Craigslist Beverage Air Kegerator - should I do it?

I've been watching craiglist for a while for a beverage air (looking to upgrade my home-made set-up and it recently died).

I'm going to see this Kegerator on Sunday - they were asking $350 but she said she would take $300.

My concern is this thing looks old (maybe the one before BM23?). I told the woman to have it plugged in and cold to look at on Sunday. What else should I look for when I check it out? (from poking around looks like I should check for rust in the seems inside etc). I'm guessing if I find anything of issue I could probably negotiate the price.

Her description is "This kegerator is in great shape and comes with a full CO2 tank. The lock is broken, but the door stays shut and can be opened/closed with a screwdriver."

The lock doesn't concern me - really concerned with it's ability to keep beer cold primarily.

I'm normally a lurker here but signed up since it's a big purchase - any help would be really appreciated - thanks!

Here are the pictures;

It looks like a BM23, just missing the rail around the top. Beverage Air is a commercial grade unit, and a new one is on the higher end of the price scale. This unit is comparable to one made by True. If everything on the inside looks good, fan works well and compressor sounds ok, then you may have a good find. I would mention the missing rail, broken lock and overall condition is not really what you had hoped for. Also know that if the compressor goes out, it will cost you more than it is worth to buy a new one. Then break out 2 nice new $100 bills and work it from there. This is my opinion only. I do enjoy CL negotiation. Good Luck.

What he said

I can't speak about that kegerator. However, when it comes to buying stuff off CL, I have a decent amount of experience. I generally ask what their 'low' price they'll take is. If it's something that I'm willing to spend, I'll go and take a look at it. Then once I get there I try to talk them down from their 'low' price. Only a couple of times I've been unsuccessful and walked out paying their 'low' price. Generally their 'low' price is still negotiable.

Thanks for the advice everyone! I really appreciate it!

As long as it's cold when you get there you know it'll keep your beer cold. You can feel for drafts around the seams to make sure seals properly. I'd check to see how much heat comes from the compressor. If it puts out a lot of heat it might be on it's legs or just dirty.

Good Luck. Let us know what you do.

Well - ended up not getting it. When I saw it when their garage door opened I kind of already knew it wasn't going to work out. From the pictures posted I thought it was the black outside (BM-23 maybe) but once I got there I could see it was actually brown and likely the model before that.

This thing looked like it was from the 1970s. The outside was kind of rusty, it looked very rough. Also the previous owner had drilled right into the side of it to have the CO2 tube come out the side of it. It wasn't sealed in any way it was very sloppy.

Honestly if this thing was offered to me for free I wouldn't have wanted it in my house.

Haha oh yes - also it was in an unheated garage and the thermo on my car said it was 33 degrees outside so there was no way for me to test if it was working properly or not.

Guess you can't win em all! I'll continue to keep an eye out but after this I'm almost thinking I just save up and buy a new one off a restaurant supply website instead.

Thanks again for the advice!

If it where me I'd pass... I keep an eye out for these things and see them from $100 to $400, all vary in condition but saw some very nice ones for $125-150. If it was a almost new one I'd drop a max of $200. I'd say just get a nice $40-60 (5.5 or 7.4) freezer and some systems from CL and convert it to a keezer, hold more kegs and won't take up much more room.