Old coach's expiring???

[Isaac-1]

I agree I am also not into the whole gloom and doom of the coming disaster of the moment, in my lifetime I recall panic over the coming ice age, the coming population explosion that the planet will not be able to support and, the coming rise in sea levels that will put all our coastal cities under water by the year 2000, or maybe 2010 or even as late as 2020.

[slickest1]

We have a 1998 HR Imperial. We had a newer one and really liked it but sold it because we thought we were not using it enough. This 98 has a mechanical engine and alot less features but I really like it better. It gets way better fuel mileage and is still in really nice shape. It will last us as long as we will want to be out there and if looked after it will most likely do someone else some years of service.

[followingsea]

Originally Posted by deandec

As a 1995 DP owner, I do fear the EPA driven guidelines for emissions that may someday make my rig not driveable.

EPA regulations for transportation pollution controls are not retroactive. So you will be okay.

Air quality has been good in the US for 30 years. Engineers solved the problem.

This is a problems for bureaucrats like US EPA and CARB. They are out of work without problems.

The solution is to invent problems. So they invented climate change and PM2.5.

Thirty and 40 years later these theories about the future have been proved to be unfounded.

[FastGlassMan]

6 Years ago we bought a 1988 Winnebago Chieftain 22 off of Craigslist for $2000. I went through the whole thing replaced the radiator , new tires checked the brakes , new shocks and steering damper. new board in the 3-way fridge and off we went to Florida for a month. Have about $4500 into it. Interior needs to be freshened up but everything works. Only problem going to Florida was a rusted fuel line going to the generator that has 375 hours on it, fixed that in 15 minutes outside a Advanced Auto store. After my other half had some medical issues it sat in the street in front of our house and last year Sally said lets get a nicer MH , so we bought a 2006 Itasca so far so good, except on our first trip out the rear end started making noise. After stopping at a truck repair shop and getting ripped for $600 for basicly a lube job ! I said lets go for broke and drove 4500 miles till I got home and rebuilt the rear in my driveway for about $1000 in parts, saving $3-4000. If I was to tell you that the 88 is fully insured for $380.00/year with full glass at a $12500 value and the 2006 the same coverage for $750/year for a $25000 valuation! That is why we won't buy a new MH, perhaps another one someday but never new!

[gemert]

Originally Posted by R.Wold

What worries me most is all this finicky electronics stuff multiplexed and integrated and controlled by a cpu of some kind, placed in the mobile environment and utilized in a variety of weather conditions causing significant temperature and humidity variations, in a vibrating, shock-loaded environment, in a coach I want to keep for more than 10 years and Im beginning to think Id be better off buying an older low milage coach from simpler times and keeping it up to snuff, rather than trying to get 10 or 15 relatively trouble free years out of coaches that seem to have trouble making it to two or three without a laundry list of problems that the end user is hard put to tackle on his own, sending him to expensive shops for bewildering diagnostics in systems that will soon be obsolete themselves. So yeah, Im a little concerned...

I think the main problem is quality. As far as electronics go, if they were quality you wouldn't have to worry as much. On a Navy ship electronics are even more shaken baked and abused by the ships movement than a MH. They are pretty reliable and easy to get to and fix. Motorhomes are designed and built by idiots that don't care about follow on maintenance. That lack of quality shows in almost every area of the MH.

[featherlite]

Only thing that worries me is resale when that time comes but as others have said I have no intentions of selling it for years as it has been very dependable with zero brake downs in the 4 years we have owned it . That said my total investment is about $ 75 k Canadian so we are enjoying it in the mean time .
My wife and I love the coach and I spend some of my spare time tinkering with it upgrading the things we want to change as well as the service on it


I sold a 1990 mci motor home because I was worried about the old DD 6v92ta becoming to hard to find parts and some one to work on it and it was a amazing coach .

dave

[netcctvpro]

We have a 2002 Diesel built on the Spartan chassis. After pulling it out of 5 year storage we went on an 8800 mile trip that lasted 11 weeks. I admit that I had some work doing the ignored PM work before we left but our trip went perfectly. You can count on the reliability of the drive train and the interior quality is far above what people pay big bucks for today. My solid wood cabinetry beats press board and my refrigerator, stove, oven, toilet, basement air, two propane heaters, washing machine, dishwasher, etc all work like new. Depreciation has my rig down to around $50K but there is no way I could trade it in and end up with anything near the reliability that I have today.

[Bmaintz8]

Originally Posted by RM Art

There are over 2 billion reciprocating, hydrocarbon fuel burning engines on this planet [that includes land, water an air vehicles, as well as generators etc.

The dream of soon replacing these 2 billion plus fuel burning engines with electric motors is just that... a dream. A good dream, a worthy dream, but for many manufacturing and power access charging reasons... it is currently just a dream. I'm not saying that eventually [by end of this century] that electric motors will not have fulfilled a fair percentage of the power-drive market [maybe even as much as 25%]. That's over 500 million vehicle propulsion and generator electric motors in use; still leaving some 2 billion + reciprocating, hydrocarbon fuel burning engines in use.

Now, let's look at reality: There is quickening global warming and therefrom intolerable climate and weather change problems at hand, that need to be [i.e. must be] soon addressed and rectified. Substantial requirement now exists to stop putting additional carbon dioxide [CO2] into the atmosphere and oceans, from Non-Cyclical, Carbon Positive crude oil and other types of fossil fuel burning. In answer to this global need and circumstance, we are going to pull CO2 out of atmosphere to produce Full-Cycle, Carbon Neutral liquid hydrocarbon fuels that will supplant crude oil [and other fossil fuels] and that last well into the 22nd Century for fuel production [in their Full-Cycle basis]. More will be revealed in near future years as this global need grows and international governments' funds become available.

******************
Global warming is a big Snow Job...
They manipulated the weather data, has been in the news but you have to look for it....
Pump the OIL, we now export more oil than we import...
[Moderator Edit]
Bob

[fredfmg]

We purchased a 2001 Safari Trek from the original owner with only 34000 miles. They loved it as much as we do presently. All maintenance records were given to us from the day they bought it. it doesn't have all the bells and whistles newer ones have, but the day I'm unable to go out and pull out my awning will be the day to give up RVing. No way I'm putting down newer models but ones like we were lucky enough to come by are out there, just have patience.

[Bmaintz8]

Bought a 2001 Newmar Dutch Star gaser 3 years ago...
Has the newer 8.1 GMC Vortec engine...
Selected the Newmar because of good reviews...
Installed a Whirlpool frig to replace the Dometic...
Replace the water heater with a electric, works great...
Had to replace the springs on the level jacks...
New Hankook tires (A35)...
Normal sealing on roof each year...
Will keep her till I can't drive..
Bob

[BobJones]

To me, the biggest thing is leaks. If everything is sealed up, I don't know how you can wear out the chassis. Our 2000 Diplomat has something like 140,000 km's on it. I think you're supposed to lash the valves at 500,000 ? I'm not even sure. To me, it's all about the body, not the chassis.

[wbeyer]

We bought an 11 year old American coach 2 years ago. It had a few problems but in excellent condition. Now it is completely updated and has zero issues. I can maintain it because it is not all hi tech. My opinion is a house that can roll down the road at 70 mph is going to require a little more maintenance than one sitting on a foundation. Buy quality and maintain it. Nuff said

[rcnuts]

Originally Posted by spdracr39

I also bought what I could afford IE an older coach. I am however turned off by all the gadgets that must be controlled by electronic cpu's and touch screens. If I had to replace I would do my best to avoid all the high tech gizmo's but you have to choose from what is available. The day I need to control every component of my RV from my phone on the couch is the day I become too lazy to travel. If that's how you roll more power to you it just isn't for me.

That pretty much nails it for us also. We are seriously considering going full time in the somewhat near future. Obviously we couldn't do that with our 93 HR. However, new life has been infused into our almost 27 year old coach. When the original motor took a crap we were on the fence regarding fixing her or scraping her. Several visits to RV shows over an 8 month period really helped make the decision. We checked out class a's in the 80K to 125K price range and were shocked at the not so great quality. Im not bashing anyones Rv! Its just that our HR was / is in shockingly great condition cosmetically. The cabinet quality is impressive also. With a new motor, rebuilt tranny etc, etc were planning on several more years of service before a newer unit will be had. We also checked out newer used coaches that were in our price range. Uh..............No thanks.

[boxdin]

Parts are everywhere for 1990 fords and while the chinook has required zero repair in its 82k miles the short ford has required a lot as we saved it from the crusher in Alamogordo NM. I'm done w mechanical restoration and working on the interior now almost finished.
My point is I have become intimate w the short one and its fun work and when I run into issues the best thing is to go have a sandwitch and try again later.
I would not have a new rig for any money and amazingly no one yet has replicated the chinook so I just keep it as pristine as I got it and enjoy.