Average yearly maintenance cost

[Dan_public]

Originally Posted by teacher29681

I'm thinking about buying a diesel pusher or gas powered Class A 38-40 ft... anything in decent shape for $20K or less. please tell me in total what I should expect to pay per year in maintenance for the whole thing including refrigerators heaters engine routine maintenance etc if I Drive an average of 6,000 miles a year in it both diesel and gasoline? I'm trying to see if I can budget for this. Thanks for your input! Brian

Brian,

Other folks have covered the RV issues well. Except for one - the dingy vehicle. If you get a larger Class A, you'll need a dingy vehicle for it.

If your current car/truck can be towed 4-down, that's great. If not, then you have to budget for getting something that can be towed 4-down or buy a trailer of some sort. Here's a link to the Dinghy Guides from MotorHome magazine: Downloadable Dinghy Guides | MotorHome Magazine. The current guide is free: http://prodcontent.s3.amazonaws.com/2014DinghyGuide.pdf. Earlier guides are $1.99 each. This help you understand if your Dingy is towable 4-down.

If your vehicle is towable, you still have to get a tow bar installed. My CRV Dinghy came with a tow bar installed, so I'm not sure of the cost, but I think it will be close to $1,000. (Other folks, please comment on this.) So that's more money you have to allocate.

When we bought our coach, we bought it's 2004 Honda CRV tow vehicle. It was all set up with a good tow bar system. It only had 72,000 miles and appeared in great condition. Cost: $6,000. Good deal? Not quite...

After buying it, we found that it needed new front struts, brakes, clutch, plugs, tires, alignment, and a bunch of other things. Total cost: another $6,000. And the stereo is an antique (no bluetooth, HD radio, etc). So I'm upgrading it too. Cost? Another $700. I think the throttle body plate needs to be cleaned and maybe some other minor fixes, which will be another $200-300.

Overall cost of the dinghy? $13,000. Worth it? Not so sure, but it runs and stops very well now. So I'm satisfied.

Please keep in mind that this is not like owning a car or truck that you drive every day to work. Your RV and dinghy need to run and stay running. You don't want your RV to break down in the middle of nowhere. And if it does, your dinghy is your lifeline. Both have to run well.

I believe that this supports the overall response theme in this thread - budget more $.

Good luck and safe travels!

Regards,

Dan.

[Peralko]

Originally Posted by Triker56

Any DP or gas you can find for 20K and under probably will need a lot of maintenance to start of with.

All replacement of belts & hoses will be due. All filters & fluid, steering, front hubs, rear axle, fuel, engine, transmission etc. will need done.

PPL has only 1 DP under 20K for sale and 6 under 30K & 4 of them with a slide.

Not so fast! Our coach has been well maintained over it's life, and we spent a considerable amount last year to totally renovate the chassis. And I'm sure there are many others out there that have been similarly taken care of.

[Dan_public]

Originally Posted by Peralko

Not so fast! Our coach has been well maintained over it's life, and we spent a considerable amount last year to totally renovate the chassis. And I'm sure there are many others out there that have been similarly taken care of.

Peralko,

Sounds like a nice coach and a great option for Brian. Would you sell yours for $20K? Hmmm...

I'm guessing, but I suspect that a nicely renovated coach like yours would be worth more that $20K. And that a "less preserved" coach would need a "considerable amount" to bring it up to snuff.

Regards,

Dan.

[mvpmich]

My guess is that someone who has an older coach that has maintained it and also upgraded it is not in the market to sell it, especially for $20k. Bottom line, my experience from owning gasses and dp's is that our exposure was, on the average, about $750 a year more than a gasser for service and maintenance. The previous lists were very thorough but many items apple to gasses as well as a dp. As for fuel, the difference will depend on the specific vehicle, its mpg and the fuel costs. Our current dp averages 10+ mpg even when towing. Our A got 6-8 when not towing. So if we drove 100 miles it would be cheaper in the dp! As for towing, it really doesn't matter if you have a 36' dp or gasser as to needing a toad. Cost would be the same except for the reduce mpg towing with a gasser.

[deandec]

Originally Posted by teacher29681

I'm thinking about buying a diesel pusher or gas powered Class A 38-40 ft... anything in decent shape for $20K or less. please tell me in total what I should expect to pay per year in maintenance for the whole thing including refrigerators heaters engine routine maintenance etc if I Drive an average of 6,000 miles a year in it both diesel and gasoline? I'm trying to see if I can budget for this. Thanks for your input! Brian

You did not mention whether you will be doing your own repairs and maintenance or hiring someone at $110/hr to do the work.

There will be a big difference in annual costs.

Frankly, I can only justify owning our old rig because I have learned to fix things myself. Sometimes I have to fix them twice. Once for practice and once for results. But my time is free and the parts and materials are reasonable. After 12 years of practice, I now have been in almost every nook and cranny.

Hiring someone to trace an electrical problem, for instance, can get to be very expensive quickly.

There are 4 electrical power sources for two levels of electrical systems in most Class A rigs. Things can get confusing rapidly.