Im thinking of selling my 2006 featherlite 2 horse trailer. It has a badley dented right fender. Should I spend about $1000 to get it fixed? The dent doesn’t hurt anything. It just looks ugly.
Many people would rather have a $1000 price break. Then you don’t have the hassle of getting it fixed. If it was in mint condition, I might fix it. But it used condition, I would price it appropriately and mark it reduced. My SO did a similar thing to our trailer and was able to hammer it back a bit so it’s less noticeable.
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As someone looking at trailers, I’d expect it to be priced lower than a trailer that is in perfect condition.
I’d rather have the price break myself.
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It would not bother me too much if the rest of the trailer is structurally safe and what I am looking for.
Mention it in the ad, so no one thinks you are hiding anything.
I do agree that bending it back to a more normal shape (not spending they money to get it fixed), will make people not give it a second thought.
I personally do not think this will greatly reduce what you can get for your trailer.
Not sure where u are located, but a new fender from TSC is about $125. Suggest buying one and installing urself–need to take off old fender, usually put on with self-tapping screws, put on new. Caulk seam. In this YouTube video, the speaker first tries to sell you his special fender (skip that) and then shows how to put on a fender. I am sure there are other videos–that was the first one I saw. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34J2kmRwfmQ&t=52s
If that really isn’t something you feel you can do, I would still buy the fender and take it to the body shop and ask them to put it on. It would take less than an hour --ask ahead of time what their hourly rate is. The only caveat is that little light --if it is wired, that might take more time, but from the location, I think it’s a stick on or screw on reflector.
I’ve bought and sold quite a few trailers --what I found is appearance really matters —of course wash the trailer until it is as clean as you can make it (lifting floor mats, too). Soft Scrub and a yellow and green sponge will take black streaks and mildew green off. Then put a coat of wax on it. There are more products that can really make it look sharp: Back to Black by Mother’s Car Products --use it to darken interior mats and pads; Mother’s Mag will polish the aluminum trim and fenders to a gleam. Consider using tire shine on not only the tires, but the wall mats (don’t get it on the floor, makes it slick). Replace any trailer ties with new. Touch up any rust with a dab of silver or white paint. Finally, wash the windows. Other stuff I do is tape off and spray paint the hitch and chains; and consider spray painting the rusty rim of the tire --there’s a great video on YouTube of how to do that quickly with a deck of cards … . I oil all hinges. Make sure all screens are in place and not torn. You have hubcaps, so that’s a plus! Check the weather stripping --it’s a cheap/easy fix but can be off-putting if it’s old and crusty.
Maybe more than you want to do, but with a few hours work, you can make $1K more.
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Try to sell it first and see what happens. If it doesn’t sell within the timeframe that you want for the price that you want, contact featherlight directly and have them send you a new fender. It will be cheaper and look a whole lot better to just take the old one off and put the new one on as opposed to try to fix the old one. Don’t ask me how I know.
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There’s no fixing the old one and it’s welded on, not bolted. Still on the fence about selling it. A new fender from Featherlite is over $500. The trailer is also insured so it would only cost me $100 to fix if I go that way. I haven’t had a claim in awhile so it won’t hurt me with the insurance company.
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I understand it’s welded on it doesn’t take anything to get it off. If they’ll cover getting it fixed, why won’t they cover Just a new one? It’ll never look perfect again. It’ll have a ripple or dimples or something in it to show that it’s been fixed. A friend Ran into something with the fender on my trailer and I just ordered a new one and had the new one put on it. All they have to do is cut the welds and weld the new one
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Insurance will pay for whatever to fix it
I response was to Foxglove who recommended bolting on a new one. My friend who welds and a local iron works company were both unable to fix it due to the need to weld aluminum.
Even if the fender itself was fine, but the little step at the bottom piece was missing?
Asking for a friend…
