2018 Anthem expectations

[Xpress21]

We are the original owners of our 2018 Anthem.

Now we have owned our coach since 8/2017. We have installed new house batteries, coach batteries and new Michelin tires all around and do yearly routine maintenance. We have 250 hours gen and 20k miles.

We have never kept a coach this long before and wondering… we used to trade every 3-5 years buy with todays msrp doubt we will be trading any time soon and if we did it would be downgrade. Our coach has spoiled us with how nice it has been so we are trying to decide whether to keep for years or downgrade to new lesser MH.

If we continue to keep our coach for several more years what sort of problems do coaches give as they age and expected extra repairs /maintenance?

Thanks !!

Daphne and Steve

[shepardmike]

IMHO - you will never know.

Honestly your coach is still new. The motor is barely broken in. The drive train is going to last a long time.

With that said, you purchased at a good time before all the bells and whistles and electronic improvements. The newer coaches have in fact, had issues, due to a intangible issues (COVID, lack of good help, supply train etc.). Every time I look at the new coaches I see that bright shiny object, but then I read about all the issues on this site and begin to wonder.

Personally, I would keep what you have and when things break, you just fix them or get them fixed.

And who wants to ever downgrade?

I want to get a bigger coach and I am looking at the 2018-19 models.

[Gary.Jones]

I agree with the advice you got above. My 19 has worked through all the major engine and system problems (I hope) and now it’s pretty reliable. I just noted that my coach loan still has ~ $300,000 on it so I don’t think I’ll be buying new anytime soon. Cummins has 50,000 miles on it and wouldn’t be too worried too much until I get 250,000 miles on it.

I lost a year due to being in inpatient lymphoma treatment at M D Anderson (highly recommend the place). It’s one of those places doing research on things other med centers haven’t even heard about yet. Who knows the future, but what I want is a reliable coach that can be depended-on to get us where we want to go without undue problems. Right now, everything is going good.

I can still drive her as well as I did 10 years ago so until that changes or we get sick of travel and living in the coach, we will “ keep on keep'n on……”.

Gary

[jrugarber]

We purchased our 17 C/S in April of 2018, began full-timing in it last May, prior to that extended (6 Months in Florida) stays. Overall we are happy with the Coach, (~43,000 miles) I will be looking at rear tire replacement in the fall while in Florida, front tires replaced in 10.2022. We have done a number of small, yet important to us, updates in the last few years. House batteries (Generator ~950 hours) have been holding up well boondocking (12.3-12.2) after 9-10 hours...
Any repairs at this point are going to be considerably cheaper than the cost of another Coach... hopefully!!!
We don't think we'll ever upgrade, I finally feel confident in the Coach and do not want to go thru the steep learning curve that seems to accompany buying a new/newer unit.
Granted, things can change in the future but at the moment we are content and happy.

[MRUSA14]

I have owned two coaches, both purchased new. I traded the first one after 10 years to upgrade to an Entegra. Now I’ve had the Entegra for 10 years. It is still serving me as well as it did on day one. No reason to EVER let it go unless I want another upgrade.

There is certainly no reason you should trade just because your coach is 5 or 6 years old. You’ll need a better reason than that.

[RoadTrip2084]

Originally Posted by Xpress21

We are the original owners of our 2018 Anthem.

Now we have owned our coach since 8/2017. We have installed new house batteries, coach batteries and new Michelin tires all around and do yearly routine maintenance. We have 250 hours gen and 20k miles.

We have never kept a coach this long before and wondering… we used to trade every 3-5 years buy with todays msrp doubt we will be trading any time soon and if we did it would be downgrade. Our coach has spoiled us with how nice it has been so we are trying to decide whether to keep for years or downgrade to new lesser MH.

If we continue to keep our coach for several more years what sort of problems do coaches give as they age and expected extra repairs /maintenance?

Thanks !!

Daphne and Steve

As long as you are keeping up with the maintenance schedule and working with a competent mechanic you should be fine. Of course, problems do happen from time to time, but that is as true or even more-so with a just off the lot coach as a used one.

For the financial hit you take on depreciation by selling such a new coach and buying a new one, you could make even the most expensive of possible repairs at a tiny fraction of the cost.

[Xpress21]

Originally Posted by Gary.Jones

I agree with the advice you got above. My 19 has worked through all the major engine and system problems (I hope) and now it’s pretty reliable. I just noted that my coach loan still has ~ $300,000 on it so I don’t think I’ll be buying new anytime soon. Cummins has 50,000 miles on it and wouldn’t be too worried too much until I get 250,000 miles on it.

I lost a year due to being in inpatient lymphoma treatment at M D Anderson (highly recommend the place). It’s one of those places doing research on things other med centers haven’t even heard about yet. Who knows the future, but what I want is a reliable coach that can be depended-on to get us where we want to go without undue problems. Right now, everything is going good.

I can still drive her as well as I did 10 years ago so until that changes or we get sick of travel and living in the coach, we will “ keep on keep'n on……”.

Gary

Thank you so very much for your help! We use our coach for pleasure and doctors too! Hopefully none of us will need more extended medical stays … hoping you are doing well now.

[Xpress21]

We really appreciate everyone taking time to help us!

Daphne and Steve