First Time Buyer Looking for PUP

[austinado16]

Glad you're out educating yourself.  That's the best way to do it.

I have to agree with the comments about finding a nice one used. They are out there, you'll save thousands.  

Now that you know what they look like new, you're well versed in what to look for in a used one.

Many people take really great care of their gear, so you'll find someone selling a super nice one if you look around.

The big killer of Popups is water leaking into them, and sun frying them.  So just give the canvas and ceilings, and floors inside all the cabinets a real good inspection and push down on the flooring to see if it's soft.  They're mostly made with particle board, chip board, and oriented strand board, and just stapled together.  So any water that gets in really ruins stuff fast.

We've got the floor plan with the dinette off to the side and I'm happy with that.  Nice not to be crawling over it to get to the bunk.

If you're not finding some good ones on your local Craigslist, take a look at your local weekly car/truck/rv trader papers if you have those in your area.  A lot of people prefer to sell that way.

[stankdawg]

As a brand new pup owner as of this last weekend, I say this! Don't be in a rush! Do your research and look around. I waited and found one that was selling on Ebay. I looked locally and people were very proud of what they had, especially new. I was also looking at RV overstock and those guys have the lowest prices in the Nation on new.
I found some people who had a 2003 12.5 ft palomino yearling in perfect condition that they were selling for $4K. I asked them to meet me 1/2 way on a roadtrip and they did. I got a fantastic camper at a great cash price and all parties were happy. When I handed the cash over the wife counted it smiled and said there's my new hardwood floors. I got back Friday night and went camping with the wife and kids on SAT.
Living here in the south, I was looking for several things such as A.C. and I also did not want a shower/potty looking at a new Rockwood 10ft box, to me looked like wasted space and most state or COE campgrounds have showers. We absolutly love our new camper and plan on using the snot out of it. I read as much as I could on this foruma dn found that there is really no pup better than the other like most things it's just how you take care of stuff. Take care and hope this helps!
Gerald

[Hackker]

I see you got the Niagara which looks like a 14' model...didn't that go way above your budget?

Yeah, seeing as how the used popup from my cousin we first looked at was $800 we pretty much went a bit over that.  haha  

But we knew that if it was more enjoyable to camp, we would probably go 6-8 times a year.  And I was afraid that if we bought something used, we might have a bunch of problems that would pretty much kill our desire to camp often.  And it came down to what I'd rather have, great memories with the kids or a few extra thousand bucks sitting in the bank.  Kids won out hands down.

[Hackker]

They also had a new 2407 slide out and my wife REALLY liked it especially with all the space inside and the fact it was new.

They had it price at 10777. They said being the end of the month they might be willing to budge some but I doubt they'll go down much.

When we first started looking at popups, I had no idea they even had slide outs.  Its amazing how much more open it makes them feel.  

What is the MSRP on the camper?  A few people have told me that you should usually be able to get one for about 25% off that as a rule of thumb.  We picked up our Niagara for $12,995 and had them install the AC for $575.  

A lot more than originally planned to spend, but we got exactly what we wanted and its been worth every penny so far.

[rlu929s]

I got a chance to visit with the person selling the 2005 12' Flagstaff today.

He's bringing it down for us to look at tomorrow.

Basically he said it's been used 4 times a total of 8 days and kept in the garage all the time.

He said it was rained on once while in route to a camp site and dew while camping and that's it.

He showed me some more pics and from the outside it does look mint.

He said the only problem is a tear in the weather stripping on the outside door when folded down but a flap covers it up so it's really not an issue. I'll have him show me that.

He's also throwing in a bunch of extra tables, water supplies etc.

He's  buying a fifth wheel.

It sounds like a good deal for $6950

http://springfield.craigslist.org/rvs/769057870.html

We have a flagstaff dealer about an hour away. If I buy this and have issues do you think they would service it? Should I just call and find out.

[dkutz]

I got a chance to visit with the person selling the 2005 12' Flagstaff today.

He's bringing it down for us to look at tomorrow.

Basically he said it's been used 4 times a total of 8 days and kept in the garage all the time.

He said it was rained on once while in route to a camp site and dew while camping and that's it.

He showed me some more pics and from the outside it does look mint.

He said the only problem is a tear in the weather stripping on the outside door when folded down but a flap covers it up so it's really not an issue. I'll have him show me that.

He's also throwing in a bunch of extra tables, water supplies etc.

He's  buying a fifth wheel.

It sounds like a good deal for $6950

http://springfield.craigslist.org/rvs/769057870.html

We have a flagstaff dealer about an hour away. If I buy this and have issues do you think they would service it? Should I just call and find out.

Sounds like a good deal.  Good luck!

[cyclone]

It sounds like a great deal to me, too.  Definitely give the dealer a call and see if they will service it for you.  I can't imagine why they wouldn't - it's money for them.  We have a Flagstaff dealer about 30 miles from home, and they provided excellent service even though they didn't sell us the camper.  The only problems we have had were user error, not issues with the popup.

[rlu929s]

Dealer says they will service it so it's sounding like a no brainer.

I'll need to make sure they have the title right.

I've never bought something this big from another party. Do I pay them and they sign over the title and then with take it up to the DMV to have it registered.

At that time will I need to pay sales tax?

[dkutz]

Dealer says they will service it so it's sounding like a no brainer.

I'll need to make sure they have the title right.

I've never bought something this big from another party. Do I pay them and they sign over the title and then with take it up to the DMV to have it registered.

At that time will I need to pay sales tax?

Paper work is pretty easy.  If they have title they fill our part and send it in and you fill out the other and bring that in.  If they don't have a paper title (yes the DMV is doing paperless titles) you fill out a form with the same info.

If you are  a AAA member you can take all the paperwork there, its much quicker than DMV office.

Good luck.

[Hackker]

I got a chance to visit with the person selling the 2005 12' Flagstaff today.

He's bringing it down for us to look at tomorrow.

Basically he said it's been used 4 times a total of 8 days and kept in the garage all the time.

Finding something that clean is pretty rare.  The biggest problem I ran into was every used PU we checked out was stored outside.  Storing it in a garage pretty much keeps it looking like new.  

I think the worst ones we found were the ones people claimed were hardly ever used and just sat neglected outside in the elements.

[Jim K in PA]

I'll chime in with the welcome and another vote for the used Flagstaff.  That looks like the kind of deal we got on our Viking.  We got a 2006 in August of 2007 that had been used at most 3 or 4 times before the owners traded it in at a dealer for a bigger TT.  It was pristine, so much so that at first I thought it was a brand new leftover.  The dealer had it on the lot for $8500.  We got it for a bit more than half that.  Ours is a 10' box, which is all we need.  I have borrowed a friends 12' Dutchmen and it is pretty big.  Your wife should like it.

Just make sure everything works before you make a decision and/or settle on a price.  Do you have a place or means to plug it in?  The camper will have a 30 amp 110 volt plug.  You will need a matching outlet, or an adapter to plug it into a 20 amp or less outlet to do a full test.  run the furnace, the A/C and the cooktop.  You won't be able to really tell the fridge is working for a couple of hours after it is turned on/lit, as it is an absorption/convection system, not a pressure diff system.

You will also need to add a brake controller to your truck to utilize the trailer brakes.

Best of luck and let us know how it goes!

[rlu929s]

Well finally we are now PUP owners. We looked at the 2005 Flagstaff today and it still smells new. We looked it over and couldn't find any sign of mold/mildew or even use for that matter.




He's going to show us how to work everything and I'm going to have him hook it up tomorrow before we hand over the cash.

I did a NADA lookup and it came out around 6900 so the price seemed right especially since it's barely used.

He had a few extras made to it like electrical outlets on the outside of the camper and he had the actual power cord increased to 25ft from the standard 10ft he said.

He is throwing in a rollup mat and folding table he said he paid 100.00 for that goes under the awning.

He showed us a couple issues.

1. The weather striping has a slight tear next to the door which is covered when it folds down. He said he ordered a new one for it.

There is a little tear in the spare tire cover on back. Not a big deal at all. Other than that it all still looks new.

The link is white and doesn't look used. He said one bed has never even been slept in.

Both mattresses are heated.

We mulled it over and it seems like a great deal so we called him tonight and told him he sold it.

He did however inform us he still has a small loan on it so he said in the morning he's going to go pay it off and get the notice of payoff on the lien for me. As long as he has that and the title it should be fine right.

Thanks for everyone's help and now I'm sure I'll have questions as I try to learn enough about them that I don't look like and idiot while camping.

THANKS!

[dkutz]

Well finally we are now PUP owners. We looked at the 2005 Flagstaff today and it still smells new. We looked it over and couldn't find any sign of mold/mildew or even use for that matter.




He's going to show us how to work everything and I'm going to have him hook it up tomorrow before we hand over the cash.

I did a NADA lookup and it came out around 6900 so the price seemed right especially since it's barely used.

He had a few extras made to it like electrical outlets on the outside of the camper and he had the actual power cord increased to 25ft from the standard 10ft he said.

He is throwing in a rollup mat and folding table he said he paid 100.00 for that goes under the awning.

He showed us a couple issues.

1. The weather striping has a slight tear next to the door which is covered when it folds down. He said he ordered a new one for it.

There is a little tear in the spare tire cover on back. Not a big deal at all. Other than that it all still looks new.

The link is white and doesn't look used. He said one bed has never even been slept in.

Both mattresses are heated.

We mulled it over and it seems like a great deal so we called him tonight and told him he sold it.

He did however inform us he still has a small loan on it so he said in the morning he's going to go pay it off and get the notice of payoff on the lien for me. As long as he has that and the title it should be fine right.

Thanks for everyone's help and now I'm sure I'll have questions as I try to learn enough about them that I don't look like and idiot while camping.

THANKS!

Looks very nice.  Congrats!!  And welcome to the world of PUPS.  Please make sure you get solid prooof that its paid off and he doesn't have a lien on it anymore.  Otherwise HAVE FUN!!

[Jim K in PA]

Congratulations!  I think you made a good decision, and your family will have a great time in that camper.  Be sure to post up when you have made your first trip.  Of course, you must test it at Camp Driveway first . . .

Best of luck with the N2U pup.