Optimum amount of miles to buy a Used DP

[RightUR]

I usually buy all my stuff brand new. But in the DP community I often hear not to buy a DP brand new. So I was wondering how many miles should a DP have on it before YOU buy it? How many miles should it NOT have? what's too many miles and what's too few? thanks so much.

[FIRE UP]

There is no set amount of miles that should be on a coach before you buy it. This is all a matter of opinion. As we all know, there's plenty of folks that either order a coach or, walk in and, drive one out, brand new. One of the primary reasons that many folks wait on just about ANY coach, before they open their wallet is, DEPRECIATION. Just about anything on wheels depreciates a fair amount as you drive it off the lot, for the first time.

So, folks take advantage of that when it comes time for their next purchase. But, as stated, some don't care and want to be the first ones to own whatever vehicle they're buying brand new. As for miles on a Diesel, again, there is no set amount. There are some on here that run away from a coach that's say, 10 years old but only has 2,000 miles on it. Not me. I would dig around, inspect, crawl under, over, on top, in front, behind, inside and everything to do as thorough of an inspection on that low mileage coach that I could possibly do. Then, a nice, thorough test drive to check all the drivetrain characteristics. If all is what it's supposed to be, and we like the floor plan, who gives a rats a.. if it's only got 2,000 miles on it and it's 10 year old, if it's for us, WE BUY IT.

As for max mileage on a diesel, well, most of us seasoned diesel drivers know, they're for the most part, bullet proof for many, many thousands of miles. Buying one with 100K on it is NO BIG DEAL. You might get a better deal on it due to that kind of mileage but, there's no operational issue with that kind of mileage. The chassis's are strong, well built and, very dependable.

Sure stuff might wear but, that's a given. Our brakes on our present coach, an '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the C-7 330HP CAT with presently 83,000 miles, are over 3/4" thick. Heck, I suspect they'll go easily to 160-180,000 before I need to even start worrying about them. So, in all reality, there is no max or minimum miles on a diesel. You find one, you check it out, if you like it and all of it suits you and the CEO, again, it doesn't matter how many of how little there is on it. Good luck.
Scott

[Mrb1ll]

Fire Up covered the issues very well. Get an inspection from a qualified technician, have a fluids test, and enjoy it at a much reduced price.

[theroc]

I'm not sure why people would specifically say not to buy a diesel pusher brand new.

I've heard many say not to buy ANY motorhome brand new but it mostly is related to the house portion of the motorhome. Any brand new motorhome or RV is going to have numerous "punch list -type" items that have to be adjusted, repaired, replaced, etc. that are house related.

Many say to buy used because the original owners will have taken care of all these nuisance items that sometimes take multiple trips back to the selling dealership or the factory to complete. If buying a motorhome that is a few years old, it takes that back-and-forth with the dealer out of your hands ...or a significant portion of it anyway.

The engine and chassis components normally do not require as much going back to the dealer. Yes, there may be some issues that may have to be addressed pertaining to the chassis where the original owner has to take it to a factory authorized chassis manufacturer service center but usually not as many instances as those pertaining to the house portion.

We've purchased two brand new diesel pushers and never had to take either back to have engine or chassis issues repaired, adjusted, or replaced. We've had Cummins and Cat engines that were perfect from the start without any issues at all. Both our new DPs were on almost perfect Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation chassis and any minor issues were quickly addressed and solved by Freightliner ...the FCCC factory at Gaffney SC by phone or assisting in cooperation with a local service center to quickly solve the issue ...again, all minor.

The engine and other chassis components will usually have far fewer issues when new compared to the house. Almost everybody will have a list of house issues that have to be adjusted, fixed, replaced, etc. within the first year or two.

Pertaining to the mileage on a used coach, as other have said, diesels are run for hundreds of thousands of miles on commercial buses and trucks. So there's not a maximum mileage that should prevent you from considering a used DP.

However, what you may want to be skeptical of is a low mileage older diesel pusher. Diesels are meant to run. One that sits around might be one that may present more to worry about than one with over 100k miles that has been well maintained for instance.

[Ivylog]

Most MHs get used 4-8,000/year. More than 8K usually means more wear on the house...more days of use. Even a 300+ HP Cat C7/3126 is good for 250K miles. A Cummin 8.3/ISC/ISL closer to 500K and the ISM/ISX a million. Even at 8,000 miles/year it will take 30+ years to get to 250K miles. Not many 30 years old MHs still on the road because the house has fallen apart, not the chassis.

[pduggs]

It is all about how the prior owner maintained the coach. We have all seen many 10-20 year old coaches on the road and in very good condition. I spoke with the original owner of a 2006 Monaco Executive with 100k on the clock. The coach looked like new. The owner clearly maintained it well. If he were to sell it, I suspect you could get a smoking good deal on a great coach. Sure...there will be things you need to fix, but you saved a bundle of cash over buying new, not that there is anything wrong with buying new.

It goes without saying, but you need to focus your search on well made high end older diesel coaches.

[Mark D]

It's more age than miles. 4 to 7 years seems to be the sweet spot. Be cautious when you see a 6 year old coach with only 10,000 miles but don't exclude it. Just look better at items that suffer from sitting.

We bought ours at 6 years old. It was a repo and had a few issues. We paid 30k under book and spent a few thousand to fix all the issues. The issues were due to a previous owner being a dolt.

It's a gamble even with a well maintained high end unit. I always recommend that you find a floor plan you like in your budget then hunt for a good, fair priced coach with that floor plan.

[Big Dude]

When I've commented about not buying brand new (which I did) it was due to the growing pains with the coach and not the chassis (can be some here as well) or mileage. I would look at 2yrs and older that has been used enough for the coach manufacturing issues and early component failures to have been discovered and dealt with plus you don't have to take the early depreciation hit which includes the dealer profit.

[MSHappyCampers]

Hi ! Welcome to IRV2! We're sure glad you joined the gang!

I agree with FIRE UP!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

[Zapper58]

We looked and contemplated alot about stepping up to a DP. We were full timing in a 30' class c with a 2' square shower. Did not want to go bigger than 35' , and thought we'd try one. Found a low mile, 11 yr old one . Being a retired mechanic /jack of all trades proceed to get all the bugs out. Driveline wise was mostly oil ,filter , grease, inspect. It gets better fuel economy than my previous gasser , pulls the hills better, quieter. Cost wise was a fair price for the year. It looked like it had sat for a while, no issues withe mechanical, just the michelin tires cracking.

[RightUR]

[QUOTE=theroc;4171363]I'm not sure why people would specifically say not to buy a diesel pusher brand new.


"Pertaining to the mileage on a used coach, as other have said, diesels are run for hundreds of thousands of miles on commercial buses and trucks. So there's not a maximum mileage that should prevent you from considering a used DP. "

True. True. All valid points. I really appreciate your expertise. Even the above point is very valid and incontestable. My only answer to that though, is that Commercial buses and trucks, almost Always, get parked in the Companies Motor shop/parking lot/warehouses where all the Company mechanics service them almost on a daily basis and make them ready for the next day. Kind of like commercial Airplanes. Like in the military, we would pick up the vehicle at the "MOTOR POOL" (where the military mechanics work and where military vehicles are parked) use it for the day and then take it back to the "Motor Pool." But you are absolutely right, I never made the connection between Commercial diesel busses/trucks and MHs, duh. lol. Hmmm kinda makes me think, now that you mentioned that: Many commercial busses use LPG (propane) or Natural gas, why not make MH like that? Anyway that's for a another thread. lol. thanks so much.

[theroc]

Hi RightUR. No, you have a valid point that really does supersede my point. Yes, commercial buses and trucks will be serviced and maintained regularly (in most cases).

I guess the point I was attempting to make but didn't do a very good job is for me, if I were looking to buy a used motorhome, I'd be looking more for impeccable maintenance rather than mileage alone. In fact, personally, I probably would NOT discount any motorhome because of mileage only if it had been maintained especially well. I suppose this would apply to any motorhome, diesel or gas.

And I don't know how appealing an LPG or CNG fueled motorhome would be. Yeah, there have been some discussions on this on the forum but I don't think either make too much sense for motorhomes and the way we use them. LPG may be good for local transit buses (although they are now moving toward all-electric battery operation), delivery vehicles, garbage trucks, and the more stop-and go-applications. CNG would definite be difficult to find as we travel around the country in our motorhomes. I for one wouldn't want to be hunting around for a CNG station in our travels.

[dmurdock]

Originally Posted by pduggs

It is all about how the prior owner maintained the coach. We have all seen many 10-20 year old coaches on the road and in very good condition. I spoke with the original owner of a 2006 Monaco Executive with 100k on the clock. The coach looked like new. The owner clearly maintained it well. If he were to sell it, I suspect you could get a smoking good deal on a great coach. Sure...there will be things you need to fix, but you saved a bundle of cash over buying new, not that there is anything wrong with buying new.

It goes without saying, but you need to focus your search on well made high end older diesel coaches.

Except when in use mine has lived it's entire live inside an enclosed building and still looks new inside/out. I have 150k on it and still doesn't use any oil (knock on wood - don't want to curse the RV gods!!). As has been said, miles are basically irrelevant...care/upkeep is the main thing. The only time mileage would concern me was an old coach with low miles..for some reason these things don't like sitting..the more they are used the more reliable they are.

[Dutch Star Don]

I think the whole mileage thing is often regurgitated and is misleading. Yes, a diesel can go a million miles and when installed in a semi, it does. But......that million miles was done in a short amount of time and often the entire body (flyer) is changed out.

If someone said they had a 5 year old diesel pusher with 250K miles on it I wouldn't go near it with a ten foot pole. The 250K will equate to a lot of worn out things, like brakes, water pump, fan drive, fuel pumps, shocks, bushings, etc. Yes, those pistons will go up and down for a million miles while a lot of other stuff wears out and would be very expensive to replace in the RV world.

Imagine what the exterior of a coach would look like with 250K on it.....worn out and beat up. So mileage is important!

Keep in mind that less than about 1% of the RV population comes on these forums. Of that one percent, many are here to complain about their coach. We've owned four new RV's over the last 40 years, including two diesel pushers and never had the issues like some on here. Issues we do have are resolved quickly and we move on.

I would much rather have a brand new DP that needs a couple of items fixed or changed, versus buying something that isn't what I really wanted and still requires repair and changing things that others have done.

Buying new on here is always criticized by those who buy used. I wonder why that is?