You Have $100,000 - Decisions

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by Tom-NC

TourVan,

Number one I would get a copy of Motorhome Magazine and look at the RV's in there that are for sale.

Number two I would by a Winnebago product such as an Adventurer either 33 or 35 footer with a gas engine which would probably be a V-10. You could also consider the Itasca Suncruiser which is bassically the same as the Adventurer and both made by Winnebago.

There are also sites on the internet that sell RV's and you could probably "google" them.

Good Luck and by the way I'm on my 3rd Winnbago and like them.

But I'd stay away from the ones advertised on RVS.com. Seems like the prices are really high.

[TXiceman]

I would be looking at used Foretravels.....

Ken

[CorLynn]

I would pin point my search on beaver or country coach I would want no longer than 40 feet and no tag axle. I would want a bath tub, solar panels galore, diesel generator, large holding tanks, no more than 3 slides, preferably 2 slides, cat motor c13 or c15, large storage bays, 10,000 lb towing ability, king size bed, no washer and dryer, 2 recliners and 1 couch, side radiator, oh man....i could go on and on....when i shop for my next motorhome there will be no confusion, I know EXACTLY what i want.

[FormerBoater]

99 American Eagle 40EVS and pocket the difference for your travel budget.

Living room/galley slide plus bedroom slide.

But then again, I am not objective.

DaveS
1998 American Eagle 40 EVS (Single slide...but what a coach!)

[SteveLevin]

Well, as far as what we bought, it's a Mountain High Summit (2000). If I had your fantasy budget I'd still buy the same coach and just do everything I'd eventually like to do right now (electric awning, HD Satellite, new flooring, Banks kit and stainless exhaust... heck, I think I'd still be well shy of 100k.

Steve

[Dogpatch]

Originally Posted by TheTourVan

Any thoughts on which one? We are curious about someone with that budget and what they would purchase.



We did as well. Any thoughts on what you would buy?

Some in particular I have found and like we're the Newmar Dutchstar. Rough age for a low mileage really nice condition with full paint would be approximate 2002 year and 38'-40' and in the $60,000 range.
Just my opinion, the Newmar brand really hold their value well. Not to say there aren't better out there, I just don't necessarily feel you have to spend huge to get a really good coach. Course, my bank dictates the way I think!

[danes-on-tour]

Take a look at the website RV-online.

This will give you a very good idea about what you could get for your money.

[deandec]

I would be looking at high end models of the Country Coach, Foretravel, Monaco, American Coach, Travel Supreme rigs from the early 2000 range.

The two slide mandate might be difficult at your budget, but there are lots of asking prices that are flexible.

Later rigs added some technology improvements and more slides but both of those items also add more complexity.

10 years ago we executed a similar decision but settled for no slides to do so.

We still have that rig and have no intention of changing for another.

[JohnT]

After reading this thread, we have started to look back to 2008 / 2009 higher end coaches. You just never know when that one mh jumps out at you and says "buy me".

[PatStab]

We had a 2005 Winnie Sightseer 29ft, nice little coach, 2 slides. Spent about $5k on it including a new set of shoes. Hubby upgraded it with trak bar, steering assist and all that stuff, air brake system for towing. I had it about a year and a half, drove it over 20k miles.

But we wanted a diesel. We found a REALLY old American Eagle a 1992, 38 footer for $26k, sold the other one for a decent price, of course did not make money on it but recouped most of it.

We knew this one needed work, not quite as much as it has but its things like new brakes, a windshield washer switch, fixing the pacbrake, leaks in some water lines. Hubby and I recoated the rubber roof which had never been done. I think it spent most of its life inside though. We decided to just redo all the roof top stuff, so new skylights, the old ones were very degraded and brittle, all new vent covers, new maxx air covers, 2 new AC units. Added satellite TV, new flat screens etc. Hubby planned to do most of the work but he is gone 10 weeks at a time so we spent a lot more on labor he could have done if he had time. We have probably $6 to $7k more in it now. But the interior is good, leather seats, carpet, fridge, icemaker, everything like that works. I bought a new bin for the icemaker and an oven rack. My tenant and I did electrical fixes, new converter/charger, some new switches, etc. I got things like a new chassis/coach switch. Hubby put in a new terminal block on the main power supply and wired in a surge protector for the 50 amp system.

Even turned out all the awnings are like new, what a surprise. It had the original matteress, a very heavy affair. It had some stains and I cleaned them, but I just couldn't bring myself to use it so ordered a new one from mattress-replacement.com.

Now I think about all we have to do is get the propane tank valve changed out, could be a new tank but don't think so.

The furnaces wouldn't work because the fan area had wasp nests, I cleaned all that out put screens over them. Hubby put in a new water pump. I think there iwas more, he spent about 2 weeks working on it, but he likes doing this stuff anyway. We could have shaved $2 to $3k off the cost if he could have gotten time to do all himself.

He just finished adding a new RoadMaster braking system to it and we took it for a run, so far runs like a dream, all temps good.

I know in a couple of years, baby will need new shoes, but think they are good to go for some time yet. Hopefully DD and I can take off for a week or so, I've got itchy feet.

So for about $33k we have a pretty nice old diesel with 120k miles on it. Mechanic said engine was sound and running good along with tranny. Can tell you more later after we take it for a trip. And yes I'm armed with Coach Net.

I would not recommend going this route if you can't do a lot yourself or have the funds for repairs on it or it could cost more then you can handle.

We likely could have spent $60k and got newer and better, and no it has no slides and we took that in to account when buying it. Will we recoup the money, probably a lot of it but no all by any means. But we hope to get pleasure from using it.

DD and I will do a lot of traveling in the next couple of years, hubby plans to retire then. We may get one newer and with slides or if this old one serves us well we may just keep it. We shall see.

This is our 3rd motorhome. We have had at least 5 TT's hubby used mainly for working away from home, but 2 are rented now.

I will post some pics.

[mgscott4]

Checkout Used RVs, Motorhomes for Sale, and Consigned sales - PPL Motor Homes. They are the largest seller of used Motorhomes. They show floor plans along with pictures. This gives you a chance to see the different floor plans and prices and help to decide which way to go.

[dukenrock]

Originally Posted by FormerBoater

99 American Eagle 40EVS and pocket the difference for your travel budget.

Living room/galley slide plus bedroom slide.

But then again, I am not objective.

DaveS
1998 American Eagle 40 EVS (Single slide...but what a coach!)

Or may be a nice 2002 Eagle with upgraded MCD blinds, flatscreen TV's and new carpeting!!

[PatStab]

We purchased our Sightseer from them, they are a pleasure to do business with.

They do not dicker on price though and its up to you to have it inspected if you want and want to pay for it. It's a consignment place basically. But they do take care of all the paperwork. I paid $300 to have the Sightseer inspected so I knew exactly what I was getting and what needed repaired.

I had chosen another one earlier and after that inspection decided not to go with it, just to much wrong. They refunded my deposit with no hassle.

We would consider buying through them in the future as an option.

[distaff]

Back in 2009 I was in a similar situation. I had a little more, $150,000, and I started with a list of my must haves - for me it was DP, tag axle, aquahot, 4 slides, 500+hp.

Today you could probably most of that at $100k because that list of main features has been available longer (so you could get an older coach with that list than I could at the time.

Then go over the coaches that meet your list and look into which ones will work for you. I am in Canada and was buying in the US, so one thing for me was it had to be a coach I could import and that meant that the manufacturer had to exist to provide a "no recall" letter. Monaco was in bankruptcy but still operating.

Then I spent a couple of months watching coaches on line. Lots of them appeared on multiple sites, some sites told you how long the ad had been up.

Then I wrote or called about a dozen and made a simple proposition - regardless of what they were asking I said I had $150,000 to spend, and I didn't need to finance as I could write that check, and was it worth our time to talk. Spoke to a few dealers but mostly private sellers. Two said yes, I bought from one of them.

Very little stress.