Community Forums

frederick w · 01-07-2012, 05:10 PM

I may look at a 95 Safari, 36 footer DP with 36,000 miles for 40 K or best offer.

It seems to be a dated design. Would it be hard to sell this MH down the road? Lets say in 5 or 6 yrs?

40 K seems alot even though it appears to be quite nice. Of course the less I pay for it, better the chances that I'm not burried in it.

I appreciate all the advice I get from all of you.

PS: I know my wife would like the interior.

Wanabee FTer · 01-07-2012, 05:32 PM

My main concerns with an RV of that age would be power train and living space (slides)

Many mid nineties coaches are under powered and the transmissions have fewer gears then the newer models. I personally would stick to '98 or newer. You should be able to find something in your price range with 1 or 2 slides and the newer 6 speed trans.
Resale will be much better also.

rdownward · 01-07-2012, 05:42 PM

Those early Safaris were built like tanks but are pretty antiquated as far as exterior styling and some of the features are concerned. The all aluminum sidewall construction is also a plus as it weighs a little less than the fiberglass coaches. I owned a '93 Safari Continental and loved everything about it except that it was underpowered for pulling a toad and driving on mountainous roads - which we did a lot of. Check the NADA value of the coach and I wouldn't offer more than about 90% of NADA value for it - unless it is in superior condition and you really love it. My best suggestion is to look for and purchase a coach because you like it, because it has been well maintained and is in good current condition, and because it seems like a good value to you today - not based on potential future resaleability. Anything that doesn't have a slideout will probably be considered a dinosaur and will be difficult to sell 5 or 6 years from now. In fact, everything on the road today may be totally obsolete and considered to be dinosaurs several years down the road.

texnet · 01-07-2012, 05:50 PM

Not sure what model of Safari but most should be priced between $16,000 and $22,000 so $40k is way high...

George Schweikle · 01-08-2012, 06:12 AM

Determine what Safari model and accessories, and check here: New Car Prices, Used Car Values, New Car Reviews & Car Buying Guides - NADAguides.com Official Site

The 1995 Safari you are considering probably doesn't have a slide. I remember Matt Perlot, Safari company founder, saying something like this at the 1995 Safari Eastern Homecoming rally "No motorhome with a slide will ever leave my factory". Of course, they soon added slides just like everyone else.

Everyone now seems to requires slides, so a lack will result in a lower resale price down the road. It depends on the purchase price you negotiate, and whether you want slides yourself. Some of us don't want or need slides, and there will still be some potential customers for a non-slide unit 5 years from now, but you will be dealing with a minority.

Quote:

Originally Posted by frederick w

I may look at a 95 Safari, 36 footer DP with 36,000 miles for 40 K or best offer.

It seems to be a dated design. Would it be hard to sell this MH down the road? Lets say in 5 or 6 yrs?

40 K seems alot even though it appears to be quite nice. Of course the less I pay for it, better the chances that I'm not burried in it.

I appreciate all the advice I get from all of you.

PS: I know my wife would like the interior.

ahicks · 01-08-2012, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frederick w

I may look at a 95 Safari, 36 footer DP with 36,000 miles for 40 K or best offer.

It seems to be a dated design. Would it be hard to sell this MH down the road? Lets say in 5 or 6 yrs?

40 K seems alot even though it appears to be quite nice. Of course the less I pay for it, better the chances that I'm not burried in it.

I appreciate all the advice I get from all of you.

PS: I know my wife would like the interior.

That sounds a tad rich even if it did have a slide?

frederick w · 01-16-2012, 07:42 PM

It seems that the 97 Safaris' (body change) offer much more for
almost the same money, ( within a few bucks) Also the Monacos'
are resonable, 40 to 45 K depending on model.

97 and up seem to be the bigger bang for the buck.

Thanks, guys for the imput.

frankdamp · 01-16-2012, 08:02 PM

It's 17 years old, so it would be "dated". Five years from now it will be 22 years old.

Slide-outs weren't common back then and a lot of people are looking for them in used units, even now. Slide-outs were part of our decision-making process when we bought our Georgetown two seasons ago.

The fact that it's a DP is a plus (mine's an F53 with the V-10)

For a price comparison point for the rig you're looking at, we bought ours when it had 11,000+ miles on the odometer, less than 60 hours on the generator and had been owned by a very appearance-conscious couple. They were the original owners and were giving up the RV lifestyle because of medical issues. For an '02 32-footer in exceptionally good condition we paid just under $37K. We put new tires on it, since the ones it came with were the original chassis-year 01 Goodyears.

We missed one problem, which looked like minor fraying of the front edge of the topper over the living room slide. It turned out to be a complete rot-out of the whole topper. By the time we found it, we had water in the overhead cabinets in the slide, now replaced.

It sounds to me like the seller is in cloud-cuckoo land. I wouldn't be prepared to pay more than about $28,000 for it. Without slides, it will not be easy to sell in another 5 years, even though it's a DP. My estimate is that it will be down below $12K by then.

dizneydad · 07-31-2012, 06:22 PM

I own a 95 Continental and it has a 300 Cummins and a 6 speed allison tranny. Pleanty of power. Just love it and since they are all custom made with hand done cabinets they are always wanted. they also hold a resale value pretty well if they were taken care of.

Jon Mopar · 08-01-2012, 03:15 PM

for $40k or less, I could get you a nice 2000-01 Diesel Mountain Aire, Winnebago Journey, or a really sharp Fleetwood Expedition....all of which are quite modern looking.

Safari made some odd looking motorhomes, but they also made some nice, well appointed ones. The later Saharas were sharp looking machines. In 95, the front grill/headlights were a little dated, but with a front bra-cover, they look as sharp as anything else. Some of the color schemes were a little dated as well...but they're still nice.....just not $40k nice :P

7521 · 08-01-2012, 09:15 PM

We paid $19K for a 2000 30' Storm two years ago with all the bells and whistles. $40K sounds high to me.

PatStab · 08-01-2012, 10:16 PM

We paid $26k for a 1992 American Eagle, it was too high, we didn't check before buying. Haven't regretted it but we should have paid less.

I think no matter what you will have to spend money on an older coach. Ours has a 300 Cummins and a 4 speed tranny and does really good Of course I'm sure the newer ones with 6 speeds and bigger engines are awesome, ours starts out pretty slow,but then at about 35 or so she takes off. We drove it to Indiana and back running 70 a lot of the way and she purred right along and didn't use any oil in the engine or genny which thrilled us as we didn't know what to expect. it says 120k miles and the odometer quit shortly after we bought it.

It has no slides and I'm under no illusion it will beworth a lot of moneyinthe future.

I too think $40k is way out of line for one that old. It will have things deteriorated just from sitting and from age. Expect to spend money on it. We aren't sorry we bought it and I Imagine we will keep it a long time as I really like it, but I would like to have paid a bit less for it.

Mr_D · 08-01-2012, 10:19 PM

Also look out for some kind of galvanic rot that happens on aluminum. There were some reports on it here as I remember along with some pictures. Seems to be a problem on airplanes also.

40K is way too high also.

SteveLevin · 08-01-2012, 10:31 PM

What chassis does it ride on? I know that somewhere in that era many Safari's were built on Oshkosh leaf spring chassis -- meaning that the ride is more like a typical gas motorhome than a typical diesel pusher. I think it's 8'6" and not just 8' wide as a 1995, but that's not a definite -- and the 6 inches of width makes a difference. Exhaust brakes were also an option in that era and some coaches don't have them.

And as others have said, the 40k number is wildly high.

Steve

Steve