$6,500 on the listing. $5,800 on the bill of sale. $531 more at the tax collector two days later. Those are the three numbers from the last few days, and the third is the one nobody warned me about.
On Saturday, January 31st, we bought a 2009 Jayco Jay Series pop-up from a retired couple in Homestead. Here's why this one, how we got to the price and what we decided to skip.
Why this camper
It was the sixth pop-up we looked at in January, and the only one that passed every line of the checklist Maya carried around on her clipboard. It has a 10-foot box, a king bed end for Dana and me, a queen end for the kids with its own curtain, a dinette that turns into another bed, a small sink, a two-burner stove inside, a little fridge and a roof air conditioner the sellers added years ago. It takes a 30-amp hookup when we have one. Loaded, it should come in around 2,400 pounds, less than half of what the Pilot is rated to tow.
The sellers had camped in it for 12 years, mostly in Florida state parks, and it showed in the good way. The floor was solid. The canvas had a few pinholes and no mildew. The lift cranked up evenly. And there was the binder: the original manuals, the receipt for the AC and a handwritten list of every trip they'd taken in it. The husband walked me through setup twice, the second time with me doing it while he watched. His wife gave Maya a laminated card with their setup steps, which has already been read aloud to me four times.
I trusted them, which matters more in a private sale than I like to admit.
How we got to $5,800
I'm not a natural haggler. Dana is better at it, but she had a shift on Saturday, so we agreed on the plan Friday night at the kitchen table.
We didn't argue about what the camper was worth. We pointed at three things Rafael had found the week before, all of which cost real money:
- The tires were about eight years old by their date codes.
- The propane tank was stamped 2009 and past its requalification date, so it would need to be swapped before we could use it.
- The battery wouldn't hold a charge.
We offered $5,600 and showed our math. They countered at $5,900. We met at $5,800 and shook on it. Nobody got offended, and the husband said, "You'll need every bit of that difference for your hitch." He was right.
We paid with a cashier's check, signed the title and a simple bill of sale with the price and VIN on it at their kitchen table, and took photos of both. The Pilot didn't have a hitch yet, so they agreed to keep the camper in their driveway until Wednesday, when U-Haul could install one. We drove home with a title, a binder and no camper, which was a strange feeling.
The surprise at the tax collector
I assumed a private sale meant no sales tax. In Florida, at least as it was explained to me, the tax gets collected when you title the trailer in your name. On Monday morning I took the title and bill of sale to the tax collector's office, and the clerk walked me through the numbers:
- Sales tax: $398. That's the 6 percent state tax on the full $5,800, plus the county's 1 percent surtax on the first $5,000 only.
- Title, registration and a plate: $133.
$531 total, paid on the spot. A fair charge for a normal thing. I just hadn't put a single dollar of it in our budget. Next time I'll call the tax collector before I set a number, not after I sign.
What we skipped
- A paid inspection. Rafael spent two hours under the camper before we made an offer and charged us one cafecito.
- The sellers' old screen room. They offered it for $150. We already own a screen shelter we like.
- Anything newer. The 2014 we saw in Cutler Bay was lovely. It was also $3,100 more than this one.
- Delivery. We'll tow it ourselves, starting Wednesday, which is either brave or simply the only option.
So before a single night in it: $5,800 plus $531, or $6,331. The rest of the setup costs are coming, and every one of them is going in the trip log.
At dinner that night, Nico asked if Pickles could come camping now that we have "a house with wheels." Dana said no before I could open my mouth. Pickles, for the record, was not consulted.
