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Adventures of Buying a Toyhauler…. Trailer #1 07 375FSG Gearbox I come across the “Deal of the Century” on a 07 Gearbox located in Arizona. I wasn’t looking to buy, but that was a deal I couldn’t pass up, so I get in contact with the seller... Paperwork is in order, just need to go see the trailer and sign the papers. Seller disappears for a week, but I know the wife is sick so I’m patient…. Get in contact with a friend of the seller who assures me that the seller is “a stand-up guy, he’ll follow through on his word, he won’t back out of the deal, don’t worry” and says the wife has “taken a turn for the worse” and that is why he hasn’t been in contact. I don’t want to get stuck with 2 trailers and I believe what both of these guys have told me…so I put my trailer up for sale, priced to sell quickly. 1st person to look at it wants it and gets the bank papers started right away. I’m waiting on payment for my trailer and in the meantime Mr. Gearbox emails me that he sold the trailer to someone else….so much for being able to take someone at their word! Well it wouldn’t be right for me to back out of my deal, right?? So….now I don’t have a trailer and the season is quickly approaching… And there starts….The Adventures of Buying a Toyhauler! Trailer #2 08 SLC3905 WW in Lake Elsinore CA Come across an ad on a dune forum…contact the seller and it’s still for sale… Ad states ‘trailer has been very well cared for. We have no issues with it at all, we have kept it very well maintained’ and that ‘the tires are new, the sides have just been waxed, the roof has just been resealed with lifetime sealant, awning in great condition, 2nd a/c just added’ I talk to the seller a few times and he assures me the trailer is in excellent condition and there is nothing wrong with it, so we exchange info and get bank paperwork started. I told him if the trailer is everything he says it is then we would purchase it and we made plans to go look at it. We arrive at the address, it’s one of his “rental properties” where the trailer is stored, it’s a trailer park in the ghetto and the residents are having a yard sale…we are greeted by the tattoo covered resident tweeker throwing his hands up in the “what’s up, you got a problem” gesture…a warning from the seller would have been nice. We tell him what’s up and he settles down, tweeker #2 arrives and they start fighting over an item in the yard sale…then tweeker #3 climbs over the fence across the street, checks us out and starts pacing behind the truck…..time to go wait at the gas station…. Seller arrives, with his wife and 2 young kids… and tells us it’s safe to return. We find them frantically dusting off cobwebs outside and wiping up a trail of ants across the counters and sinks….they knew we were coming a week in advance and didn’t go clean it up?! Tip to anyone selling a trailer….let the people inspect it without you breathing down their necks! Do you know how uncomfortable it is to inspect a trailer with the whole family watching your every move…Also, remove all your personal items… I don’t want to open a drawer and find your underwear and I don’t want to have to move all your crap to see what I need to see. Is that asking too much? and then the condition of the trailer… “just waxed”…outside is oxidized and someone has thrown fruit at it and stained it, covered in cobwebs “new tires”..are dry rotting and are 2-3yrs old, wouldn’t survive the 300 mile drive home! “awning in great condition”…dripping wet and covered in mold and mildew, stinks! “recently sealed roof w/lifetime sealant”…sealant is peeling off and was put down over a dirty/sandy roof “2nd a/c added”…is not hooked up to verify working condition, living room a/c is surging fuses in the fuse block by the generator are melted?!?! Seller states “they just melt, but they don’t blow” and “I don’t know what those fuses go to” and “I’ll fix it, I’ll stick a breaker in there” advertised as an 08, but the title says 07 and it’s on an 06 frame…the cargo measurements also don’t equal up to the 3905SLC floorplan, the trailer is 1ft short..which means our toys won’t fit! And they are asking $35k for it….. miles 600, hours 10 Trailers #3-17ish…Weekend Warriors 07-09 We then decide to check out a dealership in Fresno CA. They have about 14 or so trailers listed on their website that we wanted to take a look at….figured if we could look at that many in 1 trip, we might be able to find 1 we like, right?? Asked the salesperson over the phone the day before we arrived how accurate their online inventory was, he said if it’s on the website then it’s on the lot…we arrive and they are missing about 4 of those trailer, ask the same salesperson and he says “I dunno”… Every one of the trailers we looked at except 1 had moderate to extensive water damage… 1 trailer without water damage had sagging walls, the wheel wells were pulled up about ½” from the floor Every trailer was missing at least 1 of the batteries and 1 of the propane tanks, they are stock piling those in a warehouse that we weren’t supposed to know about Parts shown in pics on their website had been stripped from the trailers, those parts were in the secret warehouse As we were leaving without making a purchase the Owner says “I have the perfect trailer across the street in the storage lot”….we just spent 4hrs on the lot and now you mention this! the ‘storage lot across the street’ looks to be where they take the quality trailers and piece them together with the ones on their sales lot?? Looks a bit like a chop shop…. ….We drove from Vegas to Fresno and back again in the same day…800 miles and 16 hours. Next adventure….all over Arizona for 5 possible trailers… 1 trailer, Owner is using it ‘in the mountains a couple hours from town’ and doesn’t want to bring it back down yet….So take down your ad!! 1 trailer, way over-priced…but we’d humor the guy IF all of the others were junk… Trailer #1 08 LE3905 WW in Salome AZ Nice couple, seller was honest, trailer is decent condition, reasonable price Had some bubbling of the wallpaper around the windows=concerned about some water intrusion. Trailer #2 08 SLC3905 in Mesa AZ Had some concerns about the structure of this trailer before we arrived, but the owner said “just come look at my trailer, you won’t be disappointed” and even offered $100 for our gas… -Worst case of wall sag we have ever seen, both side walls had dropped about an inch Owner said “I didn’t think it was worth spending the $10k the shop wanted to repair it”….well then I don’t think your trailer is worth $32K! so they welded a steel bar from 1 side to the other “to keep the frame from twisting further” and the owner swears “trailer is in better condition now than when I bought it” As we are ready to leave he says “let’s make a deal right now, what would it take” and then “why isn’t anyone buying my trailer, tell me what I can do to get it to sell”….really?!? Trailer #3 09 SLC3905 in Sierra Vista AZ Seller was a PITA to get in contact with Ad was a 1 liner with no details about the trailer Trailer was purchased at an auction for profit, no history… But we still drove 8hrs to check it out, drove back to vegas and returned 2 weeks later and BOUGHT IT!! 2009 Weekend Warrior model 3905 Approximately….3500 miles traveled and 60 hours spent looking at about 15 trailers over 4 weekends. Not to mention all the time spent on the computer searching, emailing and time spent on the phone…. What would you do to find the perfect trailer?