Still very tempting to buy my totaled TT back

[protel]

So you guys might already know my story. Basically my TT rollover when I was making a left turn. I do see most of the folks suggest I should take the money and buy a new one, but here is my situation:

1. Insurance offers $18.7K for total loss settlement, purchase price 20k, buy back price 4k
2. I can not find a similar TT within 500 miles unless I add another 6~10k.We brought the TT for COVID travelling and need to rent storage for it, was only plan to own it for 1-3 years. My feeling is if I buy a new one and sell it in a year, I easily lose 5k due to devaluation. And to sell a RV is another hassle.
3. Seems to me now I have the chance to spend 4k to get a usable TT,to me it's actually much better than those popups which still cost 10k+
4. Most tempting part is I went to the tow yard and checked the RV, everything inside still working OK. It rained the past few days and I don't see any leaking inside. Plus in my previous post someone mentioned most RV tends to leak anyway. My plan is to replace the edge trim and bottom trim myself, and for the crack I plan to add something like a vent cover to hide it and make sure water won't get in. All these should be done within 1k budget.
5.Checked with DMV, they have no problem to register/title in my case, even I don't fix my TT properly. There's no RV insurance requirement in my state, this is another plus to me
6. My WC case is the frame damage gets worse and I have to junk it, I did learn little business will take salvaged TT, but I feel mine still looks in good shape. WWC scenario: I pay another 1k to get rid of it?All in all, risking 5k for a usable TT rather than paying 20k for new one+ is tempting...


What am I missing? I'm ready for any sarcasm and yes please wake me up.:?

[Grit_dog]

^Why would he need a separate liability policy unless required by state or not part of vehicle when in travel?

[98coachman]

I had no problem getting insurance on mine in Idaho. I think I would look elsewhere. Good luck

[Lantley]

protel wrote:

Redone wrote:
Glad to hear it is working out for you. I would keep an eye on the wheel bearings, as the one on the right side certainly would have experienced extra stress as the unit tipped over. Also curious if your insurance company let you reinsure the salvage trailer, or if you had to go a different route?

My original insurance company remove TT from my policy and told me they can not insure totalled RV. I didn't look from other insurance since it's not required for TT in my state and now I have even less value to insure.
My TT does come with 1Y factory roadside service and I confirmed it's still working. The dealer also offer same one year of roadside service. Maybe after that I will think about other options.

I think you should consider getting a liabilty policy for your salvaged TT.

[falconbrother]

We started out camping in a converted 1977 van. The we got a slide in/cabover camper. Then we got too big for our britches and decided we needed a travel trailer. I found a one year old, salvaged, 1991 Prowler. We went to look at it. It had become detached from the tow vehicle and rolled into a deep ditch. One side was scraped up, a window was broken but, the glass had been replaced, etc.. I bought it and we camped our butts off in that thing for years. We saved a ton of money, which was good because we were young and money was tight.

[protel]

Redone wrote:
Glad to hear it is working out for you. I would keep an eye on the wheel bearings, as the one on the right side certainly would have experienced extra stress as the unit tipped over. Also curious if your insurance company let you reinsure the salvage trailer, or if you had to go a different route?

My original insurance company remove TT from my policy and told me they can not insure totalled RV. I didn't look from other insurance since it's not required for TT in my state and now I have even less value to insure.
My TT does come with 1Y factory roadside service and I confirmed it's still working. The dealer also offer same one year of roadside service. Maybe after that I will think about other options.

[Redone]

Glad to hear it is working out for you. I would keep an eye on the wheel bearings, as the one on the right side certainly would have experienced extra stress as the unit tipped over. Also curious if your insurance company let you reinsure the salvage trailer, or if you had to go a different route?

[noteven]

To the OP -

The great thing is when someone runs over to tell you they see your trailer has some damage there you can bull chit them about how you rolled it on the way to the campground and a girls fastball team stopped and helped you roll it back on it's wheels good thing the fridge travel latch held etc etc

Looking good so far.

[capacitor]

I just replaced my tongue jack with a Husky hb3000 from adventure rv for 200. I would also replace the awning as I use mine every trip from hot sun to rain. Good to here it’s working for you. My son is looking for a wolfpup 17jg but they are hard to find.

[CavemanCharlie]

Glad it worked out for you. Once you get the corner molding fixed on the back no one will ever notice unless they look really close.

Smooth of the scratches on the right front lower corner and paint them with some matching black tape. No one will notice them after that either.

I'm glad you got it working to save your camping season.

[protel]

capacitor wrote:
Thanks for the update. Did everything work, refer etc.?

Yes, pretty much everything is tested during the past 4 trips.

Another instereting thing happened during the historic heat dome weekend. After coming back from cool coast camping, we found the AC really struggle to bring the temp down below 85F, I was sweating even after a cold shower. Then there's this idea came to me: how about the RV? It's parked on our drive way, so I turned on the AC and even gave it a cold shower with garden hose. Amazingly, 20min or so it's totally cool down to like 75F. I guess the small room really helps in that case. That night we ended up sleeping in our RV on our drive way to beat the heat.

[mr_andyj]

IT looks way better than most RVs on the road today.

So. let this be a lesson for the nay-sayers and doubters and the trolls who poop every idea of do it yourself.
From hence forth let there be no more panic-over-everything forum post.

[Bobbo]

protel wrote:
One inseresting thing I found is when I towing slower, I actually get better MPG like 13, it used to be a bit more than 10MPG.

This is absolutely true. When pulling a heavy load on a flatbed trailer, when you get to speed, inertia helps keep up that speed, and there is no appreciable increased wind resistance. When pulling a TT, you are actually pulling a large open parachute behind you. When you get to speed, the air resistance against the front of the trailer is trying to slow you down and it takes additional pressure on the gas pedal to overcome that. Hence, your decreased fuel mileage.

Your most fuel efficient speed is about 5 or 10 mph above the speed where you hit top gear. Top gear is your most fuel efficient gear. If you barely hit top gear, any small rise you have to cross will make it downshift. A little faster and you can top a small rise without that downshift taking you out of top gear. Of course, a large rise will downshift no matter what.

My experiments, with both a Class C MH and my Airstream, show that somewhere around 60 mph is the sweet spot. (I actually set the cruise control at 62. I have found that most folks drive on a 5 mph division, 55 or 60 or 65 or 70. By setting my speed 2 or 3 mph off of that division, I don't get caught up in the traffic wolfpacks. Everyone is either slowly passing me, or slowly being passed by me.)

MH - 60 mph gets 12 mpg while 70 mph gets 8 mpg. That is about a 16% increase in speed with a 33% decrease in fuel mileage. (That translated into refueling every 300 miles or every 200 miles.)

Airstream - the numbers are about 14 mpg and 9 mpg.

The tests were run over the same 1,000ish mile stretch of road. Of course, weather conditions were uncontrollable. This was tested while driving from my home in TN to my sister's home in CO.

[GrandpaKip]

Very good. I’m glad it’s working out for you.
Thanks for updating.

[capacitor]

Thanks for the update. Did everything work, refer etc.?