Greetings from Southern California

[Motorkid]

Hi everyone,
Our names are Sam and Kaitlyn and we live in the small beach town of Ventura located in Southern California. Anybody else nearby?
We don't currently own a trailer but Kaitlyn's mom owns a trailer rental company out of Ventura so we are pretty familiar with them thus far. Our interest in fiberglass trailers began when we took a roadtrip to Oregon and saw many on the road. Plus we have a Forester and wanted something light we could trail without buying a new vehicle.
Sam is a woodworker and we are both interested in demoing our future trailer and redesigning the interior to accommodate our small family.

I did have a few questions for you experienced fiberglass trailer connoisseurs.
Is there a trailer that has a pop top or loft bed option?
How often do 13ft Scamps and other fiberglass trailers pop up for $3,000 or under? I just saw one go for 1,000 in vegas a few weeks ago but wasnt sure if it was a fluke. Missed it by 2 days.
What exactly should we be looking for to help figure out if a trailer is a good price for its condition? what are the must haves?
We are particularly interested in Scamp, Boler and Trillium. From my research it seems we need to jump on them as fast as we can when they come up and we would like to be prepared with knowledge beforehand.
What is your favorite make/model and why?

Thanks for reading. We look foreword to talking to you all more.

Sam and Kaitlyn

[Jon in AZ]

Welcome, Sam and Caitlyn!

$3000 and under... not too common, and usually a project to some extent. I wonder if the $1000 unit you might have been a scam- they abound on Craigslist for small molded fiberglass trailers. But certainly start looking- no telling what may pop up.

There are a few vintage models (Hunter Compacts and Trailswest Campsters) with a pop-up roof section, but it's for headroom in a low-profile shell. None have loft beds that I know of, but many have bunks. Mine sleeps a tight four- two on the 45"x76" dinette bed in the back and two on upper and lower 24"x76" bunks in front (upper is weight limited to around 120 pounds).

To get a feel for prices and condition, I'd suggest scanning the classified ads and archives on this site and at www.fiberglass-rv-4sale.com. To evaluate condition, there is a "Buyers Checklist" in the Document Center in the More tab near the top of the page.

One more helpful resource, since your Forester is somewhat limited in towing capacity, is the "Trailer Weights in the Real World" thread in the General Chat section of the forum. Post #297 links to a spreadsheet of the data. It will give you an idea of what makes and models might be a good fit for your vehicle.

Best wishes!

[k corbin]

The shells of the FGRVs are absolutely not strong enough to support an overhead popup with a bed in it such as are used on steel framed VW bus camper and other popup camper steel vehicle vans. If you modified one with framing to be that strong it would of course no longer be lightweight.

[MK Evenson]

Sam and Kaitlyn, welcome to the forum and the world of fiberglass trailers. We are relatively close, just north of you in Santa Rosa.
We are still waiting for our egg to be hatched. As far as tow vehicles, We initially bought a 2017 Outback, installed a hitch and ordered a 13' Scamp. After much thought I decided that the fact that Subaru doesn't really encourage towing, read the manual, and the fact that the weight rating was close to the actual weight of the 13' we decided to trade in the Subaru. I know you like your Forester and there are many who pull small fiberglass trailers with them without issues. We like to go to Tahoe and other mountain driving, so I feel more comfortable with more power and a vehicle that at least does not discourage towing.
Price wise, as the previous poster said, $3k will most likely get you a trailer that needs considerable work. That may be fine with you. I have found that getting ready for our trailer is not an inexpensive proposition. Fun tho.

Hope you find what works for you!

Mark