Hi, I'm considering an older used Casita

[krisysills]

We are new to camping, and my husband wonders about the wisdom of purchasing a Casita as old as 1985...

Here is the ad...


Does anyone have any advice you could offer us? Is this a reasonable price, or is it pretty subjective?

Thanks for your thoughts, O Experience Ones!

Krisy

[CindyL]

Use the checklist on buying from the documents center.

I cannot speak from Casita experience, but I will speak from experience in our purchase of our 1979 Burro and 1986 Uhaul VT.

Good news: You feel no guilt making it your own. If you don't like the colors, change it. If you want to tear things out and change it, no guilt felt due to age.

You can make it your own unique trailer done as you wish.

Fiberglass trailers last forever. I have heard of trailers being buried in dirt up to the fiberglass, and they were revived to be used. I have heard of them crushed from trees falling on them, and they were salvaged. One member here cut his fiberglass trailer in parts, used a welded frame that added additional length to his trailer, and is almost done putting it back together (Amazing!).



Bad news: The bad news really revolves around three things: how the previous owners kept it, how handy you both are, and how much time you have towards applying that handiness.

Almost any fiberglass trailer, regardless of the condition, can be revived if you have the skills and time to apply it. Broken fiberglass can be fixed, supports can be replaced, wiring can be redone.


So find the buyer's checklist, weigh your time and talents, and go look at it.

Good luck!

Cindy:

PS: Be sure NOT to include Blue Book values in your decision! I cannot tell you how many people who post here asking for help in the purchase who assume that Blue Book value or their assumed value of a vintage fiberglass trailer cause them to lose the purchase. We bought our Uhaul VT from someone who was doing just that, questioning the purchase of the VT. He made the mistake of asking about it and giving the link to the ebay ad. I followed the link, and ten minutes later, we bought the camper from the lister who provide a buy-it-now. (Do I feel guilty? No. In the world of fiberglass campers, you snooze, you loose! Keep that in mind as you are thinking of a purchase.) Yes, it has cost us around 2000 dollars in additional fixes, but it has taken us places we never would have gone without it. I can safely say that it has changed our lives.

[Donna D.]

Hi Krisy, welcome to FiberglassRV... we're glad you're here. Yes, to what Cindy said... you snooze, you lose and everything revolves around time, budget, effort and skill when repairing an all molded fiberglass towable. We're here for you if you have questions or run into problems.

Here's the Buyer's Check List link that Cindy mentioned: Fiberglass RV - Document Center - Buyers Check List

Best of luck in your decision!

[krisysills]

16 Foot Travel Trailer Fiberglass

[CindyL]

Looks nice. Sounds well-kept. You might check this website to see if the price seems reasonable compared to other sales: Molded Fiberglass Trailers | Fiberglass RV's For Sale.

I see your description shows a hail-damaged stick-built camper. I assume you are buying with insurance. Take the buyer's list and check it out. And be sure and look over this site to see what people have done to their campers in case you want to change things. People have changed the carpet on the walls, the cupboard doors (Some of the replacement woodwork people have done makes me SO envious. I can work a radial arm saw now; I just wish I had one. They look easier than the chop saw I have.) and recovered the cushions. Others have make new frames and done an entire rebuild from frame to top. A simple scrub can do wonders to nasty looks and funky smells. Our Burro and Uhaul were dirty and smelled funny. Hubby scrubbed the outside and I scrubbed the inside, and we threw in Febreeze units. Both units, especially the Uhaul, have gone hundreds of miles now. And we were newbie campers. My son was astounded, "Mom is camping???!!! (No, Mom is glamping.)"

Do some exploring on this site, but keep in mind, now that you posted the link, people like me can go in and snap it from you


Best of luck! Hope to see you at a rally in the future.

CindyL

[Thomas G.]

Looks reasonable. Sellers tend to understate true weights.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Thomas G.

Looks reasonable. Sellers tend to understate true weights.

Yup. I would estimate the weight closer to 2500 than 1500lbs.