Buying a used trailer

[grassy]

Hi,

My son is in motorscoss (first year) and we usually camp beside the track in a pop up.? He is doing much better than his mother had hoped so we will be doing it again next year.? Our family numbers 4 and we have developed a serious case of portapottiephobia.? Most tracks do not bring in enough and by the afternoon, well, you get the picture.

We have been looking at class c rigs, toy haulers and trailers (not 5th wheels).? In our price range (under 20K) you can buy a 20+ year old class c with low miles..however, everything is 20 years old and we gather fridges, etc are expensive to repair.? Then there is the insurance, another vehicle to repair, etc.

The only real toyhauler that is on our range that we like is the fleetwood scorpion with I consider really nice but overweight and would require me to do a multi thousand drive to pick it up (or have it shipped).? From my contact with fleetwood, it seems to me that they really do not to sell trailers. The solid toyhailers that we have seen locally do not have a partition between the living quarters and the garage.

We have come across a 2002 Shamrock that appears not to be have been used much. Where can I go to find out any info on this rig (except for the manufacturer's site)? and what questions should I be asking ?

Is the fold out front a problem area?

I was also told that I would need a 3500 watt generator to run the a/c but I can run everything else off a battery ???

Lastly, is fall the best time to buy ?

Help ?

Thanks.
Ian.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Fleetwood does not sell direct (retail) to end users - they sell through their dealer network. Have you asked them to identify a Scorpion dealer near you? Or searched the net for Fleetwood Scorpion?  I got plenty of hits on it.  It appears in 2006 that Fleetwood has dropped the Scorpion name (I don't see it on their web site) but there is a toyhauler called The Gearbox.

As for the generator, you will probably need about 2500 watts to get an a/c through its start cycle, but after that it uses only about 1100-1400 watts, depending on the specific model of a/c unit.  You may even be able to get by with 2000 watts or so (mine is running fine on about 2200 watts right now), but I would want to try it before I bought the genset (or get a guarunteed upgrade option from the generator dealer). Some a/c units need a lot more power than others.  Most everything else in your trailer would run on 12V (battery) power or propane, but the battery power is not unlimited.  That can be solved by adding more or larger batteries, though.

 

[grassy]

RV Roamer,

The nearest scorpion was a 4000 K return drive for me.  The only scorpion dealer in Nova scotia didn't even know he could sell them !  Fleetwood was a b***h to deal with.  I gather that we are not the only people to get this impression. BTW, the tongue weight on the scorpion is 1000 lbs vs the 385 of the shamrock.  You should see some of the muddy places we have to camp in.

Bought the Shamrock...it had never beeen registered and it was mint.  Bought a 3500 w so we could power our house as well.

Going to leave the bike and washer, etc in the back of the truck.

Toy haulers around here as still too expensive and too much of an orphan for quick resale.

Many thanks for your response.

Ian.