2015 Escape Lost, 2017 Escape Found

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by ice-breaker

I know that if given an opportunity to buy a 5.0TA shell at a bargain price, I would go for it.

Not me, but if a 21 in that situation came up I'd grab it, gut it, and put in a 19ish interior.

Ron

[Loren & Cathy]

One different thing about gutting and rebuilding a fiberglass trailer is that without the interior components, the shell itself is pretty flimsy. It is the cabinets and inside structure that give the whole trailer its strength. The stripper pole on some models isn't there for looks. I would have to assume there has to be some knowledge exactly where to place all bracing. Loren

[Joe & Cherie]

I actually need a project to get me active again now that I'm on the tail end of my foot surgery recovery. Id love to gut it and redo it! It would be a fun project - salvaging what I can that still is fine and replacing the rest. The issue I would have is after all that work, I still have a trailer with a salvage title, and when it comes time to sell, most wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole!

[Joe & Cherie]

Here is an interesting link with pictures. It shows the water line in one of the pics Looks to have been a foot deep or so on the inside? I'd guess major work is needed.

https://www.salvagereseller.com/vehi...ENWELL-SPRINGS

[Drumstick63]

Hello, my wife and I are the original owner of the 5.0TA. We had moved it and most of our belongings prior to the flood waters arrival on August 13th. Our belongings were in 5 separate locations, 4 that had never had any flood water. Unfortunately, 4 of the 5 locations flooded and our loss was tremendous. Our 5.0TA was located in an elementary school parking lot behind a locked gate where we thought it would be safe as this location had never flooded. Unfortunately, this was a historic flood with crests over 5' higher than the 500 year flood in 1983. Over 90% of the houses and business in our city flooded. There were lives lost and the devastation was hard to imagine. People are still living in tents as I write this. We were stranded from Saturday until Tuesday when we were finally able to take a boat and get to our SUV at our church which miraculously did not flood. We went straight to the school to check on our 5.0TA as we thought we would at least have a place to live. From a distance, you couldn't tell that it had flooded. We were hopeful. Well, it was not to be. We immediately called Reace and he walked us through raising and lower the jacks to empty any remaining water. At that point most systems in the trailer seemed to work.

We contacted National General Insurance to let them know what had happened. We began drying the trailer with a dehumidifier and fans and was able to maintain a humidity level in the 30-something % which is very low for Louisiana. After a few days, we began having a few electrical issues as some of those components got wet. Unfortunately, those problems multiplied as the days passed.

National General Insurance sent a Material Damage Specialist to inspect our 5.0TA. We were confident that the trailer would be OK as it looked fine to our eyes after it was dry. When he called to schedule the appointment and hinted about the possibility of it being totaled, I pretty much argued with him because we knew this wasn't a stick-built trailer.

When the Material Damaged Specialist arrived, it quickly was apparent that he was experienced in assessing damage. He saw stuff we didn't see and we saw it when it was still wet! He could see the water line on the cabinets which we could no longer see. He saw some warping on the cabinet near the door. We had not noticed it. Once he looked under the U-shaped dinette, he could see the water line as we had not cleaned it. He quickly turned and looked at us and said "it's totaled". He wanted to know if we were trying to stay in the trailer and indicated strongly not to because of health issues. He pointed out mold in multiple places that we didn't see and wouldn't have noticed had he not shown us. He said mold that would be behind the cabinets could only be properly removed by taking the trailer back to Escape, having it torn apart, having the mold removed, and having the trailer rebuilt. He said "You don't want this. You bought a new trailer, you didn't buy this". He indicated there would be potential health issues due to mold behind the cabinets as well as other future issues with the trailer that we shouldn't have to deal with. He was really concerned about mold. Really concerned. He indicated that he had been burned one time before with hidden mold in a trailer and associated health issues and didn't want it to happen again. We were disappointed.

The Material Damage Specialist was prophetic. As the days went by before the wrecker came to haul the trailer off, more systems began having problems. In fact, by the time the wrecker arrived, we could no longer get the jacks to work even when plugged in. We are thankful we had National General Insurance and will be using them for our new 2017 5.0TA. We are also thankful for Reace and Tammy as they go above and beyond - something not too common today. It was a simple decision to bypass the immediate need for a place to live with a new non-Escape trailer and wait for a 2017 Escape 5.0TA!

We don't know the legal issues regarding titling the trailer in various states. We certainly hope any potential buyer is informed of the trailer's history so that they can make an informed decision. We are fairly certain that it can be repaired\rebuilt to appear like new. In fact, a 1 hour wash job would have done that! The biggest concern for us would be the potential for hidden mold and other problems down the road.

Mark

[Drumstick63]

The waterline inside was less than the height of an iPhone 5S. To give you an idea, it didn't completely cover the surge protector.

[Joe & Cherie]

Hi Drumstick63. Great information on the trailer. I'm sorry for the loss of the Escape and home and hope everything works itself out for the best for you and your family and town. I'm glad you had great insurance!

I'm going to pass on the trailer, but thank you for posting the information as it will be useful for a buyer.

[Jim Bennett]

Thanks for filling us in on what transpired with your trailer, Mark.

[rbryan4]

Thanks Mark. A great description of the issues that arise from flood damage. Also a lesson to prospective owners - - get a good insurance company. You never know.

[WaltP]

Not sure it appears elsewhere in this thread, but National General is the insurance carrier that Good Sam uses. I'm sure reassured by this report. Chalk one up to Good Sam.

Walt

[Loren & Cathy]

If only all insurance claims could be handled so well. I've got to check that company out. Loren

[gbaglo]

Always be kind to the adjuster.

[Rossue]

They were mentioned and am going to switch from AAA for the trailer. Although Auto Club for all our other needs can't be beat for a lot of reasons- they even say this is very good coverage with guaranteed replacement (they would go off my invoice and shop the used market...good luck with that), plus there is $3K of content insurance. Premium is only $20 higher so going to switch until trailer is five years old then reevaluate.

[War Eagle]

Hey Mark, Do you have a new trailer yet? I hope you are back out on the road and livin' the dream in a new 5.0TA. Dale