Death by tree

[remington850]

I have sad news. Our little Burro had a tree fall on it. I have not had a chance to examine all the damage as of yet since the tree is not full off of it. It is fully insured but need to get an estimate. Where would I want to take something like this? I don't think the local RV shops would even know what to do with it.

[Lizbeth]

Oh bummer! A boat repair place would probably be your best bet. I hope it's not damaged too bad!

[Mark Shaffer]

I can tell you from experience, that if the tree cracked or broke the roof top in any way, the insurance company will total the camper. The price to repair the damage will probably be over 70% of the value, which is the percentage insurance companies deem a vehicle a total loss. Hopefully it is not too bad.

[Cyndi B.]

I always feel like I am going to be run off the RV lot when I tell them I own a Scamp.

[Robin G]

Make sure to arm yourself with comparable replacement cost of the trailer. Don't let your insurance company only go by the blue book value.

Search craigslist, the referral and for sale forums here as well as the archived. So you have documented replacement cost. If they go by blue book the value is much less than what you can actually replace it for. Good Luck!

Sorry to hear about your trailer. Do take lot's of pictures and share them.

[Joe Steadman]

We bought our Scamp from a guy who got it off of the owner who had a tree fall on it. It took some work, a lot of fiberglass and patience but we brought our camper back to life...

Make sure you buy back the camper from the insurance company... the parts alone will help you get another.

[remington850]

Originally Posted by Robin G

Make sure to arm yourself with comparable replacement cost of the trailer. Don't let your insurance company only go by the blue book value.

Search craigslist, the referral and for sale forums here as well as the archived. So you have documented replacement cost. If they go by blue book the value is much less than what you can actually replace it for. Good Luck!

Sorry to hear about your trailer. Do take lot's of pictures and share them.

I have been searching to try and determine the "blue book" value but nobody lists the Burro.

[Mark Shaffer]

There is no listing of value for Burro in N.A.D.A. You will have to use sold listings and for sale adds for your research. I just got a 1999 Burro 17 wide with the side bath, and I have no idea what it is worth to the insurance or the bank, but I know what other egg style campers are bringing. You don't have to have exact value of the trailer, just an amount that you would be happy to use toward another egg purchase. Ebay is about the best venue to research values by looking at completed auctions. There are not alot of Burro trailers or Bolers or Trilliums, but there are plenty of Scamps and Casitas that will give you an idea.

[Dave Bese]

If you or friends have FG skills; buy it back from the insurance company.

[Roy in TO]

One of our members - Greg A. created a website maintaining an archive of fiberglass trailers for sale and sold. You might find this helpful in determining value.
Burro Trailers SOLD | Fiberglass RV's For Sale

[remington850]

Originally Posted by Roy in TO

One of our members - Greg A. created a website maintaining an archive of fiberglass trailers for sale and sold. You might find this helpful in determining value.
Burro Trailers SOLD | Fiberglass RV's For Sale

AWESOME! Thank you very much! I have scoured the site and come up with a good list of Burros sold and for how much.

I have posted pictures up on Picasa for those who want to see them, very sad time taking them.

Find them here

Thank you for all the help, I know I haven't been a very active member, it is nice to know that there is a community like this here.

We spent the day going to the three biggest RV dealerships in the area because the insurance company wants an estimate for repair and they all said that it would cost too much to repair, giving no estimate. Then again they all deal in stick trailers. I even tried to get a estimated value for the Burro. One dealership said it was worth $2000 (that is what they would put it on the lot for). Sigh...........

We will replace it if it gets totaled, as far as keeping it I am still unsure, I am not very good with doing this type of work. Give me something electronic and I am in hog heaven, lol. Again thank you all for the support and help.

Darin

[Roy in TO]

Ouch, that was one big tree - for your little trailer.
Given your location. Have you considered taking a drive to the coast and seeing if any marinas or boat repair places might be willing or able to tackle the job? I'd go armed with pictures, before towing it anywhere.
Does your insurance not want to send an adjuster?

[Raya]

Aw, that is a bummer about your Burro

One note on the "sold" trailers - I think that is the asking price, which may or may not be the selling price. Just something to keep in mind and/or to know before you present your figures (I wanted to mention it in case "they" did and you would then be put on the spot).

Of course eBay completed auctions give a true price, but there aren't that many Burros.

I haven't ever shopped for a Burro like yours, but unless it was a real project-condition trailer, a $2000 value seems way too low. I would have thought $5000 or so, depending on condition and options

One way to estimate might be to look at ones that have sold here, and how quickly they sold. I would guess that the trend would be for trailers that sold "instantly" to have gone for close to their asking price; whereas ones that hung on for a while were probably priced a bit optimistically.

Okay, I hate to even look at the photos, but here I go...

I just looked at them.... ouch, Ouch, OUCH. I am so sorry that happened to your Burro.

I would not be surprised it the camper were "totalled," because skilled fiberglass labor does not come cheaply, and - especially with the liner - repair would be time consuming. At something like $80 per hour, plus materials, it adds up quickly.

I would say that your best bet would be to take it to someone who repairs boats; they are familiar with this type of construction, liners, poor access, etc. But again, it will probably be expensive. If it's cheap, you are either very lucky in who you find, or maybe finding an amateur.

If you were the type that liked a project, I would say that you could repair it. But it won't be a quick job; especially if you want it to look decent.

Again, so sorry to see this.

Raya

[Roy in TO]

You can aslo search the "sold archives" forum here for burro.
Sold Archives - Fiberglass RV

[Bruce Thomas]

for someone used to working with fiberglass your trailer is fixable, but like Raya says they dont do it cheaply. I would suggest buying it back from the insurance company also (they dont wanna deal with it) and ignoring the bozo's who told you they'ld put one on the lot for $2000. They just dont know and never will.
Bruce

[Raya]

I just want to add that (and you may know this), in my experience, it is good to know that you don't have to take the insurance company's first offer. In my case I had an older car, but it was in exceptional condition and I had maintained it as if it were a new one.

Some fellow car folks told me that I could negotiate with the insurance company, so, I called them up, explained, and they said they would take a look at my documentation. I brought in a notebook I had with photos of the car, records of all that I had done to maintain it, and reasons why I thought it was worth more than the "typical" car of that age and type. They came back with a much more fair offer, which I accepted.

Now in your case it may not be that your Burro is so much better/different than other Burros in good condition, but more that your insurance company is not aware of the value of fiberglass campers in general, and how they hold their value as compared to "stickies." If you can clearly demonstrate that to them, then there is a good chance they will listen to you and you will get a fair settlement.

Raya

[CliveAlive]

I'd just add to what Raya said, and something I said in another thread, don't let the adjuster bamboozle you with the KBB "value". That is a DEPRECIATED value. Hold out for them to give you a fair settlement. They will want to get the issue off their books so the longer you can hold out the better settlement you will get.

Good luck.

[Robin G]

A great example of not taking what the insurance company offers right off the bat is, a (For Sale Ad on the referral forum) 17 ft wide body Burro RARE! 1999 BURRO 17' WIDE BODY WITH BATH & A/C! NICE! LOOK LIKE SCAMP





I also have some other sites to pass along to you, if you want to investigate other sales. They are search sites I used when I had time to search for trailers for sale to post on the referral forum. PM if you want the search sites.

[remington850]

Just giving an update.

My insurance company required me to get an estimate before they would send someone out to look at the camper. The catch 22 here is that it is not movable and none of the local dealerships would come out, even though three the largest in the state are within a five mile radius. I showed them all the pictures and I finally got one to write an estimate with the caveat that there was a good possibility it would be higher. Total estimate so far is $10,918. The insurance adjuster comes out tomorrow morning.

One dealership said it was only worth $1,200 so they had no desire to do an estimate. I told him that if he could buy them at that price he could then sell them at $5,000 and never keep one on the lot, he laughed and asked if I would pay that much for a little used camper. I think the joke is on him.

We have already started looking for a replacement. Trying to decide if we want another 17/16 footer or drop down to a 13 footer and then the hard work of trying to find one

[Dusty D]

I just love insurance companies When I got my '72 Boler I called mine & they said "don't bother". That it would be covered with my truck. At least they didn't Want to insure it. Of course it is much older and less valuable.

Since the offender was a tree, a mighty big one, were you fortunate enough to be at home, or somewhere where the homeowners insurance may step forward? Sometimes that is a good option.

Best of luck, too bad you've missed so much of this camping season. Hopefully next year will find you enjoying a new season in a new 'home away from home'