Old coach's expiring???

[AZ RV'r]

Many of you write on this site professing your unwavering love for the old coaches because you claim the quality was better and they don't make them like they used to.
Also you claim benefits with the pre-DEF units on the diesels.
Lastly, lots of comments of the non computerized lower tech pro's of that generation of coach whether gas or diesel.

Im not here to argue with you ..... you might be right?

Im not writing this to say "good or bad" or "pro or con" the ideas above.
But for the sake of this conversation, lets say the ten year span of coaches of 1998-2008. That makes these "golden years" coaches now as old as 21, and as young as 11 years old.

So to get to the point I am trying to make....

What happens in the next years, when there are fewer left to buy, or the only ones left are really getting past their prime? Eventually these "golden years" coaches are all going to age out by milage or time, but like all things, every year that goes by there will be less of them. So when its your time and you have to part with your "golden years" coach.... What will you buy if they are few and far between, and the ones that are left are mostly undesirable? You can find 90's Prevost's for under $100k but less of them around and not a huge market.
The reason Im bringing this these questions is with all the posts complaining about todays current quality issues with ALL brands... Todays new coaches are going to be those 21-11 year old coaches many of us might be forced into buying in the future if looking for used or a certain price.

Thoughts?

[R.Wold]

What worries me most is all this finicky electronics stuff multiplexed and integrated and controlled by a cpu of some kind, placed in the mobile environment and utilized in a variety of weather conditions causing significant temperature and humidity variations, in a vibrating, shock-loaded environment, in a coach I want to keep for more than 10 years and Im beginning to think Id be better off buying an older low milage coach from simpler times and keeping it up to snuff, rather than trying to get 10 or 15 relatively trouble free years out of coaches that seem to have trouble making it to two or three without a laundry list of problems that the end user is hard put to tackle on his own, sending him to expensive shops for bewildering diagnostics in systems that will soon be obsolete themselves. So yeah, Im a little concerned...

[twogypsies]

Our 2004 Newmar Dutch Star was awesome. We didn't have a one problem with anything in it... just took it in for maintenance and that was it. It only had two slides and that's what we wanted and they both had to be on the driver's side. We used public campgrounds - think trees. We didn't want to have to juggle between trees on all sides.

Personally, I wouldn't want one that is new now. Too many things to go wrong; multiple baths, washer/dryer, umpteen slides and all the fancy electronics.

I'm glad we had ours when things were simple.

[RickNC]

I have a 24 year old motor home, 90% of the chassis and engine parts are still available new. The coach systems, plumbing,electrical and HVAC are still available new and can be installed with little or no modification. AS long as nothing catastrophic happens to the MH it can conceivably go on for many years more.

If I had to replace it with something new I would probably replace it with a Class C. The base models still can be had without slides and excessive gadgetry that seems to be the source of the majority of quality complaints

[daveandcarol]

I figure by the time we wear out this coach, we will be old enough (well, older - we're old already...) it will be time to quit RV'ing and hit the retirement home...

[RM Art]

We're not full timers and probably will never be.

Pan to spend years of our RV use being long weekends as well as some multi week or even multi month trips.

Purchased our low milage, lightly used and well cared for 1996 25' Tiffin Allegro due to it's good condition, maneuverability in tight locations, comfortable two person layout and very importantly its simplicity of utility maintenance needs.

Don't plan to upgrade... due to no need to do so. "Sweetie" should do us just fine for years to come!

Simple is as simple does!

[Isaac-1]

There are still good coaches being built today, which will have depreciated some by the time no more of these golden age coaches are around. Having said that I think there will certainly be some models and model years to avoid, either due to orphaned electronics, or emissions equipment issues.

[timjet]

I wouldn't avoid buying a new(er) coach because of the complexity of it's build. I think for most of us we buy what our budget allows.

However, I did not buy the newest coach my budget allowed, I bought a higher quality (by reputation) coach that was within my budget. It was 10 yo when I bought it.

If my budget allowed I would have bought new or nearly so.

[Teamfoxy]

When we were looking for our current coach, we saw a lot of older coaches from the "quality builders" that were not in great condition. If used everything was worn out and if left unused, they often showed signs of neglect and unrepaired leaks. My conclusion is that once past 6-8 years old, the coach had better have been owned by someone who kept up with all the maintenance. If not maintained, it didn't matter who the builder was.
It is easy to see that if you keep up with the maintenance, a coach will last for 20 years whether gas or diesel. But if you plan to keep the coach long term and travel extensively, do you want to start with a 15-20 year old coach?

[photopilot]

Our coach was 10 years old when we bought it three years ago. The quality was excellent, but stuff wears out. I’ve replaced all the airbags, put in an Amish cooling unit, replaced the slide seals, carpeting, and repainted the top clear coat. Shocks next year. Those are just the big stuff, and I hope they will be good for another 10 years. Things need constant attention, thank goodness I’m handy and do it all myself (though I did pay carpet installers after I removed the carpet). We look at the new coaches at the shows to see what we might want to buy in 10 years, but who knows?

Walt

[USMCRET]

I’ve been “buying a new coach” for two years now.

Whenever I pull into an upscale park and take a look around, I really want a coach that looks like those. I waffle a lot on the issue. What’s keeping me in what I have is I own it outright, it’s relatively simple to maintain, and it’s still pretty danged reliable. Add in the fact that the state I live in practically taxes you to death on MHs ($46K total over first six years of ownership of $250K MH) and I have yet to pull the trigger.

I may go newer sometime in the next two years, but only if we leave this state for good. Otherwise, I’m in a quality coach that continues to serve us well.

[Spdracr39]

I also bought what I could afford IE an older coach. I am however turned off by all the gadgets that must be controlled by electronic cpu's and touch screens. If I had to replace I would do my best to avoid all the high tech gizmo's but you have to choose from what is available. The day I need to control every component of my RV from my phone on the couch is the day I become too lazy to travel. If that's how you roll more power to you it just isn't for me.

[TheLuvShack]

Originally Posted by R.Wold

What worries me most is all this finicky electronics stuff multiplexed and integrated and controlled by a cpu of some kind, placed in the mobile environment and utilized in a variety of weather conditions causing significant temperature and humidity variations, in a vibrating, shock-loaded environment, in a coach I want to keep for more than 10 years and Im beginning to think Id be better off buying an older low milage coach from simpler times and keeping it up to snuff, rather than trying to get 10 or 15 relatively trouble free years out of coaches that seem to have trouble making it to two or three without a laundry list of problems that the end user is hard put to tackle on his own, sending him to expensive shops for bewildering diagnostics in systems that will soon be obsolete themselves. So yeah, Im a little concerned...

I agree completely but don't know what the answer is. My example is the cars I own. Both are not new but advanced electronic accessories have been used in autos for many years. My 2008 BMW's electronics are failing and very very expensive to repair. Some electronically control accessories no longer work but it runs and I keep it because engine and transmission are strong I enjoy driving it. Other car is a 2012 Buick Enclave. Similar electronic issues. Runs good and it set up to flat tow. The future seems to be electronically controlled everything. Cars, homes and appliances. Sometimes less is more.

[scenic route]

We recently went to a RV show...all the frustration with numerous repairs and the cost of upgrades to our new to us Monaco, melted away.