Professional inspection for motorhome

[The Rose]

I tried to find something that pertained to this and failed. I'm new, so I may not be very good at searches.

We are really interested in a used MH that is 1,500 miles away. Having experience with 5th wheels only we would feel safer having a professional inspection of the coach before we travel that distance. Has anyone done this? Who would you contact and what do you think a thorough inspection would cost?

[austx]

I saw this posted here on iRV2.com by someone who had used them and was very pleased. http://www.rvinspection.com

I commend you for doing your due diligence by getting an inspection. IMO, it is wise to get an independent professional inspection before buying any vehicle and includes MH. I hear buyers all the time say, "I found a really clean MH" well, it should be clean, It was just detailed! Many used RV dealers detail them before selling them. I know PPL Motorhomes does. It's what you don't see that. An co$t you big time.

Good luck with your inspection and new FUN Lifestyle of RVing!!!

[Billinwoodla]

Well, I did this but did not pull the trigger. I found a rig I liked 400 miles away. A buddy of mine lived nearby, so he went to the stealership and looked over the rig. It was a solid rig. I then lined up an independent inspector to go over the rig. Most of the mobile RV techs do pre-purchase inspections. Use yelp and this forum to try and find a good one. After doing all that, the deal started to fall apart. The dealership wanted a deposit, then gave me a 3 day window to get the inspection done, fly out there, look it over myself, then finalize the deal. I have done this same scenario buying airplanes. It is a real PITA. I ended up finding my rig 40 miles away. Your coach is nearby as well. I would encourage you to shop local. The logistics of the long distance sale is just too challenging. I know folks that have made it work, but local will save you a big headache.
Good luck
Bill

[Speedjester]

I had an inspection done on my first coach..I watched him do it.. And noticed he didn't do anything Dfferent than I did..All pretty common sense stuff.. There are a few sites were you can actually print out a pretty thorough inspection.. Also Bare in mind most Inspection services do not do Divetrain...

If you can your best bet might be to fly down .. Spend a few hrs checking it out..

Good luck

[ImNuts]

Is the dealer set up to deal with out of town buyers? Some dealers like PPL motorhomes in Houston do business with out of town buyers all of the time. You can lock the RV up by entering into a sales contract with a $500 credit card deposit. The contract has clauses that condition the sale on a favorable test drive and successful inspection. If you are not satisfied, you can walk away and get you money back. That is how I purchased our RV. However, I did my own inspection using a DYI guide from rvsurvey.com (which was well worth the $25). PPL will also allow 3rd party inspectors to test the RV before you see it, that way you might at least save you the air fare if the RV doesn't check out.

[shiggs68]

Not only the RV Inspection Connection but you can also look at the NRVIA.org web site that RV Inspection is a member of.


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[hughess004]

We would encourage the inspection before traveling. Especially since you're new to motorhomes, they're complex wee buggers and can hide a multitude of issues.
It would have saved us a bundle if we'd done that prior to buying our 1 way tickets from NY to Los Angeles to buy our first motorhome that we'd seen hundred photos of and asked every question we could think of. Turned out to be a Piece of you know what.
I have spoken to MHSRV about a used vehicle on their lot, they have no problem with independent inspections, the quote I got for a 45 foot diesel pusher was $700.
Good luck