Wanted: Argosy or Airstream 24' or shorter

[MacStreamer]

Greetings,
My husband and I live in Washington State and are looking to buy our first Airstream or Argosy. One that sleeps 4 would be good since we have small children. Unfortunately our price range is $4000 or lower. We went to look at one today but the body had a lot of damage and it was in dire need of a paint job. Also the front door latch was broken and I am not sure how much one of those would cost. We like fixing minor stuff, but we do not have the money to sink a few thousand into a paint job.

If anyone knows of any trailers in the Northwest area that might fit what we are looking for we would much appreciate it.

I am sure people are posting ones like this daily but it is worth a try. =o)

Enjoy your night!
Dana

[InsideOut]

Did you see this?

24' Argosy in Everrett, WA $1600

Shari

[pneum0]

Insideout/Carsten:

Warning, Stef Roberts pointed this one out to me in March:

This copied from my message to her:

pneum0 wrote on 03-15-2004 11:20 AM:
Stef,
Looked at it Friday. 24' Argosy, 1973, $2600, basket case...
Jack was broken loose from mounting, home cut pass through on curb side, missing door on battery compartment, very musty, lots of rot in heater compartment...bad scene...

[InsideOut]

Thanks for the heads-up...most things that appear to be too good to be true, usually are!

Shari

[Stefrobrts]

How about that 22' Safari in Puallyup someone posted a couple weeks ago? I wonder if anyone on the board got a look at that one in person?

[MacStreamer]

Thanks for the replies. I e-mailed Barb, "retro-active-couple" the one who posted the 1965 safari. I will see if it has sold or not. As for the
'24 Argosy it sounds like someone as looked at it and there seems to be lots
of major work? Thanks for the warning. We would not mind one that needs some TLC, but mold and water damage is something we are wanting to stay clear of.

The 24' Argosy we went to look at the other day was nice. But it had body damage. Looks like someone tried to put bondo on it. Now it is chunking off. This would be something spendy to fix right? It also needed a front door handle. I saw one forum state that it would cost $400 for one?

Thanks again for your replies. =o)
Take care,
Dana

[Stefrobrts]

I think bondo on a trailer wouldn't be as bad as on a car, since there shouldn't be rust on the aluminum. How hard it would be to fix depends on where it is and how bad it is. If it's not a tear in the skin, you could live with a dent for a long time before you had to do something about it, it would just look ugly.

I don't know about the door handle. Depends on the year. Maybe someone who knows more about Argosys can tell you that.

If the interior was nice, and the appliances inside worked, I would give it a pretty close look before passing on it because of body damage. Airstreams and Argosys are hard to come by, and body damage can be fixed.

Where are you located in WA?

[MacStreamer]

Stephanie,
We live in Mount Vernon Washington. Battle Ground is near Olympia right? I left a message with the 1965 Safari owner. She lives about 2 hours south of here.

The 1978 Argosy that needs work would be a great project one for the right price. Unfortunetly we are hoping to find one we can use next month.

We have always loved Airstream trailers, but even more so after looking around at other trailers like Terrys and Komforts. My husband is 6'2" and he can not stand up strait in them. The airstreams give him the head room.

Also the idea of fixing up a classic whose value goes up year after year makes them more appealing. I'm in love and don't even have one. =o)

Someday.. =o)

Dana

[Stefrobrts]

Battle Ground is close to Vancouver, WA, near Portland.

I agree, if you want to camp, it's worth it to look for one that's ready to go. It's frustrating to be doing work on something when you'd rather be using it. $4000 isn't a lot to spend on an airstream though, so you might still end up with some fixin' to do. People seem to have caught on to their value - even rough ones I've seen lately have been in the $3500 range, which seems outrageous for the condition they're in.

I'm sure the right one will come along. We had to resort to a 'wanted' ad in the Oregonian to find ours. I'll let you know if I hear of any more for sale.

[Janets Husband]

Welcome Dana and family.

Every time I see a new member check in to the forum I can't help but think about what Yoda said "Once you start down that path..." No, no dark side here but lots of help in your new endeavor (addiction). Good people willing to help you on your way.
Good luck and PM us if you need help.

[COArgosy78]

You may have to travel some to reach your goal!! We ended up missing out on any Airstreams close by. Each time we called, poof, they were sold Ended up going from Colorado all the way to Canada above NY. Quite a trip, but we ended up with our wonderful 22' Argosy Minuet. She is the perfect trailer for us with lots of light and storage(and lighter weight). Have taken several longer trips in her with some (minimal) repair. We are starting to go over her carefully and at this point sewer valves are being replaced. We will also have to do some minor floor repair in front of her door, but overall we feel we got a trailer worth what we spent. They are "vintage" so upkeep is essential and can run into the bucks - just look at the many posts regarding "drainage of money" and "money pit", but it is done with much love and a photo book of memories

[MacStreamer]

Gary "Janet's Husband",
Yep... the force is strong and hard to resist. =o) My husband said the
other day "We own a Macintosh, our dog is an odd breed, a Catahoula, now we want and Airstream, what other "different" item do we ned to add to our list?"

This site seems filled with knowledgeable, friendly people. Thanks agin.

Leigh, "COArgosy78"
We are willing to go to near by states but who knows, we might just get lucky and find one near by. It's worth a try. We might try posting a want ad in the local papers like Stephanie suggested.

We got an e-mail from the owner of an Argosy we looked at the other day. He is a very nice guy. He is willing to negotiant the price. It is an 1978 24'. It needs work. But from what I am reading it might be worth it if we can get it for a low price. There is no rot and all the cabinets are in great shape. Things like the accordion walls and stove handle are missing. but all the appliances work. The largest ticket item would be the body work, paint and new door latch. How much and where could we find a door latch? Does anyone know of a used Airstream parts store in the state of Washington?

Our airstream is out there somewhere. He must be sitting there dreaming about the day we will take him home. =o) Gosh.. we will have to name him too. *laugh*

Dana

[hotLAVA]

Originally Posted by Carsten

Gary "Janet's Husband",
Yep... the force is strong and hard to resist. =o) My husband said the
other day "We own a Macintosh, our dog is an odd breed, a Catahoula, now we want and Airstream, what other "different" item do we ned to add to our list?"

Dana

Recumbent Bicycles..............

We love ours.

Originally Posted by Carsten

Our airstream is out there somewhere. He must be sitting there dreaming about the day we will take him home. =o) Gosh.. we will have to name him too. *laugh*

Dana

Funny you should say that......the Argosy motorhome we just listed on ebay said to me this morning, "However will Carsten find me? Oh, woas me....." I was wondering what she was talking about? OH, and by the way, her name is Fred.

(tehe)

[Stefrobrts]

He he, good one

Carsten, most of the time you'll end up mail ordering parts from places like www.inlandrv.com. There is also an RV junkyard with a lot of airstreams where folks get parts. It's in MO but they ship. Maybe start another post to get people's attention asking specifically where to buy a door latch for a 78 Argosy. The folks who know might not be looking at this thread since it's a wanted thread.

So how bad is the body on this Argosy? Big dents, little dents, up high, down low?

[COArgosy78]

Carsten - not sure which part of the door you are looking for, but we were missing the door handle part of our door when we got her. Had a big nail thru the hole to push down to open. We put out a "help needed" here and low and behold, we got an answer almost in a blink. The whole door latch assembly of theirs had been replaced and they had just thrown the door handle in the trash. They posted to say they would get it, clean it, and mail to us for $10. We were thrilled and it has worked like a charm. You can see the before and after pics in our photo album to see if that is the part you are after. Our came from an Argosy motorhome (if I remember), so there might be others here replacing or the junk yard might be a good bet. Good luck.

PS Be sure to check out the AXEL on any you are looking at. That is one of the biggest expenses and if bad would have to be replaced right away as it will mess up so many other things. Replacments are available (Andy-Inland), but costly!!

[coyote99]

I have a very nice 1979 Airstream Argosy for sale in Tucson Arizona. I'll take $3750 for it.

[montanaandy]

Originally Posted by Carsten

Greetings,
My husband and I live in Washington State and are looking to buy our first Airstream or Argosy. One that sleeps 4 would be good since we have small children. Unfortunately our price range is $4000 or lower. We went to look at one today but the body had a lot of damage and it was in dire need of a paint job. Also the front door latch was broken and I am not sure how much one of those would cost. We like fixing minor stuff, but we do not have the money to sink a few thousand into a paint job.

If anyone knows of any trailers in the Northwest area that might fit what we are looking for we would much appreciate it.

I am sure people are posting ones like this daily but it is worth a try. =o)

Enjoy your night!
Dana

Don't know if you are still looking but I posted about an 85-22' Argosy located here in Billings (I am not the seller). PM me if you are interested. Montanaandy