2006 monaco 42 signature mileage consideration

[Josh4147]

Hello, need some advice from Monaco owners. We have sold our fifth wheel and want to move into a coach. We have friends with dynasties that are very pleased with Monaco. We have been on the hunt for a nice used dynasty for a few months. Recently we found A nice 2006 42' signature with a 600 hp,isx cummins & Allison 4000 tranny. It is in good shape, paint is very nice the inside is well cared for & The price is reasonable I believe. The problem I am having is it has 72,000 miles on it, owning equipment myself, I know that 72,000 miles on a Cummins diesel is not a lot, in fact we have over 500k on some of our trucks. But I know motorhomes are a whole different ballgame. What concerns me is if we decide we do not like it, the resale will be tough, given the high mileage . Also obviously with that many miles it was probably a full timer that owned it, meaning it has probably been outside most of his life. Can any of you share your thoughts on this, give me reasons why I should or should not move forward with the deal. Thanks in advance

[jacwjames]

The coach is 10 years old so ~7K per year, which is reasonable. We bought our 2002 in 2008, 6 years old and had 55K on it, we now have 105K on it. Personally it wouldn't bother me if they have the maintenance records showing the engine and transmission have been taken care of.

Check the tire date codes, I would assume that they've been changed but never know.

The Roadmaster chassis for this coach is bullet proof, hardly read any posts of problems with the chassis as far as component failures. There is a post of the steering box replacement on some but don't know if affect the Signature.

Do some research on the 600HP engine, I've read posts where there has been a problem with Cummins of this size dropping a valve, don't know it included the 600HP though.

[slemnah]

7,200 miles a year is hardly high mileage. I would rather have a motor home that was used than one that sat. IF you like the price and the motor home buy it and it will give you years of wonderful memories. Make sure to have it inspected by a trained inspector and have the oil and trains fluid tested. This coach has a lot of high line items so make sure you take the time to learn how to operate it all.
Good luck!
Steve

[Josh4147]

Maintenance records are not available that is part of the reason I have been a little hesitant. The unit is being sold by a large RV company With no records. I would assume an oil analysis Test May tell most of the story .

[Nana25K]

We bought our 2000 Dynasty 2.5 years ago. Had 102k miles, no service records from a dealer
We spent around $400 and took it to a Freightliner truck facility ( closest) and had our own chassis inspection done. The ran it thru the computer , checked the injectors etc, and had oil and tranny samples. They checked everything else also.
They did muss a slightly worn ujoint on the steering box.
When we had the first oil change my brother also serviced the rear end.

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by jacwjames

Do some research on the 600HP engine, I've read posts where there has been a problem with Cummins of this size dropping a valve, don't know it included the 600HP though.

Yes, unfortunately it does! Seems to be a smaller percentage though but it's still happening.
Cummins released new heads, valves, turbo and ECM programming to cure it last year. Hopefully our 650 will be OK now.
YES, we had an oil analysis, they will show wearing items but they will almost never show something like a valve that's about to break.

[Josh4147]

Thanks for the responses. It was mentioned the signature series has a lot of high line items which I am aware of . In fact there are probably a lot of options I don't care about . In your opinion would I be better off to keep looking for a dynasty With less options, which basically translates to less things that can go wrong? I really like the signature I like the paint job and the interior layout. Price seems to be pretty reasonable & inline with prices of used dynasties. Although some problems are inevitable with Rv's , I don't Want Constant problems. Thanks

[Mr_D]

Our Magna has a some options we don't care about and is missing a few I would have liked. It's all about compromise, some good, some bad!