About a year ago, the missus and I decided to replace our pop-up……too many sleepless, windy nites hearing the canvas flap, with the last time bending 1 of the support poles.
We looked for something lite under 3000 lbs. that could be towed with our 96 Blazer (tow package with 5000 lb limit). We checked out a couple of Aliners, some lite-weight 18 foot TTs, got a Casita brochure, and were preparing to drive ~150 miles to check out a TM at a dealer. Lo and behold the missus found a TM in the local trading magazine, so we decided to check it out.
Not knowing about this forum at that time, we went into this blind. This unit had sat for over a year unused. Dirty, black streaks down the side, and the back side (north side) was green…..no joke. Since the people hadn’t used it in a year, they had to get out the instruction manual to figure out how to raise it. Thank goodness they stored it in the down position, so the bottom was relatively clean. Too cold to check out the AC, no water to check out the pump, pipes, and water heater, couldn’t get the fridge to cool down (now I know enough that it takes some time)……at least we got the stove top working. I didn’t know a thing about the Thetford toilet. The unit smelled musty from being stored for so long. The vents had caulking caked around the outside to try to stop some leaks.
The only thing that I really knew to look for was visible damage. A couple of scratches inside didn’t really bother me, as well as a bad place on 1 of the dinette cushions…..1 of there kids spilled something. A few minor dents on the outside. The outside shower door hinge was busted. I really checked the frame and underneath for damage.......nothing apparent. Everything else looked pretty good.
The missus left the decision up to me. She wasn’t sold on this unit because of the way it looked, but I could see past that.
After about a week of cleaning, the unit looked new again. Most everything except the oven worked great…….we really lucked out there. Got the oven fixed. Dug all of the old caulk from the vents out, and redid that……I still have a tiny leak...I will find tha puppy eventially. Repaired a disconnected drain pipe. Replaced the wheels and tires with 15”s, replaced the dead battery with 2 new ones, and a few more upgrades that were suggested on this forum. The musty smell is no longer there......I think it just needed to be used some.
So to make a short story long, we took a chance and ended up with a great camper. The missus loves it, as I do. And we got it for less than half of what they paid for it just 3 years before.
BTW, we sold the 96 Blazer about the same time we bought the TM. Even with the beefier TV, we haven’t regretted getting the TM.
Chap
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