Major dent advice - 1984 31' Excella

[dcasr]

If you live in the Detroit area you should contact P & S Airstream repair in Helena, Ohio, not that far from you. Send them photos of ALL the damage and ask them their best guess on repair cost if they did it, and whether realistically it would be worth it. They'll be straight with you. I don't think it is worth $1,500 as is however, only as a gift. You haven't said whether there are any concealed issues with soft flooring that needs repair, etc. etc.
The Helena folks will give you an idea, and then you can decide if you want it that badly. Otherwise you might be out your $1,500 and loose a friend too.

[Masterlock]

Originally Posted by dcasr

I don't think it is worth $1,500 as is however, only as a gift. You haven't said whether there are any concealed issues with soft flooring that needs repair, etc. etc.

Assuming the floor is okay and everything else is in it's original state (not great but functional) you really don't think it's worth $1,500? If that's the case I don't really know how I'll ever be able to afford an airstream

[fwjumper]

Want to sell it?

[fwjumper]

Want to sell it?

[Masterlock]

Haha, I guess the ultimate test is to see if anyone else would BUY it for $1,500 and we'll know if the fair market value is sufficient. I for one don't see a dent (although major) as something that should lower the value of one of these trailers into a "worthless" or state.

[fwjumper]

Is it damaged in front? I can't tell from photos.

[Masterlock]

Small dent on the front side but very minor compared to the large dent in back.

[cwf]

Maybe you could repair the AS for your friend with agreement you share use and share title.

[Bill M.]

certainly it is worth $1500 to the right buyer in terms of hard value. The reason it might sell for less or more than that is the ability to market it and the fact that it takes a buyer willing to put a lot of time in it. What is critical is if you want to commit to the project. You should be able to find one with few or no dents about the same age for $8 to $10 thousand, I would think.

Here are some other numbers to play with while you think. We paid 11,500 for our 32' 5 years ago. Then another $4500 to bring it up to the level we wanted. At that time I could not work on it so it went to Jackson Center to get the bill up a little. Then a limb fell on it so I have a major dent in the roof. Got a little insurance money but not enough to fix it. So far we are living with the dent but ours really does not show much. It is still parked under the live oak tree with the limbs so I am sorta afraid to spend much to fix it and have it happen again.

I noticed it has vista windows in the front. Check the floor and the frame under the vista windows in the front. Check the frame and the tongue. On ours the vista windows leaked long enough (the trailer was parked for 18 years) to rust through the A frame which is what I had to replace.

[fwjumper]

Unless there's additional serious damage, buy it and fix it. Or sell it to me.