Is it ok to buy a 25 year old diesel pusher?

[Loydd]

I have a 1999 beaver patriot thunder 425hp I have used for past six years and the only mechanical problems were one leaking leveler and the pump in the Hurricane diesel heater.

[creativead]

We have a '92 Bounder DP that we love. 102k miles and going strong. We have taken from GA to Rocky Mtn National Park, Acadia NP, Yellowstone and the Badlands. We were fortunate and purchased from the second owner that had all of the manuals and maintenance records. That being said we have upgraded many things on the coach including new AC units, residential fridge and recoated the rubber roof. Older coaches can have their drawbacks, but they are generally made much sturdier than newer coaches.

Granted I can't go as fast as other people because my Cummins only has 190HP (which was great back then) but I don't want to go over 65 anyway when towing our Wrangler.

Good luck!

[B Bob]

If you bought a 25 year old diesel from me you would be fine. Other people, who knows. I also have a camera I bought new in 1980 that works fine. But I take good care of my things and am proactive about problems.

Before I owned our Country Coach which is now 17 years old we had a 1975 GMC motorhome. I loved the GMC but it had the issue of some of the parts not being heavy duty. The Country Coach does not have this problem. Well built, taken care of heavy duty diesel pushers last a very long time.

[edfirebird68]

Theres a lot of TIME/AGE related issues, nature of the beast; but as far as having a cummins C engine and Allison Mt643. We love ours and even if theres always something to sooth/tinker and or replace. Runs like new 80k on clock 8k i just id in 3 months.Find one which lived in the desert. make sure your on a great chassis with the docs, replace all rubber, and ride;-)!
Ours is nicknamed the tin man tires,air springs, furnace,fridge,faucets,water pump.... Any rubber was dead but its a champ!
Ed

[edfirebird68]

[QUOTE=B Bob;4582937 Well built, taken care of heavy duty diesel pushers last a very long time.[/QUOTE]


Copy That! Love my Cummins 6cta8.3 mechanical injection and Allison MT643
Wish it had two more gears that 4spd is lacking but besides mileage both are damn fine reliable units
Ed

[Piker]

On our way to Florida right now for vacation in our 25 year old pusher. Not a fancy one like B Bob’s, but running smooth. Knock on wood of course.

Cheers

[Wroughtnharv]

Originally Posted by Piker

On our way to Florida right now for vacation in our 25 year old pusher. Not a fancy one like B Bob’s, but running smooth. Knock on wood of course.

Cheers

Real wood

The trip out west was a dream motor transmission wise this year. Jane is a 93 so she’s a mature old gal and the 5.9 230 horse 12 valve Cummins never missed a beat. I’m having the trans serviced and the oil changed by a shop here in Yuma. I explained that the motor was no ECU but the trans was, 6 speed 3060. Mechanic explained that was a good combination. He was a little surprised at the air/hydraulic disc brake combination when I told him I wanted the brake fluid flushed.

Old RVs aren’t for everyone. But if you can deal with issues at times then they are the economical answer to travel freedom.

[80sDweeb]

I've been thinking along similar lines for a long time, though I'm not hoping to fully rebuild the interior of a coach. More interested in finding a lightly used one, that was originally built with superior quality. The more I study, the more I learn. Just this week I learned that what you want is a side radiator. I had noticed that a lot of the coaches I've seen for sale (Safari in the mid 1990s, for example) can have many good features, but they definitely have the big radiator grille at the back. Open it up, and all you see is the radiator, and the charge air cooler. Can't even get close to seeing the engine. Not what I want. There's a "sweet spot" in the early 1990s where lots of coaches used the reliable 8.3 Cummins and 6 speed Allison transmissions. Good for fuel economy as well as durability. But what you want is a coach that was built with a lot of initial quality. That's a Beaver, or maybe a Holiday Rambler (I'm still looking into them, seems sometimes they get delamination problems, boo) or a Country Coach, Vogue, Foretravel, possibly American Coach (American Eagle, American Tradition, etc.) and some others. We're talking about coaches that were sometimes well above $200k, $300k, and higher when new. Hopefully, they were maintained like the valuable purchases they were, and have found themselves on the market because of aging owners, and estate, etc. Also, coaches with no slides. I'm not a fan of slides, probably because of all the horror stories I've heard, but that means the coaches I'm interested in don't have as much interest from the typical buyers.

As for tires, expect them, and batteries, to need replacing. I'd rather get a discount from the seller for having terrible tires and batteries, than pay for "good" tires and batteries, but they're actually nearing the end of their years. May as well start out with brand new.

Note that 10R22.5 tires are extremely common, and much cheaper to find. If I find a coach that takes that size, I'll see if I can locate some used virgin tires that aren't very old, off a semi. Since RV tires age out before they wear out, I don't need every last millimeter of tread depth. That's especially true if you plan to work on it as a "project." No use putting brand new tires on when you get it, only to take 3 years to finish (life gets in the way, sometimes.) If you're getting new tires, do it when you hit the road for real. But, don't drive home a couple states one 15 year old tires with "good tread," either. A blowout can tear up bodywork and suspension, etc. Bodywork is practically irreplaceable on these old coaches, and suspension is expensive.

Some coaches have bigger tires, 11R22.5, which is the size the big buses use. Not the bargain that the semi sized tires are, unfortunately, but does indicate a possibly very sturdy chassis.

What I will be looking for in a coach when my chance comes, is a high quality diesel pusher, like a Country Coach, or a Foretravel, from the 1990s. I've seen a couple recently that I would have jumped on if my finances were ready. A 1995 Country Coach Magna (36 foot, Cummins 8.3 and 6 speed Allison, 7500kW diesel genset) with bad clear coat, asking $13500, and a Foretravel U295 for I think $22500. Both sold now. And who knows if either was really the "right" coach, without a thorough inspection. But that's what I'm looking for, the used car dealer who only knows it's old and doesn't have a slide, so he's not asking much, even though he's selling a Beaver Marquis from the early or mid-90s, when they were lavishing loving attention on every coach they built.

All the good lawn mower companies got bought up by MTD, which MTD accomplished by selling high-volume garbage mowers to build the capital to buy them, and forcing them to sell by driving prices down with their crap products. I see that as something that probably happened in the RV industry, too. If you built too good a product, it may have been too easy to undercut your prices with inferior competitors' products. But for the years you were putting that quality in (that eventually drove you out of business, or to be bought out,) I'm interested in that product. No wood framing, steel flooring, not just wood, well thought out details in the systems (where switches are, for example, and very usable layouts.) Levelers, aqua-hot, and other nice options. But always be ready for the giant tube-type TV front and center. That's where you get the best bargain, if it's been updated, too many other buyers are interested. No, you want to get the best bargain, go with the TV/VCR combo! Then, you can update with the latest, smart flat display you want, for very little money (unlike the coach that had the TVs updated to flats 8-10 years ago, when they were very expensive, and not yet "smart.") I don't really watch TV, so I wouldn't even necessary go there, except to add a screen for the kids to play computer games on.

So that's what I'll be looking for, an extremely high-dollar coach, maintained well most of its life and very recently fallen on hard times (estate sale, inherited, etc.) and being sold by someone who's not "into" RVs. They come up often enough, if you watch closely. They don't sit for very long. A week or two, at most, while other RVs can take weeks and months to sell.

One frustrating thing. I wish I could get people to sell for NADA retail or low retail in this age range! Almost everything I find is between $5k and $15k higher than what the book says. Not sure why that is, but I'm looking nationwide, on craigslist and RV Trader, most dealers don't carry inventory this old, and certainly not at NADA if they do.

Scott in Snowflake AZ

[Vectraguy]

Originally Posted by 80sDweeb

One frustrating thing. I wish I could get people to sell for NADA retail or low retail in this age range! Almost everything I find is between $5k and $15k higher than what the book says. Not sure why that is, but I'm looking nationwide, on craigslist and RV Trader, most dealers don't carry inventory this old, and certainly not at NADA if they do.

Scott in Snowflake AZ

Auto NADA is based on auction results, motorhomes of a certain age never see auction enough to have proper valuation, so once they hit bottom they stay there. The big issue is getting insurance at a stated value when NADA refuses to do any work and look at real values. The insurance value on a 97 High line is pathetic, hell it is worth more in parts.

[Damion]

Originally Posted by 80sDweeb
One frustrating thing. I wish I could get people to sell for NADA retail or low retail in this age range! Almost everything I find is between $5k and $15k higher than what the book says. Not sure why that is, but I'm looking nationwide, on craigslist and RV Trader, most dealers don't carry inventory this old, and certainly not at NADA if they do.



I bought the very same MH from private party right at NADA $45,000 1 1/2 years ago! I have higher miles 77,000 and larger generator 7.5KW.
Seller was asking Nada and the bank goes by Nada

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAm8XYqsHs0

[RunningHard]

No matter what you do, have it inspected to save you some heartburn...Good luck, there are some great old coaches out there, but if not careful, you can easily get a polished turd..

[rbradd]

Besides the financial hit, you will be facing there are other considerations.

Owning an RV is an addiction, it will be all you think about, it will take control of your life.

For example, you may be having a conversation with your wife and you are really thinking about how often should you change an air dryer filter? What is the best kind of filter? How difficult is it to change the filter in the rain? Who invented air dryer filters, I wish I could meet him when suddenly your wife brings you back to reality by accusing you ( AGAIN ) of not listening to her.

Your boss mentions to you that he met with Steve last week, but what you heard was " better check on IRV2.com to see if anyone waxes the top of their slide, do they remove the topper or do they make a device that makes your arms longer?

You become Amazon's best customer because you read that someone uses a different type of tv mount than you do and you must have it.

Or, maybe its just me, I guess I have issues.

Best of luck to you, welcome to the brotherhood.

[Cliffy]

It doesn't matter if its new or used! ALL RVs will break and ALL RVs will need to be repaired. It all costs money!
Like most business start ups, most RVers go in under funded and then lose interest as the bills or deferred work piles up.
Even airplane folks have the "buy it cheap and fly it" mentality, many times to their discomfort.
DO lots of reading and studying before you go buy something
NEVER, ever, buy the first RV you look at! NEVER! Look at lots of them before you buy! There will ALWAYS be another "good" RV to look at.
Never trust ANYONES word on the condition of an RV. Either know what to look for yourself or spend the money to hire an expert to look it over BEFORE you buy it.
You can have lots of fun even with an older RV but you have to go in with your eyes wide open and know what to look for to make a wise decision.

[RKins]

Originally Posted by rbradd

Besides the financial hit, you will be facing there are other considerations.

Owning an RV is an addiction, it will be all you think about, it will take control of your life.

For example, you may be having a conversation with your wife and you are really thinking about how often should you change an air dryer filter? What is the best kind of filter? How difficult is it to change the filter in the rain? Who invented air dryer filters, I wish I could meet him when suddenly your wife brings you back to reality by accusing you ( AGAIN ) of not listening to her.

Your boss mentions to you that he met with Steve last week, but what you heard was " better check on IRV2.com to see if anyone waxes the top of their slide, do they remove the topper or do they make a device that makes your arms longer?

You become Amazon's best customer because you read that someone uses a different type of tv mount than you do and you must have it.

Or, maybe its just me, I guess I have issues.

Best of luck to you, welcome to the brotherhood.

You're not alone brother