# Close To Deal On 2006 21Rs!



## The Prince's (Aug 8, 2010)

Hi, all! We're The Prince family. We live in the heart of NC. Yep, we're newbies. Never owned a camper. Only camped a handful of times with other folks. But, we have the longing for the outdoors, campfire smoke and family time. We need to learn/experience it all! I have lurked for a couple years off and on here. The members and information here are phenomenal! We became interested in the Outback line a couple years ago after seeing a 25RSS and fell in love with the style and quality.
At a local reputable RV dealer we have found a 2006 21RS. It is relatively clean, only a couple mods. We are counting on the dealer to steer us right with any known issues before and after purchase. For now, we are at $10900+TTL with a brand new equalizer and brake control installed. Plus, a 'kit' with hoses, antifreeze, TP,etc. And, a 2 hour "camping 101 class" when we pick it up. How does this deal sound? If it works out, we will be official " Outbackers " soon!


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## john7349 (Jan 13, 2008)

Welcome to Outbackers!
Sounds reasonable to me. I'm sure you will enjoy the camping with the family for years to come.







You will also be glad you got the Equal-i-zer WDH. 1000lb bars would be perfect.


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## hautevue (Mar 8, 2009)

Welcome to the group of OB owners, including almost owners! We're glad to see you join the tribe.

Suggestion: for the delivery, print out the Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI) checklist from this site. This is a REALLY comprehensive checklist. I was a newbie (never owned a TT) in April 2009, I depended on the site for info, and took the PDI to the dealer for pickup. It takes about 3 - 4 hours to cover everything, including having them show us (DW and yours truly) how to operate everything.

Since you're buying used, you may want to negotiate with the dealer for a price on the mechanic's time or something--he deserves to be compensated since a 4 hour PDI is beyond reasonable for a used unit. But if you can get it for, say, $200, it may be the best 200 bucks you've ever spent!

I'd have a copy of the PDI with you when you negotiate the cost, so the dealer knows that you are serious about learning how everything works. You can go through the TT while they are installing the Equalizer hitch (good brand) as well as the brake controller. And you'll want them to include a 30 minute lesson on how to hook up and unhook--it is easy when one has done it scores of times, but the first time I tried (at the dealer) I was all thumbs...Backing the TV up to the TT and not whacking anything was not easy (still isn't!).

For my brake controller, I use a Prodigy P3, but there are several others. Do not get a cheap knockoff of a branded product. Good ones cost in the $100 - $150 range. My Prodigy P3 cost $110 shipped, plus $10 for the pre-wired cable that connects the brake controller to my instrument panel connector.

Leave the kids home, DW wears pants or jeans so she can climb the step ladder to the roof, and so forth. Flashlight, pad of paper, several pens, etc. Take your time, write down the instructions, get the owners manual for "stuff" like the stereo, microwave, etc. Our TT microwave push button logic is absolutely not intuitive! Without the owners manual, how would we know that to lower the power level, keep hitting POWER and the level decrements from 100% down. Sigh. VERY different from our GE at home.

You'll want to check the batteries (are they worn out or getting towards the end of their life?), and so forth. A digital voltmeter will help here.

Good luck, and feel free to ask questions. One thing I really appreciated about this site was that there are no stupid questions; the only stupid one is the one you don't ask! Forum members are frank but VERY knowledgeable. Someone will know the answers to any question you can conceive!

Good luck and keep in touch.


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## ORvagabond (Apr 17, 2009)

WELCOME and Congratulations!!!!


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## deanintemp (Apr 3, 2007)

I purchased our 2005 26RS from a family last year for $11,500 including hitch. Sounds like you are looking at a very reasonable deal. Our unit is identical to yours except that we have quad bunks up front. We absolutely love our camper and have not had a single issue with it. Oops, yes we have, I turned on the electric water heater early this year with no water in the tank - burned out the heating element. Oh well, the gas mode still works and I will replace the element this weekend. If your unit has been stored, it might still be winterized...check with the dealer. While the Outback is a quality unit and not necessarily known for water leaks, I would still look for water spots in the ceiling and any storage areas, including outside storage trunk areas. Also, get a look at the roof and make sure the rubber roof and all caulking is in good condition.

Good luck and let us know what happens...


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## Tyvekcat (Aug 28, 2007)

Welcome & Excellent model choice!








21rs is a good size. It will fit in many campsites, just fine. Plenty of room. Knock on wood, ours has been real good. The only problem I have had with mine was a noisy water pump, which operated fine, it just was a annoyance. Used new hose and put it on rubber mounts. Sound foam in the compartment and its nice and quiet.
Replaced the speakers and radio. (man it needed that) Enjoy your new Outback ! 
Have a good one.


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## The Prince's (Aug 8, 2010)

Update! HELP! We went by today after work to give the 21RS another once over. The knowledge here on Outbackers is so nice. It helped us find a couple things. The biggie is a delaminated area approx. 12" x 18" directly below the right side sofa window but above the water inlet...It's noticeable especially from an angle down the side. I pushed with my weight and it pushes in/out but not particularly soft. Nothing on the front nose. My "ex" neighbor had a Winnebago 28ft class A that looked like it had measles at on point. I am aware of the delam issue from you guys (thanks). But, is it enough to scare you away? Let me know.
Next, the previous owner apparently did not like the cherry vinyl and wanted indoor/outdoor carpet.







He proceeded to measure and install the carpet over the vinyl loosley, no glue. But, he hacked the vinyl with a razor knife on every seam and straight edge!!!





















I want to rip out the carpet and replace with new vinyl flooring. Thats biggie no.2
Other small things like repairing the bath fan blade and the 90* door catch were also noted. The battery was still dead, so nothing 12v/gas/elec has even been looked at yet...I hope nothing else pops up, but we would have a 30 day warranty on all mechanical issues, just not structural.
Please chime in and give your $.02. Should we just suck it up and negotiate a little more since it's our first TT, our wait considering the issues could effect value down the road when we want to upgrade???


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## hautevue (Mar 8, 2009)

The delam is a significant issue. I suspect water leakage at the bottom of the window. This problem is usually not repairable, in that you have to replace the outside wall section that has the delaminating area in it. Big issue, IMHO.

New vinyl can be done, but in my TT, the cabinets, reefer, stove/oven cabinet, sink cabinet, and so forth, were installed over the vinyl. Thus when you come along to replace the vinyl, you have no way to raise the cabinets out of the way. The factory lays vinyl all over the floor before installing anything. They just slap huge sheets down and can probably floor a TT in less than an hour! They have no desire to do all the cutting around stuff that one sees in our home kitchen, etc.

You have to do a really careful job of cutting the old vinyl so the new stuff goes up against it with no obvious showing of the old color. The job takes longer than doing vinyl in your home; a friend did not bother to try and hired a contractor. Based on the square footage, the cost was about 30% higher than doing his home kitchen.

Battery: obviously you will get a battery hooked up so you can check out all the 12v stuff, like does the water pump work, lights work, television work (mine is a 12v one), stereo work, and on and on..Does the power converter work? You need a battery installed, and a voltmeter and preferably an inexpensive ammeter to check out the output of the converter.

But the efforts will be worth it! Good luck and keep hacking away at it!


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## Chabbie1 (Dec 3, 2006)

I would not worry about the 90* door catch, as we broke 2 in a matter of 2 weeks. So, now we just use a bungee to hold the door open to the awning.

When you do your PDI, you might want to record the whole procedure on video. The previous owners of our 21RS had done that when they purchased it new and gave it do us when we bought it.
(however, it's on a VHS, but no big deal)
It has come in handy and it's a good reference to go back to.

Good luck on whatever you decide and Welcome to Outbackers.


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## The Prince's (Aug 8, 2010)

Thanks, everyone! More advice is appreciated. We are still unsure about the 21RS. I feel it's a pretty good deal at $10900, but maybe the dealer will come down a little more to calm our unsettled feeling about the delamination? It is our first trailer so it doesn't have to be perfect. But, we don't want someone else's problem, either.


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## The Prince's (Aug 8, 2010)

Ok. We went walk through the 21RS again and double checked all known issues. The DW and I talked and decided that we were really excited about the unit. Spoke with the dealer and he knew we were newbies and wanted a good starter TT. He quoted $10500+TTL with the equalizer hitch and brake control installed! We said that's great. Shook on it and gave a $500 deposit. Now it goes in for pre-sale inspection and repair. Hopefully we'll pick it up sometime this week and do our PDI. Yeah! We're going campin' Outback style!


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