Community Forums

zekethomas · 06-29-2019, 02:55 PM

Ok, here is the story: We have a 2015 Vista that is 32 feet. The Vista has been a great RV for us, but in the long run, it is too small to live in. For travels the Vista is wonderful. Not too big, but big enough. It has everything you want and we added a washing machine.

In a year or two, we will move out of our house and go full time. The idea is to look at 1998 to 2004 DP's that have NOT been remodeled and have reasonable mileage (less than 70,000). We will take it to a diesel shop to assess the drive train and suspension before buying. Must haves are a washing machine and/or hookups, and the biggest shower area we can find. After that, we will go through the house and update floors, residential fridge, solar, etc.

The goal is to buy around $25K and then spend another 10K to remodel inside.

Thoughts, ideas, experiences and recommendations are appreciated. I am sure some of you have done this. Can it be done? Am I dreaming? ...

ZT

SeaWolfHans · 06-29-2019, 03:16 PM

Diesel Pusher all the way.

funmoneypit · 06-29-2019, 03:43 PM

I think its a great idea. I think you may find it difficult to find a good pusher for $25k. Good luck with your search. Sounds fun.

Nohurry · 06-29-2019, 03:57 PM

My .02 worth; first off, good idea but I’d spend the whole wad on one that you didn’t have to remodel. They’re out there, and why spend time doing that, when you could be enjoying the coach. There will be things that come up as you go along any way, so just deal with them as you go. You of course know what you can comfortably afford, but if you could I’d bump it up to $50K. I ended up buying a used gas a year ago, but in our search, that seemed to be the starting point for reliable/clean diesels, of course YMMV. Best of luck, and enjoy the search, and journey.

Roadmiester · 06-29-2019, 07:43 PM

The years you are looking at will need more than just some interior remodeling. At that age you will have chassis components beginning to wear out. Like someone said, buy one that has already paid for the remodel stuff, which will be pennies on the dollar for you. Battery banks will be hundreds. Tires. Are you doing the remodel work yourself? We replace washer and dryer, which were not the same size, I had to modify the cabinet in order to put the doors back on. Shop wanted $600, I did it for less than $50 using solid cherry wood. We updated all appliances, batteries(8 AGM's) and some other stuff, add it all up and we had about $10k into things by the time we were done. Good luck.

Outbound · 06-29-2019, 07:53 PM

Do not expect to get slides for 25K if your looking for a quality DP. And there are still a lot of great high end coaches in the year range you are looking for that do not need remodeling, some of the best built coaches where built in early/mid 2000's.

RiverBurt · 06-29-2019, 08:20 PM

I don’t care about slides, but regardless $25k ain’t gonna get you something $10k will make right. I think you’re $10-$15k short of the mark.

mtofell · 06-29-2019, 08:39 PM

I'm in the planning stages as well and have spent an embarrassing number of hours researching all ages and price points. I agree that for 25K you are not going to get anything close to what it sounds like you are expecting. A 25K diesel pusher is not worth putting 10K into. I think around 50K you start to get into some nice coaches like your are talking about.... maybe 40K if you are really patient and catch a good deal.

There is also kind of a moving target with the roll out of the emissions around 07-09. This will likely create some funny trends with pricing of coaches over the next 5-10 years. Pre-emission ones hold their value well to say the least. The same thing happened with diesel pickup trucks of that time frame. I sold a pre-emission diesel Chevy truck for a totally ridiculous amount of money just due to the scarcity. I envision the same thing happening with RVs. The 04-06ish models will command a premium as there is a slug of coaches that many folks (myself included) really have no interest in. Also, there really weren't too many coaches made (relatively) in the 08-10 years due to the recession. To me, an 05-06ish coach is my ideal but I just hope I can find one (and afford it) when I'm ready in a few years.

Airboss68 · 06-30-2019, 07:21 AM

Not sure about condition but these come close to the OPs parameters:

https://www.rvtrader.com/Used-1998-C...uelType=diesel

funmoneypit · 06-30-2019, 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Airboss68

Not sure about condition but these come close to the OPs parameters:

https://www.rvtrader.com/Used-1998-C...uelType=diesel

First one I clicked on (2000 Fleetwood BOUNDER 39Z) hasn't been driven in 5 years. All tires need to be replaced. House batteries need to be replaced. Cracked windshield. Who knows what else isn't going to work or need repairs with it sitting so long.

zekethomas · 06-30-2019, 07:56 AM

Thanks for all the inputs!

The research thus far has given me similar thoughts that you have given me here. Get into the $40-50K and something will be pretty nice in this time frame. But I think with some research and some travel to visit the coaches I think there are some 'gems' in the 20-30K range.

I am in Central AZ.. so between Tuscon, Phoenix, Yuma, Las Vegas, Inland Empire where RV's are part of life, there will be something come up. Just takes time.

Certainly I am looking for pre-emissions diesel. Simple, reliable, longer life. (Been in the trucking business most of my life).

I have seen some older Foretravel's and a few other classics that have been taken care of. 2000-2004 Holiday Ramblers, Dutch Stars and Winnies seem to be the rage in the market now.

As for the interior work, I plan to do much of it myself. Not really a handi-man or mechanic, I have found working on my current and previous rigs that most things are not that complicated if you take your time. Going slow is one of my specialties

The idea is to buy this year, have a year to work on it.. and then hit the road shortly after.

Again, great inputs and really appreciate them. And YOU... yes you.. you have some ideas that you have not given yet.. please do!

Shawn6596 · 06-30-2019, 12:35 PM

To everyone saying you can't get a dependable DP for $25k are flat out wrong. My neighbor bought his 98 discovery for $13k. all he had to do was a roof. he is upgrading other things, but the roof was required. it is 38' and has a 14' living room slide. the roof cost his less than $1500 to replace and it took a weekend. I bought an Overland osprey for $22k. it had a leak in the roof at the front cap seam. Yes there are lots of things we upgraded but I could have caulked the cap seam and been on my way. Here are the pix of mine before and after. we are not done yet. I will be installing new tires before we hit the road FT. All said an done I will be around the $10k mark on the upgrades I have done.

Shawn6596 · 06-30-2019, 12:36 PM

Here is the video from the dealer we bought it from.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENFcuIAzKRo&t=385s

marjoa · 06-30-2019, 01:59 PM

After you go through a 20yr. old coach and address all the things that will need to be replaced, you'll end up spending a lot more than 10K to remodel and update....trust me. Even if you do most of the work yourself.

When you have a 20yr. old DP, you'll need to be looking at condition of all rubber stuff on the chassis and that includes the air bags, all rad hoses etc. just to mention a couple of things.

But another thing you really need to pay attention to is FT insurance.
We just renewed ours and had some really good discussions with our agent. And during this time he said emphatically that FT Insurance has recently gone up across the board with all carriers sometimes up to 40% and especially FTer DP's he's seeing some really large increases. I've also been reading a lot of this news from FTers on the web too. Causes....fires on the west coast, flooding and tornado's in the central plains, and flooding and hurricanes on the east coast and of course Florida. To insure your toad can many times cost as much or more than a MH of your age. Insurance carriers and agents a like all say that the reason for this is because there are so many claims with the tow vehicle, either in the tow position or not, and they make us pay for this too.

You'll more than likely have a toad also and when you add it all up you may be surprised or perhaps shocked of what FT insurance is costing these days. It's a whole lot different than when you used your RV as an occasional play thing. That plus your over all cost of operation of a DP, you may want to take a second look at this decision.

Do ALL your homework and go into this with eyes wide open.