Hello from Houston

[MoonDog]

Hello, I'm David and I'm about 3 years away from early retirement now and my dream is to take at least a 1 year sweep around the good ol' USA and see the things I've yet to see.

I lived in Delaware most of my life but relocated to Houston in '05 just after Katrina. I came to Houston in a class A ('91 Rockwood 34') towing my Jeep and lived in the coach for 11 months, bought a house and sold the RV. I travel a lot in my work and met a cute little Filipina named Jovy and we've been happily married for about 3 years now, she's my second wife and I have a daughter in college from my first marriage. Jovy is very excited about this RV thing.

I'm in the market for a new (used) coach about 5 or 6 years old, low miles, probably gas. I checked PPL here in Houston where they sell consignment RVs. They certainly don't look as good as the pictures and they allow anyone (kids) to run around in the $200K coachs unsupervised.

I bought my first coach on eBay, you have to be careful but there are some good ones. I check every other day to see what's new. This morning I saw a deal that was too good to me true, a pristine 40' Itasca Horizon 400hp DP with only 30K on the clock for $69,500 or best offer. I did a little search and found the next cheapest '06 Horizon selling for $135,000.

Now here is the funny stuff, the person selling it (laser.m999) has a 0 rating and created his eBay account yesterday. The listing says the coach is in Columbus, OH, but the phone number is from San Francisco which could be possible I suppose. But, I did a web search of the VIN # and it came up twice, both times on eBay and both times it was removed. So now it is listed for the 3rd time, under a brand new eBay profile and the only payment method accepted is a wire transfer to the sellers bank account, Hmmmmmm. I reported it to eBay and sent laser.m999 and nice email.

Happy trails and if you know of a good souce for used class As please let me know.

Thanks, Jovy and David

[bull1966]

David,

I'm new to the site as well, so just wanted to drop a note to say hello. Sounds like you had an interesting adventure. I bought my travel trailer from an ebay posting as well. Turns out it was right down the road from me and in perfect condition, so I agree, you can do pretty good on the online auctions; just have to be careful.

As for Lasem999, that sounds like a complete scam to me! I've done pretty good on ebay from time to time, but I've also been had a few times.

Good luck to ya.

Dale

[TXiceman]

For additional places to check for coaches, Look at:
Pre-owned RV sales, Service ,Parts & Consignments Motorhomes of Texas
They are just up Hwy 59 in Nacogdoches.

Also check
Texas RV Dealer, Used RVs for sale, motorhome sales, new RVs
Near Fort Worth.

What part of Houston are you located.....we are in the Cypress area as are a buch of the other Texas Boomers. We would love to meet y'all at a rally.

Ken

[MoonDog]

TXiceman,

Thanks for the tips on used motorhome dealers, I will definitely check those out. I live near Memorial City Mall but on the North side of I-10 in the Shadow Oaks communities.

I will take you up on the rallies as soon as I find another coach. Shadowdale RV and Boat storage facility on Lumpkin Road is walking distance from my house, driveway isn't big enough for a decent sized coach and the civic association frowns on it anyway. I see a lot of Prevosts and Country Coaches going in and out, would be nice to keep it there if not too expensive, used to be rice storage, see link.

Any advice on storage would also be appreciated. I kept my other one at a guy I work with uncles place over by Bear Creek Park, $20 a month but it was outside.

Shadowdale RV & Boat Storage

Dave

[Hammer Down]

Originally Posted by MoonDog

Hello, I'm David and I'm about 3 years away from early retirement now and my dream is to take at least a 1 year sweep around the good ol' USA and see the things I've yet to see.

I lived in Delaware most of my life but relocated to Houston in '05 just after Katrina. I came to Houston in a class A ('91 Rockwood 34') towing my Jeep and lived in the coach for 11 months, bought a house and sold the RV. I travel a lot in my work and met a cute little Filipina named Jovy and we've been happily married for about 3 years now, she's my second wife and I have a daughter in college from my first marriage. Jovy is very excited about this RV thing.

I'm in the market for a new (used) coach about 5 or 6 years old, low miles, probably gas. I checked PPL here in Houston where they sell consignment RVs. They certainly don't look as good as the pictures and they allow anyone (kids) to run around in the $200K coachs unsupervised.

I bought my first coach on eBay, you have to be careful but there are some good ones. I check every other day to see what's new. This morning I saw a deal that was too good to me true, a pristine 40' Itasca Horizon 400hp DP with only 30K on the clock for $69,500 or best offer. I did a little search and found the next cheapest '06 Horizon selling for $135,000.

Now here is the funny stuff, the person selling it (laser.m999) has a 0 rating and created his eBay account yesterday. The listing says the coach is in Columbus, OH, but the phone number is from San Francisco which could be possible I suppose. But, I did a web search of the VIN # and it came up twice, both times on eBay and both times it was removed. So now it is listed for the 3rd time, under a brand new eBay profile and the only payment method accepted is a wire transfer to the sellers bank account, Hmmmmmm. I reported it to eBay and sent laser.m999 and nice email.

Happy trails and if you know of a good souce for used class As please let me know.

Thanks, Jovy and David

Run Forest Run this has scam written all over. They will ask for third party closing, They are crooks you were sharp enough to research them and expose their trail. Report to eBay. Too many real deals and prices and more will be available with the price of fuel going up. Good luck with all your new endeavors.

[MoonDog]

Dale,

I do have some experience with eBay scams. I listed a motorcycle about 5 or 6 years ago. It didn't sell so I let the ad run out. A few weeks later I started getting calls about the bike. I finally asked one of the callers why he was calling about an expired ad, he advised me to take a look. I logged in and found my bike was relisted. Some guy from an island off the coast of Maine had guessed my password, I was listing a Fatboy and my password was fatboy so it wasn't all that hard. He also took over my email account (same password ) and upgraded it with his own credit card so he could redirect emails to his email address. I was wondering why I wasn't get any emails for a while. He also added about $100 worth of extras to the ad. I got it all straightened out, eBay and email provider waived the bogus fees and canceled all the changes. When I finially did sell the bike on eBay and asked the successful bidder for a down payment he pushed back on that one. Seems he got burned as a buyer, there was a rash of that going on for Harleys at the time and I didn't know it. All they were after was the down payment.

The coach I bought on eBay was in Houston and I was living in Delaware. I flew down, looked it over and ended up buying it. That deal wasn't so good, the guy claimed he had completely serviced it but had done nothing. It had no tail lights, all bulbs were burned out and tires had lest than 40 psi. I fixed it up a little and wasn't too bad, running gear was OK.

It was the first motorhome I was ever even inside of. I remember heading it back to Delaware and getting honked at a few times by 18 wheelers until I learned to keep it on my side of the road. I stopped in Mississippi at a rest area that had a free dumping station, thought I would give it a try. When I opened the compartment with the dump valves I learned that the valves were left in the open position and I had been using the sinks and toilet. The compartment sealed pretty good, just some drips, so when I turned the latch the door flew open and about 5 gallons of the foulest stuff you can imagine covered me from the waist down. I did have enough in the fresh water tank to take a shower.

I sold it to a traveling preacher man after using it for almost 4 years, got about half what I paid for it. I'm much wiser now and know what to look for.

Thanks for the reply
David and Jovy

[TXiceman]

I would be very leery of any RV on E-BAIT. Just remember ...Buyer Beware. Same applies to Craigs List.

I have not kept up with RV storage on thie west and NW side of town. We live on an acre and can keep the RV under a carport next to the garage.

Have fun looking.

Ken

[MoonDog]

Originally Posted by Hammer Down

Run Forest Run this has scam written all over. They will ask for third party closing, They are crooks you were sharp enough to research them and expose their trail. Report to eBay. Too many real deals and prices and more will be available with the price of fuel going up. Good luck with all your new endeavors.

Update, the coach was gone from eBay later in the day, but since I had it on my watch list I was able to see the "sold for" meaning someone had hit the "buy it now" option. EBay sent me an email just now, 1st two paragraphs pasted below;

===
"Our records show that you recently contacted or received messages from laser.m999 through eBay's messaging system. This account was recently found to have been accessed by an unauthorized third party, who may have used the account in an attempt to defraud other members.

We've taken action to restore this account to the original owner, but wanted to let you know to be suspicious of any communication you may have received from them. Nothing is wrong with your account at this time -- this message is just being sent as a precaution. If you have received any messages from that appears suspicious, please feel free to forward them to us at spoof@ebay.com for review."
===

I had sent this crook an email, I'll paste it below;

===
"Dear laser.m999,

A zero rating, Columbus, OH address and San Fran. phone number, listing this coach for less than half what it is worth, will only except a wire bank transfer and listing a coach which has, according to the vin number, been removed from eBay on two other occasions? Trying to bilk some poor soul out of their life savings are we? You've been reported, the police should be knocking soon."
===

The sad thing, this guy created the eBay account the same day he posted the scam, but all he had to say was that someone hijacked his account and he's free and clear. They take this kind of thing way to lightly, if the scam came from his computer, he should be charged with a felony.

[bull1966]

Originally Posted by MoonDog

Dale,

I do have some experience with eBay scams. I listed a motorcycle about 5 or 6 years ago. It didn't sell so I let the ad run out. A few weeks later I started getting calls about the bike. I finally asked one of the callers why he was calling about an expired ad, he advised me to take a look. I logged in and found my bike was relisted. Some guy from an island off the coast of Maine had guessed my password, I was listing a Fatboy and my password was fatboy so it wasn't all that hard. He also took over my email account (same password ) and upgraded it with his own credit card so he could redirect emails to his email address. I was wondering why I wasn't get any emails for a while. He also added about $100 worth of extras to the ad. I got it all straightened out, eBay and email provider waived the bogus fees and canceled all the changes. When I finially did sell the bike on eBay and asked the successful bidder for a down payment he pushed back on that one. Seems he got burned as a buyer, there was a rash of that going on for Harleys at the time and I didn't know it. All they were after was the down payment.

The coach I bought on eBay was in Houston and I was living in Delaware. I flew down, looked it over and ended up buying it. That deal wasn't so good, the guy claimed he had completely serviced it but had done nothing. It had no tail lights, all bulbs were burned out and tires had lest than 40 psi. I fixed it up a little and wasn't too bad, running gear was OK.

It was the first motorhome I was ever even inside of. I remember heading it back to Delaware and getting honked at a few times by 18 wheelers until I learned to keep it on my side of the road. I stopped in Mississippi at a rest area that had a free dumping station, thought I would give it a try. When I opened the compartment with the dump valves I learned that the valves were left in the open position and I had been using the sinks and toilet. The compartment sealed pretty good, just some drips, so when I turned the latch the door flew open and about 5 gallons of the foulest stuff you can imagine covered me from the waist down. I did have enough in the fresh water tank to take a shower.

I sold it to a traveling preacher man after using it for almost 4 years, got about half what I paid for it. I'm much wiser now and know what to look for.

Thanks for the reply
David and Jovy

Holly cow! I haven't had that happen yet, but I've heard of others with experiences like yours. I keep my ebay purchases to small minor things. Conceptually, it's an excellent resource, but in reality, people like you described make it unsafe for honest buyers and sellers.