Buying a trailer for someone else...
Buying a trailer for someone else...
A few months ago we had some friends over and they were going goo goo over our Avion 1978/9 28M mid bath. They were expressing an interest in buying a vintage Airstream so I walked them over to my ‘77 Airstream which is in full renovation mode (about to lift the shell) and explained to them the differences between the two brands. It’s an easy sell when one looks like it was pulled straight from the catalogue and the other looks like a faraday cage gone bad.
A bit later they called me to say they came into some money and wanted my help finding a trailer. I love looking for/at any old aluminum gem so I agreed to help. I suggested looking in the southwest and looking for a midbath in the 26-28’ range. They, like us, have two small kids and a 1/2ton TV. After they came up with nothing I started to really scour and found a 1978/9 26H midbath located near Show Low, AZ. The guy was asking $10,500 and claimed no leaks (riiight) and everything worked (riiiight)... after much back and forth with the seller via text and email I triple confirmed with my friends that they wanted to move forward and that they were aware what they were getting into (them knew less than nothing about these things) I called the seller and set a meeting for two days hence, we live in Austin and it’s a 16 hour haul to the part of AZ the trailer was in. The next morning I called my friends and told the husband to pack a bag and that we were leaving at 6pm to drive through the night to be at the trailer by 9 the next morning. He was a bit stunned asking if I was sure, I told him, “No, I’m not sure. But if I didn’t own the Avion I have I’d be going to look at this trailer for myself to buy”... so off we went.
Some key points why I was convinced this could be the one:
- size. 26’ is a great size, not too small but not too big. Very desirable in the event of resale.
- layout. My Airstream and Silver Streak both had rear baths and with two small kids, I really like the separation for bed time. Speaking of separation, rear bath Airstream...
- location. This trailer lived its whole life in a very arid environment. All trailers leak but not all dry out.
- the seller. This is both a gut thing and the asking of the right questions thing. He was very forthcoming when I asked for pictures of certain places, namely, the underside of the floor from within the basement storage compartments. This confirmed that the coach had indeed leaked at some point. He was also very knowledgeable about winterizing as the area gets very cold in the winter.
When we got there the first thing I noticed was that most of the window seals were shot. Not surprising given the high heat and UV the area gets coupled with the amount of up keep these things take. Not a deal breaker but worth noting. I crawled, peered, poked, prodded and checked just about everything my 3 trailers and 1 Moho Worth of experience told me to. In the end, the only thing that didn’t work was the water heater which just needs a new thermal coupler. Oh, and the leaks. While the area only gets a few inches of rain an year, it is very dusty and windy. The window sills had much dust. The trailer was relatively clean though and they had pulled a set of tires off a car hauler and put them on... 4 different makes but same size tires that looked serviceable.
All in all, I told my buddy he should do it. He asked me to negotiate and I got him and the seller to a point that I felt was fair all around but a good deal lower than the asking price. While they went to the bank I set about putting my WD hitch on the trailer and prepping the coach for travel.
When finally pulled out (my truck, he didn’t have a hitch yet) I was driving and with any beginning of a tow trip there are those little uncertainties... after a stop to refuel about 40 miles on and to check the hubs, doors and vents we were soon cruising the speed limit. The brakes were a bit wonkey but just needed to be used, after several stops and some fiddling with the brake controller they worked just fine. My biggest concern were the tires but it was cold out and the pressure was holding fine. The only incedent we had was also a crazy bit of coincidence... as we were pulling into a gas station about halfway back I got an eBay alert for an Avion vent cover. You know the crazy hard to find 18” covers up top? Well, I had noticed the front vent cover was a hodgepodge of sealants and such from years of patches and I told my friend he should buy it, I think with shipping it was around $80. He was confused about what I was talking about so I hopped up on the LP tanks to show him and saw that we had in fact lost half the cover at some point in our travels. He promptly bought the thing after I told him I would buy it then sell it to him for $300. Good luck finding one, I’ve been looking for years just as an insurance policy and this was the only one I’d ever seen.
Some cardboard and gorilla tape solved the problem and away we went.
It’s a couple weeks later and I’m writing this from the deck next to my trailer staring at the back of his. He’s on vacation, but before he left he sealed all the windows. I just got back from work a few days ago and installed the vent cover for him. It’s really neat to see these two trailers that were in the factory a month apart that are almost the same model, his is 2’ shorter
but otherwise they are basically twins. But, I’ll be ready for his to be gone, my neighbors must think I’m a nut with 2 Avions, a Silver Streak, an Airstream and 16’ trailerCamera on my property.
I hope you endured and even enjoyed this story, I had a good time buying a trailer with someone else’s money and look forward to us camping in our twin trailers. I’m just glad he doesn’t have the same truck I do... then it would just be weird.
Ian
A bit later they called me to say they came into some money and wanted my help finding a trailer. I love looking for/at any old aluminum gem so I agreed to help. I suggested looking in the southwest and looking for a midbath in the 26-28’ range. They, like us, have two small kids and a 1/2ton TV. After they came up with nothing I started to really scour and found a 1978/9 26H midbath located near Show Low, AZ. The guy was asking $10,500 and claimed no leaks (riiight) and everything worked (riiiight)... after much back and forth with the seller via text and email I triple confirmed with my friends that they wanted to move forward and that they were aware what they were getting into (them knew less than nothing about these things) I called the seller and set a meeting for two days hence, we live in Austin and it’s a 16 hour haul to the part of AZ the trailer was in. The next morning I called my friends and told the husband to pack a bag and that we were leaving at 6pm to drive through the night to be at the trailer by 9 the next morning. He was a bit stunned asking if I was sure, I told him, “No, I’m not sure. But if I didn’t own the Avion I have I’d be going to look at this trailer for myself to buy”... so off we went.
Some key points why I was convinced this could be the one:
- size. 26’ is a great size, not too small but not too big. Very desirable in the event of resale.
- layout. My Airstream and Silver Streak both had rear baths and with two small kids, I really like the separation for bed time. Speaking of separation, rear bath Airstream...
- location. This trailer lived its whole life in a very arid environment. All trailers leak but not all dry out.
- the seller. This is both a gut thing and the asking of the right questions thing. He was very forthcoming when I asked for pictures of certain places, namely, the underside of the floor from within the basement storage compartments. This confirmed that the coach had indeed leaked at some point. He was also very knowledgeable about winterizing as the area gets very cold in the winter.
When we got there the first thing I noticed was that most of the window seals were shot. Not surprising given the high heat and UV the area gets coupled with the amount of up keep these things take. Not a deal breaker but worth noting. I crawled, peered, poked, prodded and checked just about everything my 3 trailers and 1 Moho Worth of experience told me to. In the end, the only thing that didn’t work was the water heater which just needs a new thermal coupler. Oh, and the leaks. While the area only gets a few inches of rain an year, it is very dusty and windy. The window sills had much dust. The trailer was relatively clean though and they had pulled a set of tires off a car hauler and put them on... 4 different makes but same size tires that looked serviceable.
All in all, I told my buddy he should do it. He asked me to negotiate and I got him and the seller to a point that I felt was fair all around but a good deal lower than the asking price. While they went to the bank I set about putting my WD hitch on the trailer and prepping the coach for travel.
When finally pulled out (my truck, he didn’t have a hitch yet) I was driving and with any beginning of a tow trip there are those little uncertainties... after a stop to refuel about 40 miles on and to check the hubs, doors and vents we were soon cruising the speed limit. The brakes were a bit wonkey but just needed to be used, after several stops and some fiddling with the brake controller they worked just fine. My biggest concern were the tires but it was cold out and the pressure was holding fine. The only incedent we had was also a crazy bit of coincidence... as we were pulling into a gas station about halfway back I got an eBay alert for an Avion vent cover. You know the crazy hard to find 18” covers up top? Well, I had noticed the front vent cover was a hodgepodge of sealants and such from years of patches and I told my friend he should buy it, I think with shipping it was around $80. He was confused about what I was talking about so I hopped up on the LP tanks to show him and saw that we had in fact lost half the cover at some point in our travels. He promptly bought the thing after I told him I would buy it then sell it to him for $300. Good luck finding one, I’ve been looking for years just as an insurance policy and this was the only one I’d ever seen.
Some cardboard and gorilla tape solved the problem and away we went.
It’s a couple weeks later and I’m writing this from the deck next to my trailer staring at the back of his. He’s on vacation, but before he left he sealed all the windows. I just got back from work a few days ago and installed the vent cover for him. It’s really neat to see these two trailers that were in the factory a month apart that are almost the same model, his is 2’ shorter
but otherwise they are basically twins. But, I’ll be ready for his to be gone, my neighbors must think I’m a nut with 2 Avions, a Silver Streak, an Airstream and 16’ trailerCamera on my property.I hope you endured and even enjoyed this story, I had a good time buying a trailer with someone else’s money and look forward to us camping in our twin trailers. I’m just glad he doesn’t have the same truck I do... then it would just be weird.
Ian
Last edited by RISK on Wed Dec 26, 2018 10:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
1978 26M
1964 SilverStreak Sabre
1977 Airstream Sovereign (in a million pieces)
1964 SilverStreak Sabre
1977 Airstream Sovereign (in a million pieces)
Re: Buying a trailer for someone else...
Great story! Your friend was very fortunate to have your guidance.
I helped some friends transition from 40 years of tent camping to a 31’ Class C motor home a couple of years ago. That was an exciting experience, helping them spend $46,000! But they both love it!
I helped some friends transition from 40 years of tent camping to a 31’ Class C motor home a couple of years ago. That was an exciting experience, helping them spend $46,000! But they both love it!
Razorback (Paul)
1987 Avion 34W
1995 Ford F-250 7.3L PowerStroke
I'm a "whosoever"... are you???
1987 Avion 34W
1995 Ford F-250 7.3L PowerStroke
I'm a "whosoever"... are you???