou57]

scbwr wrote:

loulou57 wrote:
Our friends bought a new trailer.......

Only it was not "new". It had never been registered so the dealer said it was new, technically on paper it was new.

They found an onion, kleenex under the mattress and worse the black tank had "product" in it.

Having paid for it in full they figured they had no choice but to keep it.
My hubby said call a lawyer but they are not ones to make an issue. They love the trailer but the dealer?

In hindsight now they say they should have noticed. Everything looked ok on pick up however the plastic coverings were gone from things. The dealer said that he had removed everything for them.

Dealers like the one they had make reputable ones automatically questionable.

Wow! At the least, they should have confronted the dealer and asked for an adjustment in the price. If the dealer refused to do anything, it would have been worth a few bucks to have a lawyer write a letter stating what action could be taken based upon the laws of which province they lived in. To take it without saying anything is foolish, but I do understand how some people are about confrontation and dispute.



I hope they ended up liking the trailer!

I asked hubby if he heard anything more.....they insisted dealer put in new mattresses. The dealer has also given them free winter storage. Apparently , the dealer has never admitted his "mistake" or apologized. He certainly has lost some business through word of mouth. I don't think they would deal there again, we will not go there either.

They love the trailer. It still has the new smell but they will always consider it a used trailer they say.

[NanciL]

Speaking for myself, I like something new that has never been used, so I bought both of our TT's brand new.
With that said when we traded in our first one, it was in mint condition, so whoever ended up buying that got a good deal.

Jack L

[scbwr]

loulou57 wrote:
Our friends bought a new trailer.......

Only it was not "new". It had never been registered so the dealer said it was new, technically on paper it was new.

They found an onion, kleenex under the mattress and worse the black tank had "product" in it.

Having paid for it in full they figured they had no choice but to keep it.
My hubby said call a lawyer but they are not ones to make an issue. They love the trailer but the dealer?

In hindsight now they say they should have noticed. Everything looked ok on pick up however the plastic coverings were gone from things. The dealer said that he had removed everything for them.

Dealers like the one they had make reputable ones automatically questionable.

Wow! At the least, they should have confronted the dealer and asked for an adjustment in the price. If the dealer refused to do anything, it would have been worth a few bucks to have a lawyer write a letter stating what action could be taken based upon the laws of which province they lived in. To take it without saying anything is foolish, but I do understand how some people are about confrontation and dispute.

I hope they ended up liking the trailer!

[loulou57]

Our friends bought a new trailer.......

Only it was not "new". It had never been registered so the dealer said it was new, technically on paper it was new.

They found an onion, kleenex under the mattress and worse the black tank had "product" in it.

Having paid for it in full they figured they had no choice but to keep it.
My hubby said call a lawyer but they are not ones to make an issue. They love the trailer but the dealer?

In hindsight now they say they should have noticed. Everything looked ok on pick up however the plastic coverings were gone from things. The dealer said that he had removed everything for them.

Dealers like the one they had make reputable ones automatically questionable.

[ddschuman]

We bought used first and got a great deal but the TT didn't exactly fit our "wants" for comfort. We traded it for a new 5th wheel (in my signature) and couldn't be happier. We have had it since April and have taken many trips. Other than tightening a thing or two that came loose on the first trip, our trips have been fairly flawless. Many on here say that the original owner on a new camper has to work all the bugs out so buying used is the way to go. We fortunately haven't had any bugs so far to work out. We got lucky, I guess. Whatever you decide, just make sure you do a thorough PDI before taking delivery. Anything that doesn't meet your 100% satisfaction that day should be addressed and fixed before acceptance. I have been told that it is very hard to get things worked on after the camper leaves the lot...thankfully, I haven't needed to find out first hand. Good luck and happy camping!

[Dennis_Smith]

Buy used and pay cash. Buy a little older and smaller and no monthly payments. I know I am a cash person but it doen't take long to save up for a used RV

[ByTheRvr]

If you been around RV's for a few years you're bound to hear horror stories around both new and used purchases. I have been very lucky with both my used trailer purchases. In both cases I spent money either fixing or changing things to bring them up to specs I would be happy and comfortable with. The primary reason I bought used was price. You always take a risk buying a used trailer just as you take a risk buying a used car or truck. Be prepared to spend money above the purchase price. On the bright side, many trailers have been rarely used with few towed miles. Do your homework and trust your gut. Good luck.

[Desert_Captain]

If you are thinking about buying new be aware of a few facts:

Lemons come in two flavors.... new and used.

New warranties are only as good as the nearby dealer is willing to make them.

Buying new is fun and a lot easier but very expensive contrasted with used.

Buying used is a lot more work but will save you thousands or even tens of thousands.

New or used the internet is your friend.

If you buy a late model, lightly used RV the little things will have been fixed and anything major will be glaringly apparent.

If you buy used it will probably come with a lot of stuff, again saving you serious $$$.

In many states (Arizona being one), there is no sales tax on private party sales.

When you get free advice (like this), you get what you paid for. Good luck! :B

[scbwr]

There's no one answer that would work for all people. A used trailer can be a bargain based on price, but the purchaser has to have enough knowledge to really check out the unit for any problems, especially dreaded water leaks and resulting rot, delamination, etc. If you know a RV service tech or facility that you can trust, you can arrange to have a unit inspected, just as you would with a used vehicle. And, if all goes well, you can save $$ by buying used, possibly buying a better trailer than you could afford if you were buyinng new. But, once you buy it, any problems that arise are your headache. How big of a headache will depend on whether you can do a lot of fixing or repairing. If you have to have someone else work on it...you know that with today's shop rates, it's going to cost.

Buying new gives you the advantage of a warranty. How much of an advantage depends on the warranty itself and the support provided by the dealer where it was purchased, or the dealership that will provide warranty service for that specific brand of trailer.

Our first Starcraft pop-up was purchased used and it was fantastic. But we only used it for a year, and decided that it was too small. Second popup was purchased new. It had two major problems...axle and roof failure. Starcraft and local dealer were fantastic at getting it fixed. Third popup was new, and I don't think we ever had any warranty issues, and served us well for 10 years.
Our Sunline TR280 was purchased new, and only had a couple of warranty issues. Again, the dealership was A-1 in taking care of the problems...biggest one was a leaky window.

Sooo....bottom line is that their are pros and cons to buying used or new. What's best for a new buyer really can't be determined by anyone except the buyer. If you lack knowledge and hate any risk, purchasing new may be the best route. If you know what to look our for, and can stand a bit of a risk, a used trailer can provide a lot of $$ savings, and the small warranty issues may have already been taken care of. So...how do any of us advise someone else aside from telling them to do as much research as possible and learn what to check.

[whaletail]

We're new RVers. I'm in my third pull trailer since June 2012. First two were used and pretty nice but smaller. Finally bought new Skyline Koala 26ss to fit our needs. First two trailers didn't quite make us happy to stay in for a week or more. We bought new because we couldn't find a used one like we wanted that we could haul with a half ton Silverado. Plus the dealership is 15 minutes away and the factory is only an hour and half from home. So long story short, I wouldn't want to buy new unless the dealership was really close by.

[Lowsuv]

i bought 3 late model used in a row over 7 years before I purchased my current trailer .
In 2001 I ordered a factory built 21T Komfort .
It shipped 5 weeks later as a 2002 model year trailer .
I still have it .
It took me 7 years to learn enough of features , quality , and other nuances that were important to me .
In those 7 years I attended lots of RV shows every year and I also quizzed fellow campers as to their likes /dislikes of the TT they owned .
If you buy used you have the option of trading into what works best for you without a huge cost penalty .

[Bumpyroad]

plenty of posts here over the years where a RVer gives up on a lemon and sells it.
bumpy