"CarFax" for Travel Trailers?

[bigcountry]

I always pull a Carfax report when I am looking at buying a vehicle.
This just gives another input to the purchase decision.

Please let me know if there is a similar reporting tool for history of new and used travel trailers.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Nothing about trailers is very well organized. There aren't even good records on sales and sell prices....Yes, that's weird. The net effect is that anything you do find probably is not even close to a complete record.

Bob

[AWCHIEF]

There no requirements to report travel trailer repairs or selling prices. Therefore no such data base exist. That is why NADA prices are so inaccurate and amount to nothing more than SWAG.

[OTRA15]

Ditto to recent comments, although some trailer sales are reported to CarFax, so a search by VIN may be worthwhile.

[SeaLevel]

My experience with Carfax has not been good. I've found their database to be inaccurate. When I was trading in one car they had it listed as having been in an accident, which it wasn't. Turns out they had transposed part of the VIN and it was showing results for a different vehicle - same make and model, but not my car. I also had a similar experience with another vehicle.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

The further back you try to track records, the stranger things get. I once trade in a vehicle to a dealer. He then re-sold it. Apparently the new owner did not register it / transfer the title (though I transferred it to the dealer ... weird). About a year later I started getting fan mail from the NYC impound lot telling me my vehicle had been towed. They seemed to expect me to come pick it up. That went on for another 18 months before I could straighten it out. I've always wondered what the Carfax on that vehicle would have shown ....

Bob

[DrMassive]

Forget Carfax. Your best bet by far if you're considering a used Airstream it to avail yourself of the volunteers listed on this site who are located all over the country and who will take a look at a used Airstream for you. My personal experience with this awesome service resulted in an absolutely wonderful (not to mention extremely knowledgeable) member of the forum in Colorado who saved me from buying a trailer with numerous problems I, as a total novice in regard to Airstreams at the time, wouldn't have been aware of, not to mention saving me from a trip of nearly 2,000 miles to check out the trailer.

[terrylarock]

Just a note about CarFax. My wife bought a certified preowned vehicle and the dealer provided a car fax report for free, their were no accidents "REPORTED" About 6 months later she was having it detailed by a friend who used a local bodyshops facility. It turned out that it had been involved in a collision on the drivers side which required a total repaint of that side, front to rear. The people who performed the repair work were very careful to apply the masking tape so as not have it be detected by a "layman". I am guessing, that the previous owners didn't report the accident because they wanted to avoid an insurance premium increase and instead paid out of pocket or traded the car in, as is and the dealer had it repaired. Carfax only shows reported accidents, not worth the money, at least to me.......................................

[uncle_bob]

Hi

There are also the case where the accident was somebody else's fault. It gets reported, but not reported correctly. Their vehicle shows up with all sorts of damage on it ....

Bob

[NY24]

Some car sellers get repair shops to delay (or omit) reporting said repairs. They then go for a quick sale before new (detrimental) information appears in Carfax.

[pmclemore]

I have sold two and bought two through this forum, Better than carfax any day.

Pat

[bigcountry]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

[Bgibbs]

Carfax not worth the paper it's printed on. Most shops do not report to them and those that do are not consistent in their reporting.

[m.hony]

When I traded in my sob trailer on the Airstream, the dealer allowed me $22,000 trade sight unseen.
The dealers may at least know what they are able to sell used trailers for or what their customers are looking for.
It was a very pristine, clean, 3-year old, as new condition trailer with 4-month-old 10-ply tires, but they didn't know that. They just took my word for it.
There were people looking at it to buy it before we got all of our stuff out!
It was a very clean trailer with a very good floor plan/layout.
It was sold before we got off the lot with our Airstream.
I saw it on the road a couple of weeks later.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

When trading anything, one always has to wonder how much of the trade in allowance was actually a discount on the new vehicle / trailer. You really never know.

Trading in trailers that are < 7 years old to a dealer puts them inside the window that a bank will finance. In many cases the real issue is "what is the finance value". If the bank the dealer works with has a formula, that sets the value (at that dealer). Often it is as simple as a discount off list to start and a depreciation percentage per year. I always wonder about the trade in that comes in as remains on a flat bed truck ....

Crazy stuff.

Bob

[uncle_bob]

Hi

When trading anything, one always has to wonder how much of the trade in allowance was actually a discount on the new vehicle / trailer. You really never know.

Trading in trailers that are < 7 years old to a dealer puts them inside the window that a bank will finance. In many cases the real issue is "what is the finance value". If the bank the dealer works with has a formula, that sets the value (at that dealer). Often it is as simple as a discount off list to start and a depreciation percentage per year. I always wonder about the trade in that comes in as remains on a flat bed truck ....

Crazy stuff.

Bob

[m.hony]

I know it's all a numbers game and I really gave them my trailer for nothing, but it got rid of a lemon.
That's the only time I ever traded anything in.
Every car I ever had I drove till it was wrecked or worn out or I still have it- so every car I ever owned is either in the junkyard (or recycled into other cars) or in the driveway.

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by m.hony

I know it's all a numbers game and I really gave them my trailer for nothing, but it got rid of a lemon.
That's the only time I ever traded anything in.
Every car I ever had I drove till it was wrecked or worn out or I still have it- so every car I ever owned is either in the junkyard (or recycled into other cars) or in the driveway.

Hi

That's sort of the point. There is only so much room in the driveway. Even with them in all in the driveway, moving things around gets to be a pain. None of this stuff will get more valuable with age.

If you are trading anything to a dealer, he *always* has better information than you do. He does this for a living. If you are selling to an individual, you likely will get a better price. Be prepared to deal with a lot of "unusual" individuals ....

Bob

[m.hony]

I gave up on parking cars only in the driveway- got tired of rearranging cars to get 1 out-
Started digging up landscaping and parking on the grass, in the alley, and in the bank and funeral home parking lots across the alley.
Gonna double the front driveway and make a back driveway from the alley and build more sheds a little along as the money happens.
The lawn mower, Harley, and new car are in sheds. Everything else is in the weather. Some vehicles and the Airstream are shielded on at least one side from the house or one another.
It do git complicated, don't it?
Mo' money would solve lots of things.
One day at a time.
One step at a time.
In 3-4 years maybe I'll have enough driveways, sheds, fences, and gates for everything.

[TRIPPPIN]

True Carfax reports are not always accurate but I buy them as an insurance policy. When I sell my vehicle and unknowingly have someone discover it was in an accident, stolen etc. I won't be held responsible for not reporting previously repaired damage etc. Carfax has some guarantees also which I have never had to rely on.