2000 Cub 21BH, found a camper?

[mamaloya]

I was looking at the Aerolite Cub campers and when I went to find a dealer, I found Holiday Kamper in Colfax, NC. They have a used one, a 21BH, for $5,988. It is a 2000. I was looking at the 23BH. They appear to be the same floor plan, except the 21BH does not have a slide. I assume the GVWR would be similar.

Here is a link2000 Aero Cub 21BH

Is this a good deal. It looks to be in good condition, but I have not seen it in person. We are going to look at it on Tuesday. We were planning on waiting until next year for one as we needed to save up. This is so cheap that we don't need to.

Only thing is selling our popup. Our popup is a 2005 (1 yo now) and a Fleetwood Colonial (Sante Fe floor plan). It has only been used a few times and is in new condition. It also has A/C and canopy. I was thinking about asking $6K for this. Is that fair? Also, do you think dealers would give a fair enough trade in amt for us to trade it in?

I will also post this in the popup section.

Thanks for any tips and opinions.

[mamaloya]

I was looking at the Aerolite Cub campers and when I went to find a dealer, I found Holiday Kamper in Colfax, NC. They have a used one, a 21BH, for $5,988. It is a 2000. I was looking at the 23BH. They appear to be the same floor plan, except the 21BH does not have a slide. I assume the GVWR would be similar.

Here is a link2000 Aero Cub 21BH

Is this a good deal. It looks to be in good condition, but I have not seen it in person. We are going to look at it on Tuesday. We were planning on waiting until next year for one as we needed to save up. This is so cheap that we don't need to.

Only thing is selling our popup. Our popup is a 2005 (1 yo now) and a Fleetwood Colonial (Sante Fe floor plan). It has only been used a few times and is in new condition. It also has A/C and canopy. I was thinking about asking $6K for this. Is that fair? Also, do you think dealers would give a fair enough trade in amt for us to trade it in?

I will also post this in the popup section.

Thanks for any tips and opinions.

[Superslif]

Hello,
I saw your post in the pop-up section a few days ago. It looks like your following the same path as we have in owning a Coleman pop-up and then upgrading to a hybrid. At the time back in the late fall of 04' we were looking to up grade from our 99' Coleman with a 10' box to a larger 12' box model like the Mesa or Bayside. While at the dealership we never really even thought about the hybrid type. By chance I just happened to pop my head into the Aerolite Cub and called my wife over for a look. We looked at the 215 model which was 21' foot long. I knew at the time we were also going to upgrade our tow vehicle to a V-8 to handle the larger 12' pop-up. I started looking at the price and the weight of the Cubs. There is just so much more storage room in the Cubs. It just made sense to upgrade to a hybrid for a few $$ more. We settled on the 24' model #236 which has a sofa slide and more counter space than our home. Its just unreal the amount of storage cabinets.
Ok, getting back to the 00' model your looking at. We bought the 05' because that is the first year they went to 8' wide. I think from 01'-04' the Cubs were only 7-1/2' wide. Now a friend of ours had the 00' regular Aerolite that was only 7' wide. He looked at our and marveled at how the extra foot of width inside opened it up. So the 00' might only be 7' wide. As far as price the used Aerolite's seemed to hold their value. Here check out this website http://www.rvsearch.com/ and punch in Aerolite. I came up with 36 offerd for sale. Most were new ones dealers were selling. Also do a search on Ebay. Also try http://ww2.rvtraderonline.com/index.php Giving it a quick look on both of these websites, that price you see for that 00' looks good. from the pictures it looks clean. I noticed it didn't have a cover on the propane tanks. Maybe they didn't put covers on them in 00'. My 05' has a plastic pull-off cover. I notice on the pictures for that trailer that it must a different type of latching system. I don't really see a latch on the front view next to the front bunk door. I know back in either 02 or 03' they had a problem with the bunkends leaking at the gasget. Here a bean counter at the factory got a deal on a cheaper cost seal. But it turns out they had to replace it because it leaked. Also the latching system is a lot better now. In the 04's on up they went to a latch like they use on semi trailers. For the heck of it take a look at the 236 model to see all the counter space it offers. You have at least 4-5' in the kitchen, plus back by the rear bunk you have another 3-1/2' of counter space with cabinets under it.
Before we bought our we went to the RV show to look at all the other hydrids offered. The Aerolite's were a few $$$ more but I thought they were built better. The "fit & finish" was there. We have camped about 105 nights in our 05' over that last 2 seasons. I would buy another in a heartbeat. Good luck.....If your looking at the older ones, just keep an eye out for leaks by the bunk ends. Look under the hinge area.

[mamaloya]

Thanks for the info Jim. I will look out for signs of leaks. As for the newer model, I would like a newer one, but we don't want to get into debt. I would rather pay cash for an older one now and then save up over the next couple of years and get a newer one that way. Maybe by then, we can get an '05 that is 8' wide for our price range.

I have my eye on teh 23BH but, like I said, don't want a big loan. I like the slide in the 23BH.

We are going to drive into the dealership this afternoon as long as dh doesn't get a call (he is on call over the holdidays). It is almost 2 hours away.

I will let you know what we think and maybe bring the camera for a couple more detailed photos.

[mamaloya]

We went to see the camper yesterday. I did not see any signs of leaks. There were a couple of little things like the drain plug in the bathtub, but they said they would fix that. It looks good. The kids like it. It is a little tighter inside than I thought, but not a big deal.

Now, here is the deal. It is $5,988. They first offered us only like $3500 for our popup and I said no way. They went up to $4K. It is still WAY low. They said they could not go down on the price of the cub because that is already rock bottom. I am not sure. I know that if they buy our popup for 4K, they will get at least $5500 and call that rock bottom.

When I still balked at the $4K, the manager said that they would throw in a deluxe starter kit with all of our hoses, a free battery and switch the electric brake controller from our old van to our new van at no cost. They will also fill the 2 propane tanks. Of course there is also the 40 nt free camping, which I believe is pretty standard and the campground (sycamore lodge) tries to sell you a membership. They also said we would get a free Good Sam membership as well as the Camping World President's club membership. They also included 1 year of travel trailer magazine. Some of this is standard (president's club, camping, and probably magazine).

Do they normally fill your propane tanks? Also is the Good Sam membership even really mentionable? I know a battery can cost about $100. I am still not clear about what the deluxe starter kit is or what its value is. Also, how much would it normally be to switch the brake controller.

I also don't like that they are adding on that "dealer prep fee" of almost $500. Wouldn't getting it ready to sell be just a part of doing business? Although it is not like this is a new one. It does need a few things fixed, which they said they would do.

The bottom line, out the door, price after our trade in and tax title and license, would be $2376.64. I think that the price on the camper is a fair one, but $4K for my popup feels like a ripoff. I know I could sell it myself for at least 5K.

Dh says that the 1K difference is not worth the bother of trying to sell it ourself. He is also concerned that we won't find a good deal on a cub again, at least not this good. This is not the exact camper we want to eventually be in, but is a good next step. After a couple of years of saving, we can buy one with a slide.

I do know that hybrids are hard to find. I also know that it will be hard to sell our popup this time of year.

I would feel better about the deal if they were offering us more for our popup, other than that, I would say go for it.

Any opinions? Thanks in advance.

[mamaloya]

OK, I have a couple of other questions.

They have agreed to switch our brake controller from our old van to our new one. Only problem is that they are 2 hrs away. We need to bring in the popup to trade in if we do that. So, we will have to drive both vans the 2 hrs to get there. Can we tow the popup with the new van w/o the brake controller? I assume the electric brakes on the popup only work with the controller. So, if I take the controller out of the old van, then we can't tow the popup with either van. I really don't want to bring 2 vehicles 2 hrs away.

Next question is do we need a sway control bar? I assume yes. What type of sway control should we get for the new van/camper combo. I wish I had thought of this when they were making the deal, maybe they would have thrown one in. I looked online and a friction one is only about $100. Is that about right? The camper's wt is under 5K lb.

Are there any other things that I am not taking into consideration?

[aa6vh]

Since no one has answered this yet, I will take a shot at it:

Having some sort of sway control is very essential. However, I do not recomend those simple friction sway controls.

With that size and weight of your new trailer, I would highly recomend a weight distribution type hitch, which should also include sway control. Your ride will be so much better, and also safer. I personally use the Equal-I-Zer hitch, but Reese makes a good one as well (the dual-cam).

What kind of brake controller do you currently have? If it is not one of the newer ones, you might consider "upgrading" to a better controller anyway. I use the Prodigy.

Your new trailer is much heavier than what you have and are used to, so better towing equipment is a must!

Dave
01 Cub 23
00 Ford F150

[Superslif]

O, What is your new van? A lot of newer vehicles are wired for towing. So the cost to install is much less. Our Toyota was prewired for a break controller and I think they only charged us a 1/2 hour of labor. I went with the Prodigy and like the ease of adjusting it for changing road conditions. I only use a anti-sway control to help on towing.
OK back the question of price. If you looked at the trailer and there is not too much wear and tear, I would say that is a good price for a 00'. But the price of the trade-in is not very good. I wouldn't let them have it. We paid for ours in Feb.(Cub)and said we would take delivery on April 1st. So March is when we put of 99' Coleman pop-up for sale. This way when we picked up the Cub in April the pop-up was sold. You can expect the selling season in the Carolina's to be under way by then.
I'm with you as far as not having much debt on a trailer. I'm all cash.....No other way...

When you said they added $500 dealer prep. Was that on top of the $5988 price? I agree that is just apart of doing business. Personally I would buy the trailer for the $5988 and try to get them to throw in a new battery and have the propane tanks topped off. Then I would sell my own pop-up. Remember our pop-up was 6 seasons old and about the same model. The Cheyenne is almost the same lay-out as the Colonial except it had the front storage trunk. We did not have AC. I got $4250 for ours back in the spring of 05'. The only thing is you will have to pay the full tax on the Cub if you do not trade it in.

[Superslif]

You had asked a ? about sway-control

""Next question is do we need a sway control bar? I assume yes. What type of sway control should we get for the new van/camper combo. I wish I had thought of this when they were making the deal, maybe they would have thrown one in. I looked online and a friction one is only about $100. Is that about right? The camper's wt is under 5K lb.""

I think we paid about $120 for a friction type. It seems to do the job. I think it all depends on the tow vehicle. Our Toyota 4-Runner is rated at 7200 lbs. And 750 hitch cap. I estimate ours is running at 400-450 hitch wt. and our trailers dry weight is stated at 3900, and loaded we are at about 4400. We pack light. I took the spare tire off the back of the trailer and mounted a (3 bike) bike back there. So that helps with the hitch weight. What are your new vans tow specs?

[mamaloya]

Jim,

Our new van is a Chevy Express 1500 with the heavy duty trailering package. The tow capacity is 6600lb.

On the trade in for the popup, dh has decided to trade it. He knows we could get more, but does not want the hassle of selling it on our own. I am the tightwad in this family. LOL We discussed borrowing the amount of this one and then waiting to sell our popup in the spring and paying off the loan, but we should be PCSing in March and don't want to be stuck moving to Ft. Polk with 2 campers. I should have put our popup on the lemon lot as soon as we thought of selling and maybe it would have sold by now. (The lemon lot is the place on post (base) where soldiers can put their vehicles for sale.) There is a Coleman that looks to be a few years old and about the size of a Yuma for $5K. That is WAY too much. It has been there for over 6 months now.

OK, I am wandering off topic now.

So, looks like we are picking it up today. I am going to print Scott's PDI checklist from the disneycampers website to take with us. Not looking forward to the drive. Also nervous about pulling something so BIG!!

Well, gotta go get ready to leave. Thank you all again for all of your advice. You guys are GREAT!

[mamaloya]

OK, we picked up our new camper yesterday. They wound up including a wt dist hitch with sway control. It is a huge setup. Don't know if we will remember how to hitch with this fancy new hitch.

As we were going over the camper, I pointed out a few things and they took care of them. The step was a little sticky so they sprayed it with lubricant and gave us the can in case it needed more. They also replaced one of the propane tanks. They showed us how to do everything as well. Not to complicated. The guy was really nice. During the demo, one of the girls pulled the privacy curtain to the back bunk down and when I went to slide it back into the track noticed that she had managed to pull the track out. He went and got a staple gun and tacked it back up for me. Wonder how many times I am going to have to repeat that one.

We then went to finish the paperwork and all of that stuff and then headed back to pick it up. He showed us how to do the awning. It is so much easier than a popup one. When it was all hitched, some of the lights were out so he and dh went around and replaced each bulb that was out. They now all work. I think he gave dh a couple of spare bulbs as well. While they were replacing the bulbs, I noticed some of the caulk was starting to crack so they gave me a thing of caulk of told me how to go about doing it. I think they would have done it had it not been almost closing. Towards the end, there were quite a few techs out there with us giving us little tips here and there. They wer all so friendly. You would have though we had just bought a brand new one or something.

Overall, we had a good experience. I am pleased. Too bad they are 2 hrs away.

As for towing it home. Dh drove it the first hour while I drove the other van. When we stopped for dinner, I asked him if I could drive it the last hour since there were no more two lane roads and I was familiar with the road from there. He said yes and I gave it a go. He followed behind in case I changed my mind. I was scared. I don't like towing the popup.

This was so easy. I guess it is the new hitch, but there was no sway, no drag, it was easy. The only time the engine strained was going up hill, so I just took it slow. I kept forgetting it was behind me. I can't believe I was so scared of it. Can't wait to make our maiden voyage!!! We made head out to the lake for the remainder of the weekend. Will let you know how it goes.

Oh, btw, I videoed a lot of the demo, but forgot to tape the hitch segment. May come back here for advice if we can't remember how to do it.

Now to go load her up with our camping gear!!

[mamaloya]

OK, I got it all loaded up and am ready to go. We did some recaulking. We peeled the caulk off of most of the windows and bedends and caulked. It looks a lot better. The old caulk was yellowed and did not look like it would last much longer. We decided to take a preemptive measure. The first area looks a little sloppy, but once I got used to it, it looks better. dh decided which areas needed recaulking and removed the old caulk and I did the caulking. It is a kind of relaxing task. How often do you need to recaulk?

We do have one other question. Where do you put your wd hitch after you take it off? We put the camper into the PORV lot last night and unhitched it. When we took the wd hitch off the van, we were quite surprised at the size and wt of it. It is a heavy bugger. I could not even lift it. We tried putting it in one of the outside storage compartments, but it was too big. We finally found an outside one (the pass through one)that it would fit in, but wound up nocking a duct loose inside it and bent the opening a little on accident just from the wt of the hitch. We straightened the bend with no prob and will hook up the duct before our maiden voyage. But, we don't know where to put the hitch. We don't want to bring it home because we don't want to have to bring it back. So, we are thinking just put it inside the camper itself. It is not like we will tow with it in there.

It is so nice having so much storage! We put our little to go grill inside as well as our camping chairs. It has so much room, sounds like a shopping trip is in order. JJ There are a couple of things I always wanted to get for out camping trips, but could not fit in the popup, like an aluminum table for campgrounds w/o picnic tables. Also, I want some tacky lights for the awning.

Can't wait for our first trip. Will watch the weather and see if we can head up to Camp Lejeune soon. dh went to boot camp there when he was in the marines years ago and he wants to go check it out.

Oh, and it appears the front bunk will open while hitched up although we have not tried it yet. We are ready for a long journey now! Can't wait!!!

[Superslif]

Congrats on the new Cub....
Its fun filling up a new / larger trailer. I think I counted 26 cabinet doors in our Cub. Even now after 2 seasons of using it we have some room left. My wife was even kind enough to let me have the cabinet under the TV shelf for my "stuff".
As far as where you can store you hitch hummmm. I only have the sway-control hitch. I took the original box it came in and reinforced it with duct tape. Usually when we are pulling into a campground While checking in I'll take it off and put it in the box and put it in that narrow pass-thru storage door. If yours has one of those narrow (about 10" wide) storage access door like mine, I put stuff like hiking sticks, broom, plastic rake, 3 step ladder, telescoping pole with scrub brush for cleaning off awning and bunk ends, bag chair, sway-control box, 2 awning savers(they also call them flappers), awning roll-up rod.
I see that the weather must be warm enough for winter camping down there. Here in northern Ohio we have been 10-15 degrees above normal the last 2 months. We were able to get out the last weekend in Nov. to a state park that had showerhouses open in the off season. All the private campgrounds close up by Oct 15th.

[mamaloya]

Thanks, we still have plenty of room. I figure as we use it, we will rearrange things to the most logical spot. I like the drawerlike bins under the sink in the cabinet. I so wanted drawers in the popup. I use the top drawer for cooking related utensils and accessories (oven mitts, can openers, big spoons) and the bottom one for eating stuff (silverware, napkins, condiment packets). They have that little shelf thing over the large bunk end, it is so small, not sure what to put there.

I bought some over the door hooks for the bathroom door for towels, but think I will put them outside when possible to keep the moisture out.

I like that there is a wardrobe where I can hang things. At WDW last month, I hated piling the jackets wherever they landed. I don't like not having a counter top to put the suitcase on at night though. I guess we can put it on the dinette as we won't be using it to sleep, then put it on a bunkend during the day.

We want to get out this coming weekend, but rain is in the forecast. I will keep an eye on it though.

Oh, one more thing. The tech showing us how to use the camper was not too familiar with hybrids and did not know how to fold the bunkends up. I asked him "do we need to fold the mattress or something before we fold the bunkend in?" He said no, but when he and dh went to do it, they had to come back in and do it. The canvas also wind up taking up a lot of space inside. I cannot readily get to the dinette because it is on top of it. Still don't think we folded the mattress correctly. It has 2 bends in it. How do we fold it and what do we do with the canvas? I have seen pictures of some that have straps inside to contain the canvas, but this one does not. Any suggestions? I am a little neat freak and hate the messy look.