Greetings from Asbury Park NJ (sorta)

[devilonmyback]

Hi, new member from NJ, not actually AP, but close enough. Wife and I lost our weekend mobile home on the jersey shore to Hurricane Sandy. It was a 12x56 Commodore 2 BR model, so close to the bay I could fish from my bedroom window. With that kind of water access you can imagine what Sandy did to it. Picked it up and flung it 15 feet off it's pad, broke it's tiedowns and washed from one end to the other and dumped everything from the BR in the kitchen. Not pretty.

We can't rebuild due to the owner closing down our mobile home park, so my solution is to buy a small travel trailer and find a spot to park it and pay someone some rent for the use of AC power and water. Found the spot, now I need the trailer. Looking at a 2004 Zeppelin 241. Not a special TT in any way, BUT the current owner, a lead mechanic for a large manufacturing firm added a 3600 watt Onan microquiet generator to the underbelly. Hardwired everything to beautiful built in digital meters inside, and made it all automatic, even the primer. He changed all the interior and exterior fixtures to LED's to reduce the draw. The install he did is meticulous and correct, not to mention worth at least 2k extra. It's soundproofed, as well he fully insulated the pass thru to keep it warmer in winter and cooler in summer. This floorplan has the couch and the fixed queen bed rather than the dinette table and the bed that flips up to reveal a loveseat underneath. I'd prefer that floorplan, but like I said, this one is already done with the genny.

My question is, can you change the fixtures in an existing TT like this one. Can I do away with the couch in the slide and replace it with a dinette?

Barring that possibility, is this TT a good deal at an asking price of $9500. I've seen other 2004 z241's going for approx that amount WITHOUT an Onan 3600w generator. This is only going to be a weekend home for us, it's going to be setup and stay there for spring/summer/fall then stored for the winter. We will NOT be pulling this TT around with us (at least thats not the plan for the forseeable future) and we're looking at this as our weekend getaway spot near the beach. I'm looking at it like it's a $10k motel room, always there when we want it, and when we're done, or decide to leave the area in 3-5 years we can sell it and recoup some of our money.

Thoughts?

[hankpage]

Welcome, from a few towns South of you. I feel your pain from Sandy as many in the area suffered much worse than you. We slipped through with none but damage all around us.
For this area and since many trailers are still being used by folks who have still not returned to their homes, the price, if in good condition seems fair to me. Some models of the Zeppelins had problems ... you may want to try a forum search to find them or post a question in "Travel Trailers" for responses for Zep owners.
As for the couch to dinette, the answer is yes ... and since you are not towing you could use any free standing set that fits. You may have to disassemble the couch to fit through the door but they come apart easily. Again, Welcome and keep us informed of your progress. Remember ... Modifications are not real without before and after photos.
http://www.keystonerv.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=251&pictureid=1155 Hank

[JRTJH]

Welcome to the forum. A lot of people were affected by Sandy, sorry to hear about yet another. Hopefully you'll get your recreational life back in order sooner rather than later.

A few comments regarding a 2004 Zepplin 25' RV.

According to NADA, the average retail on that model is $6030. and the low retail is $5000. Adding the generator (depending on how it's installed and the condition/use of the generator) will add some value, but depending on how much you'd use it, its value to you will affect the price.

Keep in mind, the above Prices include air conditioner, awning, stabilizer jacks, microwave, AM/FM cassette stereo and water heater with DSI. Also, prices include oven, spare tire, exterior shower, TV antenna/booster.

Any RV that's 10 years old will have some "issues" and depending on how it was maintained, those issues could make it a great or a very VERY poor investment. Keep in mind that whether you intend to tow it or not, ST tires have a service life of about 4-5 years. The roof and all the plastic structures up there have been exposed to UV and may be nearing the end of their useful life. The EPDM material on the roof has a life expectancy of about 10-12 years.

To answer your question about the sofa/lounge, it should be an easy "remove a few screws" and haul it out. Buying a dinette with 4 chairs is a simple replacement. Installing a dinette that can be used as a bed could be as complex as you want to get or as simple as getting one from another camper and bolting it to the floor.

It's hard to visualize the condition of any 10 year old RV with any reliability. If you're looking at this for a relatively long term investment, it might benefit you to find an RV technician that would, for a fee, inspect the RV and give you his thoughts about what it's worth and the current condition of all the systems.

Keep in mind, you are in an area where a lot of RV's were damaged by the storm, some of them may well have damage that's not easily seen by an unskilled buyer. Also, supply and demand drive prices, so the New Jersey area may be an "artificially high" resale area due to having very few used RV's available. I'd definitely shop for an RV outside the local area at least to get comparable values.

Good luck

[devilonmyback]

According to the 2nd owner, the previous owner stored it inside a barn all the time, it's exceptionally clean, and like I said the install of the generator and its accompanying electronics is impeccable due to the owners mechanical expertise.

The reason I'm hot for this TT with a generator is that the place we intend to park it will supply us 110 household current and water, but they were not crazy about having us run our AC on their dime, hence if it gets too hot, we'll run the AC off our generator. It puts out 30 amps, so it can run AC and microwave at same time according to owner.

I haven't been on the roof, but from looking at what I can see, I'm going to assume its in the same condition as the overall TT. This is not a long term investment for us, I was thinking of keeping it a few years til we leave the area.

As for it being a flood or Sandy damaged unit, thats unlikely. It's located about 100 miles from the shore where Sandy hit. I will definitely consider having a survey done by a professional RV person to get a better idea.

[Festus2]

[QUOTE=devilonmyback;108741]

The reason I'm hot for this TT with a generator is that the place we intend to park it will supply us 110 household current and water, but they were not crazy about having us run our AC on their dime, hence if it gets too hot, we'll run the AC off our generator. It puts out 30 amps, so it can run AC and microwave at same time according to owner.

QUOTE]

Keep in mind that if your TT is wired for 30A then you need to be careful that you do not exceed this by having too many high-amp/watts things going at the same time. You may get away with operating the AC and the micro at the same time but you may not be able to have anything else going - such as toasters, hair dryers (or anything with a heating element in it).

Don't forget that both the HW tank - if on 110V - and the converter itself will draw amps and count towards that 30A service total.

[devilonmyback]

This is not a problem. I grew up and continue to live in a house with only 100amp service, so caution about overloading circuits is something I live with daily. I know that the microwave and an oil filled radiator don't live nicely together in my home, so not overloading the circuits of the 30amp trailer won't be a inconvience.