Since no one has replied, I'll throw in a couple thoughts.
First, I have no idea if $1500 is a fair price. Assuming all the appliances work, it doesn't sound out of line. The only serious worry is whether there is wood rot in the shells. (The "shells" are the big boxes that go up and down.) In the early days (until about 2002), the upper shells were framed with wood. If a leak developed in the roof, water would get into the walls, and the wood framing would rot. Replacing the framing is a major job that few people have undertaken (like maybe 2 that I know of?). You can get an idea about the presence or absence of rot by looking at the bottom edge of the side walls of the shells. You will see a line of wood screws all along the length of the edge. Unscrew every other screw, or every 3rd screw, or whatever, and look at the threads. Are the threaded parts of the screws rusted? Are there crumbs of black rotted wood in the threads? Or are they clean? Are the screws tight, or do they just kind of fall out?
In my opinion, it wouldn't be hard to build a simple sofa. After all, it is just a plywood box that sits on the floor, and is screwed to the floor in a few places. Maybe screwed to the wall in a few places. Add a few cushions, and voila! Easy to say, since I haven't done it. Of course if you want fancy stuff like having it pull out into a bed, that is tougher. Depends on how good a carpenter you are, I guess.
As for the air conditioner, the first question is "Does it work?" If it works, you will probably find the amount of cooling to be adequate. If distribution of the cold air turns out to be poor, a small box fan on a kitchen counter will cure it. If you really get desperate - and I don't think you will - you could add a conventional household air conditioner as part of the new sofa you are going to build. Cut a hole in the sidewall of the trailer, and vent the unit out the hole. This is not as surprising as it sounds. For several years, TM did exactly this. They mounted the air conditioner on the floor of a kitchen cabinet on the curb side of the trailer, and vented it out through a grille in the side wall. There are some posts here on the forum concerning how to do this.
Again, it depends on how good a carpenter you are, and how much effort you want to put into it.
Good luck.
Bill
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