New to me camper !

Yea!!! Not I had post early about a used camper that was potentially leaking and was advised to look else where. I did and thought I had found a good one, well I got it home and found someone had laid new plywood over the rotting floor in the front of the camper. The front coners are are but gone, someone tried to sure it up by stuffing wood  in so the the corner piece would have something to attach to. It appears that most of the bottom wood frame that runs from front to back is mostly gone and rear floor also shows water damage. So the bottom line is it is trash and I'm out over $8600. Just can't believe someone would take advantage of two older retired people this way. I have a bank loan I'm stuck with and nothing to show for it. To all be very very careful about buying a used camper because more than likely it has damage. It is beyond me why manufacturers don't use treated lumber, the additional cost would be minimal and if you caught a leak there would be little damage.

I'm so sorry you are stuck with this problem.  :-\ It certainly points out the wisdom of hiring an RV mechanic to inspect a used RV before signing on the dotted line. I have owned three used RVs and none had significant problems. There are some cream puffs out there. Do you have a friend or relative who is handy with carpentry? Perhaps, it can be salvaged so that you can get some use out of it. Hope you find a happy resolution to this situation.

Thanks, We moved to GA 3 years ago and don't know any handy people. I still can't believe this guy hung us like he did.... he seemed so very genuine.

I think this is awful.  Perhaps some of our forum members can recommend someone to help you with repairs in your area that are dependable and not too expensive? Which town iso closest to you?

I feel very bad for you !

Please in the future if you are buying anything used have someone with you that is qualified to check it out .
Not jut RV's, but anything.

Jackl

This is a long shot, but have you tried to reach out to who you bought it from. I know, I know, the sale is done, however, IF you reach out to them and let them know that you feel taken advantage of, the person may have a heart and either take it back less some money (which saves you in the long run) OR refunds a few bucks to you OR tells you to buzz off.  Give it a shot. If they tell you to buzz off you could nicely say that you feel ripped off and an you have a brother who is an attorney and works for free and could sue you, (even thought it wont stand up in court) but it will cost the seller time and an attorney to defend themself. Maybe he will remedy it with you without going that route. A small threat.

In this world we live, money is money and ethics are gone.

Good Luck.

I deff feel your pain. never understood why scammers always take advantage of older people ?. I bought this 1992, 22ft Fleetwood wilderness a couple years back, replaced the roof once already seeing how it was NOT leak proof ?!. sense then, I had to rebuild the front wall, front side walls, and the front floor. its a good thing I am very handy !. too bad I am not in my 20's anymore...lol. now back to my leaking roof again, BECAUSE SOME DUMMY THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO SCREW THE AWNING LAG BOLTS RIGHT ON TOP OF THE GUTTER RAIL ??!!. not too smart, that's for sure !. now I need to rip it all back apart, looking at about 800 more dollars in supplies, and this is hard when your disabled drawing a ssd check each month. only thing I have going for me at this point ?, is I can do all the work myself. if I was closer to you, I could try and help ya out . but being over here in Arkansas, don't help you much. your best bet ?, ask around with people you know, maybe someone local is handy, and can help you out ?, worth a shot. just don't take it to a dealership !!. they will rip you a new one !. keep your chin up, things will get better.

Modeladay said:

We moved to GA 3 years ago and don't know any handy people.

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They are out there... check your local Craigslist for independent folks offering carpentry work, etc.  Even if it costs you a couple thousand dollars, you'd have a usable RV and wouldn't be out $8600.

How long ago did this happen?  Have you contacted the seller to share what you learned?  Maybe they defrauded you, or maybe they were defrauded by someone else (depending on how new the "work" appears to be).  Look into your legal options for fraud or deceptive practices, if you think that can be proven.  Similar to paying a carpenter, you could also pay some attorney fees to write a couple letters to the seller threatening a civil lawsuit.  That might be enough to get some/all of your money back.

At this point it kinda depends on how bad you want to keep this trailer, and how bad you want/need the money back.

We also bought a camper that we ended up finding out had water damage. We brought it home and found a dark spot on the floor under the dinette bench we had not found before we purchased. Our floor was very rotted along with some of the frame work. We ended up doing a renovation to it and it's been a long process but we are almost done. We had informed the rv dealer we bought it from that we knew next to nothing about fifth wheels and this was for our family (we have two young daughters). We ended up with a water damaged fifth wheel. We understand your frustration and disappointment. It's disheartening. During this process we have learned a lot. Both on the buying side as well as the repair side.
As others have said, getting it repaired is probably your next step. It isn't the ideal situation, but somehow you will have to move forward. Don't lose heart. Are you capable of doing the repairs yourself or with the help of a friend/family member? DH and I did our own repairs. It was much more cost effective even though we are about a month into when we started. You can see our progress on the Renovation section of the forum under 'Life of our lemon.' If you have any questions or need any advice we are happy to answer any questions. There are also a lot of long term rv owners here that we willing to help give advice too. Good luck and keep your chin up. Sorry you have to go through this. 

Thanks all,  we did reach out to the seller however he insists he knew nothing about the damage that was done to the trailer. I had this thing three days and found the problems, he had it for almost 2 years and he didn't find the problems really?  He now is not answering any of my calls so I guess he has baled on us. I know he did the repairs so he could use it to hunt out of but he insists he knows nothing about any damage  or repairs. We do have an appointment with an attorney Thursday however I don't think anything can be done about this. The fortunate thing is that the attorney at this point cost us nothing because of insurance that we carry from retirement. I have talked to a  independent  RV repair person which is nearby.  I am taking the camper to him on Friday, his first guess from my description said it will probably be in excess of $3000 to do the repairs . i'll have to sell something because there just isn't anymore cash on hand. But you are right, it's best that I spend this money to do the proper repairs and have something that we can use instead of an $8000  behemoth  sitting in my driveway.  BTW we are in Lincolnton Georgia which is about 40 miles north of Augusta . What I'm finding is that many people have or going to get a leaky RV. There are many horror stories out there if you look and it seems like the  manufacturers really don't care. If I get this thing fixed right  and the guy does a good job I will be taking it to him yearly to make sure the roof is secure. To be honest if I could get out of this thing with just recovering a some of my money I will never own an RV again. It seems like it's just too much trouble and expense for all that you get out of it and buying new really doesn't solve the problem either unless you're willing to trade about every two years just to be sure you stay away from these kind of problems. It's not if they'll leak it when they will leak

alan6051964 said:

I deff feel your pain. never understood why scammers always take advantage of older people ?. I bought this 1992, 22ft Fleetwood wilderness a couple years back, replaced the roof once already seeing how it was NOT leak proof ?!. sense then, I had to rebuild the front wall, front side walls, and the front floor. its a good thing I am very handy !. too bad I am not in my 20's anymore...lol. now back to my leaking roof again, BECAUSE SOME DUMMY THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO SCREW THE AWNING LAG BOLTS RIGHT ON TOP OF THE GUTTER RAIL ??!!. not too smart, that's for sure !. now I need to rip it all back apart, looking at about 800 more dollars in supplies, and this is hard when your disabled drawing a ssd check each month. only thing I have going for me at this point ?, is I can do all the work myself. if I was closer to you, I could try and help ya out . but being over here in Arkansas, don't help you much. your best bet ?, ask around with people you know, maybe someone local is handy, and can help you out ?, worth a shot. just don't take it to a dealership !!. they will rip you a new one !. keep your chin up, things will get better.

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Come on over, you can camp in my back yard and I might even buy you a couple of ? ?

Here are some photos

Few more

It looks really nice!  Hoping you can get it fixed and have some enjoyable times in it!

What is that vent on the headboard above the bed in the master.? An air vent.? For what ?  It makes no sense..

Either the guy who sold it to you recently added that vent to releive the moisture behnd that wall OR he liked to sleep and breath black mold. The guy is lying to you!!

Triple Slide Jayco said:

What is that vent on the headboard above the bed in the master.? An air vent.? For what ?  It makes no sense..

Either the guy who sold it to you recently added that vent to releive the moisture behnd that wall OR he liked to sleep and breath black mold. The guy is lying to you!!

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I don't know, didn't think about it until you mentioned it......I will have a look.

All you can do is suck it up and repair it.  Look at it this way is a few grand will get it done and done right you are probably still way ahead of the game.

Don't forget the cause of the water needs to be assessed otherwise it will happen again.

I know it will be a ton of work, but you may want to consider doing it yourself.  At least you will know what was fixed and what other problems may exist.  Plus you can work on it on your schedule.  Sending a unit off to be repaired can be like having your trailer held hostage for weeks and months with no commitment for completion.

Please be honest when you eventually resell it on the entire background of the rig. Making the world a better place starts with each of us individually, and it makes your conscience much easier to live with

Modeladay said:

I don't know, didn't think about it until you mentioned it......I will have a look.

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Look at the screws on that vent and the overall age of it, if it looks new, this guy definitely installed it to vent the water issue. In his mind a 5 dollar vent is cheaper than the fix needed. My question still looms, Why in the world would anybody install a vent that's designed for a home furnace cold air return (sold at Lowe's or Home depot) right there.? There is not a logical reason. You could ask the thousands of people on this site and not one (besides you) will have one there. This seller was hiding something for sure. OR just liked breathing black mold. !

I recently went thru a similar issue with a rental home I owned and sold, even though I used a realtor and the buyer signs "as is" type docs, I still got sued, I had to get an attorney and represent myself JUST in case the judge saw it the other way. I was correct in everything but people can sue for whatever. Serving the seller in this case might do you good, the seller could realize just like I did and say, "lets handle this out of court". Because in this case when two older people walk into court and show pictures and the sort and obvious intent to cover this up by adding a vent, it smells bad, the judge may force a return of money or the sort.

I may have shamed the guy into taking the camper back...sort of. He said he could come up with $7000 of the 8100 paid. With bank application fees and $65 spent on a new awning bracket I will be out about $1600
I will chalk this up to a lesson learned, I just need to put this nightmare behind me. I also learned that I can buy a camper but I cannot afford to own one. Again thanks for the advice and encouragement, we are to meet next week to complete the deal, I hope, at this point I still don't trust him but he did call me.