How to determine if an asking price is fair?

[mured92]

Good evening all!
We are inching closer to setting cash aside and getting serious about monitoring the used Escape adds to buy our first rig. While we have no plans to try and negotiate lower prices just because- we also don’t want to pay waaayyy more the actual value of a rig. The adds I’m reviewing seem to be all over the map- price wise. Any suggestions on how an Escape wannabe can understand the value of the rigs and if an asking price is appropriate? We attend our first rally in May but that may be our first opportunity to see the rigs in person- I’ve reached out to Escape for an ambassador but have not heard back.
Thanks so much!
Melissa and Sean

 

[HABBERDABBER]

It's kind of impossible to offer definitive suggestions, other than knowing the age of the rig, its current, visually inspected condition, its past usage, inquiring to any issues or damage, researching similar models and asking prices, and what modifications or additional equipment were added.
Escape trailers hold their value quite well. Other fiberglass trailers brands do so too.
Escape Facebook, this forum, RV Trader and anywhere else you can see used Escape prices will help. Because of the limited number of ETI trailers made there is not NADA or other used pricing venues to use that I am aware of.
Research, research, and make a spread sheet of sale prices for the models you may be interested in to use as a reference.

 

[Ron in BC]

Research, research, and make a spread sheet of sale prices for the models you may be interested in to use as a reference.

That's all you can do. Sellers motivations vary widely. Some seem to be happy putting on a price that they think is fair and others seem determined to get the factory price back.

Do your homework, figure out what options are required for you but stay flexible. If you do as suggested above you'll be more able to spot a unit that seems like a good deal. Be ready to act once you're confident you've done the basic research.

Ron

 

[Mike G]

A trailer is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. The classifieds archive on this forum is a good resource to see asking prices in the past of trailers that sold (although the negotiated price might have been somewhat lower, it's a good guide). Up until about 2 years ago, the market for used Escapes was pretty hot and folks had to jump fast to be first in line; not much negotiating back then.

 

[Donna D.]

There's so many variables, location, maintenance done, options on the trailer, owner mods (done professionally or pathetically?) year of trailer, etc., etc., etc. Only you can know what something is worth to you to own it. If you're determined to buy used you need to decide how far you're willing to drive to see and buy a trailer while asking yourself when was the last time you saw a trailer (the model of Escape you want) for sale in that driving distance and how long you're willing to wait for another to come up. Good luck!

 

[mured92]

Thanks so much! We will follow the suggestions.

 

[salmo7000]

What you can do is spec out a new one, with the options you think you'll want. See how much that would cost, then when you see an ad for a used Escape, estimate down from there, depending on the year it was built and how use and maintenance are described. One thing to consider is if you're looking for a used Escape that is far from Chilliwack, such as the southeast US or far eastern Canada, is the cost the current owner paid to either drive to get it or have it shipped. If you can find one local to where you live, and that location is far from Chilliwack, you'll save on not having to have it transported or drive to get it.

Often you'll see a late model for sale that the current owner has hardly used and has been stored inside. Those are usually priced close to the cost of a new one. Then you'll find a bunch that were built 5 to 10 years ago and used regularly. On those be sure to ask if the batteries and tires have been replaced, and if they've had problems with the fridge, furnace, thermostat, etc.

At that point you can better assess the asking price and negotiate down if you think it's too high.

But do be aware that any used Escape advertised for a fair price below the price of a comparably equipped new one will go fast, and the prudent buyer should move on it and not expect much room for negotiation.

Best of luck!!!

 

[DT6]

Since Covid, the used prices for Escape and Bigfoot seem to be close to the "new" price at the time of sale. There is some give/take with this, but in general that is what I have observed, and over the very long time period I think this is also true. But there will be short term deviations from this during periods of relative price stability. They definitely do not depreciate like an automobile.

 

[buellfire]

Melissa and Sean,
We also live in the Cincinnati Ohio area, and have owned Three Molded Fiberglass Campers over the last 10 years. Surprisingly there are quite a few Escape in this area, however we sold our Escape 21 in 2022 for a 25RT Bigfoot. When we bought our new 2019 21 the market for used sold quickly and close to the price of new as there was quite a wait for a new ones. Through the Covid era prices on new Escapes have doubled since then, however they are available in stock. Escapes are well built and easy to tow, with minimal care will last for years.

I can guaranty that if the size of an Escape and layout works for you, no matter what you pay you will appreciate the value an Escape or any molded fiberglass rv offers.

 

[Ron in BC]

Of course the worse possible outcome in this process is; you do your homework, go look at one but it's the first one you've looked at and who buys the first one that you look at because you're not sure if it's a good deal or not. Then you look at about 5 more and realize that the first one you looked at was a great deal after all.

Ron

 

[BlueMoose]

Well.... we bought the 1st one we looked at.

We never even saw a 5.0TA (Tandem Axle for those not familiar with what TA is) in person, until we arrived to look at the one we bought.

We had been looking on the forum in the For Sale thread daily, sometime 2x daily, for several months.

I found it frustrating to do Escape searches on the internet. The results would bring back for sale info on Ford Escape or the stick & tin Escape trailer by another manufacturer.

We were originally looking for a 5.0TA that was a pre-covid build but nothing was coming up, so we switched to looking at newer builds.

As someone else already suggested, I too priced out a new unit with options we were looking for, as well as looking at Escape's pre-built models. That help get a sense of the price of the unit.

We were coming from a 2018 SS-550 slide in popup truck camper 9'10" tall when on our truck.

Saw many pics on this forum, watched many YouTube videos and loved the layout! The 5.0TA layout seemed to be like a truck camper on steroids. Best part is the 5.0TA is only 10' tall. That's only 2" taller than our truck camper was when loaded onto our truck.

We asked the seller many, many questions over the phone. Spoke with them for over 1 1/2 hours! We negotiated a price over the phone as well.

Looking at the history of the seller, it had been for sale for many, many months on the forum. They were basically asking for what they paid for it originally and nobody was interested in it at that price. They kept dropping the price.

They did not make any modification.

They also were including a lot of camping gear, sewer hoses w/sloping stand, honey wagon, Weber Q1000 gas grill, water hoses, 2 stacks of the Lego type leveling blocks, anode rods, water filter, small dehumidifier etc. Even a B&W Patriot Sliding 5th wheel hitch. Basically everything they had bought for camping was included in the sale!

They bought it from & picked it up from the factory Sept 2023. Camped their way down the west coast, over to Florida then camped their way back home to Massachusetts. They had never owned a trailer before and had never camped before.

They discovered it wasn't for them and put it up for sale less than 6 mo after they bought it. It had been for sale until we bought it November 2024.

The price we offered, & that they accepted, was what we thought was a fair price based on other 5.0TAs we had seen selling in other areas that were too far away from us.

There were not any 5.0TAs in the mid-west area when we were looking.

We found our 2023 5.0TA on this forum!

We ended up driving to Plymouth, Massachusetts. That was about 910 miles each way. We took a little over a day to drive there in a heavy windy rain storm, staying over night at a hotel in late November 2024.

Driving back, the weather changed for the worse and some roads along our route were closed due to a snow storm in NY.

Took us 3 days to drive back home. That was fine with us, gave us a chance to get familiar with our 5.0TA.

We Crackerdocked all the way back home to MI. That was a lot of fun. We enjoyed that. Never Crackerdocked before. We made it fun on our way home.....our 1st adventure in our 5.0TA driving in snowy weather! It handled beautifully.

The 5.0TA had most of the items we were looking for. The outside color was not our 1st choice (Teal), but now it has grown on us and we like it.

We were also looking for an oak interior, but this had the contemporary interior. That has grown on us as well. It is so light and airy inside, can't even imagine having the darker oak interior now!

It didn't have a U-shaped dinette, so we made our own.

We made a list of our "must haves", a list of "would be nice to have" and a list of "we could add that ourselves".

We are towing with a 2008 Chevy Silverado 2500HD, so one of our "must haves" was a lifted unit. I know that could be added later, but that wasn't something we wanted to mess with.

Love our 5.0TA.

Wishing you grand adventures in finding and picking up your new to you Escape.

 

[mured92]

That- is an amazing story and I hope we are as lucky!

 

[Mike G]

I drove 1,300 miles each way to pick up my pre-loved 19' in March 2023. you might say I actually negotiated the price higher, since I threw in an extra $400 and asked the owner to get new tires installed before I arrived. No regrets.

 

[mured92]

What you can do is spec out a new one, with the options you think you'll want. See how much that would cost, then when you see an ad for a used Escape, estimate down from there, depending on the year it was built and how use and maintenance are described. One thing to consider is if you're looking for a used Escape that is far from Chilliwack, such as the southeast US or far eastern Canada, is the cost the current owner paid to either drive to get it or have it shipped. If you can find one local to where you live, and that location is far from Chilliwack, you'll save on not having to have it transported or drive to get it.

Often you'll see a late model for sale that the current owner has hardly used and has been stored inside. Those are usually priced close to the cost of a new one. Then you'll find a bunch that were built 5 to 10 years ago and used regularly. On those be sure to ask if the batteries and tires have been replaced, and if they've had problems with the fridge, furnace, thermostat, etc.

At that point you can better assess the asking price and negotiate down if you think it's too high.

But do be aware that any used Escape advertised for a fair price below the price of a comparably equipped new one will go fast, and the prudent buyer should move on it and not expect much room for negotiation.

Best of luck!!!

 

[iamunique127]

To add to what everyone else is saying and strictly from my own perspective: trailers often don't seem to get a lot of use. They may see a week or two of camping per year or a modest road trip. Of course, there are the people here on the forum who seem to use their trailers frequently and for long durations and there are a lot of retired ppl who may travel cross-country but I believe they are the exception rather than the rule. Often it seems trailers get used more frequently when they are new and then use can taper off until someone decides they are done with camping. Of course these are generalizations and there are plenty of exceptions but if buying used is a monetary decision I certainly wouldn't shy away from a older trailer that has seen moderate use. In my experience, these trailers hold up very well over time.

For example, I think our 5.0TA would be a good value if we asked almost as much as we paid for it in 2015, which is about half of what a new one costs now. It is 11 years old this year and when you walk in it still looks like it did the day we picked it up from the factory. I would consider it has had moderate use. We have done maybe 3 or 4 relatively long road trips (6,000-12,000 km each), we have camped in it 2-4 weeks most years but over 3 years of Covid we did not, we haven't done any casually-visible mods, it is covered when not in use and we've kept up with waxing and maintenance.

To be fair, there are a couple bargaining points someone may use while negotiating on our trailer:
- 3-way absorption fridge rather than 12V condenser type. (The newer 12V fridges are very popular and there are good arguments for them. We are more than happy with our 3-way fridge and replaced it last year with a new and better one. The cost of a bit of propane over the years is no comparison to the cost of upgrading to lithium and all it requires.)
-two 6V golf cart batteries rather than lithium. (The 6V batteries more than supply all our needs and are easy to maintain. Top up the water twice a year and they are trouble and maintenance free. There is not a lot of draw on them with an absorption fridge. Basically the system works well together.)
-Dometic air conditioner. (Fortunately we are in Canada and the A/C only sees occasional use because it sounds like a jet engine when it is on. But it does cool the trailer well and usually only needs to be on for a while.)
Personally, if saving money is important, I would consider and older trailer if all systems were shown to be functioning, it has been maintained and you can be satisfied with the older tech as mentioned here. It certainly meets all our needs and those of many other owners of older trailers.

I also wouldn't mind a trailer that is more or less in stock condition. Mods can be really nicely done but many can be quite personal. Buy a lightly used stock trailer and you have a blank slate for implementing ideas you see on the forum, or not.

 

[mured92]

That’s such great feedback and we did as suggested by another helpful member and built out new models to get a baseline price point. We also followed advice and started spreadsheets to track sales histories on the forum against make/model/year. Long story short- we’re looking for a used 5.0 or 21C- or if we can’t find either- a new 21C. I’ve contacted escape again to get connected with an ambassador- fingers crossed we’ll be able to see rigs before the May rally in Indiana. Now we’re onto reading everything we can get our hands on about RV power, tanks, conditioned air and appliances. Thanks again- everyone has been so kind!

 

[HABBERDABBER]

You're doing everything the right way. Research, research, as I admonished earlier.
I happened to acquire my used E19 near Cincinnati. I agree with iamunique127's above advice, across the board. Extensive use does require a different set-up and equipment. Used is the way to go if money is an issue. Everything on my 10 year old rig works, just like new.
Good luck and bon voyage,

 

[Jim & Debbie]

Melissa & Sean,
Having been through this research phase ourselves, I hope I can provide some helpful perspective. First, I agree with all the advice above.

Here is our experience and some takeaways that I have after using our trailer for the past year:

I had been following the forum for years and thinking about buying a trailer for when I retire and we are able to start traveling. I was constantly impressed by how much forum members seem to ENJOY their rigs and how helpful they are with all sorts of questions. Being in Virginia, there wasn't nearly the supply of used Escapes as out West. We were initially looking for an E19, E21C, or E21NE that we could tow with our Suburban. Debbie thought we should get a queen bed so either 19 or 21NE, but I wasn't convinced that the crawl over bed would be the best. Just after Thanksgiving 2024, we saw a 2009 Escape 5.0 Single Axle advertised only about 1.5 hours from our house. We didn’t have a truck to tow it, but we figured it would at least be worth going to see inside, since we had never been in an Escape. As we started looking at the layout, we thought this model was EXACTLY what we were looking for:

- a north/south queen bed
- a four person dinette that could sleep two kids or grandkids that we plan to take along as often as we can
- enough head room that I wasn't hitting my head (I'm 6'1")
- standard kitchen/bath amenities

Once we stepped inside, we were sold. We could hardly believe they fit all of this in a < 20' trailer with a dry weight of 2640 lbs! Sure the trailer had a few cosmetic issues from being well used for 15 years. But it felt SOLID and WELL BUILT. I could now understand how people talk about Escapes being an heirloom to pass down to future generations. The sweet couple we bought it from graciously agreed to tow it to our house since we did not have a truck yet, as the original owners had done for them.

We thoroughly enjoyed camping in our Escape throughout 2025, with the longest trip being 8 nights. We both commented that we had no idea how much we would love that camper.


My takeaways/lessons learned:

1. I’m sold on Escape’s build quality. This trailer is now almost 17 years old and it still feels solid and well built. There are the cosmetic issues that come with use, but they don’t detract from the usability of the trailer. We camped in low 30s weather last fall and the trailer was perfectly comfy with just a ceramic block heater. Knowing that the shell is robust makes it easy to justify repairing/replacing appliances or performing upgrades to the trailer. I am currently thinking about adding solar and upgrading the electrical system, but the dual 6V batteries work just fine so I am having a hard time convincing myself to ditch them. I am intrigued with the idea of boondocking, but I’m not sure my wife will be as interested as I am. We’ll see.

2. I saw you were looking for a 5.0 or 21C. We are both huge fans of the 5.0 livability and would encourage you to check one out before you decide. As I mentioned, the 5.0 wasn’t even on our radar because we didn’t have a truck. But for us, it was definitely worth buying a truck to tow it with. It tows LIKE A DREAM, is easy to hitch/unhitch without any need for chains or sway bars, and is so efficient to travel with that it makes us want to GO. The 5.0TA is bigger than our Single Axle (I think about 2’ longer, 8” wider, 1000 lbs heavier), but from all I’ve read, the towing experience is similar.

3. Regarding a “fair” price — this is highly subjective, and may not be the most significant in the grand scheme of things. I see you were pricing out new rigs as a baseline for the simplest option to obtain your Escape. If you can afford it and would like to start using it when it is available from the factory, that is a great option. You can get exactly what you want when you want it. On the other hand, if you can find a trailer in good condition with the features you want within a reasonable driving distance, it would be worth a few thousand dollars above “fair price” to me to be able to get what I wanted without having to drive to Chiliwack, BC. I do think older models are worth considering. If you can upgrade or pay someone to upgrade the trailer to your preferences, you can create just what you want. As you look through current listings and archives of sold trailers, you will get an idea of the general value of a certain model/condition/options.

4. This forum is filled with smart, helpful folks to answer all sorts of questions you might have.

Best wishes in your search. Hopefully our paths will cross out on the road.

Take care,
Jim & Debbie

 

[Jean-ESC]

I was delighted with both my used Escapes - 2009 13' and 2011 17'. When I sold each one, I tried to find what the final price was not the asking price, so I could determine how much to ask.
Each time, it was critical to get photos (the 17' sellers even had a video showing all their upgrades, even bamboo counters); but, truly what tipped the scales was getting a sense of the seller, allowing a certain amount of trust.

 

[BlueMoose]

@mured92
Melissa and Sean, check out Jim's spreadsheet. I remember running across this when we were looking.

I used his spreadsheet as a guide to make my own when we were looking for our 5.0TA.

I know you said you started a spreadsheet too. Thought you might get additional ideas from Jim's for your spreadsheet.

can I offer some work I did on pricing older trailers...

Hey Escapers! I just posted a listing for an older 17 ft, and before I did that, I used some of my work experience to see if I could estimate a price for the unit. I looked over a number of listings and recorded the asking price and age and the options that the units had. I ended up creating...

www.escapeforum.org