Community Forums

jpmihalk · 05-31-2016, 06:32 AM

We just traded in a 98 Itasca Sunflyer 34 that already has solar and residential fridge with 2 year old tires and new AGM house batteries. It would be great for a long trip under your budget.

beenthere · 06-01-2016, 02:33 PM

old diesel rigs in late '90's are excel;lent choices if they have been used lately. we bought ours for 34g '97 london aire and all systems working and good tires. used mostly shorter trips and 100k on odometer..and dealer wanted 68k the previous yr...very nice interior with one slide...we have replaced radiater last yr, but cost with full fluids was $3200. so cant expect nothing when 17 yrs old..

Brad Felmey · 06-02-2016, 04:41 AM

It's interesting to read the responses - they are all over the map.

I went a slightly different route - I got a '97 Holiday Rambler Vacationer 32CG that had low miles (32k) and a Ford F-53 chassis. It was in great shape but needed updating. I spent $13,500 plus registration/tax.

I then went hog-wild on upgrades and preventative maintenance. I ended up with something somewhat like your budget number, but more to my taste than the open market had at that price point.

Depends upon if you're handy and want to spend 2 months working on your RV every waking hour getting ready to go.

Shaky · 06-02-2016, 06:18 AM

My wife and I bought our Fleetwood used and paid well under 30K for it. I did however know of several repairs that had to be made. By the time we were ready to hit the road we had about 30K tied into it. The 460 Ford on a F53 chassis works like a charm. It is loaded with a washer/dryer combo, a nice fridge, Queen size bed with an upgraded mattress, dining room table and chairs, leather seats in the cab, and other goodies that we have found fun to have. I replaced all the tires, brakes, shocks and had the engine and generator serviced. Add new batteries and digital TVs and we were good to go. That was many miles and years ago. She now has 72,000 miles on her and other that routine maintenance and the occasional light bulb it has been a great motorhome. It's off to Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, The Devils Tower and Deadwood in a month then we snowbird it in AZ for the winter. Home for Spring and early Summer then another road trip. Spend a little extra cash and have a Car Fax run on it. It will save you a lot of headaches in the buying process. Good luck and have fun.

ahicks · 06-02-2016, 06:29 AM

Yes, agreed. Our '97 was very reasonably priced (compared to newer coaches). I spent the next year messing with it (between trips), bringing ALL maintenance up to date (scheduled and non scheduled). This involved tires, batteries, changing all liquids (there's an extensive list when you get into that!), plus going over the entire exterior of the coach, sealing and resealing as required. I just picked at it as I'm lucky to be able to park/work on it in my driveway.

If I had to pay somebody to do that, I couldn't afford to own a coach like this (or I wouldn't want to!).

The 12 year old plus coaches that are still in good condition are where the serious bargains are at. The banks don't like to finance them, pretty much forcing sellers to find and deal with cash buyers, forcing serious discounts. As a buyer, that's awesome, just keep in mind that some day you're going to be a seller with the same problem (cash only buyers). Making a mistake when buying something like this (like we did on our first one) can be expensive.

We bought and restored a 34' coach we thought was huge - until we got back from our 2nd or 3rd trip where a decision was made to replace it. We learned we wanted/needed a slide out if were were going to be comfortable spending any time at a location, and frankly, the brakes (the 34' was a gasser) left a little to be desired in some situations (yes, functioning perfectly, but we were near max gross weight).

Finding an older coach that's in good condition, or one that can be brought back reasonably, will be a challenge. You're going to spend some serious time looking at junk to find the diamond.... -Al

kpetrey1 · 06-03-2016, 12:26 AM

Thanks for all the replies. I decided to up the budget from 30k to 40K and negotiate one down from the 40K range. Narrowed it down to Winnys, Tiffin, Newmar and Bounders from 2005-2007 and 33-36 ft long. I'm still a few months out from a purchase so in the meantime reading and reading a bunch

BBelanger · 06-03-2016, 01:55 AM

We are selling our 2004 Georgetown XL 359 3 slides with 10,000 miles on it to order a DSDP. Not in a hurry because it will probably be quite a while before our new one is built anyway. The original owner bought it at a show up here in Northern Maine (Caribou) with 1800 miles from the factory on it. He and his wife went on two trips and decided it wasn't for them. They put it in heated storage until I bought it last year. We put 6 new tires, all new batteries, hoses and belts, just because of age. We put 5,000 miles on it last summer. It has all the options and of course the paint is like new. The stickers were still in the sink and shower. We bought it to see if we liked RVing. Its 35' 9" Send me an email if interested and I can send pics. Bill@TrackerSystems.com I paid 40 for it last year, I'd take 35k