I have been looking for a mid 70's Tradewind for about 6 months. I found one on the vintage AS club classified that looked pretty good. Everything works, new tires and brakes etc. Traded emails for a month with the owner, saw lots of pictures. Made a deal with the owner for a little more then I thought it was worth, 300 down and the rest when I pick it up. Two days and 900 miles later I get to the trailer. This is what I found and what the owner said
Soft floor under every vent and at door. Never noticed that
Several holes in the skin. How did that happen.
Bottom pan with holes and tears. I never looked under the unit.
Rear jacks missing and ugly sissor jacks installed. I left the old ones down once,these are better.
Control pannel did not work. Never needed it.
Soft floor in all of bathroom. Never noticed that either
Oversize toilet that blocked the bathroom closet. Never used that closet.
Very musty smell in the bath. Never noticed that
Only three of the stove burner worked. Three is plenty
Manual jack with brand new bolts and cut wires from harness. Never had an electric jack
When I asked about the tires (not brand new) and brakes and bearings, I was told that the guy he bought the trailer from 2 years earlier told him they were new (no paperwork).
I was very depressed! Woke up the next morning and headed home without the trailer. What would you have done?
Bummer! Many of us have had similar experiences. Check out this thread http://www.airforums.com/forum...ler+inspection We have a loosely organized forum member inspection service for just such long distance purchases. If it makes you feel any less alone - we drove almost 2000 miles round trip and had a similar result.
Keep looking - you'll find the right trailer -eventually.
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77 Argosy Minuet, 6 metre
77 Argosy 24, Rear door
AIR 3181, WBCCI/VAC # 5575
You did the right thing. Clearly, you were deceived, in the true sense of the term “good used car for sale” that should have said “old boat anchor for sale.” Sorry you spent all that time and money traveling. One will come along, keep looking.
Jim
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To lodge all power in one party and to leave it there is to insure bad government. -- Mark Twain
I would have renegotiated the price based on all the problems he forgot to "notice" and if a fair price could not be agreed upon I would have done exactly what you did. (left empty handed)
How a guy could let you drive 900 miles on a false pretense and still sleep at night is beyond comprehension. Clearly he suffers from a flawed character and you are better off not doing business with those types.
Unfortuantely there are some unscrupulous folks out there as long as there are things that people want. It's unfortunate. Living in the Phoenix metro are, worthwhile units do come available. Be patient, one will come along. If I can offer assistance, let me know.
It's an all too familar tale.....I would have laughed and walked (after you got your money back), unless you were looking to do a full restoration.
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Computers manufactured by companies such as IBM, Compaq and millions of others are by far the most popular with about 70 million machines in use worldwide. Macintosh fans note that cockroaches are far more numerous than humans and that numbers alone do not denote a higher life form. -NY Times 1991
Been there done that - drove from Colorado to Oklahoma.....
I'm going to be selling my 75 this summer (assuming I get further down the road with my 58 restoration) if you are interested - you can see a picture of it in my photo section if you are interested.
So sorry you went through that. Of course you made the right decision!
That's a shame that the person could not have been forthright, and that's information about him/her. He/she should have paid you for your gas/time. (tinsista is thinking unladylike thoughts about that person)
__________________ Steph in MI Air# 6996- I Hockeytown USA!!
so sorry to hear about that. i was lucky in that someone went to look for me, as the trailer was a ten hour one way drive. saved alot of pain i have been looking also, for many months and have learned alot about airstreams and people, some of which i did not need to know. very hard to buy a trailer long distance unless it is from someone that you know is reliable. i give up sometimes after a difficult experience. problem is i need a different trailer to go on wbcci caravans.... join the group of disappointed shoppers, but hopefully the right one is out there for you and for me....dieterdog
I was very depressed! Woke up the next morning and headed home without the trailer. What would you have done?
Still looking!
If it was not a bargain price, you did the right thing, no telling what you would find once you started to take it apart. Good luck, I looked for almost a year before we found our Tradewind. Every one we looked at pushed us to try to find one partially restored and upped our $ ceiling...
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Really sorry to hear that!
So sorry you went through that. Of course you made the right decision! 
(tinsista is thinking unladylike thoughts about that person)
Steph in MI Air# 6996-
finding the right one
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