Should I Buy An Older Travel Trailer?
I'm looking at purchasing a travel trailer and have noticed that they seem to run pretty inexpensive on Craigslist. I'm wondering if this is worth looking into? I've mentioned elsewhere that I'd li...
Forum Discussion
If you are reasonably handy, then an older trailer may work out fine. As others have said, you do have to do a thorough inspection before you buy.
We were fortunate. We found a '95 in September 2013 for what we wanted to spend that had always been stored under a shelter. It looked like it, too. The floor plan was perfect for our needs, and the inside was also pristine for being 18 years old. I took a chance on two things...1) the water heater would not light, nor 2) would the gas part of the fridge light. Both worked on electric. The owner thought it was out of propane.
Everything else checked out so good that I was willing to take a chance. When my DW told me that "there is nothing about that trailer I don't like", I knew we had our trailer.
Turns out that we had at least 40 lbs of propane total in the two 30 lb. tanks. I fixed the fridge for about $70, and my local mobile repair guy fixed the water heater for around $200. I have since replaced the black tank gate valve. Everything works as it should, and we are very happy with our trailer.
We plan to keep it for quite a long time.
Good luck!
We were fortunate. We found a '95 in September 2013 for what we wanted to spend that had always been stored under a shelter. It looked like it, too. The floor plan was perfect for our needs, and the inside was also pristine for being 18 years old. I took a chance on two things...1) the water heater would not light, nor 2) would the gas part of the fridge light. Both worked on electric. The owner thought it was out of propane.
Everything else checked out so good that I was willing to take a chance. When my DW told me that "there is nothing about that trailer I don't like", I knew we had our trailer.
Turns out that we had at least 40 lbs of propane total in the two 30 lb. tanks. I fixed the fridge for about $70, and my local mobile repair guy fixed the water heater for around $200. I have since replaced the black tank gate valve. Everything works as it should, and we are very happy with our trailer.
We plan to keep it for quite a long time.
Good luck!
