Deciding on the right older motorhome

[stepside454]

Originally Posted by Sunny1

Hi Stepside,
It has the Chevy chassis with a 454. I like that it has the tag with it being such a short wheelbase. Can't imagine how it would feel in crosswinds or the wobble wobble of the passing semi-truck effect without the tag. As for the mountains - there's no doubt that we aren't breaking any speed records getting to the top. However, there's no mountain pass that it won't go over. I just turn on the four way flashers, shift down to 2nd gear, and generally just fall in line with the semi trucks. You can definitely hear the engine getting a workout under the doghouse, but it's still easy to carry on a conversation. I'm sure yours will perform the exact same getting over any mountain. Just don't push it on the speed and take your time. I guess an added benefit of going so slow is you have more time to enjoy the passing scenery ... lol.

Kirk

Do you pull a car ? If so do you pull it up & down mtns?

[Sunny1]

Originally Posted by stepside454

Do you pull a car ? If so do you pull it up & down mtns?

What goes up must come down ... haha.

My parents pulled a Ford Explorer and a Ford Ranger behind it, and would comment that you didn't even know anything was back there. They drove it all over the western US to include multiple trips to Alaska, and every state in the west. I've towed a GMC Acadia and totally could tell it was back there. Because of that I'm going to get myself a tow dolly (I kind of like the Acme Eze Tow with surge brakes) and will tow a Honda Accord that is my high schoolers ride. I think that will be a lot easier on the rv.

[Sunny1]

Edmck,
I was mowing my lawn today and thinking about your budget. Others have mentioned money pit for your price range - that may be true, but you can also spend $150,000 on a nice Diesel Pusher that turns into a money pit.

Anyways. You said your budget is $20k. If you're a good negotiator, and enjoy the hunt of a great deal (some folks are into that, others not so much) make sure you are looking at coaches that are more than your budget. I'd do searches for as high as in the low to mid 30's. You'll find nicer coaches in that range, and a seller may be much more motivated to sell when they realize you're a serious buyer with the cash to pay (I'm not even sure if you can finance an older motorhome, but we all know that cash talks). After you look and do enough research you will get a good feel for what is and isn't a good deal. I believe your best bet is going to be to find a private seller who just wants an offer because they don't use their RV anymore for whatever reason and would take $20k for a coach they have listed at $30k. Maybe I'm a little optimistic, but I think it can get yourself a pretty good older coach for your budget. Just make sure you have some reserves for repairs and setting up a tow vehicle as has been mentioned.

[Winemaker2]

We have really enjoyed our older Winnie Adventurer and think the Workhorse chassis and Adv layout is a real plus in a smaller MH.
Wish we were closer as we are just listing it with the intention of moving up to a diesel pusher.
Winnebago Adventurer

The RV Reviews : RVs For Sale, New RV Prices, and Used RVs reviews might help sort some of your options.

Good luck with the search

[stepside454]

We bought our 96 36 ft Bounder 3 years ago for 14k. We have a total of about 20K in it now , that's after adding headers , no tires , a few other minor repairs . We've been happy with it .

[stepside454]

Kirk , mine has a 3500 lbs tow rating

[BUB1988]

The price range you have is good for a gasser, as previously mentioned. About7 years ago we bought a 1988 32' Fleetwood Southwind with 60K on the clock. The owners were the second owners and had every receipt ever spent on the RV, even from the original owners. We drove the RV for 4 years and 21k miles with no problems, except, tires and normal maintenance. Moral of this story is that good older RV's are out there. As long as you are not in a hurry you can take your time and find a good one. We never drove the RV out west but did take several trips from Florida to Upstate New York. Did the mountains just fine, slow but fine

[Fordiesel250]

DW & myself went thru the same thing you are getting ready to do. We are retired living on a fixed income and took the money out of our personal savings and looked and purchased a used Holiday Rambler 37 foot Imperial motorhome with a Cummins N14 diesel. Be prepared to put some $$ into the old girl as she may need some items replaced. Tires, batteries ect. so you will not be surprised by what might be needed.

[4Fingers]

We bought our DutchStar DP for just a it more than your budget. It also had a toad and hitch with it(see signature). We watch craigslist's for about 2 years and found ours. Like everyone says the floor plan is one of the most important things. We love ours. Sure we stole it but the seller was wanting rid of it. 80K miles, needed a little bit of work. We plan on keeping it for a long time.

Happy Motoring
Don & Susan

[bobbelcher]

I bought a 1998 fleetwood pace arrow 34 foot. no slides. dual air conditioner. rear queen bed in the rear, largest bathroom i have seen in a motorhome without slides between the bedroom and living area.It has the dinnette and jackknife couch. There are plenty of room to move around in there without the need for slides. Its very roomy as I am a larger guy at 6 foot 5 inches tall and heavier than I need to be lol.

The things I love about this motorhome is the location of the generator being under the drivers seat away from my sleeping quarters. The genny is a 5500 onan and has all the power I could need with this rv including enough power to run both air conditioners.

I also love that its a ford chassis with a v8 gas motor. I dont have to take this motorhome in to have a dealer work on it like the "big boys" do. I did a full tuneup on it myself for under 200 dollars and bought all my parts at the same place I bought them for my daily driver.

Things I wish I had that a newer model would have orrrrr if I wanted to spend the money. Automatic awning. Being a guy who travels alone it would make it much easier plus having the wind sensors so I didn't have to worry about it if the wind kicked up. Carrying capacity.... THIS WAS/IS A BIG ISSUES. My tires are small. They are just light truck tires at size 16. I helped my cause with my new hercules h-901 tires by adding load carrying capacity, but at a full water and fuel tank this thing is just about maxed out on normal tires. (granted i have carried 14 ppl with coolers and beer on the old tires without a problem but I wouldn't ever do that again)

All in all This motorhome is perfect for me. Its cheap as i paid under 15k for it, It has all the amenities I want or need with plenty of storage and room and its easy to work on myself without bleeding me dry on dealer costs. I also found the best deal I could as this motorhome was taken care of exceptionally well for the first almost 20 years of its life and the original owner went out and bought all the bells and whistles for it when he got bought it.

[TechWriter]

Originally Posted by edmck101

We want to take about $20K from savings and purchase an older Class A . . .

PPL Motorhomes lists what recent Diesel and Gas sold for. Here's a list of what sold so far in 2017 in your price range:

DIESEL
$21000 39' 1998 Serengeti Xi Limited 300Hp Caterpillar w/Slide
$20995 36' 1998 Itasca Sunflyer 275Hp Cummins w/Slide
$6600 24' 1992 Trek Other

GAS
$18995 35' 2001 Dutch Star By Newmar w/Slide
$18995 35' 2003 Sea Breeze By National RV w/2 Slides
$17955 27' 2001 Aurora w/2 Slides
$16995 36' 2000 Holiday Rambler Endeavor w/Slide
$16500 33' 2005 Sea Breeze By National RV w/2 Slides
$15500 32' 2003 Independance
$15000 34' 1999 Pace Arrow By Fleetwood w/2 Slides
$14459 36' 1998 Pace Arrow Vision By Fleetwood w/2 Slides
$14000 34' 1999 Southwind By Flee
$13000 35' 2000 Bounder w/2 Slides
$11900 30' 1997 Hurricane
$9999 35' 1986 Airstream 345
$9000 34' 1998 Allegro Bay By Tiffin w/Slide
$8995 34' 1993 Pace Arrow By Fleetwood
$7995 26' 1998 Flair By Fleetwood
$4995 33' 1993 Airstream

[winniman]

If you could up it just a bit, you could probably get a gas job with either the v 10 ford engine and chassis, or the 8.1 chevy engine and chassis. Both I believe are good units. Mine has the v 10 ford. Its a 2000 and is still going strong. A lot of the older units with tags had the tag because they are built on a much smaller frame, and needed the tag to make up the difference. They seem like a much narrower truck frame under a wider body on top. Never owned one but dont like the idea of a narrower frame under a wider body. Could be a prone to being a bit tippy and sway a bit. Just a hunch.

[edmck101]

I've learned a lot reading the comments in this thread. First (and probably foremost), I was wrong to assume that Arizona coaches should be avoided. We drive past the airplane graveyard park near Tuscon once a month, and those old airliners are stored there out because they will not deteriorate in the dry desert climate. New motorhome decals can replace old faded decals, but motorhome mechanicals last much longer in this climate. I should have realized that going in.

It's not too hard around here to find older motorhomes priced under $20K. I stopped by a service facility in Mesa yesterday, RV Renovators, and learned that the cost to replace the decals on a 32'–33' coach usually runs around $4–5K "depending". Replacing carpet is $150 a lineal foot. Those are good numbers to have before making an offer on anything. Looks like I'll need around $7K or 8K to handle cosmetic updates.

We will keep looking. Again, many thanks to those who took their time to answer my post.

[Isaac-1]

My advice is to keep shopping and looking for deals, and don't be afraid to look at ones with asking prices $5,000 -$8,000 higher than your budget, you can always make an offer and the worst that may happen is they turn it down. Just remember even a well cared for coach of this age will likely have some gaps in its care.

I bought a 28 ft 2002 Safari Trek with an 8.1 on a P32 chassis about 6 months ago, the asking price was $25,000 (it had numerous recent upgrades with new dometic fridge, tires, batteries, carpet , seating, flat tv, pure sine wave inverter, 400 watts of solar panels, and $2,500 of suspension work,... done since 2014), I offered $19,500 and we settled on $20,500 even though it had only been listed for sale for a couple of days.

In the 6 months I have owned it I have found myself spending at least $600 per month on maintenance and upgrades, this has been a mix of DIY maintenance, upgrades, and some professional service. Some were $10-$20 items, others were $550 line items, these ranged from new LED Headlights, and side marker lights and sockets as most of the old exterior light sockets had corroded, which is surprising given the lack of frame corrosion. Other issues included installing new shock absorbers in place of the factory originals, new suspension bushings, or flushing various fluids that it seems no one ever thought to change in the last 15 years and 75,000 miles (such as the power steering fluid which was black, and apparently causing brake pedal return problems in the hydrobooster). Just last week it spent 2 full days in the shop getting the dash air conditioner working reliably to the tune of $450, the mechanic I have used for decades and trust told me it was a hair pulling experience tracking down the problems with 3 separate wiring issues, bad fan power connector (charred), bad pressure switch wire (corroded green connector), and bad plug on the relay in the fuse box, plus being a couple of ounces low on refrigerant.

The sad thing is I know I still have another $1,500 - $2,000 to spend before I get all the things on my want to do list checked off, but at least hopefully their is light at the end of the tunnel, and I can move on into just routine maintenance.

Now it may sound like I bought a money pit, personally I still think my Trek was in very good condition, and the money I have been spending on it is to bring it back into prime condition, it is just that some things always get overlooked, like changing out those $80 carbon monoxide detectors every 5 years. (the ones in my motorhome had a 1998 manufacture date and were 3 years old when it was built in Nov of 2001).