What a disapointment. used MH buyers beware

[Woodyswagon]

Hello RV friends

Well My wife and i took to the road to buy our first used RV. We arrived 480miles later to oklahoma city to find we were driving in a poor area where the RV was to be located. As we arrived we were shocked to say the least. The Rv that looked to be perfect in everyway was a pile of junk on wheels. The seller was lieing to us for over 4 weeks with answers to questions to help determine the quality of the RV.

We stepped out of the car for 5 minutes then returned quickly and head back up the road another 480 miles back home. I learned a very good lesson. NEVER TRAVEL TO BUY A USED RV.

Any Comments???


I have now found a Nice RV locally fore more money but better quality.

 

[Tom]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I've often wondered about folks buying from a distance and I'm always amazed at the folks who apparently have good luck buying RVs on eBay. There's no substitute for going and seeing for yourself, as your experience shows.

 

[Shayne]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience..  Yet I drove from St Louis to Jacksonville Fl to purchase one and was extremely please and to this day Highly recommended the salesman to others and have a reat repore with him.  Traveled to INdiana/Ohio border for another and extremly happy with the results and the salesman but not the dealership.  Traveled another time to Texas for one and thoroughly satified with everything except for my stupidity by my confusing of 2 separate units and didn't buy but can't blame anyone but me.  Stuff happens.  I chaulked it up experience.

 

[Jeff]

A 1000 miles is a lot of driving but nothing compared to putting up with a lemon for a few years. Remeber what you learned when you finally get the right coach.

 

[Jim Dick]

Sorry to hear you went out on a wild goose chase but count your blessings that you found out before the purchase. Anytime one buys from an individual they must be on guard that something might be wrong. They don't sell because all is peaches and cream. I hope you will find a good rig with few problems.

 

[John From Detroit]

I have heard of some folks who got great long distance deals.

Personally.... I bought new

 

[29er]

Rule #1 is undefeatable: You only get what you pay for.

 

[scottydl]

I appreciate the warning, Woody... still trying to determine how far I'm willing to travel for a used rig, and so far anything more than an hour drive makes me nervous.  What year/style of MH were you looking to buy?  And I'm guessing this was a private seller and not a dealership?  What kind of correspondence did you have with the seller for those 4 weeks (e-mail, phone, both, did he/she send photos)?

 

[jjhamick]

From what I am reading here I must be the only person left who got a great deal buying from a private party.  Now I know that is not true.  I agree that driving 960 miles for a complete disaster would be heart breaking but I would not write off every motorhome over an hour away.  Certainly you must be carefull in buying from and individual just as when you buy used from a dealer.  JMHO.

 

[Bob Buchanan]

NEVER TRAVEL TO BUY A USED RV.

Sorry to hear of your experience -- though mine was 180 degrees the opposite. Glad to read that you now "have" gotten the rig you wanted. What was the extent of the pictures the seller posted and how was the quality. Did you ask for follow-up pictures if any where not clear or if they did not cover areas of concern about the rig? Super sharp pics were a prerequisite for me.

I drove from the Phoenix area to just North of Austin, TX to pick mine up -- so the round trip at almost $2..65/gallon (at the time) would have left me pretty depressed if it had "not" worked out. The first 1st and 4th pics on this web page were actually taken from the sellers ad. The first one was taken with the rig sitting in the driveway at his home in Round Rock, TX. He posted many other shots of every nook and cranny of the rig. The last two shots I took on my way back after having purchased.

As I buy and am beginning to sell on eBay -- am totally amazed at the poor pictures some sellers post of their products. And how few buyers I see listed that don't complain and ask for better shots. Even the best of shots will still hide a few flaws, but overall, I think that good pictures, and volume of pictures. of every aspect of an RV are the key before travel.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I learned a very good lesson. NEVER TRAVEL TO BUY A USED RV.

Any Comments???

Yes - that's an over reaction. But you have to be prepared to say "No" in any vehicle deal and it is certainly more difficult the further you travel to see it and the longer you have spent researching a particular one. It starts to become "yours" somewhere in the process and the disappointment can be huge.  But don't give up eating because you got indigestion once...

I think the lesson you learned is that there is a legitimate trade off between $$ and distance, i.e. it is worth something to shop closer to home, where you don't have to risk as much time and money to inspect what you will purchase.  You may have also learned that if a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Anyway, congratulations on finding one that does suit you and we hope you are enjoying it now.

 

[carbuff34]

I agree with Jim Dick, you found out before you handed over the cash.  I was not so fortunate.  I am now out and additional $8000.00.  A very expensive lesson.  And it's not the travelling, it's if you don't personally know the history, stay away from it.  I went 400 mi. to upper New York.  It sure was a pretty drive though. lol
Leo

 

[KY23]

We had lots of problems with this too.  We looked at multiple class C RV's and most of the sellers just plained lied to get us there.  Hell even one RV dealer in Cincinnati told us that an RV was a 27' class C with zero water damage.  When we arrived it was a 23' RV and the water damage was so bad that there was mold on the walls and under the mattress.

But...we kept trying and finally found one 290 miles away that sounded and looked perfect in the pictures.  We arrived and it was everything they told us.  We brought it home with us.

 

[michelb]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience.

For what it's worth, I did buy a used RV on eBay and traveled far to pick it up and I'm very happy with the purchase however buying used from a distance does require caution:

1.  Ask the seller tons of questions and for lots of good pictures (You need to know what you're getting (I just don't understand how anyone would make a large purchase based on a few small, grainy pictures that don't really show anything)). (same thing can be said of the description)
2.  Make it clear to the seller that you are buying it based on their description and if it's not as they describe it, you will back out. 
3.  Be prepared to back out (we flew 2500 miles to pick it up but flying back 'rv-less' was always a possibility). 
4.  Have an 'expert' look at it - I hired a local mechanic to inspect it before I traveled to pick it up but in hindsight, I would probably recommend trying to hire someone from the forum (there is lots of experienced people here so I'd be surprised if you can't find a member that would be happy to help and you can hire them to have a once over).  My mechanic looked over the 'mechanic' side of it and had a quick look at the overall condition of the RV but didn't go over the whole thing.  If possibly try to hire someone that will look over the whole thing - if possible do this before you travel but even if it can't be done before, do it when you are picking up the RV.  I basically looked over the rest of the RV myself and although I'm not an expert figured that I'd catch anything.  In reality, there's so many things to the RV that unless you are very comfortable and experienced (which I wasn't), I think you should get someone who is. (and don't forget point number 2!  If it's not want you want / expected, back out).
5. Have realistic expectations - you're buying a used RV (especially at auction) - it's certainly not the same as buying a new one and not even the same as buying a used one from a local dealership. 
5.5.  I think for many, the main reason of traveling to buy a used RV is to save money (or possibly to find make / model not available locally) so make sure, if you are traveling (especially if you buy on auction) that you are actually getting a decent deal.

Certainly there's a lot more risk than buying locally but the rewards can be excellent too although I would say that it's not for everyone.  As far as ours, I do think we got a very good deal.  In hindsight, I don't think the seller described it that accurately and there were a few issues I didn't catch until it was too late but they are minor and I'm still happy (I'm mostly annoyed that I do think the seller should have noticed these and if I didn't notice these, I wonder how accurate the rest of his description was).

Just my 2 cents,
Mike