DP???

[homeless]

Is there anyone out there that doesn't like his DP? I'm sure a new rig would be ideal engine wise but wouldn't a ten year old DP be expensive to maintain?

[cb1000rider]

Not sure what the question is, but a 10 year old DP up on maintenance shouldn't be much more expensive to maintain than a new one. The unit to watch out for is the unit with no maintenance history. And the cost difference between new and 10-year old can be a factor of 500%. That pays for a LOT of maintenance.

Generally DPs (chassis) are built to last a really really long time.

[UncleBilly]

I bought my rig and its 19yrs old 😜 Engine only has 73,000 mi on her, so she's not even broke in! Inside is damn near perfect. Only exterior problem are the doors I crushed 😖 and the clearcoat that's peeling. Will have that redone. Old Cummins are an all mechanical engine, so no electronics too break. She just purrs down the road! 😜👍🏻👍🏻


1996 Country Coach Intrigue 😜

[Steve Ownby]

Originally Posted by homeless

Is there anyone out there that doesn't like his DP? I'm sure a new rig would be ideal engine wise but wouldn't a ten year old DP be expensive to maintain?

Mine is an '03 and we have lived in it full time for 8 years now. There are 3 general categories of work to do on motorhomes of any type:
1. Repair of non working equipment.
2. Regular PM maintenance.
3. Up dating of functional but obsolete items or wear and tear.

If #1 is kept up as occurred then shouldn't be any worse on a ten year old than a 3-5 year old.
Obviously # 2 should be kept current at all times. If not then you wouldn't want to purchase. Of course this is true on any used coach. On a 4-5 year old coach these PM items have all been done at least once. Tires come up certainly before the 10 year mark. A 10 year old coach has just had More maintenance cycles.
#3 covers lots of ground and is most of what you might run into on a 10 year old coach. Audio/Visual equipment is a big one. Wear and tear items like floor coverings, awnings and slide toppers are examples.

The chassis equipment, particularly on DPs, is very long lived and heavy duty. Again, if regular PM is kept up, the ten year mark is just another birthday.

My coach is 12 years old now, but since I have owned it for 9 of those years I'm very aware of its condition and capability. I would not hesitate to pull in the slides & head for Alaska in the morning.




Steve Ownby
Full time since '07

[MSHappyCampers]

Originally Posted by homeless

Is there anyone out there that doesn't like his DP? I'm sure a new rig would be ideal engine wise but wouldn't a ten year old DP be expensive to maintain?

My 13 year old DP has been very reliable, no serious problems of any kind! We love it

[mel s]

Originally Posted by homeless

Is there anyone out there that doesn't like his DP? I'm sure a new rig would be ideal engine wise but wouldn't a ten year old DP be expensive to maintain?

homeless
I bought my then 5 year old 27k mile coach in '01.
It has beenVERY expensive to maintain... but if you want to play the game you have to pay the price.

If you do want to play the game...the only alternative is to buy a new coach and replace it with another every few years... which, because RVs depreciate so much, so fast....could be 5-6 times more expensive than maintaining a 10 year old coach for 15 or 20 years.

Mel
'96 Safari, 141k miles

[ShapeShifter]

Plain and simple: a diesel coach will indeed be more expensive to maintain than a gas coach. And an old coach is more expensive to maintain than a new coach.

While more expensive, there are enough benefits to having a diesel coach that there are a LOT of people happily driving diesel coaches.

But they are more expensive, and more expensive to maintain, and that's probably why there are a LOT of people happily driving gas coaches.

If you are trying to decide between a gas and diesel coach, there is a piece of advice that is commonly offered: don't test drive a diesel coach if you think you won't want to buy one.

[Cat320]

Just remember, all RVs are in one of three conditions:

- It's broken.
- You just fixed it.
- It's getting ready to break again.

It's the nature of the beast!

[ShapeShifter]

Originally Posted by Cat320

Just remember, all RVs are in one of three conditions:

- It's broken.
- You just fixed it.
- It's getting ready to break again.

It's the nature of the beast!

ROFL! Very good!





Oh... wait a minute... it's true!

[Ramets]

Ours was 10yrs. old when we purchased it in 2010 and went full time. Since it was 10yrs. old I went ahead and bought an extended warranty for peace of mind. It had all the maint. records which was very important to me. Without those I wouldn't have bought it. In the past 5yrs. I've had the front bearings replaced, the ball joints, and a fuel pump. Those are the only major things that have cropped up, but the ESP took care of all that. I've had a few minor problems I've taken care of myself, but that's to be expected. We've done quite a bit of remodeling inside to make it more livable for us. I feel we've done pretty good for ourselves considering we've been from FL. to AK, San Diego to ME., and many, many places in between. I have no regrets buying a 10yr. old at the time diesel pusher.

[MSHappyCampers]

Originally Posted by Ramets

Ours was 10yrs. old when we purchased it in 2010 and went full time. Since it was 10yrs. old I went ahead and bought an extended warranty for peace of mind. It had all the maint. records which was very important to me. Without those I wouldn't have bought it. In the past 5yrs. I've had the front bearings replaced, the ball joints, and a fuel pump. Those are the only major things that have cropped up, but the ESP took care of all that. I've had a few minor problems I've taken care of myself, but that's to be expected. We've done quite a bit of remodeling inside to make it more livable for us. I feel we've done pretty good for ourselves considering we've been from FL. to AK, San Diego to ME., and many, many places in between. I have no regrets buying a 10yr. old at the time diesel pusher.

Has the extended warranty paid off?

[Tha_Rooster]

Originally Posted by homeless

Is there anyone out there that doesn't like his DP? I'm sure a new rig would be ideal engine wise but wouldn't a ten year old DP be expensive to maintain?

It's depends on if you buy someone else's problems.

[Good man]

This is the "Same thing, only different" as a point of reference for your question about the age of a DP RV. Think about this the next time you board a commercial airliner:

"While the average age of a U.S. domestic commercial airliner is 11 years old, it is not uncommon for aircraft to still be in service at 24, 25, even 30 years old. “Twenty-four is not terribly old for an aircraft,” Bill de Decker, chairman of Texas-based Conklin & de Decker Aviation, told TravelPulse this morning.Mar 24, 2015"

OK... I know... I'm comparing commercial air liners to RV's... BUT, the operative concept here is Preventive Maintenance. IF your RV is taken care of, it WILL give many years of service. (And if something DOES fail, at least you won't be 35,000 feet up in the sky!)

Just do your due diligence. Once you get your rig, be sure to stay on top of those PM items. Happy Trails!

[vapor3000]

Originally Posted by homeless

Is there anyone out there that doesn't like his DP? I'm sure a new rig would be ideal engine wise but wouldn't a ten year old DP be expensive to maintain?

Love my diesel. Much better performance than the gassers I have owned. Worth every dime of the additional maintenance $ which is not that much if you do the work yourself.

Mine is a 2004 Newmar 4011 DP and it costs NO more money to maintain the engine than my friends new Tiffin. A ten year old coach may be more $ to maintain, but its not the engine $ cost.

I would never buy one of these things new. A well maintained used class A can cost hundred of thousands dollars less than a new one. You can do a bunch of maintenance for that kind of money!!! The old and new drive the same.