About a year ago, I bought a '91
Scamp 16 on an E-Bay auction. Although I still really like this trailer (it is still an egg, right?) and have finally corrected the various rotten wood problems, I did NOT do a good job buying it since at the time I was not sure what to look for when I went to pay for it and pick it up. IF I had known what to look for, I would have quickly determined that this unit had problems, but the trailer and all the other stuff in it looked OK: AC, stove,
refrigerator, toilet and shower worked, so how bad could it be? I bought it and towed it from Mobile, AL to Tampa, FL without incident.
The seller in this case was either dishonest, ignorant or both, as he had only owned it a couple years and much of the damage could have occurred prior to his purchase. Someone had already done a sorry job of replacing part of the upper rear floor under the water tank. In addition, there was silicone sealer slathered over much of the rotted floor under the water heater, the connection
leaks of which probably caused all the problems to start with. Also, part of the lower rear floor had been patched with
fiberglass and steel angle, but was rotten anyway.
Prior to buying it, I had called the Scamp manufacturer to inquire as to the liklihood of rotten wood floors. They reassured me that the floors were 'impregnated' with resin and thus would not rot. WRONG! Scamp floors are made of OSB instead of plywood, which in my opinion is only slightly better than heavy cardboard. They seem to have put a
light coat of resin on them, but the idea that they are 'impregnated' with it is a hoot. If OSB gets and stays wet, it swells and rots, period, which is what happened to the floor in the trailer I bought. See my posts elsewhere on this board for details.
In answer to the question though, because there are so relatively few of these around, you are almost assured of having to drive a good ways when buying one. IF I was to do this again, I would probably request numerous digital photos of the undercarriage and make any purchase agreement contingent on the lack of rot, etc.
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