Officially my first post.
Bear with me..I used to write GMP guidelines and now try not to post novels but cant seem to avoid it.
I do try to post relevant information, its just a lot. lol I did put in a TLDR spot
I am looking at two 2000 Coachmen Santaras. The difference is price, mileage and upkeep. I think i already know my answer but want to bounce my reasoning off someone.
Both coaches, exact same floorplan. One has whitewashed cabinets and green/wine colors. The other mid color oak with a jacobean pattern multi color.
Both have washer/dryer
Both have a drivers side door
Ford V-10 engine
both have satellite - not in motion though.
Asking prices are negotiable.
Both are local
Negative about the floorplan. The bedroom is tiny. No slide but there is a fair amount of closet space and drawers considering. I HATE carpet in the bathroom but that can be remedied.
The dining is on the non patio side looking at the neighbors campsite. The good about the floorplan. The rest checks all the boxes.
Coach 1- asking $22,000, 43K miles. 2011 tires Michelins. Has sat for the past year not being started. Its on consignment at a small lot that doesnt deal with gassers. They tried to get it started yesterday. The owner is coming out over the weekend (I have to work) to get it running. The lot thinks its a solenoid. I have not been able to pick the owners brain. They live out of the area now.
The roof is likely the original. It looks ok. Didnt get on it and have a look not going to bother if they cant get it running.
I gave it a once over looking for water issues. Smelled ok considering it hadnt been opened for months and had been raining for days. No evidence of wet. No bubbling of the exterior.
No idea if they did any mods to the suspension and havent tested anything yet except the electric steps. The interior is in like new shape. The awnings look ok but havent unrolled them yet.
Coach 2- $17,000 84K miles. 4 yr old tires, dont have the date code to know for sure. They are goodyears. I did a little bit of checking around seems its a durable engine. Not sure about the tranny. Transmission park prawl has been park brake substitute.
Cant figure out what the general cost of replacing the tranny would be.
Owner has owned it its entire life. It is a southern unit. Owner seems to care about it and takes the effort to keep up with it mechanically. They have all the receipts. Used yearly.
Roof rubber removed and replaced 3 years ago. Gets it re coated at Camping world yearly. They don't know what they use. However I have spoke with their lot techs and well cant say its a positive. At least it gets cleaned once a year and something is better than nothing....
New fridge, side by side. Only a year old. New roof AC in the front. It got taken out by a branch. New front awning. Havent seen the slide awning. They have bags on the rear axle, aftermarket and dont know the condition. Not critical to the operation just helps with the squirrelyness when hitting bumps.
Havent been inside, not many pics. Going to look at it tomorrow. They said there are stains near the shower skylight and AC but nothing recent. The nose will know...lol
I prefer the pattern on the couch. I expect some wear even though they say its in good shape. Usually the captains chairs are cracking. I would prefer it to be new but cant have everything.
The known bad- the mileage and they havent done any maintenance on the slide seals. although I don't see us putting a ton of miles on it we are within a 4 hours of most things. It had most likely all its service at camping world. Ive only been to one camping world...that one. Wasnt impressed when they tried to tell me a particular MH was super clean and they seemed genuinely surprised that the front of the cab leaked like a sieve into the footwell.
I have not spoken with their mechanics though.
They weakened the E-parking break driving it with it engaged, big surprise. The mech that looked at it 3 years ago said it didnt have to be replaced but dont trust it if on any sort of an incline.
I always chucked my old RV tires because it was a manual drive. So shouldn't be too hard to remember. I was actually looking at info about that earlier today (before knowing about this unit) and understand the cost of new. I thought there was a place out of CA that did rebuilds but don't think i noted it down. I can rebuilt it myself. I don't want to for various reasons. I would rebuilt it myself before letting camping world do it. lol
The tires might be needing replacement soon.
TLDR- Which is better/worse
A. Low mileage, like new interior, no leaks yet (might need roof) and possible neglect. havent tested the slide.
or B. high mileage, no slide maintenance with one repair on it, new roof, worn interior and little neglect? The park prawl in the transmission has substituted for a parking brake.
How much is a new transmission? Havent been able to find that info yet.
For details...read the novel above.
And....anything i should look for that I havent already covered?