What used Diesel Pusher to Buy

[timjet]

This is my experience after purchasing a 40' DP and looking for a year.

Evey thing following is my opinion, not facts!

I did ton's of research, took a year and I think I got it right. I too was worried about 40' being to big, but I soon learned that a DP smaller than 40' is going to be a hard find. They are out there but you're choices are limited in the used market. I had determined early on that a gasser was not going to fit our needs so a DP was it, and 40' was going to really be our only choice unless we wanted to go bigger, which we did not.
So far 40' has not limited us but I've only used it 3 times. We however have reservations in 8 or 9 state parks in upper Michigan, Iowa, FL and Wisconsin so 40' seems OK.

As far as the quality and builder is concerned, I decided also early on that a mid to upper level older unit would fit our budget and I felt would give us better value for the dollar. We also wanted an aft bath and that further limited the builder and available used coaches. We ended up narrowing our choice down to 2 units, a 2007 aft bath American Coach Tradition and a 2010 aft bath Dutch Star.

When we saw the Tradition it totally blew us away. The coach had been garaged kept and looked new. Really no kidding. I had the coach inspected, pre purchase, and during the chassis inspection the inspector told me this is a really nice coach and you are wise to get one without the mandated DEF and or DPF which was required starting in '08. I didn't ask him to elaborate, I already had done the research. Anyway the seller had the several items the inspector found fixed and we bought it. Couldn't be happier, but when buying an older coach you must expect things are going to break, sooner than later. We've had to fix the dash air to the tune of $2700 and I had to replace the inverter/ batt charger - $1400. It didn't work at purchase and the house inspector should have found it, different inspector than the chassis.

As mentioned above the '10 Dutch Star with the aft bath was on our radar and had we not seen the Tradition we may have well bought it. The Dutch Star with the aft bath in that time frame is a rare find. We never looked at it, it was 1200 miles away, but we had seen the Tradition first.

I would not shy away from a DEF and or DPF engine, many, probably most folks that have them have not had a real problem from what my research has uncovered. But those that have, for some it's been a nightmare. I like the KISS principal, especially when it comes to something that is potentially expensive to fix. KISS = Keep It Simple Stupid.

As a point of reference, I also would have seriously looked at a Winnie Tour or Grand Tour, a Revolution, a Tiffin Phaton QBH and as I mentioned a Dutch Star. I felt the Vantana, especially the LE were entry level units. Tiffin only started making aft bath Phaton's in I believe 2011. However I don't believe the Phaton is of the quality of the others I considered.

Floor plan was my first criteria and I went from there.

Good luck in your search.