Joining the Travel Trailer World

[cherylbredin]

Hi - I'm Cheryl from Pine Island, St. James City, Florida. My husband and I have bought the tow vehicle and now looking for our dream camper. Searching for a 17' Casita. Sure would like to find one within 500 miles of the house. If anyone has one for sale, please let us know. We are very excited about our new adventure.

[Casita Greg]

Welcome to the forum, and good luck with your search. If you do find one, better jump on it quickly because these fiberglass "egg" trailers are seldom on the market for more than a day or two, (if that long.) They sell like hotcakes, are in high demand, and command a pretty good price, even for used ones.

[Jon in AZ]

Welcome, Cheryl! Casitas seem to be fairly plentiful (as molded trailers go, anyway) in the Southeast. With patience and some looking, I'm sure one will turn up.

You said you have your tow vehicle. Have you researched actual loaded weights, and especially tongue weights, for Casita 17s in our Trailer Weights in the Real World database (post #297 links to a spreadsheet)? Although total weights are generally around 3200 pounds, some people are surprised to find tongue weights well north of 400 pounds.

Best wishes finding your trailer!

[ArtfulDodger]

Originally Posted by Casita Greg

Welcome to the forum, and good luck with your search. If you do find one, better jump on it quickly because these fiberglass "egg" trailers are seldom on the market for more than a day or two, (if that long.) They sell like hotcakes, are in high demand, and command a pretty good price, even for used ones.

Hi, I'm John, Cheryl's husband and yes, we've discovered that they don't seem to stay on the market long. We're first in line to go see one this weekend that's only 3 hours away. We bought a 2009 Ford F 150 extended cab Pick up truck with the 5.4 liter motor and 6 speed transmission to do the towing. Supposed to get 20 MPG on the highway, we'll see about that soon enough. I understand that there's a "chip" for a couple hundred that will get improved mileage and performance as well. We'll be looking into that. Got one with the 6.5 ft. bed so we can put my Triumph and a couple bicycles in the back to explore around where ever we land. We've been sailors for many years and have a bunch of 12 volt knowledge so I think solar panels will be on the list. Thanks for the welcome!

[cherylbredin]

Originally Posted by Casita Greg

Welcome to the forum, and good luck with your search. If you do find one, better jump on it quickly because these fiberglass "egg" trailers are seldom on the market for more than a day or two, (if that long.) They sell like hotcakes, are in high demand, and command a pretty good price, even for used ones.

Thanks Greg. That's what we have found out too.

[cherylbredin]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

Welcome, Cheryl! Casitas seem to be fairly plentiful (as molded trailers go, anyway) in the Southeast. With patience and some looking, I'm sure one will turn up.

You said you have your tow vehicle. Have you researched actual loaded weights, and especially tongue weights, for Casita 17s in our Trailer Weights in the Real World database (post #297 links to a spreadsheet)? Although total weights are generally around 3200 pounds, some people are surprised to find tongue weights well north of 400 pounds.

Best wishes finding your trailer!

Thanks and we appreciate the advise. John says we are good to go with our F150 V8.

We found one to look at just 15 miles away but it's raining so hard today that it will have to wait til tomorrow.

[Civilguy]

Originally Posted by ArtfulDodger

We're first in line to go see one this weekend that's only 3 hours away.

Only three hours away...

Yes, it sounds like you've got the memo on these silly trailers. The buyers for my Casita drove over 5 1/2 hours each way this week.

Welcome to the forum!

[cherylbredin]

Thanks very much!

[thrifty bill]

We towed a 17 foot Casita with our 2010 F150 Supercab with the 5.4 V8, and we currently tow our 19 ft Escape with the same truck. More than enough truck to tow effectively on any terrain. We have towed from FL to WA State, and many places in between. Off to CO in a couple of weeks.

20MPG? Not happening on our truck. We tend to get 12 to 14 MPG while towing, which is pretty decent. Many people with smaller engines end up getting the same or worse mileage. If you are at the towing limit of your vehicle (or over it), the fuel economy tends to get really bad.

Personally, rain or not, I would get in your truck and drive. Actually, looking at a camper in the rain is a great way to see any leaks.

We sold our Casita in four hours. And we drove ten hours one way to get our Escape (less common trailer). Molded trailers, if fairly priced, tend to go really fast.

IMHO, the F150 makes an excellent tow vehicle!

[cherylbredin]

Wow! Sold in 4 hours. No... its a monsoon out there LOL. We are experiencing a major low. Thanks for the advice.

[Gattopuin64]

Right on about hopping in the truck now to see your trailer. I sold my 2011 Scamp 16-ft SD/FB in 3-days at asking price and check in my bank account 4 or 5 days later. Eggs don't last long on the market.

[cherylbredin]

You guys are making me nervous. The one up the road is just to look at. It's not for sale. Sunday is my day off to drive up the east coast to see the one for sale. Hope it's still there Saturday night.

[thrifty bill]

Four hours is not that unusual. When I bought it on day one, while the seller was showing it to me, his phone was constantly ringing. I could only hear half the conversation of course. Each call went the same "yes it is still for sale. I have a couple looking at it right now, but if they don't take it, I'll call you back". By the fourth call I knew if I wanted it I would need to buy it right then and pay full price. So we did. I got aced out on several trailers by just minutes!

+1 to below, great strategy if you are a seller. Just keep answering your phone and repeating the "script".

[Civilguy]

Originally Posted by thrifty bill

Four hours is not that unusual. When I bought it on day one, while the seller was showing it to me, his phone was constantly ringing. I could only hear half the conversation of course. Each call went the same "yes it is still for sale. I have a couple looking at it right now, but if they don't take it, I'll call you back". By the fourth call I knew if I wanted it I would need to buy it right then and pay full price. So we did. I got aced out on several trailers by just minutes!

Bill, Cheryl already said you are making her nervous; be nice!

But, now you've got me thinking...

Next time I'll have my neighbor call me three or four times while I am showing the trailer...

[Kai in Seattle]

Civilguy: Mike,


"But, now you've got me thinking... Next time I'll have my neighbor call me three or four times while I am showing the trailer... "




I was thinking the same thing! Yeah, baby!


BEST
Kai

[Ice-breaker]

If you see something you like, you have to be prepared to jump on it. We just picked up a new to us Escape trailer this past weekend. Had first seen the ad on Wed morning and made a deposit on it by noon the same day, site unseen. Went to pick it up two days later (Friday). The seller kindly volunteered to make a 10hr (1000km) drive each way to help shorten our own drive to pick up the trailer. Even so, we drove 1600km to pick up the trailer and another 1600km back, all in a three day weekend. And the funny thing is that I was not even looking for another trailer at the start of the previous week.

[RandyNH]

An example

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ice-81635.html

3 interested within an hour

[cherylbredin]

Not a problem. I never take anything said to seriously.