Where Did You Find Your Vintage RV

[ramit98]

found our 84 itasca on kijiji.com half hour from home

[soundwve]

We found our current RV, a '73 Winnebago Indian, from Craigslist last year. Located in Palmer, 43 miles away from us. Seller wanted $2700, but we talked him down to $2,000 due to a leaky water pump. Drove it home. We are the 3rd owners of it.

Replaced the pump, fixed a bad drivers-side exhaust gasket, and replaced about 6-8 rotten rubber fuel lines. Also had to do a tune-up, since it sat for 4 years. Took it to Whittier, AK (~100 miles RT) for its 'shakedown' trip, then to Fairbanks, AK (720 miles RT) for a vacation one month later. Purred all the way.

LOVE our Winnie!

[Dennistimer]

34' from tow yard for $80.00, drove it home 3 years ago, have a total of $1400.00 in it including 2 tires, battery and RH windshield. Everything but the cruise control works. Was on non-op but on the street with expired plates, PD had it towed in but forgot to notify DMV. Lots of minor repairs and cleaning, inside of coach was painted navy blue by previous tweakers, only drivers seat. Built a gaucho bed 'cause the sofa bed was missing, added 2 swivel captains chairs from Ecology across from gaucho, painted inside with mis-matched paint from Home Depot. Having a problem with front end shake and RH valve cover gasket leaking ... replaced twice so far, straightened the valve cover flange, but it still leaks. Has 440 Dodge. As far as the front end shake, maybe one of those aftermarket steering dampers will help.

[wblynch]

Originally Posted by Dennistimer

As far as the front end shake, maybe one of those aftermarket steering dampers will help.

Sounds like a fun machine. We would love to see photos.

As far as front-end shake, it could be from worn suspension bushings, tie rod ends, ball joints or idler arm.

But most likely it is from out of balance tires or a bent wheel.

[gt350ed]

Hey! If you buy it NEW at the end of 1989, keep it garaged for 20 years and still have it...it just becomes "vintage" over night. Like new, with only 38,000 original miles.

[Fred from Ga]

Found our '88 HR Imperal 35' at the local dealer as I was looking for a 5th Wheel. Couldn't believe the price so went by to see what kind of shape it was in for the price. Outside was in good shape, needed a wash job and wax, inside was like new. Cabinets were like showroom, carpet had been replaced sofa in good shape but old style. Refg had been replace, furnace worked good, both roof a/c units worked great. Cons was the generator ran but wouldn't charge as someone had tried to bypass the main switch and burnt out the regulator. Paint on hood had faded some. We cleaned the carpet, DW made new covers for the sofa, chair and dinette seats, new curtains. The original rear camera didn't work and the light over the bed. Will change it to LED, got the generator lined up to be repaired in the next couple weeks. Also has the Ford 460 engine and of course the Power Valve blew so I replaced it. I retired from Ford Motor Company and used to "build" my own warm cars. Paid $4995 for it. Had 48500 miles on it. DW wants to replace the carpet with the laminated stuff. I personal like the carpet but peace is better than winning the battle. Love it.

[88Ramblur]

We found our '88HR on Craigslist after looking at several and driving over 500 miles. We are thankful we found a well loved, one owner coach in excellent condition on the inside, but major sun fading on the outside. Paid $4,700 for 1988 30ft Holiday Rambler Presidential

[borderboardr]

Got my 88 Falcon 190 on Ebay. Looked for almost 2 years. That was to find one in my price range and in my area. Took a chance and bought it sight unseen. Luckily the seller was 'fairly' honest. A few things he forgot (..ahem...) to mention but really nothing to be unexpected for a 25 year old vehicle.

By the way 88Ramblur why did you use my picture for your avitar?........hahaha

[88Ramblur]

Originally Posted by borderboardr

By the way 88Ramblur why did you use my picture for your avitar?........hahaha

Sorry! Didn't think you'd see it!

[Climbon69]

We found our 1994 Gulfstream Friendship on EBay. Had to do some fancy maneuvering to "steal" it away from other bidder. He contacted me after the auction closed and offered me $5k over my buying price. After tons of remodeling, repair, and upgrades, I should have taken his offer. But, we now love our coach. It fits us just right.

Google news story about homeless Veteran buying a motorhome off of Craig's list in Phoenix. He got 5 miles before the engine caught fire on the freeway and lost every thing he had left.

[Grandpere]

Originally Posted by spritz

Not too many of us showing off there vintage MH'S Why?

Well our 1987 Southwind has been at the RV dealer more than we have had it. Once they do the fixes correctly, this is the 4th try at it, and we have it in our possession I will take pictures and post them.

We got ours from Craigslist with 28,000 miles for $2500. We looked for 6 weeks at maybe a dozen RVs. We finally decided on a Class A as opposed to buying both a truck and a 5er. What little we have gotten to use it, we are very pleased. It needs some TLC that I can do on the interior, but had, what I thought was a reputable dealer, do the major inspection and repair of the coach, glad I did, there were several problems that I might have been able to fix, but was unsure mostly for a lack of proper tools. So at this point we decided to spend the money and let the so called professionals do their thing. Big mistake with this outfit, hopefully this 4th time is the charm.

Berniece & Russell with LilBit the Netherland Dwarf rabbit who knows she is the queen

1987 Southwind
2003 Kia Sedona

[minibike]

We got ours from Camping World right after they took over the Independent dealer we had used for years. It was a trade-in, but it had good bones. I was originally looking at a much newer unit to replace our RoadTrek, but when my wife stepped inside the one I thought she'd like - she hated it!

She wanted another C, but I wanted an A. I told her that they had taken on old Class A in trade the other day and I wanted to show her how they looked back in the day - before slides and all the fancy doo-dads (which I did not want). When she stepped inside, she loved the interior. The PO had really maintained the rig. A lot of upgrades had been added over the years and all the major components had been replaced. We test drove it and once she told me that she was okay with an older rig, I made an offer before CW even had their crew detail it. We picked it up 2 days later and it looked like new. That's been a few years ago and we haven't once regretted it.

[Daveinet]

Originally Posted by ramit98

found our 84 itasca on kijiji.com half hour from home

You know I look at an older RV and have wondered what would it take to build an of the construction method and quality. Makes me wonder what they could sell it for and if there would be a market. You can buy travel trailers in that catagory, but not a small class A. For the weekend young family, does one need that much more?

[RamblinOn]

Spotted our 1989 HR Imperial 34' sitting on a corner for sale by owner. We had been considering a travel trailer at the time, but we were intrigued with the coaches condition. Time went by and we kept driving past it. One day I couldn't stand it any longer and decided to call the number, and found out we new the folks personally, and I had even worked for them once. We went and looked at it, and was very pleased with what we saw. His wife had grown tired of their friends with their DPs leaving them behind on there way to Florida, so he had purchased an American Eagle.
We pondered it, and even got side tracked by the DPs ourselves looking at several coaches over the next year.
Then one day I decided to call him up to see if he still had it. Just so happens he did, and was getting ready to run a new ad on it. We went down and drove it again, chatted with he and his wife, and the rest is history.
We're getting ready to head out for our 9th year with it, and our 15th trip. Hard to imagine not having it around now!