Beware of 1965 17' Caravel advertised on www.airstreams.net

Oceancontainer · 07-27-2003, 12:06 PM

This trailer was GROSSLY MISREPRESENTED even with noted dents in advertisement by the owner in Ruidoso, NM. I drove 10 hrs. there and 10 hrs. back to DFW Texas, 1100 mi. empty handed. Ok, the range is new, the HW heater & furnace have never been lit, and 3 new 14" tires, big deal.
I arrived at 6:00 am sharp in the driveway at the owners residence, I didnt awake the owner cause I told him I would be there approx by 8:00 am. Me and my partner did a walk around of the trailer, hand size dent in the rear quarter, numerous dents along both sides of it, 3-4" x 3" dents on the top by the A/C. Anyone in the restoration/polishing business like we are knows the exterior pannels of these trailers is the most important factor when considering a purchase. Needless to say the exterior of this Caravel was piss poor.. The battery on this model was mounted behind the trailer jack in a .50 cal ammo can. Apparently sometime before the ammo can was added the battery exploded and battery acid spewed in front and around both front corners of the trailer acid etching the aluminum and causing heavy oxidation and damage to the aluminum.
Not shown in the pictures but the welding done on the cross members supporting the ammo can to the tongue of the trailer appeared to be done by a novice, shotty workmanship. On Caravel trailers there are 5 windows, only one was glass, the rest were plastic and they were held in place by silicone. The silicone on the front window was caked on and gooped on. On the right side behind the wheel well about 2.5"-3' up from the ground there is a riveted patch approx 4" x 4" apparently to cover up a hole/damage spot, the aluminum is of a diffrent grade and stands out like a diamond in a goats ass. There is a crease in the body panel skin on the left rear side dispite what the description says on www.airstreams.net . I was there in living color and I consider myself a reasonablly knowledgable individual on these trailers, I'm not a expert, I am still learning new things.
All this and I havent opened the door of the trailer yet. Look at the picture on the website of the refrigerator, note the food containers on the shelves. When the owner closed the refrig door and closed the trailer door and washed his hands of his Caravel he forgot one thing, to remove the food containers from the refrigerator. I opened the door to the refrigerator and almost blew my Denny's breakfast all over the place, God aweful stinch from the rotten food left in the refrigerator. Remember the plastic windows, well inside there were no cranks for the windows, the whole assembly on each side of the window except for one on one side of the front window and one on one side of the rear window were missing. All the bottom latches were there... The original tile was removed and carpet was thrown down in it's place. The cabinets and the wood around the front & side gachos was in serious need of a swabbing of Old English Polish, at least I would have done that if I was expecting someone to pay me $ 6750.00 for this basketcase. The shower pan drain had been "Southern Engineered" and rivets were exposed.
I did not even attempt to even knock on the owner's door, I was so put out by his gross misrepresentation of his trailer I just drove off rather than a confrontation with a arrogant and misleading liar.
I just wanted to mention that the Broker and website owner Erica Knight, of www.airstreams.net , is not totally responsible for this unfortunate situation but her reputation is at stake as a Professional Airstream Broker if she does not have the trailer in her possession and/or has not done her own "walk around" visual inspection of the trailer in question.

NOTE:
If your were purchasing the 1965 17' Caravel for yourself and didnt mind the exterior damage; dents, creases, and battery acid damage to the aluminum skin and were going to keep it for yourself and not resell it or polish it to a mirror finish, the trailer might be worth $ 3000.00-$3500.00 tops IMHO. The missing window crank assemblies, maybe you could still get them and maybe not, you would definately have to replace the 5 plastic windows with glass windows. The trailer definately needed alot of interior repairs before I would claim it was road/camper worthy. Forewarned is fair warned...

Chas · 07-27-2003, 01:32 PM

So,

What seems to be the big deal? I guess that you drove over a 1,000 miles round trip? I could have driven down the corner and seen a mess like that! Like they say, buyer beware! This is a free country and if there is anyone dense enough to give the guy what he is asking for it then so be it. Sounds a bit slanderous to me the way you are tearing into this guy. He may very well be a slimeball but like I've said, buyer beware!! Just another good reason for a prospective buyer to do his or her homework. People get screwed over everyday by car salesman so why should an RV, Airstream or otherwise, be any different??

Chas

qqq · 07-27-2003, 02:15 PM

ocean,
after examining the pics you should have seen that the only diamond was on the owner's finger
The AS looks just like you described it . You should only blame yourself .

Hart

Silvertwinkie · 07-27-2003, 02:25 PM

How unfortunate.

Oceancontainer · 07-27-2003, 03:45 PM

The photo's of this trailer are very deceiving after inspecting the trailer in person. Even the website owner agreeded. The trailer owner failed to disclose critical info; for example the window crank assemblies are missing, not just the handle but the whole damn assembly was missing on all but two of the windows ?
The owner claimed there was only one dent in the left rear quarter panel the size of a hand ? There were 20 or so smaller dents and nothing was mentioned about the dents on top of the trailer near the A/C unit. I asked about the 20 mm ammo can behind the jack, he played dumb like he didnt know anything about it except that it was the battery box.
The owner claimed he just had the trailer serviced at the local A/S dealer, new drum brakes, A/C serviced, they made sure the propane WH, range, and refrig. were all in tip top shape and working order. He claims he spent close to $ 2K getting it ready to go on a trip to Alaska with his wife then all of a sudden he's getting a divorce and he has no need for the trailer.
I talked at length with the owner about his trailer, according to our talk he led me to believe his trailer was pretty close to tip top shape outside of the normal wear & tear on the interior. Not.

This Warning wasn't meant to slander the owner, it was posted so any potential buyer of this trailer would have the real truth about it instead of Gee, I dont recall or misleading answers from the seller. If anyone does buy it and plans to go fetch it be sure to call him from the pay phone at the Phillips 66 and have him come meet you in town, his place is very difficult to find.

I remodel, redesign, and customize A/S trailers. Our trailers are built to the same specs. as the A/S trailers featured in
Archetecial Design Magazine and Ralph Loren Polo.com
We are in the market for a vintage 60's Caravel trailer, it can be completely gutted but the skin needs to be dent & crease free. We will even pay a finders fee if we purchase it.

Kistler · 07-27-2003, 04:20 PM

Oceancontainer, I understand why you are "upset". Making that trip for what is more than an amateur's description of that tt is beyond the pale. I too dislike liars tremendously.

Tamara · 07-27-2003, 04:42 PM

Oceancontainer,

Well I do appreciate your sharing your experience. I keep an eye on airstreams.net, and I didn't think the pictures looked a bit like you described, so it's nice to have input from someone who has seen it in person.

I didn't see it as slanderous, you were just obviuosly peeved and I can understand why. Just because an experience is negative doesn't mean you shouldn't share it. Maybe someone else will think this is a great trailer and rescue it, but I think most people would probably have reacted the way you did.

For what it's worth....
Thanks,

thenewkid64 · 07-27-2003, 04:53 PM

Not that everyone will do this, but I have had two Forum members step up and look at units that were 350 miles and 3150 miles away. Had another member willing to drive 100 miles to check out a third that was 1200 miles from me, did not get that far on it and it was gone. Did not buy the close one, did buy the far one. Each received a note and Gift certificate as a token of my gratitude.

They were close I was not. My being willing to take their opinion was the first step, but at least I had someone look at it without seeing it thru the sellers rose colored glasses.

Not everyone here has the same knowlege/experience to do this, but there may have been someone that could have told you about the dents, windows, smell, etc. I actually sent a punchlist on the unit that I bought for the volunteer to use since they have a trailer and did not have experience with a motorhome. At the least you would have had more information prior to spending 100 bucks on fuel and your time.

Just a suggestion that has worked for me.

Oceancontainer · 07-27-2003, 04:54 PM

Erica Knight, www.airstreams.net occassionally get's some clean trailers in from time to time. The 65' 17' Caravel would make someone a nice TT but be sure to bring your own FabBreese cause your gunna need it...

PeterH-79MH · 07-27-2003, 04:55 PM

Yeah, nice of you to share your experience and sorry it didn't work out for ya.
Putting peoples names and hometown in the public domain is a whole different story..... (this has now been edited out)
I guess I have to take your word for the story, even though you violated one of the unwritten rules of protecting peoples privacy.
Good luck!

Oceancontainer · 07-27-2003, 05:07 PM

Good suggestion thenewkid64,

it wasn't until this morning that a friend suggested a Real Estate
estimator, they really dont know what to look for but they have basic common knowledge in their own industry. I wish I had given that some thought, what is $ 50.00-$ 75.00 or 1% of the sale when you are spending $ 6750.00 ?

This experience was a eye opener even for a RKI. Like I said I am still learning.

Kistler · 07-27-2003, 05:13 PM

I believe that slander/the statement of, has to be proven not true!

Kistler

Chas · 07-27-2003, 05:31 PM

People have been sued over much less than that, my friend.

It is OK to be PO'd about things, if this ocean fella wanted to vent he could have done it without naming names. Sounds like he is in it for a business, probably wanting to pick up a real beauty for a song and got stung! Seems he was smart enough not to buy it so I gotta hand it to him for that. I have seen a few threads like this before and always cringed when I read them, felt like I was going thru someone's garbage or something.

As John used to say,

Peace always,

Chas

drboyd · 07-27-2003, 06:23 PM

I just drove 900 miles to pick up my trailer, and it has needed a whole $6.00 in repairs.

The skin isn't perfect, but functionally it's great!

I think you can tell a lot about how a triler is going to be by talking to the folks who own it, and seeing how they repond to your questions. I've been around eBay a lot, and people who respond in a life-like coherent are pretty likely to be straight shooters.