Thank you to all who replied, I really appreciate the feedback. I have been on eBay for exactly 20 years today (weird) and I have a basic understanding of the perils associated with eBay motors. I try to keep my mouth shut but my self-control failed. The fraud in this case was so...bad...that I could not help myself from commenting.
I hope that you do not mind if I address several comments:
If it was a flood vehicle and went through the insurance company then it should have a salvage flood title. I wonder how they get around that?
Every state has slightly different rules concerning title branding, especially trailers. A flood damaged travel trailer may not carry a title brand at all. Certain states, Kansas, for example (the state the seller lives in), do not even issue prior-salvage or rebuilt titles for trailers. An unscrupulous dealer can purchase a unit from Copart, Insurance Auto Auctions (IAAI), or Total Resource Auctions (TRA), re-title the unit, and receive a “clean,” unbranded title back from the Kansas DOR. This generally cannot be done with a motor vehicle (depends on state, looking at you, Kentucky). Title washing was getting so bad in Colorado that they changed the law about a year ago. I think Colorado is using a “total loss” brand now but I haven't bought in Colorado in a couple years.
OP may mean that the seller is explaining away the salvage title as being a recovered theft. What's the differance in value between a clean 10 year old trailer and flooded one that I assume was cleaned up? Can't be too much if they did a good job.
Yes, the seller is explaining away the salvage title as being a recovered theft. Personally, I love theft recoveries. Most of the time there isn't a lot wrong with a recovered travel trailer. Might have to replace a couple things (stereo, microwave) and the entry door frame may have minor damage (the entry doors on travel trailers are surprisingly difficult to pry open) but 9 times out of 10 a thief will pop the emergency escape hatch/window and climb in. Easy fix. The worst part of repairing/restoring/rebuilding a theft recovery is cleaning up the fingerprint dust, which is much more difficult than it sounds.
The difference in value between a clean 10 year old trailer and a flooded one that was cleaned up, is roughly 70-80% unless you lie about the damage. If you lie about the damage then the value is just NADA low or average retail. The value of a travel trailer that has been swimming usually lies in it's parts. Air conditioners (roughly $600 USD wholesale) are rarely affected by flood. Dual-mode refrigerators ($1400+ USD) have no moving parts and can be restored.
A few years ago, my friend bought a flood car from Copart....turns out, it wasn't really flooded- it had been an insurance job. The former owner- a cop- was in an area where there had been some flooding, but his car wasn't in the water....so he just made it look that way. Threw some mud on the carpet, and disconnected some wiring harnesses in discreet places so that it would look like the electrics were fried. My friend cleaned the car and reconnected the harnesses, and VOILA! He had a nice car that he got really cheap- but that car will forever carry a "flood" brand.
Coukld be same deal with this trailer.
Respectfully, it is not the same with this trailer. I know that this unit was flooded. Travel trailers are, and I know this is over used, houses on wheels, aluminum-sided travel trailers especially. Aluminum-sided trailers are stick-framed and fiberglass insulated. The deck (floor) is typically oriented strand board (OSB) as is the roof decking. There are exceptions; Jayco uses plywood in some of their models. The cabinet framing and interior trim is medium density fiberboard (MDF) covered by a wood grained decal. The interior wall panels are a thin laminated wooden panel (4mm plywood) with a vinyl covering. All of these things react badly to water. They “blow up.” The cabinet framing and interior trim expand and shred the wood grain decal (attached photo from a recent rebuild to illustrate). The cabinet doors, if they happen to be solid oak, ash, or maple rather than MDF, split and mildew. The wall panels develop waves. When OSB gets soaked it loses its structural integrity and gets soft. Mold and mildew abound. The fiberglass insulation in the walls and floor holds water like a sponge. When it eventually dries out (takes months) the material settles to the bottom of the wall cavity and compresses. The 1.5” wall “studs” are in constant contact with this moisture. The lower couple feet of the wall structure and the the floor plate rots. The vinyl floor covering traps water beneath and you get black mold.
I apologize for being long-winded but there is a huge difference between a flooded travel trailer and a flooded motor vehicle. A flood damaged travel trailer is essentially the same as a flood damaged house. Misrepresenting a flood damaged unit as a theft recovery just hit me wrong. At this point the auction is over and it is a done deal. I know that there is nothing that can be done to save people from themselves but I felt I had to ask the question.
By the way, the photo I attached is of the MDF face frame from an upper cabinet. A squirt gun left in the cabinet after a camping trip essentially destroyed the cabinet. Imagine what a couple feet of water in the coach would do.
