Purchased TT (undisclosed salvage title came in the mail)

[gunninks]

So we purchased a travel trailer (2005 Wildwood LE 25EX) from a dealer that does repairs and has been around many many years. They told me they bought it from an insurance company. It wasn't an overly great deal in my opinion (6k) but is solid all the way around and is exactly what we were looking for to fit our family and current towing vehicle. The TT is in very good shape but it's obvious that it has been repaired in the front where the fold down bunk is. It seems very solid, I checked all the inside corners and the floorboard under the bunks. everything works as it should and there are no leaks. We almost got burned on another deal, the last minute we found extensive damage on the floorboards under the rear bunks and walked away immediately. In other words, we are very happy with it. I am sure we will use it for years before we decide to upgrade.

The problem and my worry is that when the title came in the mail, it was orange and states 'flood' under the 'Brand or Legend' section. This fact was not disclosed to us during the sale. Looking over sales agreement after the fact, I am fairly certain I did not over look anything. If this was disclosed before hand, I would have thought long and hard about the deal and probably would have asked for a lot less.

I know we purchased it AS-IS but what gives?? I am fairly certain this practice is considered 'Dealer Fraud'. Is there any thing I should do about this? Also, do I need to call State Farm and let them know? Most likely I will since it seems like the right thing to do.

If anyone has any thoughts, positive or negative please let me know. I guess if anything, I learned that Used Travel Trailer Sellers and Dealers can be shady...

Thanks,
~Steve

[falconbrother]

I bought a salvage title trailer back in like, 1993. It was a 1991 Prowler that had come unhitched and ran off into a ditch. It had some scratches and the dealer fixed some other thing. I discovered a roof leak after we got it home. I fixed it. We took some great trips with that trailer. When I sold it I got about what I paid for it, with the salvage title. I can't speak for the flood damage but, the salvage title didn't hurt us. We got it cheap (relative) and enjoyed the heck out of it.

[hawkeye-08]

Don't expect anything from dealer, figure out the law regarding salvage titles in your state, then approach dealer to see if they will compensate you for the trailer having a salvage title. Keep your expectations low, stay calm. Worse case, you have a trailer that you can enjoy. Best case, dealer gives you some money back for not disclosing the salvage title.

Don't get wrapped up this, or you will never enjoy the trailer. If they did a good job repairing and the trailer is solid, you have a good trailer.

[MSchu]

I think that if the trailer was properly fixed and everything works as it should then $6k really isn't a bad deal. But what I would be concerned with is a dealer that was less than truthful, and how he's going to treat people in the future. I would talk to the dealer, and probably file a BBB complaint just to give other buyers a heads up on his tactics. You could save others from going through the same headache later.

[drsteve]

gemsworld wrote:
To the OP:

What was told to you verbally by someone at the dealership doesn't mean anything legally if it wasn't in the contract you signed.

Exactly. If it wasn't written down, it didn't happen.

[Gdetrailer]

Walaby wrote:
Love all these perfect people who claim to never make any mistakes.


Mike

Never claimed that I "perfect" and never made mistakes.

However, I have bought ans sold a lot of stuff from $.50 to $50K, I have made buying and selling mistakes over the yrs, but one thing for sure, I TRY to do something called "due diligence", basically looking up and finding out information on what I am buying or selling.

I trust no one, period..

Ebay used to have a saying which stated "Caveat Emptor" which roughly translates to "BUYER BE AWARE" which is a very wise approach..

Webster definition..

HERE

caveat emptor noun

Definition of caveat emptor

a principle in commerce: without a warranty the buyer takes the risk Caveat emptor is a reasonable approach for many consumer products.


OP and anyone else purchasing stuff should have questioned as to what it meant that the dealer bought it from a insurance company.

Insurance companies simply do not buy RVs to sell, they do not want to own RVs and the ONLY reason they they may own one is because they PAID OFF on an insurance claim..

In other words they BOUGHT the trailer off of the owner since it was deemed not worth REPAIRING and paying the insurance claim for damages or loss (pretty much a "buy back" from the owner).

The insurance company has only two ways to get rid of the unwanted liability.. They can sell back to the owner with a SALVAGED TITLE for scrap value OR AUCTION/SELL the trailer off to a scrap dealer with a SALVAGE OR SCRAP title (depends on the the state you are in, some states prohibit resale with a scrapped title)..

Obviously the dealer the OP bought the trailer from is making a good business from buying scrapped trailers then reselling them..

I am NOT "bashing" the OP, OP simply did not ask what buying from insurance company meant and if that would affect the value..

If you don't understand something, then ASK, BEFORE committing your signature to a sales agreement!

But really, who buys a RV with the worry of resale value.. RVs like boats LOSE value the minute you put your John Hancock on the sales agreement paper with ink..

[myredracer]

gunninks wrote:
So we purchased a travel trailer (2005 Wildwood LE 25EX) from a dealer that does repairs and has been around many many years. They told me they bought it from an insurance company. It wasn't an overly great deal in my opinion (6k) but is solid all the way around and is exactly what we were looking for to fit our family and current towing vehicle.

Here's the thing. Even brand new TTs can be full of LOTS issues. Potentially even worse than an '05 with a salvage title. Had a day old TT that got replaced under warranty and am still fixing bad workmanship on our TT I'm finding in our 6th season. 😞

Other than what caused the TT to be totaled by the insurance co., the worst thing that can happen to any TT, new or old is water leakage. Could be through the roof, through failed caulking around seams on the walls, overflowing toilet, etc. Checking exterior caulking and seals periodically is kinda like regularly changing oil in an engine. On any 14 year old TT, you won't know how it was looked after overall.

Before losing any more sleep, what I would do at this point is spend a couple hundred $$ and get a reputable independent TV tech. to do an inspection and come up with a report and then go from there. Maybe the insurance co. gave an '05 next to zero market value and it didn't need much money spent on it by the dealer. Could be it's not all that bad. An inspection may come up with things that need attention anyway.


Is this it (ignore the dealer name in the pic)?

[Bird_Freak]

You really have no recourse here but I don't see a big problem anyway.
They told you upfront where they got it.
Just go camp and forget it.

[Walaby]

Love all these perfect people who claim to never make any mistakes.

To OP. If you like the trailer, like the flooplan, and are generally happy with it, just go camping and enjoy.

Don't worry about the resale value. It won't be worth much of anything by the time you think about selling it, and the fact that it has a salvage title won't make a difference to someone buying it for a grand or so.

Just go out and enjoy camping. Come back and tell us about your great adventures.

Mike

[GrandpaKip]

I am sure all of you that told the OP how he screwed up really enjoy getting the same treatment, don’t you?

[GrandpaKip]

I’m like you. I tend to trust people until they prove me wrong. Not all salesmen are liars. I was in sales for a while and so was my mother. We were both well thought of and had lots of referrals.
I also would be upset to get a salvage title in the mail when not expecting one. If there is no mention of it in the sales contract, I would head on down to the dealership and see what they say. Know the law beforehand and talk reasonably.

[iznab]

With a purchase price of 6k for what you describe as a solid trailer why would you worry about resale value. The potential loss of value seems minimal.

[Community Alumni]

To the OP:

Ignore the posters that are bashing you.

Bottom line: If your state requires disclosing salvage title and it was not disclosed to you in any of the documents you signed you may have legal recourse, if you wish to pursue it. What was told to you verbally by someone at the dealership doesn't mean anything legally if it wasn't in the contract you signed.

[dodge_guy]

Well IMO the dealer was honest and told you they bought it from an insurance company. At that point it’s all in you to figure out why! Obviously you like the trailer, they did a repair and you were OK with it.
You dropped the ball in not looking into why they bought it from an insurance company.

[colliehauler]

Nv Guy wrote:
All of you forget that insurance companies also insure for theft, so it is entirely possible that an insurance company can get a vehicle as a theft recovery with no damage. Just because an insurance company has possession doesn't mean it was "totaled".

From the information I've found theft recovery is still a salvage title.