Buying a used Class A motor home with diesel engine

[Gary Fowler]

whats youe intended usage? miles per year? Most Gas motor homes will be lower milage than the see the world diesel pushers.....For my Money I would get a large 5 th wheel instead of a class A inlaws owned a 35 ft Win Adventurer 2001 bought new one trip to Co several to Sc then nothing sold it last yr with 25k miles

I had a fifth wheel camper for a while. I would never go back to that. You need a $50K truck to pull it with and hard to get your money back from one when you try to sell whether it is old or new. And a 1ton truck is of no other use for me. Older models have lost much of their depreciation and sell well around here IF they are lightly used and well maintained.

That is what I am looking at in the older motor homes. Most are Very light use and low mileage. It looks like I can get a $250K (new price) motor home that is 15+ years old but only slightly used (less than 40K miles usually) for under $20K. One reason I am looking at diesel pushers is for the overall lifespan that I hope is much greater than any gas engine vehicle plus a bit better MPG.
I already have a vehicle that I can tow behind one so that is not an added expense other than tow bar installation.

 

[oldpilgrim]

Cummins are bullet proof. We had a cummins in a dump truck at work. It was in use from approx 1990 ...it was still being used when I retired 3 years ago. I think it's still in use.

we never touched the engine.

 

[Gary Fowler]

whats youe intended usage? miles per year? Most Gas motor homes will be lower milage than the see the world diesel pushers.....For my Money I would get a large 5 th wheel instead of a class A inlaws owned a 35 ft Win Adventurer 2001 bought new one trip to Co several to Sc then nothing sold it last yr with 25k miles

Wife and I plan to go see some of the USA that we haven't been to. I don't know how that may work out, hopefully it wont be like your inlaws but just in case, I am not going to tie up a lot of money in a new one when there are so many older (think high value) ones for sale that have already seen most of their depreciation. If we decide that RV life is not for us, then we should be able to get all or most of our money back. Neighbors just bought a 1998 for $20K with only 18,000 miles on it. It looks like new inside and out. I am hoping to find something similar. Theirs is front engine but I think I want a pusher diesel. Regarding someones comment about them being harder to service, I cant see that as the rear opens up wide on most for service and not so much on the front engine ones (can just about see the radiator on them and that is all)

 

[Zebrafive]

A friend bought a Prevost Bus from a dealer in Nashville that sells retired band tour buses. Two rear doors, plus one on each side. Plenty of engine access.

 

[CurlyDave]

The very best deals on motor homes are found as private party sales in "retirement communities". I don't mean Del Webb developments, but towns across rural America where people move to the country after a lifetime of work.

Couples will frequently think that they want the RV lifestyle, but will soon tire of it, or will develop health issues which will require that they stay in one place. Very low mileage, almost-new units are common.

Think about how you will use it, which will tell you some features to look for. I have never seen one without a generator. Look for one with lower hours on the generator. It should run from the same fuel as the motor. The last a long time, thousands of hours, if you keep up with the oil changes.

To me there are three big items which will be important to how you use it. Many of the larger ones come with on-board laundry facilities, A combination washer-drier, which can even run while you are driving. Even though they are small, this is a very handy feature unless you really love laundromats. The second thing to look for is solar power. A lot of national park campgrounds do not have shore power and forbid generator use during many hours of the day. We had one with 200 watts of solar power, which kept the house batteries topped off. Less than 100 watts is way too small. Lastly, satellite internet is possible. Many commercial and some state parks have wireless internet, but if you want to camp in the boonies, satellite is about your only choice.

These items are expensive to buy, but in a private party sale you may be able to get them at a steep discount from their new prices.

 

[Turbys_1700]

My dad has owned over 7 motor coaches in his lifetime. The last 2 were diesel pushers. He liked American Eagles with the Spartan Chassis. Very heavy duty and a nice soft ride. The Monaco Coaches utilizes the Roadmaster Chassis. Little bit stiffer ride that places the suspension further out on the chassis. The Roadmaster also utilize mono-cock construction of the frame. You will also find on the higher end units that typically the radiator is side mounted.

Purchasing a unit in that age will require a very good inspection and hopefully good service records. To me that is of utmost importance. Lots of good buys out there. If the unit has a rubber roof those are typically warrantied for 12 years. If the owner has kept it under cover and serviced you should be OK. My personal preference for the roof if fiberglass and then aluminum. I had to replace the rubber roof on my fifth wheel and my shop utilized rolled aluminum.

Good luck and keep us informed.

 

[jaydee325]

Many coach manufacturers have come and gone over the time span of which you are considering. Chassis parts and appliances should not be too hard to source but coach specific parts may be impossible if the OEM is out of business.

I would stick to older coaches of manufactures that are still in business. This has a caveat as well. For example Monaco went our to business a few years ago. The name was later picked up by another manufacturer (can't remember who though) but they did not pick up the liabilities or parts. So, Monaco today is not the same as previous.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Many coach manufacturers have come and gone over the time span of which you are considering. Chassis parts and appliances should not be too hard to source but coach specific parts may be impossible if the OEM is out of business.

I would stick to older coaches of manufactures that are still in business. This has a caveat as well. For example Monaco went our to business a few years ago. The name was later picked up by another manufacturer (can't remember who though) but they did not pick up the liabilities or parts. So, Monaco today is not the same as previous.

That is something I hadn't considered but well worth looking in to before buying. This could be a lot of reasons for selling older coaches really cheap.

 

[gghb]

A buddy of mine is a RV dealer .He watchs the adds around AZ craigslist and whatever else .He and his wife fly down a couple times a year and drive a couple up here to Washington for his lot.

Greg

 

[redshirt]

Most everyone knows that a Cummins, CAT, or Detroit diesel on a Freightliner chassis will run and last almost for ever. They are truck engines on chassis built by over the road truck builders, what you have to be aware of is these companies build iron and are very good at it. You're main concern is going to be what is built out of wood, plastic and tile that is built by a company that makes 100 copies of a 150 to 200K vehicle a year. The reason that motor home builders only warranty their product for 2 years or 24,000 miles is that's about all the longer they can keep what they make together. The drawers start falling out, breaking apart or bottoms start falling out.

Take your living room, bedroom, and dining room furniture and start shaking it up at up to 65 mph and see how long it will last. Same with your water heater, furnace, water pump, sink, toilet, breaker box, and everything else that you have in your house. If you have trouble with your electrical things, is it a 12 volt or 120 volt problem and where should I start looking for it? Is it an invertor or convertor problem? Is it a generator or a shore power problem? Where did they run the wiring, is it in plastic, is it shielded or not?

Did the hot water heater not start because of no electric, or no propane? Same with the refrigerator, is it not working because of not having 12 volt power or is the generator not supplying enough power or did we break a breaker on the shore power.

On our motor home the chassis air conditioner is not capable of cooling the interior going down the road because of the size so we have to run the generator to supply power for the room A/C or you cook inside. Same with the chassis heater can't keep it warm because of size or the vehicle so the generator must run to power the furnance or the heat part of the roof A/C.

Since the RV repair shops have a sign above the service desk that says their hourly rate is $100 an hour you want to try to make sure you have bought a RV from a company that knows how to make living quarters with as little to go wrong as possible. That they have used quality materials that are installed by craftsmen who do quality work.