Prospective Egg Buyer

[Stargazer]

Hi I'm Steve and just posted and introduction under the intro forum. Here I want to ask a couple of questions. First, is on the price of a used unit. My DW and I recently went to a rally and got to see inside of numerous Casitas. We heard about a couple, who weren't at the rally, that have on order a 19' Escape and want to sell there Casita in the near future, there new unit won't be available until June. We aren't in a hurry either, my wife will retire around March 1st. A friend of the couple sent them our e-mail address and they sent photos of the rig and all the particulars of it, e.g., always covered, new tires, etc. The asking price seems reasonable, having checked the classified archive here, but, I wonder did most of those rigs sell for less than the asking prices. We will soon go to look at their Casita. I certainly don't want to insult the seller, but at the same time I want a good deal. Help please.

My second question is on a two vehicle. We have a 2011 Honda Odyssey and although it can two up to 3500 pounds we will be going up some hills and into some mountains, such as the Rockies and the High Sierras. My thought is to sell the Odyssey, and buy a pick up truck. I don't want to go up hills on freeways at 40 mph. I am considering possible a V6 Nissan Frontier and also a few comparable models. Opinions on this too.

[RogerDat]

In good shape FGRV's are typically a sellers market, if the price is reasonable someone will purchase it quickly, like as soon as they can get there and plunk the money down.

Not much room to dicker on the price unless it's a fixer upper or is priced as "very good" but is really pretty rough or has some broken equipment such as fridge, stove, or AC.

My advice is if the price is reasonable according to your research in the archives arrange to go see it as soon as possible prepared to put down a deposit if it meets your needs and requirements.

Can't comment on performance of Odyssey as tug but if you are going to do mountains trailer brakes are a major plus. This link will give you some real world weights to help guide you in your decision.

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...rld-43010.html

Good Luck!

[glennco]

Welcome to the forum

One thing to think about, most rigs which have a 3500lb tow rating only support a 350lb tongue weight. The stated dry tongue weight of a casita 17' is 370 lbs.

[RogerDat]

Originally Posted by glennco

Welcome to the forum

One thing to think about, most rigs which have a 3500lb tow rating only support a 350lb tongue weight. The stated dry tongue weight of a casita 17' is 370 lbs.

Or less, our Escape V6 has a 3500 lb. tow capacity but only a 300 lb. hitch capacity in the manual.

Could be a frame design limit with the Escape but could also be (just my own SWAG) that too much hitch weight causes the front wheels which are the primary drive wheels to "slip" enough to cause power to transfer to the rear wheels as it would if the front wheels were losing traction in snow. Not a good thing to have happen on dry pavement every time you go over a bump and the trailer pushes down on the rear of the car.

I had a small front wheel drive car that would chirp the front tires leaving every stop light if I had too much weight in the back. Happened every time I went to the laundry mat by myself with a full load of clothes in back. Second passenger in front was enough to stop it. Not easy to get company going to the laundry mat as a general rule.

[deryk]

then there is always stated weight and actual weight.

[Alf S.]

Originally Posted by Steve Charles

Hi I'm Steve and just posted and introduction under the intro forum. Here I want to ask a couple of questions. First, is on the price of a used unit. My DW and I recently went to a rally and got to see inside of numerous Casitas. We heard about a couple, who weren't at the rally, that have on order a 19' Escape and want to sell there Casita in the near future, there new unit won't be available until June. We aren't in a hurry either, my wife will retire around March 1st. A friend of the couple sent them our e-mail address and they sent photos of the rig and all the particulars of it, e.g., always covered, new tires, etc. The asking price seems reasonable, having checked the classified archive here, but, I wonder did most of those rigs sell for less than the asking prices. We will soon go to look at their Casita. I certainly don't want to insult the seller, but at the same time I want a good deal. Help please.

My second question is on a two vehicle. We have a 2011 Honda Odyssey and although it can two up to 3500 pounds we will be going up some hills and into some mountains, such as the Rockies and the High Sierras. My thought is to sell the Odyssey, and buy a pick up truck. I don't want to go up hills on freeways at 40 mph. I am considering possible a V6 Nissan Frontier and also a few comparable models. Opinions on this too.

Hi: Steve Charles... We have now had 3 seasons of towing with a Frontier PU. Lots of torque and horse power, very solid truck. The Frontier/Escape 5.0 combo gets great fuel mileage too!!!
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie