New (to me) Toyhouse

[Bob C]

I hope that I just made a good purchase. Last week I looked at a Dolphin and the guy was really proud that he put on NEW fenders, doors, and a used hood and got it professionally painted. Last year he had a new rubber roof put on. The tires were about 1 year old and had less than 1000 miles on them. The asking price was $3900. THE problem, he put an expensive rubber band-aid on a totally rotten roof. I could push up on it in the middle with one finger and the entire roof moved. I ran from that Dolphin. It also had a floor plan that would not work for us with grandkids. I learned alot from that RV.

The Good:

The one that I did buy this evening-1987 Escaper, 22RE engine with 4 sp auto (wish it had stick.) 33,000 miles. Roof air w/heat that blows cold like crazy. 7 brand new Cooper tires that still have most of the nipples on them. New engine battery, Not a spot of leakage anywhere. It has a floor plan that my wife really likes (very important to keep the wife happy.) Interior in great shape except for a small rip in the sofa that my wife can repair. Full LP tank last week. 25' 30 amp extension cord. A full set of legos for leveling. No rust on the sheet metal and very little on the frame.

The Bad:

Cab a/c comp has no belts and I suspect that it does not work. The bathroom vent w/fan needs replacing, (the cover and fan blade are both broken.) The vent roof vent above the overhead bed keeps popping open and needs to be replaced. The passenger side window screen fabric is gone (I know how to replace it and already have the screen fabric and rubber spline.) The dash (heater) fan does not work but a friend has a Toyota truck that is being scraped so he is giving me the motor assembly and switch. There was a terrible rattle under the hood that scared several people away, this turned out to be the idler pulley and bracket that someone loosened to take off A/C belt but never tightened, it was rubbing on the crankshaft puller. Something was squealing under the hood, another looker told her that the fan clutch was shot, after careful looking, it was just a loose alt belt. The big problem was that the water heater is shot because her daughter did not properly winterize it last fall, I have a friend that is a heating/cooling guy and will install a new one for the cost of the heater only. She just found out about the broken water heater last week when she was putting water in to show a looker how to do it.

The Price: She was asking $3700 but I called and her today and we discussed all of the problems which to her were huge because she would have had to pay a shop to repair them. I asked her what it would cost to drive it away as is. She told me that everyone drove it about a block and went back to her house and squealed tires getting away from these major problems. She informed me that if I would give her $2000 the Toyhouse was mine. It now sits in my driveway. I feel like I was lucky that I was not carrying a firearm because someone could accuse me of armed robbery.

I hope that I am not fooling myself into thinking that I got a really good deal.

[bufbooth]

Hello Bob C, it sounds like a great deal to me.

Regarding the Cooper tires, check to see if they are marked 185R/14.

If they are marked something like 185R/70-14, they are car tires and

not truck tires, you need to replace them, the car tires cannot handle

the weight. If you need to get 185R/14 tires but sure to get load range D

instead of load range C.

Dennis B.

[Bob C]

The tires are 195R-14. Truck tires. that is one of many things that I learned while lurking here. Car tires on cars, truck tires on RV's. I also checked the manufacture date and they were made early this year.. Load range D.

Edited August 18, 2011 by Bob C