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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / RVs / August 2005Advice on 1st time purchase
I have an opportunity to buy a '92 Coleman Destiny Royal, for $4000 CAD. I have never owned any kind of RV / trailer before and have a young family (3 boys under 6 yrs...) It is in near perfect condition with the extra "add a room?" I know the owner, and it has been extremely well cared for. My TV is 99 Windstar (with tow package) -in good condition, without any of the well-known "Winni" problems. (Transmission, Head gaskets etc...) I like the trailer because it is in good condition, lightweight and it's just roomy enough. But will it be "enough"? It has no fridge, (not a big deal to me), but does have a good automatic heater (I live in Canada 'eh) It also has no battery, it's designed to run from your TV battery with a special extension cable... Questions for the group: 1.) Is $4000 CAD a good price for a 92/93 Coleman Destiny "Royal" model? 2.) Are there any "MUST HAVES" you would recommend for a 1st time popup owner? 3.) Is light weight with basic features (compared to heavy with all the extras) a good starting point for the next few years with little kids? Thanks, BR > I have an opportunity to buy a '92 Coleman Destiny Royal, for $4000 > CAD. > > It is in near perfect condition with the extra "add a room?" I know the > owner, and it has been extremely well cared for. Assuming an exchange rate of 1.4, ($2860 US), it sounds a little high, but haven't checked NADA and condition (especially of the canvas) is a big factor. My advice here is worth no more than what you pay for it. <snip> > It also has no battery, it's designed to run from your TV > battery with a special extension cable... Not the best idea. RV batterties are designed for "deep cycle" operations. Deep cycling an automotive starting battery will significantly impact it's useful life. > 1.) Is $4000 CAD a good price for a 92/93 Coleman Destiny "Royal" > model? See above. > 2.) Are there any "MUST HAVES" you would recommend for a 1st time popup > owner? A lot of pop-up owners are moving up from tent camping. You don't *need* anything in a pop-up (a.k.a. tent trailer) that you didn't need in a tent. Everything else is a nice to have. Having said that, we have found it's nice to equip the pop-up with things we use on every campout (stuff twe would otherwise grab from the kitchen). Having things like coffee pots, fry pans, and dishes (or paper plates, etc.) in the camper make it ready to roll. That way, we can decide at noon on Friday that we want to go, and be on the road by 5 PM. > 3.) Is light weight with basic features (compared to heavy with all the > extras) a good starting point for the next few years with little kids? Like most things, starting small and moving up when you have a good idea of what you like and don't like is a good plan. You may decide you like the simple life of a basic pop-up and never do move up. Austin >I have an opportunity to buy a '92 Coleman Destiny Royal, for $4000 >CAD. I have never owned any kind of RV / trailer before and have a >young family (3 boys under 6 yrs...) > >It is in near perfect condition with the extra "add a room?" I know the >owner, and it has been extremely well cared for. The add-a-room we had on ours was really handy--especially when a lot of bugs were present. >My TV is 99 Windstar (with tow package) -in good condition, without any >of the well-known "Winni" problems. (Transmission, Head gaskets etc...) Towing capacity for it should be 3,500 lbs. Everything you put in the trailer or in the Windstar has to be deducted from that 3,500 lb. limit. So you can't pull a 3,500 lb. fully-loaded trailer AND a Windstar full of family, too. >I like the trailer because it is in good condition, lightweight and >it's just roomy enough. But will it be "enough"? It has no fridge, (not >a big deal to me), but does have a good automatic heater (I live in >Canada 'eh) It also has no battery, it's designed to run from your TV >battery with a special extension cable... Buy a "dorm" refrigerator for less than $60 US. That will help. A separate battery will be helpful--you might need it anyway for trailer brakes. If the Coleman doesn't have trailer brakes, plan on getting them installed. For a benchmark on pricing, go to nadaguides.com >3.) Is light weight with basic features (compared to heavy with all the >extras) a good starting point for the next few years with little kids? This is exactly what we did. We bought a low-end popup and kept it for 5 years. We liked the idea of a travel trailer, so we traded in the popup and bought that. The biggest advantage to buying like you are is you get to find out if you really like RVing for not a lot of investment. There is nothing worse than buying a $75K Class C Motorhome and then have it sit because no one likes RVing. Mark Filice 2004 Homestead Settler 255RS 1999 Chevrolet Suburban 2500 2000 Dodge Ram 1500 That seems WAY too high for a 13 year old trailer. NADA lists it at about $1300CAD. Add a bit more for any major options such as A/C, furnace etc. > I have an opportunity to buy a '92 Coleman Destiny Royal, for $4000 > CAD. I have never owned any kind of RV / trailer before and have a [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > BR It seems a lot of posts regarding various trailers over the last few months have almost invariably said the price was too high regardless of what it was. But of the guys I know who have bought trailers, none were able to get a trailer as described for near $1300. Double that maybe. From what I've seen $1300 gets you a decent small trailer, nothing more.Having said that, $4000 does seem high. But then it could be one of those rare ones that was garaged when not in use, etc and is in mint shape. Dave > That seems WAY too high for a 13 year old trailer. NADA lists it at > about $1300CAD. Add a bit more for any major options such as A/C, [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > > > > BR |
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