Recommendations on Year and Approximate Cost

[CaliEd]

Hi,

Thanks for all the information that you post here. It is extremely helpful in learning more about TrailManors. It is also very obvious that you love your TM!

I would like to purchase a TM 2720 or smaller. The idea is to go camping with my young son, since we both enjoy being outdoors.

One of my obstacles is that I am not a very handy person. Therefore, I was wondering if you can provide a recommendation for:

1. Life expectancy before certain components begin to fail. For example: if you tell me that it would likely be 10 years before things need to be fixed, then I know to look for a 2008 or newer.

2. Ball park cost for a 2720 in the Los Angeles area. I've noticed that the NADA guidelines are not too meaningful in this area. Most of the times, adds are asking for way much more.

Thanks so much for your help!

[br2_wdc]

Originally Posted by CaliEd

Hi,

Thanks for all the information that you post here. It is extremely helpful in learning more about TrailManors. It is also very obvious that you love your TM!

I would like to purchase a TM 2720 or smaller. The idea is to go camping with my young son, since we both enjoy being outdoors.

One of my obstacles is that I am not a very handy person. Therefore, I was wondering if you can provide a recommendation for:

1. Life expectancy before certain components begin to fail. For example: if you tell me that it would likely be 10 years before things need to be fixed, then I know to look for a 2008 or newer.

2. Ball park cost for a 2720 in the Los Angeles area. I've noticed that the NADA guidelines are not too meaningful in this area. Most of the times, adds are asking for way much more.

Thanks so much for your help!

Life expectancy for components is a tough question but I'll provide my initial thoughts and others will weight in.

IMHO the life expectancy for Trailmanor (TM) components is based more on use and care taken with the unit then age. For example, I have a 2004 3023, and the previous owners hardly used it and kept it in a garage or covered. I have done the same the past 3 years, so looking at mine vs. a newer unit that had never been garaged or covered and left in the elements and used extensively, you would immediately see the differences.

One other note is prior to 2004, TM used wood in the framing, and so units starting in 2002-2003 may have all aluminum or may have wood in the framing, so that is something to keep in mind.

In terms of sale prices, unfortunately you are in Southern California, and you have already noticed TM's there are the highest prices in the COUNTRY. There is a dealer in Ontario, CA called Custom RV that appears to specialize in TM's and charges the highest prices I have ever seen but apparently is able to sell every single one of them and here is an example:

https://www.rvtrader.com/rvs-for-sal...us=150&page=1&

I think your first step is go there and take a look at their units to see ones in really good condition (hopefully!) as a starting point. Once you get more familiar, you can begin to search Craigslist and other ads to see if you can find one that may be same condition but cheaper.

Good luck!

[CaliEd]

Thanks so much br2 - your answer makes much sense and I will make sure to put more importance on the condition of the trailer rather than the year.

[Larryjb]

Originally Posted by br2_wdc

...One other note is prior to 2004, TM used wood in the framing, and so units starting in 2002-2003 may have all aluminum or may have wood in the framing, so that is something to keep in mind....

The transition to aluminum framing started earlier in some models. My 2001 2720 is aluminum framed.

[tentcamper]

I have had trailers since the late 80's. Airstream jaco's, starcraft, trailmanor's and a few others that are not in production. One thing I can always count on; there is always something to work on. It does not matter if they are new or gently used. I figure every 3k miles or 3 times a year. I am going to have some issues. Most of the time they are small. Campers are not like buying a toyota corrola and you and weld the hood closed. They need to have repairs. They are almost all handmade, with small engineering groups and made with parts form many different vendors.

Brand new they have new build assembly bugs and early life failure. Used; if the previous owners keep up with the campers the new bugs are all fixed, but the components have normal life failure.

I think for the most part 3 to 8 year old would be the best age group of campers.

[Larryjb]

Art is right, but you are relatively close to Custom RV in Ontario CA and they would be able to do much of the service for you. You would be paying a premium for the service, but I believe they used to be a Trailmanor dealer.