First some background: Almost one year ago to the day I bought a brand new KZ Sportsmen 280RLSS travel trailer. MSRP was $23,000+, I paid $17,500 cash so no payments on it. I bought this particular model because of the super slide which gave it a lot of space inside. My SO had muscular dystrophy making walking very difficult and this had enough interior room for his wheelchair. I had a $2000 lift installed at the rear door so he could get in and out himself. Due to the manner the lift was installed it would be very difficult to remove it - large bolts through the side of the camper and a welded support bar going from the bottom of the lift to the frame - so it's a package deal with the TT.

We went to Bonnaroo (the huge music festival here in TN) in it last year, then I pulled it north and spent the summer in it in MN. He unexpectedly died in July. I soon realized I didn't need or want all the room in this trailer, and didn't want the weight and length for towing since it's very close to the limit of my truck. I started looking for something smaller, maybe something I could haul the motorcycle with as well. No floorplans really thrilled me, the toy haulers didn't look like something I wanted to live in full time, and most of the TT's I looked at were either too heavy or really really cheaply built, plus it didn't make much sense to buy a new camper and start tearing it apart right away. I started looking on CL for an older camper that I could gut and redo with the floor plan I really wanted. That's how I came to buy the caboose last fall.

The caboose rebuild however will take a couple years and it's not even started, and I am getting very antsy to go north. I went up to MN for my tax appointment in March, and bought a vintage 14' Shasta thinking that would get me by for a couple years. Title issues have ensued, and with no title I can't get plates so it's static at the farm in MN. So at this point I'm sort of homeless.  lol The Shasta currently has no bathroom, no refrigerator, not sure if the stove works, or the furnace, although the interior lights all work. In a worse case scenario I could sleep in it and work on the rebuild of it at the same time, but that will seriously take away from time that would be better spent on the clean-out of the house and outbuildings on the farm there. (The house there is not liveable)

Today I stopped at the RV place where I bought the KZ and where it's been consigned since last fall when I pulled it back here to TN. They have a KZ classic on the lot, new, 20', UVW is 3163 so well over 2000 pounds less than the Sportsmen.  The layout is such that I would have room for the annual camping trips with my older daughter and her kids, it's large enough that I won't go stir crazy if I get stuck inside for several days in the event of rain, and it's a good size for my younger daughter and I to take some extended road trips. Build quality is so-so, it's a lower end camper never intended for full timing.

I've always known that I'll take a big hit on the Sportsmen if I sell it. The lift is basically a freebie for the new owner. Like I said, I paid 17,500, NADA retail is 18,200, NADA trade-in value is 13,500. The dealer would take it and give me the classic (11,900) plus $1600 cash. I know I could get more money if I sold the Sportsmen myself, IF I can get it sold, but I feel like I'm running out of time. I really need to get to MN and clean out the house and shop so I can get the farm listed for sale. I've toyed with the idea of hauling the Sportsman  north and living it in for the summer again, or trying to sell it outright up there but fear that living in it all summer will bring the value down even more.

So, any thoughts on what my best course of action might be?

If you're interested, here are links to the Sportsman (this years model, mine's a 2012 but almost identical floorplan)

http://kz-rv.com/sportsmen/S280RL.html

and the Classic

http://kz-rv.com/sportsmen-classic/204.html

 
-- Edited by nightsky on Wednesday 12th of June 2013 07:20:25 PM

Edit by moderator: Activated links.  Terry