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RoscoeAndTam · 05-07-2013, 06:20 AM

Hi All
I've had differant travel trailers and I've been reading alot of IRV2 over the past year.
Im looking at a 97 Fleetwood Bounder 34' (maybe 32') H. This has the Ford 460 and which tranny I do not know. The owner says the tranny will automatically downshift if you let off the gas going downhill. It has 3 hydralic leveling jacks and the only thing that the owner says does not work is the battery disconnect by the entry door. Although I will go through ALL the accessories at a later date the ones we did start/use functioned well. I went under it with a creeper and flashlight and it looked clean and dry with a small amount of corroision on the floor pan. The rear sway bar does Not have any rubber grommets where it is mounted to the axle, it seem to float in a steel on steel mount. The unit is very clean inside and out with new tires and older batteries. (The owners house and property was immaculant) It has a gas onnan 4000 watt genset with 200 hrs on it and it fired up and ran well from cold. I haven't load tested it or let it get hot. We fired up the 460 from cold with the doghouse open and it to fired up quietly and ran good. It has 66,000 KM's and it has had the plugs changed. Only one rooftop A/C. Small solar charger/maintainer on the roof, roof seams good and solid with caulking maintained. There are a few extras that make me think it has been well maintained (Flat screens TV's, Night Shades, Inverter)

He's asking $24,500 e-tested and certified with a scooter and carrying rack. I'm not intrested in the scooter.
Can anyone tell me if there is any issues with these units or things that I should pay particular attention to.

joemcgin · 05-07-2013, 06:58 AM

You can get Blue Book values from the NADA Website under the RV tab. Do a Google search on the unit to get comparable units for sale to see what they might be selling for-not asking prices. RV Trader website can help you out there as well. How old are the tires? Tread depth doesn't matter. Will need to replace if 7 years old. Sidewalls are the area to look at. Can run you $1800 to $3000 for new tires. Do lots of research!

rlyons · 05-07-2013, 01:24 PM

The rear sway bar needs bushings, they don't float in steel brackets. If you are going to use it in hot weather it really needs two A/C units to cool properly. That price sounds a little high to me. I am going to sell my 98 Itasca 35 foot with 30,000 miles along with the blue ox tow setup and brake buddy braking system along with the 98 Honda CRV toad and am thinking about asking 23,000 for the whole setup if we decide to go back to a fifthwheel. Mine already has all the extras like the super steer trac bar, new sway bar bushings, new shocks, front air bags, new steering stabilizer, all new tires. So like I said sounds high to me.

vito.a · 05-07-2013, 03:58 PM

The Bounder is the most popular class A made. There are thousands of happy Bounder owners.

NADA retail for a 1997 Bounder M-34J is $15,770 and low retail is $13,090. I would suggest you continue your search. Usually when the price is this far out of line there is no hope to negotiate it down far enough.

Best of luck!

bsinmich · 05-07-2013, 04:03 PM

Since the OP gave the mileage in KM I would assume it is in Canada someplace. The Canadians have a lot more money than us here in the USA and pay more for identical equipment. You can't compare prices across the border. That is right around 40K miles so it is a very low mileage MH. At 35' Fleetwood had determined that 2 ACs were needed in that year. We had a '96 Pace Arrow with the 2 ACs. With only a 30 amp power cord you would have to be very careful running 2 ACs on only 30 amp so that is not a problem. I like the 3 point jacks. They worked great.