Am I about to buy a lemon?

[SultanGris]

That seems very expensive for a 2002, especially with that much water damage. Check the Internet for similar models to see if pricing falls in line. No way I'd pay that much for something that old unless it was cherry.

[sdennislee]

RUn away now

[Mekanic]

Originally Posted by Half Dimes

Get out of the deal and walk away!

Originally Posted by Tugboat

Run do not walk away. Water damage is death to a RV and can be very expensive to fix right.

Originally Posted by jesilvas

Why do you think it has a great price? It's a piece of junk.
No trailer should leak water. Ever. Or rot.

Originally Posted by hjsdds

Water damage is BAD JU-JU. Expensive to fix and usually the job ends up much bigger once you open things up.

hjs

Originally Posted by TXiceman

Water damage can kill the RV. If it is a little bit, it can be fixed, but can be expensive...replace the floor in a slide $3K to $4K. But you do not know what is damaged in the walls.

Personally, I'd let it go and get my money back...It failed the buyers inspection.

Ken

Originally Posted by hjsdds

x 2

And by the way, the way they are downplaying the issue and telling (BSing) you that it can be fixed with some resin tells me that you are dealing with couple of crooks!

hjs

I agree with all above postings

Fill in the blank with your first name RUN _______, RUN !!

[hjsdds]

Originally Posted by Scotty14

Always follow your gut. Its telling you what to do. Walk away like everyone else has mentioned. There is always another 5 er waiting out there in good shape.
Good luck.
Scott

Best advice out of this entire thread.
I had 4 RVs and several pullers. Twice I ignored my gut feeling and I paid for it (fortunately I can fix a lot of things myself)
and with patience I have found great used RVs (and other things) out there, walked away from a bunch of stuff too.

hjs

[Tumble Weed]

Originally Posted by expretj13

Wow, thanks everyone for the responses, it helps a lot. It confirms my gut feeling that water damage = bad news. I guess my line of thinking was that if the RV place were to fix the rotted flooring and I were to have someone who knows something come out and look it over, maybe it would still be worth it? That combined with the impression they gave me that water damage is a common thing and made me believe that I would probably find it in any other RV I look at, all this led me to wonder what I should do. But it sounds like I should just walk away and count my blessings that I didn't end up with a huge mistake!

expretj13 hey one good thing about this is you found a floor plan you like. Now go look for a good one, it's out and for a better price I bet!

[Scotty14]

Originally Posted by hjsdds

Best advice out of this entire thread.
I had 4 RVs and several pullers. Twice I ignored my gut feeling and I paid for it (fortunately I can fix a lot of things myself)
and with patience I have found great used RVs (and other things) out there, walked away from a bunch of stuff too.

hjs

Thank You HJS for the kind words. I've learned a lot from this great forum researching for my Fifth Wheel. When its my turn. I hope to put what i have learned here to good use and find my Fifth Wheel. Following my Gut feeling, and not get cought up in the glitz what it appears to look like. Checking the nooks and crannies.
Scott

[expretj13]

UPDATE: Thanks to all of your advice, I went back to the dealer today and told them I wanted my money back. They weren't happy about it and tried to tell me I had already bought it "as is" and there was nothing they could do...you know the drill. Thankfully after some pretty heated exchanges, they eventually backed down and reluctantly gave me my money back. Wow. REALLY glad I didn't buy an RV from those people. Also that is the last time I ever pay for an RV without inspecting it first, even if they tell me the purchase is contingent upon inspection. It is sad people can't be trusted, I suppose. Live and learn I guess!

[Penster]

Originally Posted by expretj13

UPDATE: Thanks to all of your advice, I went back to the dealer today and told them I wanted my money back. They weren't happy about it and tried to tell me I had already bought it "as is" and there was nothing they could do...you know the drill. Thankfully after some pretty heated exchanges, they eventually backed down and reluctantly gave me my money back. Wow. REALLY glad I didn't buy an RV from those people. Also that is the last time I ever pay for an RV without inspecting it first, even if they tell me the purchase is contingent upon inspection. It is sad people can't be trusted, I suppose. Live and learn I guess!

Good news, glad you are now free to keep looking. Good luck!!!

[jamesrxx951]

Glad to see you received all your money back. Sounds like this RV dealer is a real dump. Never should they argue with you over that kind of purchase. Instead, they should have tried to keep your business by asking you want you wanted exactly and tried to find it for you to save the sale.

[wincrasher]

You just learned the MOST valuable lesson in the RV business. None of them can be trusted. None of them. They all act friendly and caring until they get your check.

So always protect yourself. They will all hold an RV for an interested party to inspect. Some may require a small refundable deposit. If they won't, then walk away. There is always another eager seller. You were very lucky to recover your money in this case and also saved yourself alot of future frustration.

Also consider this - if they were offering you that 5ver for $15k, they probably paid $7500 or less for it. Probably alot less. Because it's full of rot. If the floor was soft in the slide, you think that the water traveled thru the roof, walls, etc and did no damage on it's way to the floor? They knew it from the beginning since they could probably smell it and hammered the previous owner on the price. And they were offering it to you at 100% markup without even attempting to fix it. Nice, eh?

You best way to find rot is to just use your nose. Smell musty inside? That comes from water damage and mold. If the refer wasn't full of mold then walk away from those units.

Good luck in your search!

[Kro1957]

Whew.... close one

Glad you made it out of there.

[hjsdds]

Word of caution (or wisdom) about older RV "smells". If you are looking at 10 years old RVs, they will not smell like the one that just rolled out of Indiana. Actually the one that has been dragged all over the country and used a lot will smell lot better than the one that has been used for two weeks a year and set around for fifty. Other than high desert of southwest with low humidity, the rest of the country, whether north or south, is not too kind to RV interiors. The moisture and humidity naturally present in the air drifts into interiors and just stays there settling into carpets, furniture, walls, bedding, etc. Unless the owners periodically, air out the units, run the heat and run the air conditioners, it will not take long to have the interiors smell like an NFL locker room after the game. That's why an RV used a lot or fultimed in will not smell like that because the owners, will be in and out and keep opening the doors, windows, running fans, heat and air conditioning and not allow stagnant air and moisture settle into the interior.
We lived most of out lives in north east, the winters can be brutal, rains can last weeks and summer humidity as high as in Florida. A Florida trip in the winter was always good for the rig and as soon as the spring broke we used to "visit" and air out the rig frequently (in the side yard).
By the way for those who leave their rigs in Florida remember that above 76-78 if the rig closed up tight and you don't run an air conditioner, you can "acquire" that NFL locker room smell in a short order.

hjs

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

You just learned the MOST valuable lesson in the RV business. None of them can be trusted. None of them. They all act friendly and caring until they get your check.

So always protect yourself. They will all hold an RV for an interested party to inspect. Some may require a small refundable deposit. If they won't, then walk away. There is always another eager seller. You were very lucky to recover your money in this case and also saved yourself alot of future frustration.

We came very close to buying a new Dutch Star, list was around $370,000, they asked for $5,000 down and fully refundable.
And I agree with the bolded statement above!

[Swamp Man]

Last parting shot would be to notify your state's attorney general about those people. Not only is the rot damage, but a safety item also. If you can poke your finger through it, what about a foot with you body weight on it?