Help us choose a good bunkhouse trailer

I have a hard time believing nada on the price of that trailer. Make sure you have the model number correct, that would make a big difference. http://www.nadaguides.com/RVs/2009/Jayco/M-26-BHS/4104180/Values. Could it actually be this one?

That seller insisted that is the 26BH not the 26BHS because we exchanged some emails.
I think we might found the one! http://www.tradenetrvs.com/vdp.php?rvs=2008-KZ-Sportsmen-Coyote-Lite&id=117465
We've seen it and it looks well taken care of, the decals ar pealed but not so much rust or other significant signs of wear and tear. The sellers looked honest and they'll include everything: hoses, hitch, sway bars (not so sure what model and brand) and even other stuff they have laying around in the trailer. The tires are 2007 and they need to be replaced.
We've called an RV service 40 miles away and it's gonna be around $330 for a two hour inspection. We did not talk with the shop that one of you recommended but we'll call tomorrow.
It's got a slide and it's roomy but the weight is 4,903# according to Nada. We found just the GVW of 7000# on the outside sticker.
I found some ads with this TT starting from June 2015 with different prices: 15k, 12k, 10,9k and this one for 10k. I wonder why they did not sell it... Maybe because it was overpriced?

scottydl said:

My wife's uncle Raymond bought a used Montana fifth wheel many years ago, a unit that Raymond had casually looked at it early on and mentioned to the seller that he could only spend $20k.  The seller scoffed at that amount (which wasn't really even an offer, just Raymond talking) and made all sorts of excuses about why it was worth $30k or more.  A few months later, Raymond still hadn't bought anything and got a call from the seller.  Several sales had fallen through and the seller wanted to be rid of the RV already.  $20k later, Raymond and his wife became snowbirds and camped in that Montana for 8-9 years with very few issues.
Watching and waiting, patience and perseverance.

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That was a great story and I read others on this forum or on other sites. That's way I'm confident that the right one will come sooner or later, for a decent price.

Congratulations.....fingers are crossed for you.  An inspection is well worth it.  If it turns up a whole bunch of damage, you save a fortune, and if it turns up nothing at all, then it is money well paid for peace of mind.

Thanks for the support! The inspector can come next week maybe WED or THU... who knows. They are all backed up or out of business.
We're gonna see another one tomorrow, one with the rear slide that costs 8,5k. I asked this seller to see the trailer before I found the Coyote.

If you think IT IS THE ONE, why pay an inspector? You have a pretty keen eye, you have found stuff wrong with the others. Unless the owners are willing to dewinterize the trailer for the inspector to check everything, you're going to pretty much just pay for his driving time. Have you checked the appliances? If not have the owners turn on the refrigerator and then check it in 24 hours, they are expensive to repair. Have them plug the thing in and have the owners show you how everything works. If they want to sell, that should be no problem. I know it's cold but everything should work, except maybe the water system. Check the water heater to see if they pulled the drain plug, that will be behind the outside door.

Run the furnace, it won't be uncommon for the blower motor to make a little noise when it starts, but should quiet right down.  Ask the owner how they winterized the trailer, have them show you how to do it. Even the air conditioner should start and run for a few minutes, won't hurt it to run a little bit. If they aren't willing to show you these things, walk away. They have it advertised so they should be willing to show you these things. Buy the way it is priced at top of retail.

The tires are 2007 and need to be replaced. We did not negotiate the price because we were going to get the inspector.
I like the idea for some peace of mind. We pay the inspection for the house (around $700) and a lot of things were wrong with the house that the inspectors did not find...
We'll think about that option. The RV shop person was very vague. Maybe THU but it's not a guaranty.
Do I have to check the trailer brakes? We don't know how to take them apart. I've seen some videos but none showed how to get to that disc and take it apart...

2007 FLAGSTAFF SUPER-LITE BUNKHOUSE  $9,200.00...  (asking price from dealer)

NADA price guide:

2007 Flagstaff

Super Lite Series M-27BHSS

Suggested
List Price    Low
Retail    Average
Retail
Base Price    $23,683    $9,150    $11,000
             
TOTAL PRICE:    $23,683    $9,150    $11,000


Seems the unit is priced $50.00 above the NADA recommended LOW quality prices...
The unit from the pictures looks to be in great shape but I'd want to see it in person.
You will have some sort of warranty, probably only 30-90 days.
Ummmmmmm for me this would be a difficult decision I bought my pristine 2005 Fleetwood
Prowler for $4500.00 three years ago and it included the tow hitch... bargains are out there
but I think you have to weigh the variables i.e. here we have what we want now and can use it now,
but will we be able to find that "deal" when we want ... I was lucky, to say the least, with my purchase.

Good luck in whatever you decide!

Keith

That Flagstaff is no loger in the race because it had few soft spots inside on the ceiling and the outside looked very rusty and not taken care of.
We are interested in this one: http://www.tradenetrvs.com/vdp.php?rvs=2008-KZ-Sportsmen-Coyote-Lite&id=117465
And about Nada... I guess we're not that lucky. We did not find any unit priced below the Nada average retail. We learned this from my father in law... to get the deal, not the model.

We found another contender, this one https://topeka.craigslist.org/rvs/5436989442.html (one with rear slide but a separate room with 4 bunks in front)
The seller was so nice and honest, he showed us everything about the trailer, how everything works, how the slide moves, the awning.
My husband liked the price, the newer tires (2014) and he doesn't seemed that concerned about the impossibility to use the dinette& the couch if the slide is not out. The seller even told us that he's got the trailer checked in a shop near by. We have to talk this thru because I think that the Coyote is bigger and better (newer) but I'm afraid that is a little to heavy for our truck.
Both of them have the hitch+sway bars included; we already got the kit from Amazon, but we can send it back.
Decisions... decisions...

Guguluff said:

The tires are 2007 and need to be replaced. We did not negotiate the price because we were going to get the inspector.
I like the idea for some peace of mind. We pay the inspection for the house (around $700) and a lot of things were wrong with the house that the inspectors did not find...
We'll think about that option. The RV shop person was very vague. Maybe THU but it's not a guaranty.
Do I have to check the trailer brakes? We don't know how to take them apart. I've seen some videos but none showed how to get to that disc and take it apart...

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I doubt very much that the inspector will take anything apart to check things. I thought you were dealing with a private party on this one. Is this at a dealer? If so, will they give you any warrentee? Print the page off on nada site for that trailer, so you can have some negotiating power. They will expect to get less than full retail for it. If they won't come off the price maybe you can get them to replace the tires with new ones. You can't use it with those tires, might not even make it home with them if you have express way driving. If you hook up the trailer plug to your truck and apply the brakes you should be able to hear them on the trailer. 

I was commenting on the Coyote, nada list it at 4900 lbs, but that will be dry weight. You may not find a great deal and nada may be out in left field, I don't know. I do know when I was shopping for my last coach every thing I was looking at was way above nada too. But I did find the one I bought for much less than low retail, BUT it needs some TLC.

I just checked the ad for the Coyote again and it says make offer. Is this trailer at a dealer?

Is this the same trailer? https://topeka.craigslist.org/rvs/5439695503.html. Can't send another pm for a while, only aloud so many an hour.

It was posted 4 days ago and the ad says make us an offer.

My husband talked with a man at the service shop and he told him that he could do a thorough check-up for more than 2 hours. I don't know if the normal check-up include the brakes or not. We have to call again but the lady at the phone wasn't so helpful.
We'll probably wait until next week to see if we can make the inspection happen. I hope that both the sellers are gonna inform us if they have other people interested in their trailers.
92GA, I'm gonna try to write to KZ company to ask for a more specific weight. The Nada specification is the only thing I found online for that model. No booklet, nothing on the KZ site, not even a decent video with this model on YT...
Yes, I think it's the same one, but the price is 10,900 compared to 10,000. But we're gonna try to negotiate anyway because the price is above Nada's average retail.

Guguluff said:

My husband talked with a man at the service shop and he told him that he could do a thorough check-up for more than 2 hours. I don't know if the normal check-up include the brakes or not. We have to call again but the lady at the phone wasn't so helpful.
We'll probably wait until next week to see if we can make the inspection happen. I hope that both the sellers are gonna inform us if they have other people interested in their trailers.
92GA, I'm gonna try to write to KZ company to ask for a more specific weight. The Nada specification is the only thing I found online for that model. No booklet, nothing on the KZ site, not even a decent video with this model on YT...
Yes, I think it's the same one, but the price is 10,900 compared to 10,000. But we're gonna try to negotiate anyway because the price is above Nada's average retail.

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Yea,  it looks like it's been for sale for a long time, and they have reduced it several times. You could try negotiating with the owners to see if you can get it for what you want to pay before you have it inspected. After you agree on a price make it contingent that it passes the inspection. You don't want to pay for an inspection unless you know you can buy it at your price.

Looks like they have added everything the trailer has instead of just the options to get their stated price. To them they have a great price on the trailer. And it may be after searching the web.

http://www.rvguide.com/specs/kz/travel-trailer/2008/coyote-lite/cl280bh.html

92GA said:

Yea,  it looks like it's been for sale for a long time, and they have reduced it several times. You could try negotiating with the owners to see if you can get it for what you want to pay before you have it inspected. After you agree on a price make it contingent that it passes the inspection. You don't want to pay for an inspection unless you know you can buy it at your price.

Looks like they have added everything the trailer has instead of just the options to get their stated price. To them they have a great price on the trailer. And it may be after searching the web.

http://www.rvguide.com/specs/kz/travel-trailer/2008/coyote-lite/cl280bh.html

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Should we negotiate on the email or on the phone? And what could we say to take the price down? We've noticed the tires (BTW what is the average price for 5 TT tires? I saw some at $85 and some at $200...) but not much else. We did not check the awning, the roof. Should we ask them if they are willing to lower the price down if the inspector finds some real problems?
Taken into consideration that they just list it for 10,9k and the ad I found was for 10k, would it be realistic to offer 9k?
DH wants the other camper because we could get it (probably) for 8k and we can keep the costs below 10k with the tax, insurance, tag. But on the long run the newer one is a better deal, all together.

Thank you for the specifications! Will correlate that list with Nada for an accurate price and print it.

I would go check it over again, look at it real good, make them show you everything works. Have them pull the awning out. Have them turn the refrigerator on a day before you look at it, it will have ice on the fins in the box. Then show them the date code on the tires. Then make the offer in person, face to face. That trailer is a much better trailer than the other one. If what they say about how many times they used it is true, I don't see how it wouldn't be in very good condition. That trailer is 1/2 what a new one cost. When I sell or buy things I always negotiate face to face, but some people like to get a deal without ever looking at something. I have a 4 wheeler I'm selling and you would be surprised how many call and ask what my bottom dollar is. I just tell them the price is firm. you can always tell how much a person wants to sell when you are face to face. You can also tell what kind of mood they are in. And believe it or not, it does make a difference. 

I don't know how much trailer tires cost in your area, been years since I bought any. But look at this link and print it off to show the owners that their trailer does in fact need to have the tires replaced.

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTrailerTireFacts.do

When I told them that the tires are from 2007, they admitted that they need to be changed. The wife told us that she changed the outside decals once but I told them that I'll take them off and spray paint (because I found some TT decals for ~ $1200) and he agreed... he was so relieved. He probably expects some haggle in this process.
I think that they want to sell it and they want to negotiate. But... we are not the best negotiators out there. Where we used to live the  dealership's prices were fixed. When buying from a private seller the haggle was ok. And we didn't buy big items from owners.
But DH wants this as cheap as possible so he'll do the talking.

From Rvguide:
Dry Weight (lbs/kg) 4903 / 2224
Payload Capacity (lbs/kgs) 1097 / 497.6
GVWR (lbs/kgs) 6000 / 2721.6

But on the outside sticker the GVWR was 7000#, not 6000.

92GA said:

Then make the offer in person, face to face.

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I agree.  It means a whole lot more to a person when you are standing there making an offer, with cash in hand that is going to walk away if they do not agree to your offer.  If they are a long distance away and you don't want to (or cannot) travel that far for an in-person offer, then at least talk to them on the phone for awhile and make the offer there.  No e-mail, way too impersonal and very easy for the seller to say no.  They probably have other inquiries, and have no idea if you are really serious until you actually show up with money.

When I say cash in hand, I don't really mean that you should go waving around $9000 (or whatever) for everyone to see, but have the money with you securely locked in the car.  I have a small shelf-style gun safe that I used to carry/secure the cash for my last trailer purchase.  The safe was concealed in a truck cab, amidst a lot of loose tools and other things... nobody would have ever known it was there.  A lot of that depends on the area and neighborhood where you meet this person.

Guguluff said:

I think that they want to sell it and they want to negotiate. But... we are not the best negotiators out there.

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Well you don't learn by NOT doing it.    Pick a number (max you are willing to offer) and start with an offer a little below that number.  IF you see/inspect the trailer again and decide you do indeed want to buy it.  Otherwise walk away.  The seller may accept your first offer or they may give a counteroffer, then you have some "wiggle room" working up to your maximum amount. 

For something that needs tires at the very least, you should not be paying anything above Low Retail.  Tire prices change by area, but expect to pay around $500 for cheap replacement tires.  There are some criticisms on the China-made trailer tires, but that's where almost all of them come from these days (for trailers) and they are generally just as reliable as long as you keep them properly inflated & inspected.

They sold the Coyote trailer yesterday. I'm amazed... I thought they let us know that they have other persons interested.

Some sellers do and others don't... it's a good bet to always assume that sellers have multiple interested buyers at any given time.  Sorry you missed out on it, but there are more out there!

They tried to sell the TT since June 2015 and they re-list it a couple of weeks ago. Probable the lowered price was the deal maker. That's that!
It's either the Frontier or the search continues. I would want something at the beginning of the spring so the maiden voyage could be in the spring break. I'm not gonna rush things, but DH want to get it over with.
I found another one with rear slide (I'm not even looking for those but they fit our needs because they are light) and it has the Nada price in the low retail. http://columbiamo.craigslist.org/rvs/5427572374.html
http://www.nadaguides.com/RVs/2007/Keystone-RV/M-25-RSS/4094125/Values
And this one, but I don't know the model and the seller didn't answer. http://stlouis.craigslist.org/rvs/5434926086.html
Will let you know if we look at others. Thank you all for the support!

I am not an experienced RVer ... not at all. But I have purchased excellent used horse trailers and trucks to tow them. My experience has been this: once you know what you want, know your budget and are ready to buy -- when you find something that fits your needs you have to jump on it immediately. You are not the only buyer out there and if it's really a good deal, it will go fast.

I looked for months for a solid F250 with the 7.3l engine. I called the buyer within 30 minutes of it showing up on Craigslist and put a deposit down pending a test drive. We bought it that evening. In the interim, he had 3 other offers, but had accepted my deposit to hold.

Our most recent  horse trailer purchase went the same way. That seller would not hold for us, even though I called within an hour of his posting on Craigslist. We were, however, the first ones who could get over there to inspect it, cash in hand and bought it on the spot.

The F250 was not a steal. It was a fair deal on the exact truck I wanted, within my budget. I did not negotiate. I just bought it. That was three years ago and the beast has not given us an ounce of trouble.

The horse trailer was a steal. The only reason we got it so cheap was we bought it in December, after Christmas, during an ice storm. I did negotiate $500 off the asking price because I just figured he had given himself that much wiggle room in his listing.

My point is this: if you find the one you want, it meets your checklists and is within budget and a fair deal -- it won't last long. Don't tell yourself you need a "steal," because there are not many out there and the ones that are can bite you in the arse later. A fair deal is a fair deal. Take it and don't look back.

Just my two cents. Good luck!