WARNING: This is an incredibly long post, the size of a book chapter. It’s a slice of our relatively challenging lifestyle; the part where we hunted for a different camper for months and pretty much every lead failed. Only proceed if you are curious about how our current, time-consuming and not-so-straightforward camper purchase occurred.
In a previous blog, I mentioned that Mark and I bought a Cirrus 820 truck camper in Vermont last summer (2021) and that this was not our top choice. When in Baja California, Mexico, a month before we sold our Sprinter Westfalia campervan Zesty, we decided to switch gears – from a van to a truck camper – and created a list of our top brands. The number one was a Northstar Arrow U. The Cirrus was our second choice.
We had seen neither in person. On our long drive to check out the Cirrus 820, we stopped at a dealership in New Hampshire to peek into an Arrow U, which was not for sale. After this quick encounter, we were even more convinced about our preference. We liked the layout, bigger tanks, and affordability of a used one.
Then, we visited the Cirrus 820 with a private party in Vermont and – for reasons mentioned in my previous post – we decided to go ahead with that purchase. We called the camper Temp, because we would keep looking for a used Northstar Arrow U. After finally finding a heavy-duty pickup truck (in Rhode Island) and retrieving the Cirrus, we equipped both for full-time living and traveling. In mid-September 2021, we – once again – left New England for our migration west, and south, to the Baja peninsula.
Inflation hit, fuel became much more expensive, our living costs rose, and we found ourselves postponing our winter trip to Mexico with six weeks, to make extra money in Arizona. You can read about that fiasco here.
Settled at Leaf Verde RV Park, Buckeye (Phoenix area), in December 2021, we were still on the lookout for a Northstar Arrow U, which we felt would be the perfect camper to take to South America. But the prices of that model – and others – had gone up so much that older years were selling for more money than what we paid for our 2017 Cirrus 820 in the summer. This would defeat the purpose of changing over! We realized then and there that going for a much older – and therefore cheaper – camper offered more advantages.
Mark did a random search on Craigslist for truck campers, when he noticed a Lance 830, without a pop-out tent in the back. Its side entry stood out. We researched this model, which was made for five years, from 2008 until 2012. Some models came with a fold-out tent in the rear. Mark contacted the owner, who was asking $18K for this unit. High, because of the inflated “Covid prices.” The camper was sold already, within a week of posting. We had seen it too late and didn’t know enough about this model yet.
Strangely, another Lance 830 came on the market within days and it was located in Phoenix, 20 minutes down the road. This one had a hole in the side and delamination at the front. Not good. The unit was listed at $7,000. “Who would buy something in this bad of shape?” we wondered. We contacted the owner to have a look at his 830, just to get an idea of its layout and if this model would work for us. He replied the unit was sold; he hadn’t taken the listing down.
We left the US in the middle of January 2022 and spent 3.5 months in Baja, Mexico, keeping a loose eye on ads for certain truck camper models whenever we had reliable internet.
When camped in Cabo Pulmo, Mark noticed a parked Lance nearby, which had a side entrance. He took the binoculars out and deducted this was a Lance 830. We immediately walked over, but the owner wasn’t home. The next morning, we had an early start lined up to go on a day hike with our friends, Duwan and Greg. I hoped the owner was awake by eight, as he might be gone when we returned from our hike.
I noticed movement inside and knocked on the door. We were greeted by Monte, a friendly, welcoming man from Oregon. He invited us in for a look. We debated as we didn’t want to inconvenience him. He insisted, so we had a quick tour of his Lance 830. From then on, we were convinced this was our future camper. But, where and – more importantly – when would we find one?
Every time we managed to get online in Baja, Mark went through a detailed search of about an hour. He diligently checked all the sources he could think of to locate our new camper nationwide (Facebook Marketplace , Craigslist, RV Trader, forums, …) and, as time progressed, went through the motions at least twice a day.
For shits and giggles, one day, he checked on the Northstar Arrow U as well and to his surprise, someone posted one in mint condition for only $5,000. Too good to be true! For that price, we were still interested in our previous favorite! But, because the posting was already 24 hours old when he saw it, the deal had long been snatched up. From then on, Mark only focused on the Lance 830.
After a couple of quiet months during the rest of winter and us rarely being online, the search started in earnest, in March. We posted wanted ads all over Facebook and Craigslist. Someone left a comment on one of those, telling me he’d seen a Lance 830 for sale on a street in Reno, Nevada. He had one himself and was curious about the one he spotted, reporting it was in great condition. The asking price was $14K and it came with fold-down tent, which is a spare bedroom that pops out the back if desired. It’s the model we preferred.
This could be our camper! But the guy said he hadn’t seen it parked anymore and had lost the phone number of the owner. He would keep an eye on it and we kept our fingers crossed. We focused our search in Reno for the following two weeks. I pushed a bit, letting the guy know we were very serious about this prospect and offered him a finder’s fee. A few days later, he let us know that he managed to contact the owner and this particular unit had been sold. Oh well. At least we knew.
Also in March, Mark found a Lance 830 for sale in Virginia and we contacted the owner. During a video tour, he noticed delamination in the back wall. That’s a big no no when it comes to campers – and boats – as it means water leaked in between the outside fiberglass wall and the frame. Any wooden panels could be rotten, which can cause structural damage. This was a deal breaker for us.
The owner told us a dealer had offered him over $15K for his camper. At that price, we would never buy one with such a defect, so Mark told him to rush to that dealer and grab his money. Once the insanely inflated market changes and the supply becomes higher than the demand, nobody with a right mind would buy a camper with delamination.
Early April, we vowed to be online every day and planned around this priority. The idea was to remain in Mexico until we had our next camper lined up. Because where in the US would we go after crossing the border? We’d sworn not to drive back to Massachusetts for the summer this year.
That’s when Mark saw the next Lance 830 come on, in Montana. The listing had been live on Craigslist for only twenty hours. Maybe we had a chance? Mark immediately called the phone number and we asked the owner questions, which were happily answered. We set up a video tour the following day, Sunday.
Lance 830 for sale in Montana – we didn’t even have a chance to do the video call
That Sunday, we waited around all morning and early afternoon, without a sign from the owner. We gave him a call, sent a text, messaged him on Facebook. Nothing. Mid-afternoon, Mark checked the listing again and it said “pending.”This camper had been sold within a day and a half. We learned later that a prospective buyer had shown up at the guy’s door and bought the camper. We couldn’t compete with situations like these, being far away and without constant internet. We were bummed for days and almost gave up. Maybe we should keep the Cirrus 820 after all?
The main reason we wanted to swap campers was that a Cirrus is very fancy, modern, and pricey. If we could buy an older, cheaper unit, we wouldn’t mind beating it up on the bad roads (like we worried about in Baja), we could sell our camper with a profit, because we bought it at a good price, and we would have a decent chunk of cash to improve the Lance we would buy and extra spending money for our trip.
Yes, we could have kept the Cirrus, but we needed to invest an extra $5K in any camper we owned, the one we had or the Lance, as we wanted to add solar panels and a water tank and swap bigger items like the toilet and the fridge.
Then, the craziest thing happened mid-April. Someone left a comment to my post about us looking for a Lance 830, saying “Have you seen this?” plus a link to Facebook Marketplace. The reason Mark hadn’t come across this particular Lance 830 listing was because no model number had been mentioned in the ad!
My heart started beating faster and I immediately contacted the owner, in Washington, who sent me her phone number. I ushered Mark out of the shower – we had no time to loose – and within minutes, we called and got hold of the owner. We were visiting friends at their condo in Loreto at the time and they held their breath too. If this camper were to work out, they knew we might visit them in Boise, Idaho, and get some of the work done at their place.
We asked our list of questions and soon disappointment set in as we discovered this particular camper had a lot of issues. Serious issues like delamination, holes in the roof, scuffed up furniture, … After the woman talked to us and she realized the poor state of her unit, she dropped the asking price from $15K to $9K. Still, this was too much work and too much of a risk, so we passed.
Lance 830 for sale in Vancouver, WA – it had a lot of structural damage
Three days later, another Lance 830 popped up. For this renovated unit, the owners were asking $26K!! They had made a lot of improvements and the interior and exterior looked immaculate, but nobody gets the money back they invest in refurbishing their camper. The asking price for this one was way too high. It didn’t have the tent in the back, no solar panels, and the bathroom sink had been removed. We didn’t even pursue it.
That same evening, a message popped up on Facebook: “Hi Liesbet, I have one! It’s a 2008 Lance 830 with the pop-out tent in the back and a side door. I’m in Kelowna, BC.” Wow! I immediately showed Mark the message. Canada? We hadn’t looked there yet… And, Kelowna wasn’t too far across the border from Washington. We had friends in Idaho and Oregon where we might be able to make the transition and do the work… Was this the one?
Again, we immediately took action, asked for the woman’s phone number, had her sent some photos, and set up a phone call the next morning. The big positive about this one? She hadn’t listed it anywhere, so we had first dibs and didn’t need to be in a rush.
The phone call went well and turned into a video tour of her camper. There were issues, but none too grand. We’d have to add those fixes to our moderate list of general projects. We communicated throughout the afternoon with more questions and photo requests. Everything panned out, although we expected more unpredicted issues, as this person wasn’t greatly familiar with her camper.
Lance 830 in Kelowna, BC, Canada
I wrote a kind message with an offer, but didn’t send it yet. I’d do that in the evening, after we let everything stew for a bit. Within minutes of composing this message and having Mark review it, he exclaimed “There’s another one!” What?
Now that his notifications had been set up properly, Craigslist had sent him the ad for the newest Lance 830 for sale. This one was a 2010 model as opposed to the 2008 we had called about earlier and seemed in better condition. But the asking price was more than we wanted to spend. Should we pursue it? Why not? Within ten minutes of seeing the ad, Mark called the owner, left a voice mail, sent a text, and posted a message on Facebook. We were serious.
About an hour later, we talked to the owners of this 2010 Lance 830 with a tent in Missouri and got a good vibe. They had done their research as well and knew we were looking for this model and had traveled a lot. They were excited and helpful and friendly. Their unit also had a few issues – eight extra screws in the roof, slight delamination at the back, and a yellowed shower pan. We told them we’d get back either way, the same evening.
What followed was a two-hour discussion between Mark and me about the pros and cons of both units, their location (British Columbia and Missouri), the amount of money we’d have to invest in them, and our gut feeling.
How was this possible? We didn’t find any for the longest time and now we had a choice of two! We believed the Missouri couple would honor the fact that we were the first to contact them… They were located next to Springfield, Missouri, where we also have friends to stop over.
Eventually, we messaged the offer ($12K) for the one in Canada and it was accepted. We wrote the Missouri folks a nice note as well. They would sell theirs for close to asking price, based on all our research and experiences.
It was still the middle of April and we had a plan. Wash and spruce up Temp in Southern California, drop him off in Idaho, take the truck to Kelowna, pick up our Lance, return to Idaho to empty, clean, and sell the Cirrus, and make the Lance livable while staying two weeks in the house of our friends who weren’t there. Perfect!
We began our return to the US, heading north from Loreto, and looked forward to swapping campers and preparing for our journey to South America. For once, timing, logistics, and price were on our side.
About ten days later, after we crossed the border back into the States and settled on a friend’s property in Julian, CA, for a couple of days to clean the Baja dust off the Cirrus and fix a couple of issues, we received a message from Canada. The owner of our future Lance was backing out of the deal we made and wasn’t able to sell her camper anymore. What???
Canada deal falling through
We wrote and called, but it was radio silence for another 24 hours, before she kind of explained what happened. Apparently, she all of a sudden needed the Lance herself, to live in with her two dogs.
Deep inside, I wasn’t surprised about this change of events. Why? Because everything was working out too well. We had it all planned and figured out. This never happens with us. When we are thrilled and excited about anything impactful like this, we can be sure something will go wrong and whatever we have anticipated or set in motion won’t happen. That’s life!
Once it became evident that we could not recover that camper, we contacted the couple in Missouri again to inquire if they sold their Lance 830 with tent yet… Not quite, but they had a prospective buyer from Nebraska who would pick it up on May 9th for asking price ($16,500). They would go that route if nobody else bought it by May 5th.
So, despite initially considering to offer them $14K for this camper ten days prior, we offered them $15K and promised to pick it up by May 5th. They accepted it, required a $200 non-refundable deposit on PayPal and the balance when we arrived. It all sounded fair. We asked how they wanted to get paid the $14,800 and they said “cash,” as in dollar bills of 50 and 100. Weird. We didn’t think anyone could walk into a bank and request that much money in cash.
We wanted to chat about the final payment and should have called. But we didn’t and tried to resolve all this over Messenger. It got complicated. They didn’t want a wire transfer or cashier’s check, so we brainstormed other options, like PayPal. The back and forth drove all of us crazy, I’m sure. But we thought we could solve this.
In the meantime, we made arrangements for this plan to work out logistically, because all we needed to figure out still with the couple was how to pay the balance. A solution had to be found that same day, though, as we would leave Julian the following day to drive for two days to Durango, CO, where we would drop the Cirrus 830 off at the property of friends. We’d spend one night there and just drive the truck over two days to Missouri, where we would spend a night with different friends, inspect the Lance and buy it on May 5th, and bring it back to Colorado. We would stay there until the Cirrus sold.
The couple suggested having us wire the money to an empty checking account of which they were okay giving us the wiring information. But that wouldn’t be instantaneously as well – even though it would work for us – so we tried to come up with better solutions for them. Apparently, they needed access to the money from the moment we showed up.
This went on for hours! Then, radio silence after we mentioned that PayPal might be the best way, since the money would immediately show up in her PayPal account (not in her bank account yet). Wouldn’t that be proof enough?
Well, we pissed them off with that statement and they wrote they would sell it to the other person. Then, she blocked us from all communication with her. Crazy! And still no camper.
Another deal that fell through
So, on April 30th, on our St. Martin wedding anniversary, we were back to square zero. It usually takes about 24 hours of feeling miserable, bummed, stressed, and sick to my stomach in situations like these. There have been too many of them this year; I hate the feeling.
There was one more Lance 830 for sale that we knew of, located in Auburn, California, but without a tent… The 2008 model without a tent was parked at a dealership. Would we have to pay sales tax as well? We called and did a quick video tour. What we saw of the camper looked in rough shape and we didn’t get detailed information.
We learned no sales tax was due and made an offer that was much lower than the $13.5K asking price, but we felt it wasn’t worth more. The dealer left us hanging for a couple of days. Was it sold already, too? I called back after the weekend.
Dealer Glen at RV Connection told us he couldn’t accept our offer. It was too low for him to make money. Then, because he wanted this particular unit off his lot (it was old and less than pristine), he suggested talking to its owner and if that man agreed to our price, Glen would back out and let both parties figure it out.
Soon enough, he returned the call and let me know the owner, Claude, didn’t accept our $10K offer. But, as Glen shared this news and the fact that our offer was more than fair for the shape the camper was in, someone called him on the other line. “Wait,” he said, “Claude is on the other line. Maybe he changed his mind?” I hung up and waited in anticipation.
Minutes later, he rang us again, saying Claude’s wife, Connie, had called back to accept the offer. We had a deal! Glen would put us in touch with the owners. He gave us Claude’s phone number and we had a quick chat with him, figuring out some details of the transaction. A cashier’s check would do.
Mark, Maya, and I had a new plan! We left Julian the next day, heading north, and drove through California to Auburn in two days. The one state we didn’t want to buy fuel in… We stopped for one night along a street in Lodi with a lot of truckers. It was loud, with passing semis all night long. But we could walk Maya in the neighborhood.
We arrived at the RV Connection dealership around 10am and stayed the entire day! For a full six hours, we inspected this 2008 Lance 830 inside and out. Immediately, we noticed issues.
The owner had backed into his rig creating damage in two corners, some paneling and seams needed fixing. The ladder and jacks were rusty. There were no pins to store the ladder in the “close” position. One crossbar of the roof rack was gone, everything needed recaulking, and the outdoor shower had to be replaced.
Inside, the fuse panel cover and a cabinet push knob were missing, the table top had a crack, the screen door didn’t fit right, … We thought we could fix all of this ourselves. Or, we told ourselves, cosmetic imperfections didn’t matter.
The interior of the camper was well-lived in and not taken care off. Mirrors and hooks were screwed in and glued on everywhere. The paneling was scuffed up. We saw a gap between the bathroom pan and floor and behind the kitchen counter. We thought we’d only have to recaulk this as well, but were worried… Red flags!
“I don’t know about this, sweetie,” Mark kept saying. This wasn’t a good scene. Yet, I thought we could handle it and kept focusing on the price. We had been willing to pay $15K for another one of these, recently. That was 50% more! Five thousand dollars buys a lot. And none of the issues seemed expensive, just time intensive. Wishful thinking?
But the systems worked and the lights as well. None of them were LED, though. We’d need to make a lot of changes and improvements on top of fixing these issues and doing the major renovations, enhancements, and conversions we already planned for our trip to South America. If only the Canadian camper had worked out…
And then, we tried the blinds! Two closed poorly and two were ripped. One was totally destroyed. How could Glen or his daughter, Brandy, not have noticed or told us this? The dealership was staying out of it. They only put some plastic over the carpet underneath the bed and did a quick wipe.
When we noticed the damaged blinds, Mark wanted to back out of this deal. My stomach turned. This was, indeed, a big – and expensive – problem and a major pain. Important, too!
We discussed all the issues. What to do? We asked Glen about the shower pan gap. He asked, “Is the floor soft?” When the answer was “No,” he figured recaulking the gap would do the trick. Would it?
This was a very difficult decision. We were so ready for a new camper and everything else had fallen through. I was getting desperate. We had no other camper options anymore and therefore no direction – literally or figuratively. Mark was weary and leaning towards backing out, but I convinced him we could take care of every problem, if we had time and a good location to do so.
RV Connection dealership
Around 4pm, we went over to Glen and Brandy, and told them we’d continue with the purchase. We discussed details and gave them a tour of “Temp.” Unlike on the phone earlier, Glen was interested in selling it on consignment. It was a fancy camper. But we figured we could make more money off it privately.
We had a much later departure than expected and were drained, mentally and physically. We soon stopped in Tahoe National Forest, still on California, for the night, took Maya for a walk, and slept in peace. Then, we drove most of the day – through Nevada and Oregon – to spend another night at a reservoir, before arriving in Boise, Idaho, the following morning. There, we moved into our friends Katherine and Brandon’s house for two weeks, as planned at the very beginning, when still in Baja.
Leaving Temp on a snowy day the end of May, to pick up the other camper in California
We dropped Temp off and turned around with the truck to reverse our long drive to Auburn to pick up the Lance 830 truck camper. We picked the worst weather in ages: snow storms the end of May!
And the rest has partly been mentioned in previous blogs, here and here. We worked hard on this camper for two full weeks and discovered more issues – structural ones – when we drove the set-up to Portland, Oregon.
There, we found and fixed more problems and worked on projects we already anticipated. Each time we made progress, we discovered something else that caused troubles. It was a frustrating time.
Our “poor” decision kept haunting us and we regretted buying this camper. We even drove to Tacoma, WA, to check out one more Lance 830, despite all the effort this one had caused us.
Then, we took our new camper for a serous five-day test drive in the woods and decided to keep it. A bunch of work, focus, time, second opinions, try-outs, trials, tribulations, and eventually trust are backing up our decision. The future will tell if this is the right camper for South America…
August 30, 2022 at 20:49
Sound like you had a very frustrating process. I’m sure this camper will end up surviving your needs.even if it’s in need of attention. We’ve been shocked by the prices on units that are clearly damaged and certainly not worth the money to us. Our camper search is on hold for the time being.
August 31, 2022 at 16:34
Hi Ingrid,
Sometimes it’s so hard to make the right decision, specially since we don’t have the time or the place to let everything sink in, change gears all together, or move on. I totally understand why your truck camper search is on hold. We found one for a good price, but time will tell if it was worth it!!
It took us a while to eventually go for it all the way by adding pricey items to it, like solar panels, a composting toilet, and – hopefully soon – a compressor fridge that is back ordered. Flipping back and forth without a backup plan as no fun.
August 30, 2022 at 22:33
Liesbet, I’m just re-writing my story of 18-months living in a travel trailer with two babies. To re-write is also to re-live it, as you know. So, your continuing saga is a big re-visit of my mini-experience. If your husband can still call you “Sweetie” after all the hassles, your relationship is on solid ground even if the decision about the new camper is wavering, at least a little. You know I wish you, Mark, and Maya. . . all the best! 😀
August 31, 2022 at 16:37
Haha, Marian. You always pick up on the subtle things in my posts. Mark sometimes calls me “sweetie’ in exasperation. 🙂 But, you are right, we made it through a rough patch again. This time – we must be maturing – we could see that our health, relationship, and family are what matters most and if we needed to throw all our plans out the window because of a stupid camper, it wouldn’t be the end of the world… (We did go through another scary period when Mark needed to get a biopsy done in MA, but all is good now!)
August 30, 2022 at 23:15
That whole deal in Missouri was super shady to begin with. Why on earth would they need all cash? That doesn’t make any sense. Plus, it sorda sounded like someone else was going to buy it but they were going to let you come in and grab it. They don’t sound like very honest people. It’s probably best you didn’t end up going forward on it. Just my read of the situation.
I hope this other one works out for you guys, It’s certainly been a long road to get there for you, but hopefully this rig will help you claim the prize of an amazing trip to South America.
August 31, 2022 at 16:47
Hi Laura,
We thought exactly the same regarding the Missouri deal. Who pays for these expensive purchases in cash? And, you are right. They (she especially) were kind of weird about certain things. We’d just gotten a good vibe from them on the video tour earlier on, so thought the transaction would be a breeze. It’s best that this one didn’t work out, for sure, but at the time, we desperately wanted it to work out.
Ironically, when someone bought our Cirrus camper, they paid a bunch of it in cash (and tried to short change us!), despite saying they’d pay with a cashier’s check for the full amount. And, when we attempted the last Lance 830 of the bunch in Washington, the owner also requested cash, which we picked up at a bank (in case we’d go ahead with the purchase) and returned to an ATM the same day. Ridiculous!
I love how you call our potential prize for this fiasco an amazing trip to South America. Yes! That’s the goal. It’s been a while since we had to plan and prep so far ahead of time for a destination! But as you two know so well, any major transition can’t happen without the necessary stress, frustration, chaos, disasters, and disappointments…
Happy travels to you three as well!!
August 31, 2022 at 00:32
Hi Liesbet! Man, you and Mark have been through the wringer with your camper search. Not quite the adventure you would have chosen for sure. I sure hope that things turn around and that things only gets better from here on out. ~Kathy
August 31, 2022 at 16:48
Thanks for the wishes, Kathy. It’s been quite the year. But, we keep focusing on our good health and general happiness. And, one day – hopefully soon – we will make it to another continent again. 🙂
August 31, 2022 at 00:38
Liesbet, onwards and upwards, it can only get better from now on. Especially, with more road adventures for you three. Looking forward to reading all about the South American trip. We were supposed to visit Argentina on our return to Europe in 2018, that never eventuated though luckily I enjoy reading travel stories from other bloggers.
August 31, 2022 at 16:52
Hi Suzanne,
Thank you for reading and for the encouragement. I wanted to be sure we’d keep the camper (or found a different one), before writing and posting this saga, so it has been brewing for a bit. I do hope to keep going onward and upward (or downward towards South America). 🙂
And, I wish for you and the Squire to be able to make it to Argentina one day. And/or back to Europe. Xxx
August 31, 2022 at 01:19
Hi, Liesbet – I join other readers who believe it will get better from here for you. Much better! You and Mark definitely were put through the wringer with this search. Wishing you smooth driving ahead!
August 31, 2022 at 16:53
Thank you, Donna. We all know by now that life can’t be too easy and that challenges make us wiser and make the reward taste sweeter. 🙂
August 31, 2022 at 07:24
I remember your adventures finding the right camper. Hope this is a keeper.
August 31, 2022 at 16:55
Thanks, Alex. The goal is to keep this one for at least three years – or however long we find ourselves in South America. That’s why it seems worth all the work, effort, research, improvements, investments, and patience. 🙂
August 31, 2022 at 08:52
Liesbet, what a saga this has been. Most people would have caved, but you guys were persistent until the job was done. Private RV sales seem to come with a bit of shadiness. How in the world do you know who to trust? That bit about the cash was very suspicious.
Fingers crossed that you made the right choice and this is the camper for your South America adventure. Best of luck.
August 31, 2022 at 17:01
Hi Suzanne,
It seems that buying anything used these days comes with challenges and distrust. In general, we don’t trust car or RV dealers and think that we can get a good feel for individuals after a video call. We knew the people in Missouri were a bit weird – they never showed their faces in the call and hid anything personal – but during our first talk, we felt good about them and the camper. When we backed out that time and then re-engaged, things changed.
I’m so glad you think the cash request was suspicious as well, because we were starting to think – based on other camper purchases going on – that we were the weirdos for wanting to play it “safe” with cashier checks… And then all the hassle involved with cash – the acquisition, counting, worries about the numbers being off, and returning it when the deal doesn’t happen. We don’t get why this is the preferred method for many when it comes to buying or selling expensive items.
August 31, 2022 at 12:12
Sounds like Mark is very skilled at repairing and getting things done. Although the problems keep happening, eventually it will work out. Like you have mentioned having an older truck you will not worry so much about driving over rough terrain. It is quite a saga, but you are getting sorted… fingers crossed.
August 31, 2022 at 17:04
Mark is amazing when it comes to DIY, Gilda. Especially with the help of YouTube. And I am an amazing assistant. 🙂 The fact that we do everything ourselves has saved us a lot of money, time, and frustrations. Especially since we have a hard time trusting so-called professionals. Unfortunately, some tradespeople do a poor job, are negligent, or don’t care about the end results.
August 31, 2022 at 13:24
I read that entire story like a thriller, or a mystery–who has Liesbet’s camper??? Fingers crossed this continues to work out.
August 31, 2022 at 17:06
Thanks, Jacqui. I’m glad you enjoyed this camper “chapter.” It was super long but it gives pretty much the entire picture of what was involved with changing gears, this time. So much harder than it used to be during our past transitions.
August 31, 2022 at 15:41
😎,what a story…another book?
August 31, 2022 at 17:07
Haha. Maybe. First, we will explore your continent. 🙂
August 31, 2022 at 17:47
Liesbet, What a stressful and frustrating saga this has been. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused so many supply-demand issues, especially vehicles and their parts. Wishing you smooth driving from now on.
September 4, 2022 at 09:55
Thank you, Natalie. This summer is completely focused around getting our camper ready. We have been waiting for two months until a particular compressor fridge became available, in order to swap out our propane one. It still hasn’t arrived in the US. At this point, it is starting to affect our progress and departure, so we are looking at alternatives.
August 31, 2022 at 18:11
You both have amazing patience and perseverance! Hope it all continues to work out.
September 4, 2022 at 09:56
Thanks, Anabel. We are known to make our lives more challenging than they have to be at times, but often our determination pays off – literally and figuratively. 🙂
August 31, 2022 at 18:53
What an ordeal! I can only imagine how stressful that was. Here’s hoping you have many happy travels in your “new” Lance after all that work! 🙂
September 4, 2022 at 09:58
Thank you, Diane. It is a more challenging and stressful period for us right now – as any transition for anyone – but we hope we will bear the fruits in the future. Unless this camper decides to fall apart… Positive thinking! We’ve been taking some seriously crazy, crappy, and crumbly roads this last week.
September 1, 2022 at 17:24
How exhausting! Up, down, high, low, drive here, drive there, and then you had some buyer’s remorse which is never fun. Hope you are now feeling totally good about things.
September 4, 2022 at 10:05
Thanks for reading and commenting, Lexie. We do feel better about our camper now, especially since we have been using it a bit more off the beaten track. Still a few major projects left – replacing the fridge, installing a small oven, building a cabinet, adding a water tank, and replacing the fabric of all blinds. One day, we will be ready to go! 🙂
September 2, 2022 at 07:33
I can’t believe how people do not look after items that cost a lot of money, Liesbet. What a frustrating time it has been for you both in buying the vehicle you want. But knowing the two of you, I’m sure you’ll enjoy doing the work, and will have the new camper looking like new in no time.
Stay positive about it all. When we think positive about things they get done much quicker.
September 4, 2022 at 10:08
Thank you for the uplifting words, Hugh. We are getting there with this camper but still have some major projects left, which we will work on in Colorado, this month. It will never look like new, but it will be home. 🙂
The temperatures are still crazy high, though. We are escaping into the mountains for camping and sleeping during this 1000-mile ride from Oregon to Colorado.
September 5, 2022 at 20:18
Omg you can’t even make that shit up. The only thing that left me wondering is, was this the universe trying to tell you something? xx
September 6, 2022 at 13:29
Hi Debby! That’s what I thought at times as well – what is the universe trying to tell us? Should we forget about this truck camper plan and move on? The problem is that we didn’t have a back-up plan. We never do. We need a place to live and a camper is the way for us, right now. That why we have this heavy-duty, fuel guzzling pickup truck. We will see what happens…
September 6, 2022 at 13:35
No doubts you questioned what the universe is serving up. I can appreciate your situation and surely hope it all works out for you in the end. x
September 6, 2022 at 13:58
Thank you, dear Debby!
September 6, 2022 at 18:54
Wow, what an ordeal! I don’t think I would have the patience to go through what you have. I can’t wait to hear how the camper works out in South America.
September 7, 2022 at 18:00
Patience, determination, and grit have been important lately, Deb. We are still in the midst of projects right now. But, we do hope to make it to South America by the end of the year. And, we reached Colorado from Oregon right now, so we are making some headway! 🙂
September 7, 2022 at 22:21
Purchasing a vehicle comes with all kinds of angst. I’m pretty good at it now, but it’s a time-consuming process, and even after gaining possession of the vehicle we tend to second-guess ourselves. I hope all of your hard work is rewarded with a reliable and trustworthy vehicle.
September 8, 2022 at 11:27
I remember some of your vehicle buying stories, Pete. We are actually quite happy with our truck (except for its fuel economy), but when it comes to the camper – our house – our standards are higher. We don’t mind cosmetic damage this time around, but the systems have to be functional and the entire unit needs to be able to withstand off road camping, driving, and living. At the moment, most (structural) issues have been solved and we are focusing on the improvements that are specific to our next multiple-year adventure.
September 8, 2022 at 23:22
What a story. Really interesting. We have a Lance 830 also and some of the issues you are describing. I was particularly interested in the shower pan floor gap and the picture on the separation at the back of the camper. Do you have a few advice and or pictures of the (structural) repair you have completed? I think I have similar issues with mine and I am not sure where to start.
Thank you
September 12, 2022 at 14:10
Hi Thomas,
Sorry for the late reply. We were away camping and out of internet (and laptop). I sent you an email with information and photos. Let me know if you received it.
Have a good week!
September 14, 2022 at 18:29
I’m trying again for a comment here. Hopefully it won’t tell me I’m not acceptable!
It’s looking like you made the right decision. Our rig has been an ongoing project for 6 years. Hopefully you will get everything right before you start heading south.
I’m sure I had a much more interesting comment before, but oh well, I will copy it next time.
September 15, 2022 at 11:25
You are so acceptable! 🙂
We have decided to go for it with this camper and we sure hope we won’t regret it. We know it very well now and if something else throws us off, we hope it is manageable and fixable. The interior is so roomy that we are trying to overlook some cosmetic issues. We hope the structural issues are taken care of; we are using extra support when the camper is off the truck.
Every camper and boat seems to be an ongoing project. It comes with the lifestyle we choose. It’s one of the reasons why I look forward to backpacking and international house sitting one day, where issues with vehicles and homes are other people’s problems! 🙂 Of course, that lifestyle comes with different challenges, less comfort, and less hominess.
September 21, 2022 at 15:13
Lord why would anybody buy such old truck campers and think good things are going to happen! Bite the bullet get a new North Star and be done with it.
September 22, 2022 at 16:42
Why buy an old truck camper? Because not everyone has tens of thousands of dollars in disposable cash. A new Northstar Arrow U costs around $45,000 if you can find one at a dealership. Northstar is not building them at the moment. A used Northstar Arrow U easily costs $25,000. Our Lance was $10,000 – and a lot of time, effort, and work. Plus an extra $5,000 to make it off grid for two weeks at a time. That’s around $15K in total, which gives us loads of spending money (and a transportation “allowance”) to explore South America. 🙂
Good things will happen with us and the camper. It just takes a while to get there…
September 25, 2022 at 22:30
I ended up buying the 830 in Tacoma ,Wa! We have been doing small repairs on it – the exterior definitely needed a good cleaning. We have been enjoying it so far!
September 30, 2022 at 21:44
Wow, Matthew! That’s so cool. I’m glad you are enjoying the 830. And, yes, it definitely needed a good cleaning and some repairs! 🙂 Just watch that gap between the kitchen counter and the wall (the previous owner recaulked it, but it might/will crack again when you unload/load the camper a few times) and be careful with the shower pan. Whenever we take the camper off the truck now (we live and travel in it fulltime), we support the backside of the camper with jack stands and 2x6s.
How did you find my blog?
December 7, 2022 at 17:00
So I have come across your blog doing research about Lance 830. I read the whole thing and what an exciting life you live! Anyhow, I seen yesterday Dec. 6th a Lance 830 for sale in Virginia without the tent in the back and appeared to be in good shape. He showed it had delamination on the back wall ( upper left ) during a video tour. It is priced at $15,500. It sounds kind of like the one you were slightly interested in. This guy said he only owned it for 2 months and his wife didn’t like driving it. I was just curious if you think this could be the same camper?
December 7, 2022 at 18:24
Hi!
How great my blog popped up during your research. Thanks for checking it out and leaving a comment.
Yes, this is the exact same camper we have, but newer. I actually saw it – by coincidence – yesterday in the Lance (or was it another truck camper) Facebook group! I even showed my husband the photos and he commented it looked like it was in great shape.
This particular Lance 830 you’re talking about is four years newer than ours. So, if you ever buy one, the 2012 is the latest year Lance built them. I would have loved to own one from that year. The asking price of 15.5K is not bad. But be careful with delamination.
It seems from the video tour that the owner is honest and straightforward about everything, which is important. Maybe you can bargain the price down a grant, bringing up the delamination, if you’re interested in owning a Lance 830. We love their layout. It feels so much roomier than any other truck camper (of that size) we have owned or visited.
If we wouldn’t have owned one yet, we might have pursued this one, based on the description and the photos. Not sure what we would have done knowing about the delamination. It would have depended on how desperate we were to buy it now.
In the meantime, our Lance 830 should arrive here in Colombia this weekend…
December 7, 2022 at 20:14
Hi again, Central Penn,
I just talked to my husband about this camper, as he remembered we did a video tour of one in Virginia that had delamination like this, back in March. We just looked at the photos again and are positive it was the same camper! (Not sure if I mentioned that episode on the blog post you read.) Once we knew about the delamination, we ran away and we even told the owner that this is a huge issue. I guess he managed to sell it and now this current owner wants to sell it on…
Our advice: stay clear of this one. This is a huge problem, with rotten wood all along the left back edge. This camper isn’t even worth $5,000. I hope you read this in time.
December 8, 2022 at 07:49
Congratulations on getting your camper this weekend. How exciting! I really appreciate you and your husbands opinion on this. Yes I did read it in time. The camper is about 8 hours away from me in Pennsylvania and quite honestly I am about tired of driving around looking at junk campers. They are every where. Look good in pictures and video but not so much in person.
December 8, 2022 at 09:40
I hear you about the junk campers. It’s tough to find a (rough) jewel out there. I hope you find the right camper soon.
As for ours, everything is still up in the air. The boat that is supposed to pick up our camper in Panama today is not sticking to its schedule. I don’t think we can handle more waiting after five weeks of stress, frustration, and money spent on apartments….
Fingers crossed for a positive and timely outcome for all of us!