zero Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 I wanted to run out and buy this RV this morning. 20 miles from my house. But seems it's a scam. I did not know this brand and type of RV even existed. Built in 86-87-88 by Estabishment Inc. on a Chevy Astrovan chasis. 73K miles, immaculate condition, Onan generator and asking price of $2700. Would be one heck of a buy for the price. I sent an email and got this BS response. Note that he says it's parked in NJ - 200 miles from where he placed the ad. Neat looking RV though. "Hi, I am selling my rv because my battalion has been sent back to Afghanistan and don't want it get old in my backyard. The price is low because I need to sell it in the next 2 weeks. It is in immaculate condition, meticulously maintained and hasn't been involved in any accident...I do have the title, clear, under my name. The 1987 Aerolite has 73,035 miles, VIN : 1GCDM15Z1HB136687, 1 owner ,gas saving v6 engine and also onan generator included.Still available for sale if interested, price as stated in the ad $2,700. The rv is in Newark, NJ, in case it gets sold I will cover the shipping fee.Let me know if you are interested, email back. Thank you! William Taylor ." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 Those Rv's were made by Aerolite in 1986 and 1987 only. The pics of the one you posted were of one that sold on ebay for over 10 grand. More than I have ever seen one sell for. Scammers love ebay pics Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totem Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 wow I had that verbatim email on a scam truck from craigs list the other day; had a 1998 holy grail diesel ram 2500 mint with leather seats and 52k on the odo for $1800... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted February 14, 2013 Author Share Posted February 14, 2013 Those Rv's were made by Aerolite in 1986 and 1987 only. The pics of the one you posted were of one that sold on ebay for over 10 grand. More than I have ever seen one sell for. Scammers love ebay pics Linda S They were recalled and the recall notice is for 1986, 1987, and 1988 models. If they made into the recall notice, I assume they existed. They had a problem with the driveshaft hitting the gas tank, and a brake-loss problem when "loaded heavily." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted February 14, 2013 Author Share Posted February 14, 2013 Those Rv's were made by Aerolite in 1986 and 1987 only. The pics of the one you posted were of one that sold on ebay for over 10 grand. More than I have ever seen one sell for. Scammers love ebay pics Linda S Here's the recall showing the 1988. They were manfactured June of 1985 to Sept of 1987 and sold as model years 1986, 1987, and 1988. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted February 14, 2013 Author Share Posted February 14, 2013 Here are some early 80s recalls on Sunraders and Dophins that require installing complete rear axle assemblies. These are on the GM S10 and S15 truck chassis. I've love to know what was used for the repair. Later recalls mention them to be duallies . . but what I have no idea. The smallest USA FF axle I can think of is a Dana/Spicer 60. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stamar Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 Ha I work for a sattelite dish installer, and our fleet is 10 ford rangers and a chevy astro. And we all make jokes about it all the time. It breaks down constantly. I wish I could relate the humor, but the last person assigned the astro just quit and then when a new person took it on it broke down that day. refused to start after a trip to the gas station. Electrical problems. terrible gas mileage its an 03 and it gets apx 8 miles a gallon. thats in a non motorhome loaded down form. I heard that the 80s ones were way better, and way more up to date with the times. by 03 it was 3 generations behind the chevy s10 it takes a lot to get laughed at when compared with a ford ranger too. Its a bad bad concept poorly executed. We use it for home start jobs, meaning it drives so far away we load it up with crap so it doesnt have to come back to the shop. well combine 8 mpg with breaking down in the middle of nowhere and its a crazy adventure, as we techs pay the gas for the jobs nobody wants it. whereas our local to portland jobs all have 4 cylinder trucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Here are some early 80s recalls on Sunraders and Dophins that require installing complete rear axle assemblies. These are on the GM S10 and S15 truck chassis. I've love to know what was used for the repair. Later recalls mention them to be duallies . . but what I have no idea. The smallest USA FF axle I can think of is a Dana/Spicer 60. There was no fix for the S10 Sunrader. You notice there were only 8 vehicles involved. Sunrader bought most of those back and destroyed them. Only 2 survived that I know of. I would imagine Dolphin did the same because they were very responsible in responding to recalls Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted February 15, 2013 Author Share Posted February 15, 2013 There was no fix for the S10 Sunrader. You notice there were only 8 vehicles involved. Sunrader bought most of those back and destroyed them. Only 2 survived that I know of. I would imagine Dolphin did the same because they were very responsible in responding to recalls Linda S Hmmm. If that's the case, what the heck were the other companies thinking when they later built Astrovan RVs? They have the same rear axles as the S10s and S15s. By the way, on the subject of small FF rear-axles there WAS one made in the USA. I'd almost forgetten it. Very rare item built by Dana and used in small military Jeeps in the 1940s. Probably just the right size for a Toyota but quite rare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 To my knowledge there are no problems with the Astro basedTiger motorhomes axles. I own one of those and belong to the group for them. Never heard of axle problems. Astro based Tigers are only 16 ft long though and pretty light. As far as Stamars comment about break downs and bad fuel economy no experience with that either. Run forever with little problems and get almost as good mileage as my tiny Sunrader 4 banger but way more power. Handles very well too. They continued to make them until Chevy stopped making the Astro. Lots of people miss them. Way worse mileage on the full sized trucks they use now Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob C Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 I had a 1989 AWD Chevy Astro that I used to tow a 2000 pound Starcraft camper all over the country. I did not have any problems with is during the 6 years that I owned it. At 200,000 miles, I junked it because the front suspension was getting very rusty and needed to be replaced. I routinely got 16-18 mpg without the camper and 14 with the camper. I would have bought another one if I still needed a large passenger vehicle but my kids were grown and moved out. I thought that it was a very dependable van and it would go darn near anywhere including fire roads and farm trails. I pulled many cars out of ditches because even with snow covered roads, that AWD system could find traction where I didn't think it existed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted February 15, 2013 Author Share Posted February 15, 2013 To my knowledge there are no problems with the Astro basedTiger motorhomes axles. I own one of those and belong to the group for them. Never heard of axle problems. Astro based Tigers are only 16 ft long though and pretty light. As far as Stamars comment about break downs and bad fuel economy no experience with that either. Run forever with little problems and get almost as good mileage as my tiny Sunrader 4 banger but way more power. Handles very well too. They continued to make them until Chevy stopped making the Astro. Lots of people miss them. Way worse mileage on the full sized trucks they use now Linda S Overall, the Astrovans had a very good rep. I had a 1995 AWD that had many minor electrical issues but no major problems that I can fairlly complain about. At 140K the "fuel system" died and for Astros of that year - it required replacing everything. The "tarantula " fuel system was only used 2 years (1995 and 1996) and then got changed to something better. Besides that -just about all problems were rust-related. There was a company in my area that had a fleet of AWD Astros and they held up very well. Seems if anything the 2WD would be more reliable. Pretty much the same except minus the viscous-drive transfercase and front drive axle. The major complaint about Astros by some critics was it was "old school" with a separate chassis and frame. I.e. it was more of a truck then a unibody "minivan." Also it seems that the small four cylinder engine got dropped and only the big low-tech V6 was available in later ones. It was loosely based on a pushrod 265 c.i. V8 that came out in 1955. I guess . That made it a good candidate for an RV application. My 1995 AWD with the 4.3 and CPI injection got a best of 19 MPG on the highay and 14 MPG "around town." I replaced it with a Dodge GrandCaravan with a 3.8 engine and it gets 22 MPG highway and 16 "around town." Astro rear axle is a GM corporate 10 bolt, same as the S10s and S15s use. No easy upgrade other then a 3/4 ton 14 bolt SF. On my Blazer Chalet -that's how I beefed up the rear. But that 14 bolt SF rear uses 8 lug wheels which required swapping the front hubs to match. Easy to do on a Chevy though since the 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton parts easily interchange. MY 14 bolt rear came from a 3/4 ton Suburban. There are others used in a few "light" 3/4 ton trucks that have 5 or 6 lugs but both are different wheel patterns then the Astro uses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 At some point late in it's life (2003?), the Astro changed from 5-lug to 6-lug wheels. I've no idea what other changes were made at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted February 15, 2013 Author Share Posted February 15, 2013 At some point late in it's life (2003?), the Astro changed from 5-lug to 6-lug wheels. I've no idea what other changes were made at the same time. My 1995 Astrovan had 6 lug wheels but I assume that's because it was AWD. I think the 2WD versions of the time were 5 lug. I know it was a odd 6 lug pattern and a 1/2 Chevy truck 6 lug wheel did not interchange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 I was disappointed when I bought my '97 Astro and found that a spare set of S-10 rims wouldn't fit for snow tire use! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted February 15, 2013 Author Share Posted February 15, 2013 I was disappointed when I bought my '97 Astro and found that a spare set of S-10 rims wouldn't fit for snow tire use! This past summer I was trying to move my 1965 Chevelle Malibu. It had been sitting for a few years and had four flats. I discovered that the wheels off a 2WD S10 were one of the few that had that old odd-ball pattern and fit perfectly. The Astro was another odd pattern. Being six-lug and 15", I'd figured that the 6 lug 15" wheels off my Chevy Blazers and 1/2 ton trucks would fit. Nope. I had to take a 400 mile trip one day with the Astro and just before leaving - I crawled underneath to check the pressure in the spare and guess what? No d*mn spare. The cable had rusted and broke and spare had fallen out somewhere. I was in a panic to find something I could take with me as a spare. I've got over 40 cars and trucks here and not one had the same pattern. One more odd discovery. I picked up a huge gas powefed cement mixer that was made in late 1940s. It had steel wheels but they bolted on with lugs just like a modern car. I wanted to find a tire/wheel combo to fit. Guess what was a perfect match? Wheels from Japanese based 1995 Chevy/Geo Trackers. (Made by Suzuki/Chevy/Cami of Canada). It's funny how modern companies use old wheel patterns - especially the Japanese. The 6 lug duallies on Toyotas are a 1930s-40s USA HD truck pattern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Many moons ago I had an 2wd S-10 pickup with the 2.8 V6. Bought a set of 16" rims and tires from a Pontiac Trans Am. Tried to install the first one up front and found the rim fouled the brakes or steering (don't remember which one). Turned out that the Trans Am rims had different offset (front & rear). I'd tried to install a 'rear' rim on the front. The 'front' rim fit up front with no fouling. Looked pretty cool, IMHO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted February 15, 2013 Author Share Posted February 15, 2013 Update on this scam (I assume). They guy listed the RV for sale 20 miles from me yet he says it is stored 200 miles away in Newark, New Jersey. I sent him a message informing him that my sister just happens to live in Newark and will go right over and look it over for me. I asked for an address. Here is his reply : "Hi again,As I told you, at this moment I am in NJ state in a military base, getting ready for Afghanistan (I hope for the last time). I do a special training program everyday day and I am not allowed to get out of the unit or make calls whenever I want. The shipping will take 3 to 5 days depending on your location. As long as I'm dealing with Autotrader and they can ship the rv anywhere in the US,I listed the rv in several states because it increases my chances to get it sold much faster. I want to mention that the rv was inspected by Autotrader and fulfils the CO Emission standards from all the 50 states so it wouldn't be a problem for you to register it in your state.Because it is a large transaction, we will complete the deal only using an authorized third part like Autotrader because I already prearranged the whole process with them, using their escrow Safe Pay Program for vehicles not listed on their website. The rv is located in the Autotrader warehouse in Newark, NJ (ready for delivery). I asked them to allow viewers to go there and inspect the rv but their reply was "We are not a showroom!" In this case, I will offer a 5-day period to inspect the rv from the moment you receive it, before I'll have your money. I think this is more than fair for both of us.The payment will be handled by Autotrader , and you will benefit of 5 days inspection time period (test drive) and the option to accept or reject the rv on my expense. If you are still interested just send me your full name and shipping address. I will forward your info to Autotrader and they will notify you about our deal. Like this you'll be able to talk directly with them and ask all you want to know.Thank you! William. " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totem Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 http://www.autotrader.com/fraud/index_pop.jsp scam; auto trader has NO warehouse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted February 15, 2013 Author Share Posted February 15, 2013 http://www.autotrader.com/fraud/index_pop.jsp scam; auto trader has NO warehouse. In a way I feel like following through a little further just to see how this guy wants to rob me of my money. But I don't want this deviate having my name and address. He has this RV for $2700 supposedly. Shipping alone from Newark to where I live would likely cost at least $1000. Then in theory he's paying some agency to store the mythical RV and handle the transaction?? Sounds like when he got done he might walk away with enough profit to buy a pack of smokes ($10 in NY) . . or maybe a baby pig in Papua, New Guinea? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 In a way I feel like following through a little further just to see how this guy wants to rob me of my money. But I don't want this deviate having my name and address. He has this RV for $2700 supposedly. Shipping alone from Newark to where I live would likely cost at least $1000. Then in theory he's paying some agency to store the mythical RV and handle the transaction?? Sounds like when he got done he might walk away with enough profit to buy a pack of smokes ($10 in NY) . . or maybe a baby pig in Papua, New Guinea? Send him the link to the autotrader scam warning site and see what he says. My guess is you won't hear from him again Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totem Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 no way I would tell him that auto trader says that he must wire the same amount of money in a money gram to match the money you are putting up. then have him money gram you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted February 15, 2013 Author Share Posted February 15, 2013 I DID send him another reply but it's probably a bit too obscene to post here. It has something to do with him having intimate relations with my prize goat to seal the deal. Now watch ! I'll meet some jerk in town next week driving a $2700 Aerolite he got cheap off of CraigsList. That sort of thing seems to happen after every auction I don't go to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totem Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Hopefully I fare better . I am catching a ride 4 hours north into Harrison to buy the truck I trolled on Craig's today. If it doesn't pan out that's a long walk home... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldiesel Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 About a week ago i had the same scammer reply to an ad on CL for a toyota MH,i wrote back to him and told him that he could go ahead and have it shipped to me (ficticious address) right away as i had just got a large check from the prime minister of Nigeria and would have cash waiting when it arrived. I didnt hear from him so after a couple of days i sent him another email and told him not to quit his day job as he was too dumb to make it as a scammer,still havnt heard from him again. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stamar Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Meanwhhile our company astro just went on craigslist for 1000 obo. Its an 03 And even though nigeria is not involved its a serious scam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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