WOW $70,000+ Damaged OLIVER 2018 ELITE Fiberglass Egg Travel Trailer RV Rebuildable Salvage Project L@@K !
Mechanic's or body man's special. Priced for quick sale!
This would be a perfect project now so that you are ready to hit the road come this summer and fall.
You can either cut this one in half and combine it with a semi-truck sleeper cab on the existing frame, OR you can do a full fiberglass repair/restoration.
Oliver Elites, comparably equipped, go for $70,000+ directly through the manufacturer and for nearly that amount when they occasionally sell in the aftermarket. Oliver has been rated the NUMBER ONE travel trailer in the world. Anyway, go to RVTrader and look up a used one, if you can find one, and just see for yourself what they are priced at, as they are highly desirable.
The intact aluminum frame alone on this is worth $15,000; the interior furniture, fixture, mechanical, and appliance items value at $12,500; the remainder of the exterior items detail out at $21,500.
This one was in a catastrophic accident and is damaged, as shown. We have already cleaned it up, so it is ready for repurpose/restoration/rebuild. Okay, here are our two ideas. PLAN ONE: Half of the fiberglass unit is good; the other half is not. Saw it in half and discard the busted portion. Get yourself a semi-truck sleeper cab and combine it on the intact trailer to complete your travel trailer. PLAN TWO: We did a broken fiberglass trailer restoration two summers ago on an Airstream Nest that was more badly damaged than this one is, and it turned out well, so trying to fix this one is another option. We are getting too old for that game and do not wish to spend sixty days doing another a rebuild. For a younger couple, however, it would be a fun project.
Before you read on, take a look at a few online videos pertaining to what we are talking about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti2vZIHsuZE "Building A Micro-Camper From A Semi-Truck"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATvsVct6EXk "Upcycled Sleeper Cabin"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtR-_rpAVfc "DIY Crawler Hauler And Bugout Camper Build"
This is PLAN ONE for combining the good-half of the Oliver with a 1000-pound semi-truck sleeper cab.
Schematically design your layout on paper prior to commencing work, charting the trailer, 1/2 travel trailer, and sleeper cab and their joint configuration. Consider existing fixtures and features and whether or not they will remain in place or be repositioned. There is a complete owner's manual with the Oliver with diagrams showing everything and a complete listing of information. Scanning EBay it seems the similar semi-truck body and operator manuals are reasonably priced and available, if carefully shopped.
Obtain a separated semi-truck sleeper cab. We have found all of the sources for finding one and, in fact, have located a great-condition one along the Front Range of Colorado for under $3,000, but time is of the essence in pulling the trigger on our deal and that one, too. If that opportunity swims away, do not unnecessarily worry, as there are other cabs available for more and for less, condition dependent.
Next, neatly and carefully cut the Oliver in half with an appropriate saw and carefully remove the damaged portion (front) and retain the good portion (rear).
Get the necessary 1/4" or 3/8" thick white fiberglass 4'X 8' sheets, readily commercially obtainable, and use that to fabricate the connection between the two structures. Or, buy a custom-fit day cab conversion kit to create two separate spaces. I have already sourced this.
Create a nice workable bathroom using existing fixtures and plumbing. Combine the electrical connections and utilize the existing propane setup. Furnace and air conditioning and ventilation fan and water systems are working, so you will have heat, circulation, and plumbing.
Clean up the combination. Paint the cab, if desired. Do final fix up.
Take the item to your state inspection facility and have them certify to its roadworthiness.
Next, get a rebuilt title in your name.
Go RVing, travel trailering, formal camping, boondocking, or touring the country.
This the alternative PLAN TWO for the fiberglass rebuild.
Clean it up. (We have mostly already done this!) Throw away broken elements, after measuring and sourcing replacements.
Take it to a good but inexpensive fiberglass repair professional and have that person fix the portions of the shell in need of attention. Simply re-resin and glass or go all in and color-match it all the way to the gel-coat. (We have such an established contact along the Front Range in Colorado. You could arrange for him to do the work during the slow, spring months.) Or, get a good book on fiberglass repair at the library, watch a few YouTube videos on the subject, buy some fiberglass roving, mat, and cloth along with resin and gelcoat and do the project yourself with these supplies for considerable savings. (Hubby has particular tips and techniques to avoid any traps with the process.)
Purchase the needed spare parts from Oliver and/or Camping World and/or one of several online sources and then install them. (We have a complete factory list of all parts, including necessary ones of course, with detailed drawings and item numbers for ease of ordering.)
Repair and reinstall all of the items in need of the same. Fix anything else that needs it.
Charge the pair of Interstate 12-volt batteries. Full the two propane tanks.
Replace the spare tire while you are at it.
Take the item to your state inspection facility and have them certify to its roadworthiness.
Next, get a rebuilt title in your name.
Go RVing, travel trailering, formal camping, boondocking, or touring the country.
In addition to the price you pay us for the damaged Oliver Elite travel trailer, I would budget $5,000 to $10,000 additional for either Plan One or Plan Two. If you are parsimonious and a strong do-it-yourselfer, perhaps one-half of that would be adequate. That said, I have not put a fine pencil to the project, just a rough tally in my head while taking a long hot-tub soak out on the deck these past few late-winter evenings.
Being sold on a bill of sale. Has a no-lien rebuilt title, but its status with NMVTIS is unknown.
Now, here are more details on the condition and situation for an informed purchase decision.
The Oliver is about 125 miles away from Denver, Colorado. I have an appropriate amount of shrink-wrap sheeting and tape and a heat gun to seal it up for transportation to where you desire. To get it to its current location it was quickly bundled with a huge canvas tarp tightly covering the opening and it trailered like a dream, with no problems, despite ice and significant snowfall. Right now it is completely bundled up in its storage location. It was winterized and cleaned, but it will need another clean up before you begin your project.
The fiberglass shell is as it appears and it requires repair or reworking, probably the first order of business. Note that Oliver used an inner and an outer shell for construction, not the typical single-layer eggshell design. Pull out the overhead cabinetry, measure and brace, and go to work connecting and reinforcing the cracked and sheered pieces (almost all of the original form is present, so you will not be repairing large void areas). The integral overhead cabinets are largely intact, with some minor fixable damage. On-floor cabinetry is good and does not seem to need any adjusting. The flooring is part of the fiberglass eggshell-layered design, and not plywood, combined with rugged vinyl simulated wood as the floor-top veneer. It is all good, back to front, so there is no substructure rot from wet road spray. The main front door and separate screen door and frame for both are unusably damaged. They are provided for measurement purposes, if that is the direction you go. There is top-front fiberglass damage, not as extensive as the right-front side, but cracked nonetheless. The television and other front antennas have some damage that will need to be fixed, but the base electronic components are intact. I am sure the component manufacturers will provide reasonably-priced replacement parts. The top solar panels are gone, damaged beyond repair.
Appliances were all working before the accident, including the television, stereo, stove, furnace, instant hot water heater, air conditioning, fan, refrigerator, 2000-watt inverter, solar-panel controller, water pump, composting toilet, and shower. The outside vent covers for the refrigerator will need to be replaced. The fresh-water storage tank, the gray-water storage tank, and the black-water storage tank are all intact. The wiring, propane distribution tubing, and plumbing are in order. The custom aluminum frame is good and is not bent or tweaked. The 2" hitch assembly is intact. The electric lift jack and leveling jacks need to be replaced, but we are installing a substitute mechanical front lift jack for purposes of putting it on and getting it off of a tow vehicle. The wheels are custom aluminum Jaguar ones and the tires hold air but will need to be replaced. None of the windows are broken, but the interior shade frames will need to be reinstalled as impact cased them to separate. The front fiberglass cowling is slightly cracked, but is easily repaired; while it is functionally unnecessary, this propane tanks shroud is atheistically pleasing when it is installed. The upholstery, a nice custom cloth, is perfect, without a flaw or stain, but remove the coverings via their zippers and give them a good wash.
As they say, "You pay your money and you takes your chances."
As to why we are not doing the combination remodel or the total repair ourselves, our circumstances are such that we simply do not wish to spend our time on this project this spring/summer. We have travel and other plans. We did a slightly different version of this project two years ago, and just do not feel like coordinating and working on another one right now. Been there, done that. It was educational and interesting, but just too much too soon for us.
We have prepared a spreadsheet regarding the net value of the components of the existing travel trailer and of the semi-truck sleeper cabin. I have been told that the replacement cost of the aluminum trailer alone is over $15,000! The remainder of the exterior items detail out at $21,500. The interior Oliver furniture, fixture, mechanical, and appliance items value at $12,500. The Oliver, then, has a combined potential net value of $49,000. We are asking $0.35-cents-on-the-dollar or $17,600. The semi-trailer sleeper cabin, which is not ours but which can be obtained for $2,900, has a net value of $11,000, or an instant unrealized gain of $8,100. When fully restored and totally cosmetically fixed, our guess is that this will be a $60,000 completed project. Sweat equity, we believe, can turn a combined $20,500 initial investment, plus whatever your repair costs total, into $60,000+. What is that, a ≈200% ROI in a couple of month's time?!
Whenever we start an undertaking such as this, and we have done several, we count our costs, compute the upside and/or savings, and calculate a worst-case downside scenario. With respect to a worse-case scenario, you could part this thing out virtually and probably recoup your money. We have a standing offer from an RV repairman/remainderman, so we will not simply give this away. Or, start the project and capture gains for the progress you achieve. Or sell it to an RV salvage yard, who would undoubtedly be interested. Or, finish it and save $50,000+ over the average retail price out there in the marketplace. Only someone with "vision" should attempt this. What do we mean by that? Being able to see past the obvious defects to the completion of the project. Getting past the "fly in the ointment" is the key to savings and success. Just check out our posting on homebuilding to give you some idea of what we mean . . .
If you have more questions, drop us a note. Hurry, however, because if our suspicious are correct, this will get scooped up before too long by a savvy buyer! Buy-It-Now or Best-Offer. No scammers, please, as we are too sophisticated for that. And, please, no naysayers who have never attempted anything more difficult than getting out of the bed in their parents' basement.
