Community Forums

cucotx · 05-11-2014, 04:22 PM

Alright. There seems to be some interest in this forum for buying used instead of new. Let's say that I find a great used coach, may be it is 10 years old. Luckily, it does have the desirable innards for the DW and the chassis for me.

But, I look at it and I wish it looked better on the outside.

So, I wonder how much it would cost to paint a used 45' motorhome, e.g. Newmar Mountain Aire or Entegra Cornerstone. How much to make it like new?

Could you even find a place to have it repainted? Would the manufacturers do it?

Is it even cost effective? I mean, new coaches with full body paint spend weeks in the paint shop at the manufacturer. So this may not even be cost effective. But, I figure I would ask the question to see if old DP chassis and coaches can be kept running longer.

UFO Pilot · 05-11-2014, 04:36 PM

A friend of mine has his 40' Alfa painted (full body with design) 3 years ago in Indiana. I believe he paid $12,000 to $14,000 range.

Triker56 · 05-11-2014, 04:45 PM

Quote:

So, I wonder how much it would cost to paint a used 45' motorhome, e.g. Newmar Mountain Aire or Entegra Cornerstone. How much to make it like new?

Those models should already have full body paint. If they need repainted I wouldn't want to buy it. As many other things probably wasn't taken care of either.

Instead of buying a 10 year old and painting. Buy a 8 year old that doesn't need painted. Cost you the same.

deandec · 05-11-2014, 04:46 PM

I have heard costs of $10,000 to $30,000.

More labor and material for each overlayed graphic color. Remove all windows, covers, chrome, lights, etc. = more labor.

Change color scheme = more labor and material.

2 stage paint vs single stage paint or boat paint = more labor.

Cost effective? Probably not, if by effective you want to recover some or all of your cost at sale time. Certainly will not increase your fuel mileage........

In my case 12 years of indoor storage cost premium, vs outdoor storage, might have justified avoiding the cost of repaint, but still would not be cost effective.

bokobird · 05-11-2014, 05:34 PM

Precision Painting paints a number of manufacturers coaches and the web site also talks about both painting and interior work for used coaches.

**CountryFit** · 05-11-2014, 06:14 PM

agree with dean, for a class a, probably 15000 to 30000 for a decent job. it's labor intensive, so if you are in south/southwest and willing to drive to mexico, the cost over there could be about half.

Bill in FL · 05-11-2014, 06:39 PM

Had ours painted at Mike's Custom Painting in Bremen, IN two years ago. 40 feet cost $11,000. It is an outstanding job and made it easy to get a decent price at trade. Check their website. They are a great company.

cucotx · 05-11-2014, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Triker56

... If they need repainted I wouldn't want to buy it. As many other things probably wasn't taken care of either ...

My thoughts are that a good quality chassis, like a Spartan K3 and a good quality coach, Newell/Entegra/Newmar with an interior that still looks good, could be made new for a lot less than a new coach.

So, buy a 12-year old Cornerstone for 100K and drive it for 5 more years. Now, at 17 years old, if you have taken good care of the coach, and the engine/trans/chassis still seem to have some life left in it, you could decide that putting $20K into it would upgrade all the innards, e.g. Frig, TVs, Microwave, etc. Then, another $30K gets it a shining new paint job ...

So, for a total of $150K, you drive a quality K3 600 HP bus for a while ... Instead of upgrading to a new coach every few years?

I guess there are many ways to skin the cat ... It is just one more alternate way for those of us that would not be in a position to upgrade to a new high end coach every few years or that prefer not spending $500K on an RV every time we buy.

So many ways to enjoy the RV lifestyle ...