Good price for a 2001 2720?

[campinman]

Our family saw our first Trailmanor while camping in beautiful Carpinteria about 3 years ago, and my wife was so impressed. We are ready now to buy a Trailmanor, and needless to say I have spent many hours reading all of everyone's informative posts. I have never towed anything in my life and am a little nervous, but also excited. I have a 2007 Nissan Frontier quad cab long bed with 261 h.p. V6 with a "towing capacity of 6500 lbs" (if they say so). Everything I read says that should be enough. I am currently looking at a used 2001 2720 for $10,000. He says he is sticking to his price. I can't say as I blame him, used ones seem very rare. It has A/C but looks like swamp cooler type. No swing away hitch (that's okay). TV/VHS. Microwave.
Bike rack. Is this a fair price? Trailer is 5-6 hrs away. So far only seen pictures. He says it is in good condition and clean. Pictures look fine. Anything I should be sure to ask?
Thanks for your help.

[Wavery]

It sounds like your TV is quite adequate to tow the TM. The TM is really easy to tow. Backing will just take practice. Go into a vacant p/lot and go slow.

NADA value is under $8,000. I'm not sure where they get their figures but that seems a bit low from what I've seen (and I've seen a lot). Although $10K may be a bit high unless the TM is in "Like new" condition.
http://www.nadaguides.com/default.aspx?LI=1-25-38-5697-0-0-0&l=1&w=25&p=38&f=5698&m=0481&d=2300069354&y=2001&ml=T&gc=RV&gtc=TT

Here's a good search site for TMs:
http://www.oodle.com/vehicle/-/make_trailmanor/?s=price
Just remember, the prices listed on this site are "Asking prices" not "Sold price".

What area do you live in?

The AC unit that comes from the factory is usually a 7,000BTU unit. From what I've heard, they are fairly inadequate. The good news is, they are easily replaced with a 10,000BTU unit for under $300. If you get to that point, shoot me a PM and I will send you pics & tips on the upgrade.

[campinman]

We are in Simi Valley. Thank you for your response. It is very hard to compare price with this Trailer brand because of the scarce availability. To compare, I've also found a used 2001 3023 for $9900. We need sleeping arrangements for my wife and I (queen bed) and two growing boys. Looking at the floorplan for the 3023, I wonder how adequate the "couch bed" will be for a teenager.
Another question I have is if a four bike rack is installed in the back, should I make sure it has the "anti-sway" device? (I'm not really sure what this is)
and if any local RV dealer could install this.
Also, as a side point, I called CustomRV in Anaheim, they said they don't have anyone at this time that could install the "swing away" hitch after market.

Thanks for all the great information.

[Wavery]

We are in Simi Valley. Thank you for your response. It is very hard to compare price with this Trailer brand because of the scarce availability. To compare, I've also found a used 2001 3023 for $9900. We need sleeping arrangements for my wife and I (queen bed) and two growing boys. Looking at the floorplan for the 3023, I wonder how adequate the "couch bed" will be for a teenager.
Another question I have is if a four bike rack is installed in the back, should I make sure it has the "anti-sway" device? (I'm not really sure what this is)
and if any local RV dealer could install this.
Also, as a side point, I called CustomRV in Anaheim, they said they don't have anyone at this time that could install the "swing away" hitch after market.

Thanks for all the great information.

A sway bar is a fairly simple and inexpensive device. You won't know if you need one until you actually tow the trailer with the bikes on the back. I would say that it is unlikely that you would need one. Often times one can distribute the weight of items stored inside the trailer while towing to compensate for the weight of the bikes on the rear.

As long as the trailer tows level and you keep the tongue weight between 10-15% of the total trailer weight, you should be OK. TMs have a lot of tongue weight in their design because the axle is mounted farther back than most PU trailers (in fact any that I have seen). This makes the trailer follow very well with no sway.

[Beak12]

Also, as a side point, I called CustomRV in Anaheim, they said they don't have anyone at this time that could install the "swing away" hitch after market.

Thanks for all the great information.


Boy thats a surprize--It was/is where the Swing away hitch was invented. We got our TM (04) from them about 3 months ago. I found them great folks to deal with. I do know they are hard to find used. The one we got had just came on the lot 24hrs before we went to look.

[B_and_D]

If that 2001 - 2720 is the one I think it is that's on Craigslist, it's got the side a/c. If it's really clean and garage-stored, it might be worth it. It also depends on whether or not you want to keep it for a long time. However, if you were to just show up with a cashier's check for a bit less (plus with a couple of hundred $ bills stashed in your wallet, just in case it's absolutely pristine), and tell him you were going to be in town for only that night, he might call you in the morning and tell you it's a deal. Money talks. Sometime it takes overnight for the seller to think about it and call you back to accept your offer. I've had this happen to us twice while shopping for used big ticket items.

If you don't belong to the "smaller is better" club, you may be happier with the 3023 for your two boys. How tall do you think they will be when they grow? How long will you be keeping the TM? There is 3 feet more living room inside, and when you have kids, it makes a difference. We wanted the smallest TM we could get with a queen bed for us, so the 2720 was what we bought. One thing that's nice is that my son, who is over 6' tall now, can sleep on either the front bed or the dinette bed. However, our two kids have a tendency to hog up the dinette seats, and they leave very little room for us to sit inside, unless I make one of them move up to the front bed to hang out. Mornings are also a challenge, because there is nowhere to sit when the dinette is made into a bed. Plus, it's kind of a pain to get them out of the dinette area in the morning to take the bed down.

I wish you luck, let us know how things turn out for you.

[mgoblue911]

To compare, I've also found a used 2001 3023 for $9900. We need sleeping arrangements for my wife and I (queen bed) and two growing boys. Looking at the floorplan for the 3023, I wonder how adequate the "couch bed" will be for a teenager.

FWIW, we have a 3023, and the "super twin"/couch bed is more than big enough and comfortable for an adult, let alone a teenage boy. Just our opinion... As for the small couch on the curbside, well, my 11 year old son is quickly outgrowing the ability to sleep there comfortably.

[larsdennert]

I used to carry the equivalent of four bikes on the back of our TM, two bikes and a two child trailer. The rack bounced so bad even with ratchet straps that I lost a wheel on one bike. It bounced the quick release loose by hooking it.

Anyway, I put the bikes in the TM these days. Sway wasn't bad but I could tell that I had 110lbs off the back bumper.