haggeling with 3 vendors

[beccae]

Have settled on an 8x18 cargo,drop axels,charcoal grey,32 inch rv door with windows,screen door,dead bolt,polystyrene insulated ceiling with wood lining,polystyrene insulated walls,three 15x30 horizontal sliding windows with screens,grab handle for door and an extra roof vent with screen, 30 amp electrical panel with hatch and lifeline. Bill is $6135 at trailershowroom and I sent the quote to the Cargo mate salesman and the International salesman. Should be interesting. Trailershowroom is Continental Cargo, who is a sister company to Cargo Mate. Anybody got any other suggestions? international salesman made big deal over welded hinges being better but think is not issue unless using commercially. Barn doors is our preference,we plan to add a room ac to either a fixed back door or the nose.Somebody had a nice picture of a room ac installed in the nose in their kitchen area but I can't find it . I keep reading posts and forgetting where things are! Love the site!!!!

[starleen2]

Don't know if I'd call it "haggling" unless each company has the same identical trailer - each company has something "different" to offer. Kinda like sending a Ford quote to a Chevy dealer. You may find yourself torn to make a decision, but make sure you get what you want first! If those options are a MUST - then make sure they are there and accounted for because it may be much harder to add after delivery. it may add a few $$ to have the doors added the way you want them but at least YOU aren't out there hacking away to install them. A few $$$ saved haggling while spending Hours out in the shop modifying may not be the best use of time.

[Wolfscout]

Don't settle for what some smooth talking, silver tongued salesperson has to say about what you need or what you're gonna want to use later.

If you're not happy with it you surely won't be later.

[jwhite]

You may want want to order stabilizer jacks, that was something I didn't think about
but my manufacture suggested them and they were only 50.00 and they are well worth haveing.
last weekend I wasn't parked on level ground so I didn't use them and I could really tell I wasn't useing them.
you can see them in this photo

I lower the front and put down the jacks and the raise the front back up until it's solid.

[beccae]

We planned to bring them along.Wasn't sure if they could be folded up out of harms way if we ever got the box too close to the ground,(the drop axel lowers us and we have a steep part to the driveway and I can be a klutz) Thought more about bogie? wheels to avoid this problem.We plan to use this as impaired peoples rv . No blackwater or grey tanks. Still waiting on other quotes.

[jwhite]

Mine fold up and out of the way,well worth 50.00 to spend on the trailer.

[beccae]

One of the vendors matched the other,the only real difference is one says wall insulation with polystyrene,the other with beadboard.Isn't polystyrene a lot better than beadboard?

[smatthew]

Beadboard isn't insulation. In trailers it's usually a 1/8" thick pressed board material.

[beccae]

MY husband says yes,fold down jacks are a good idea.I want to insulate the trailer myself, we are having a heated discussion about what I think is a simple process.By the time we keep adding on features,we will be out of money and the trailer will sit while we build our cash stash back up. The windows and the rv door are structual features I don't want to tackle but the forum pictures make insulating look doable by me. Will someone tell me why they call it a breaker box with lifeline? I assume we are talking about the cord to hook up to outside electricity. Can someone tell me where a picture of a front mounted room ac is? Its either mount in rear door or front nose of trailer. I saw a nice picture of one in someones kitchen area but can't find the picture.I have read so many posts and looked at so many pictures,I am having trouble remembering where things are at.

[pete42]

First please don't let a trailer cause you both this much stress.
second If you and your spouse are capable and willing insulating a trailer can be done
lots of screws and boards to remove but can be done.
third I have seen AC's mounted several ways some in a back wall, some cut through the front
and others like barbs mounted on slides that slides thru a door built into the side of her CT.
Breaker box is a metal box not unlike the one in your house that houses the electrical breaker devices that protects your appliances, stove, furnace, lights ect.
I have never heard the power cord that goes from the breaker box to the campground electrical pedestal called a "lifeline" but it sounds like that is what they are talking about.
Power cords are usually connected to the breaker box one of two ways direct wired or pluged into a receptacle that's wired into the breaker box.
the difference between the two is the direct wired one has to be stowed by pushed it through a covered opening into the CT,
while the removable cord can be unpluged and stowed in any part of the CT like under a bench or in a cabinet.

again don't get stressed over a CT lifes to short as it is

don't worry, be happy

Pete

[pmspirito]

I am generally more interested in what I am getting and in getting what I want then I am with the price. Saving 1-2-3-4 hundred dollars is soon forgotten when you get the trailer home and find out it is not quite what you really wanted.

[beccae]

George was a Long Island NY City bus driver for 10 years before he was a cabinet maker,he gives great stress I worked construction for years before I became a psych nurse(Nurse Ratchett I heard a lot).Two type A personalities who promise never to come to a campout. Trailer showroom is one of the companies that sells 30 amp breaker panel,lifeline and hatch.Saw it at several vendor sites but nowhere else.Must be a trade phrase. We are united in our dislike of the quality of travel trailers. I keep working my way back through pages of conversions.This is such a cool site!

[beccae]

Wow! I printed out the master option list from trailer showroom because it is the most comprehensive guide I have seen to options and they give prices!. 65 pages !!! I believe every rookie should learn the difference between the entry level,mid quality and top of the line. I think I must live in one of the most prolific markets in the country for any type of trailer. I live 15 miles from the Oregon Dunes in Florence.Thousands come with their quads to the area. Then there are those who just come to park their motorhomes next to the ocean.Used cargos do not come on the market here often and they often ask prices higher then if you bought new.Right now,people are not parting with their money in my area.Florence has the highest age in the state-65 years is the average age of the population of the city. I am now going to go back and reread all 14 pages of the cargo conversion forum-I will understand them a little more than last time hopefully.