PopUp Times

We're a family of 2 adults, 1 toddler, and 1 chihuahua looking to get a pup for camping at our various lakes and campgrounds.

Never owned a PUP before so we're kind of new at this.

I have a V8 F150 truck so I think I can pretty much tow any size PUP. Correct me if I'm wrong.

We're on the fence of new vs used. We really don't want to go over 7k.
But want to get the biggest for our money as we will have more kids and the family will grow.

We have local dealers for Starcraft, Fleetwood, and Jayco in our area.

We don't need a shower/toilet and must have AC/Heat.

Some of the local dealers are quoting around $6900k or so for a new 8' Starcraft etc.

We're going to look at them tonight just to get a feel for PUP's in general.

However, I see a deal on Craiglist for a pretty nice 2005 12' for the same price.

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

Any thoughs, suggestions etc.

We just want to most for our money but also don't' want a lemon.

Quote from: rlu929sWe're a family of 2 adults, 1 toddler, and 1 chihuahua looking to get a pup for camping at our various lakes and campgrounds.

Never owned a PUP before so we're kind of new at this.

I have a V8 F150 truck so I think I can pretty much tow any size PUP. Correct me if I'm wrong.

We're on the fence of new vs used. We really don't want to go over 7k.
But want to get the biggest for our money as we will have more kids and the family will grow.

We have local dealers for Starcraft, Fleetwood, and Jayco in our area.

We don't need a shower/toilet and must have AC/Heat.

Some of the local dealers are quoting around $6900k or so for a new 8' Starcraft etc.

We're going to look at them tonight just to get a feel for PUP's in general.

However, I see a deal on Craiglist for a pretty nice 2005 12' for the same price.

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

Any thoughs, suggestions etc.

We just want to most for our money but also don't' want a lemon.

Having just purchased our second PUP here are my thoughts.

First buy Used- Find a nice one or two year old trailer that has been well taken care of.  Save the money, new ones are expensive.

We avoided the bathroom shower option because of the space they take up.

Craigslist is great!- Crazedlist is better, its a site that allows you to search all states and cities of craiglist at once.  (you must use firefox).  also rvtraderonline.com, and rvt.com are good choices.

Slideouts are great, if you can take the weight.  Choose a floorplan you like and search for what you want, you will find it.

Lastly MAKE SURE the person you are buying from has the title! (I speak from experience)

Once you buy, come back to this site and find a club in your area, and HAVE FUN!!

Do you think I could get a slide out a few years old in my budget.

I've got a 2005 F-150 (no tow package) 4x4 V8 truck so I should be able to tow a slide out right?

I put a class 3 hitch on rated to 5,000 lbs I think.

Quote from: rlu929sDo you think I could get a slide out a few years old in my budget.

I've got a 2005 F-150 (no tow package) 4x4 V8 truck so I should be able to tow a slide out right?

I put a class 3 hitch on rated to 5,000 lbs I think.

I would think you would be able to tow a slide out easy.  But check the weight rating on the truck to be sure.

We just looked at a 1999 coleman with a pop out for $6500, in California.  You may have to sacrifice a few years to get the price you want.  Or decide if you want a newer camper, or and olderish camper with more options.

Good luck!

Quote from: rlu929sDo you think I could get a slide out a few years old in my budget.

I've got a 2005 F-150 (no tow package) 4x4 V8 truck so I should be able to tow a slide out right?

I put a class 3 hitch on rated to 5,000 lbs I think.

Our Jayco 1207 wieghs 2500 lbs dry, and we're guessing 3000ish loaded.  Our F150 tows it like it's not even back there.  I do recommend a transmission cooler.  (It's part of the Ford tow package)  

Have fun shopping!  :D  Go see plenty of PopUps until you find one you like.  You'll know the right one when you're in it.

Where are you located because we have a 1999 Starcraft, Venture, 2407 with  slide for sale for $5,500.   We haven't sold it yet because people want us to give it away and we would sooner keep it.  

We are throwing in a 12" screen room, fantastic fan (no AC), cover, porta potty (no shower combo), RVQ, Extra outside stove, brake controller, electric jack, Class 3 heavy duty hitch, Draco bar, Reese Trunnion Style Weigh Distributing Hitch with adjustable ball-mount and chrome ball, color coordinated dishes and other stuff, and mexican blankets to cover the the cushons.  SO, it's a pretty good deal with all the stuff we are throwing in that you would have to purchase after you bought the PUP.

Send me a PM at:  jlutz@SCO.ca.gov

This address is only good until this job is over tomorrow.

THANKS

Joan

I'm in MO so that'd be quite a drive to CA:(

I vote roadtrip!  C'mon out, pick up that camper in Sacto and then camp your way back home over a 2 week period!  That would be a great adventure.

Anyway, welcome and hope you have fun, both with your search and with what you find.

I'd suggest getting a super nice used one, and get the biggest one you can find.  You won't grow out of it too fast, if at all, it will maintain it's resale value, and it will have plenty of nice comforts.  As you can see, 5-6k will buy you someone's very nice camper.  To me, that's money well spent.

YA, I vote for th road trip also.  :yikes:  Both of us would bennefit and you wouldn't have to outfit it before you went home.

AND welcome also.

Joan

Quote from: dkutzFirst buy Used- Find a nice one or two year old trailer that has been well taken care of.  Save the money, new ones are expensive.

I know most people say to buy used first, but we went with a new one for a couple of reasons.  For one, having never owned any sort of camper before, I didn't want to risk buying someone else's problem by not spotting something.  At least with new, we had a warranty and a dealer that would back up any problems.

And just starting out camping, I wanted something that I could count on not breaking down for a long while and didn't really require any maintenance for a while.  

When we looked for a used one, we started off with a $3k max price and after seeing how poor of shape most of them were, we bumped it up to $6k.  Most were much better at that price, but still had noticeable wear & tear, rust, and they all seemed to be stored outside.  I was amazed at how 1-2 year old models looked to be in worse shape that my cousin's 20 year old well taken care of and garaged popup.

At this time we really don't want to go over $7,000 so I'm not sure how well the new route will be for us.

I also understand what you are saying though. We don't know anything about PUP's and having a dealer who stands behind it would be nice...if they will.

We're going to look at some new 8' Starcraft models tonight at a dealer and hopefully we can go look at that used 12' in Branson this weekend if they reply.

They are the same price but if there's is in good shape we'll probably risk it for the more room.

We're in no rush though as it's pretty hot and nasty right now.

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

Welcome to the forum. We have had our pup for almost a year now and we love it. There are some deals on used ones out there if you take the time to look. If you are like me you are anxious to get one and start camping. We got ours for $500 but that was kind of a special deal. In today's economy I bet there are people selling off their "toys" so you may have a nice selection to choose from.

Don't discount the toilet/shower. We have both and love them. We have four kids and only use the toilet for those middle of the night potty breaks but it comes in handy. I wish we had an outside shower so that's something to consider.

Floor plan is a major factor. We don't have to climb over our dinette to get to bed and I have heard others say that it's gets to be a pain to have to do that. We have lots of counter space and I'm thankful for it. We don't have a microwave but do have an oven.

Go to the dealers and take a look at what they have set up. When you see a floor plan you like you will know it, it will just feel comfortable to you.

Good luck with your hunt.

Quote from: rlu929sI'm in MO so that'd be quite a drive to CA:(

We just drove 2200 miles (in 48 hours) last weekend to pick up our nu-2-us Trailmanor. It can be done. :sombraro:

Well we went to the dealer tonight and looked at some of the Starcraft models.

They has a 8" 1701 for around 6900.

We're still confused trying to decide on the new vs used debate.

One thing we are for sure of it the 8' will not work.

My wife is not fond of tight places and didn't like the 8' at all.

The also had a used 2006 12' they would let go around 8500. It had no heat though and did show some signs of use.

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.

They do service them and back it up with a warranty.

They seemed very friendly and said if we bought one they would go over every inch of it with us so we knew everything on use and how to take down/ put up etc.

That's quite a bit over budge so we're still mulling it over and trying to decide. Hopefully this weekend we can view a few used ones and see what they look like.

I bought a used 2000 Fleetwood/Coleman Fairview for $5200 off Craig's list here in CO last August.  It was stored in the garage.  Where it is stored has a lot to do with what kind of shape it will be in.  The one you posted looks pretty nice.  I noticed it has AC.

The Fairview I have is a slide-out and it is really nice though the GVWR is 3250lbs, empty it is 2172lbs.  It has two king beds, and the slide-out turns into a double bed, heater, frig., water heater, outside shower, inside/outside stove, they even gave us all the linens and camp gear along with all the dishes, coffee maker, and the microwave.  The deals are out there if you have time to look.  I found this one in about three weeks and I must of looked at ten trailers of different kinds.

If you are somewhat mechanically inclined I would say definitely buy used.  On the other hand if you prefer to pay someone to fix everything you may want to look at new.

The biggest thing may be how much of a hurry are you in.  Waiting until fall may serve you well as people tend to get rid of these to avoid storing them somewhere.  If you are in a hurry, then buying new may be your best option.

Though you mentioned you want to get the biggest popup for your money, so this would push me into looking for used.  There are hundreds and hundreds of these trailers in peoples garages and storage just sitting and never being used.  I would think with the economy the way it is and the direction it seems to be heading you will see more and more of them on craigs list and at garage sales.

You also may want to ask the Fleetwood dealer how much they would charge to install an AC unit in case you find a really nice one used without AC.  The AC units are pretty easy to install vs other things like a furnace or refrigerator.

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.

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

Quote from: rlu929sI 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.

Quote from: rlu929sThey 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.

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.

Quote from: rlu929sI 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!

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.

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?

Quote from: rlu929sDealer 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.

Quote from: rlu929sI 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.

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!

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.

(http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/5456/camper002pn6.th.jpg) (http://img112.imageshack.us/my.php?image=camper002pn6.jpg)
(http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/8076/camper004yu4.th.jpg) (http://img237.imageshack.us/my.php?image=camper004yu4.jpg)

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!

Quote from: rlu929sWell 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!!

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.