I drove 2000 miles (Austin, TX - Robinson, IL) this weekend with the intention of purchasing the above mentioned trailer. The seller told me there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. He assured me I'd be happy with it but when I got there I discovered he was full of #$@&. Turns out every panel on the rear end cap had been removed and reattached with Olympic Rivets. You can NOT see this from the pictures they have online. What made it even worse was that whoever did the repair had no idea what they were doing. Each of the Olympic rivets looked like someone tried using a Dremel on them instead of a rivet shaver and there were even a few screws here and there instead of rivets. Also if you look at the coach dead center from the rear the roof line angles down to the right. Also, inside the coach in the rear bedroom the aluminum innerskin is pushed down a few inches in various spots and quite wavy. Looks like something really heavy (maybe a tree) fell on the rear roof of the trailer and someone tried to remove the rear panels, straighten the ribs, and then reattach new panels. Someone that doesn't know what to look for might get taken by this guy so watch out!!!!!!!!! You win some and you lose some - at least I refused to put down a "Non-Refundable" deposit before I went out there. Thanks, Joe
Wow - I think I would be a bit mad - however, I can say been there done that - its amazing how some - fortunately it is the minority - will try to stick it to people. One tip off though is the 10,000 off book and a non refundable deposit - he knew something was wrong with the unit.
I don't know anything you can ask people like that. They will say anything, absolutely anything, fully knowing you are devoting a huge amount of time and money to get there, on the assumption that somehow you will fail to notice that the fire burned out the interior and part of the roof.
I am sure many of us could share similar horror stories about cars, trucks, rvs, etc.
Someone who didn't know what to look for just may well be taken. It looks like a very nice unit from the photo's. I think a lot of people get taken in by the excitement of purchasing and can be blinded by the flaws. You knew what to look for, but someone new to Airstream could very easily get burned. Once you make that big purchase you have along time to live with it. The forum should put together a printable checklist for buying used.
What question(s) will you ask next time since you were assured that this one was in such great shape?
I thought I asked all the right questions before I went out. This was a used car lot that does not deal in travel trailers. Their story went - "We usually don't sell travel trailers but I picked this one up at auction at an excellent price and thought I could make some money on it." Either these people really had no clue or they were trying to scam someone. I asked for additional pictures before going out which they couldn't provide - said their friend had taken the pictures for them and they didn't have access to a digital camera. Also had at least 5 conversations with them before going out there. Even had them walk out to the trailer with me on the phone and look over the entire exterior checking for dents, scrapes, etc before I left. They assured me everything was straight and true and that I would not be dissappointed. Joe
Clearly, just another typical used car dealer trying to make a fast buck. He bought the trailer somplace not knowing ONE thing about Airstreams, and then got a potential informed buyer in Barkingspider.
On a white box trailer, it might not have mattered as the repairs were white box quality.
The seller is just one idiot looking for another.
Now that I think about it, was the Airstream, in its present condition, worth it with what appears to be a substantial price reduction?
Sure, the angled or dented sheet metal can not be easily fixed, but a bunch of new Olympic rivets & a shaver would pretty up the outside.
Just curious.
Tom
Tom - If someone were willing to invest the time and energy in this trailer it may or may not be worth it. You just don't know what it looks like underneath the repair. There could be substantil structural damage and you wouldn't know unless you took it all back apart again. Based on the way the repairs were done I don't have a lot of faith in what's underneath. Especially if it was dented in enough to cave in the interior skin.
FYI - If someone is truly interested in the unit I negotiated them down to $15K before I drove out there. He may take even less now. As I was leaving I asked him what he paid at auction - he said $13K and sounded sincere.
I ran it through NADA online, with the standard options, and got $29050.00 as average retail, $26000.00 as low retail.
If it was $13,000 I MIGHT take a look, maybe.
Terry
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