Age of RV

[steven.blackshear]

Ladies and gents,

In your opinion, and no opinion is incorrect, how old is too old for a Diesel RV for full timing for a couple of years? I would like a 36+ footer with a couple slides. Getting close to full timing. I really appreciate this site and all of you for helping us out. I would really like to put a face with a name some day. God bless all.

Steve

[C Nash]

All depends on the care it has received. I have seen 20yr old rvs that looked new and 2yr old that looked like crap. Just hard to say.

[akjimny]

Like Chelse said, age doesn't matter - - maintenance does. My neighbor has a 1972 GMC motorhome that looks factory new and he runs back and forth to Michigan every year. If you buy a used MH, make sure the owner had good periodic maintence pulled and has the records to back it up. I save every receipt for service on my rig - have a special folder just for them that stays with the coach along with all the owner's manuals.

Diesel rigs, in my opinion, are built heavier than gassers. They should be able to stand up to more use, provided the maintenace has been done. Pull a good, thorough inspection before you buy, and if you are not comfortable doing it yourself, it is worth hiring a RV mechanic. This will be a major expense and your home for a couple of years, so check everything.

Good luck and post back.

[steven.blackshear]

Thanks Jim and Nash, Thats what I wanted to here but didn't know what to expect

[LEN]

Alot depends on your budget. Mine is 11 years old and you will have small issues(if you are handy at all) this will be no problem, you will have issues even brand new just the nature of things that move. 2 slides will be in the 45-65 grand area for a good mid level coach(watch for tires and batteries and get one with a diesel generator) and have 50-80 thousand miles(the diesel is just broken in). Have a full inspection even or maybe especially if buying from a dealer. Get at least a 300hp and 1000# torque, I'm running a 3126 Cat and for Cummins ISC or bigger. Some good older coach's are Monaco, Holiday Rambler, Tiffin, Fortravel. For Specific coach's ask and we can give our opinions on brand and motor.

LEN

[M P_doc]

Thanks, Len...

We appreciate the guidance. Your summary sounds a lot like what we've been surfing on the Web, which I'll take as a good sign. We also have our folks looking ...we have RV and truck experience, but they're the ones with motorhome experience in the family. It's our hope to be able to get the rig when we get home for a month in the summer travel in it a bit and find our RV groove. Then a couple of months later, bye bye Army and hello open road.

We'll be pestering y'all until we get it rolling!

Thanks,
Corrie

[H2H1]

Corrie just keep the questions coming and most of us will provide guidance and recommendations base of our experiance.

[LEN]

I think I saw on a post you are in the mid south. PP&L is a good place to start and there are a lot of reasonable priced MH's in the Texas area.

LEN

[Cruzincat]

There are people who take tractors(as in tractor/trailers) with 500K miles on them and convert them to motor homes. These tractors were made to go a million miles over the road. After converting them, the GVWR usually works out to be about half what the tractor was designed to haul, so, if it has a decent transmission/engine combination, the fuel consumption won't be all that bad either. I've been told they can handle the mountain passes without a hiccup.

[Alex8100]

Like Chelse said, age doesn't matter - - maintenance does. My neighbor has a 1972 GMC motorhome that looks factory new and he runs back and forth to Michigan every year. If you buy a used MH, make sure the owner had good periodic maintence pulled and has the records to back it up. I save every receipt for service on my rig - have a special folder just for them that stays with the coach along with all the owner's manuals.

Diesel rigs, in my opinion, are built heavier than gassers. They should be able to stand up to more use, provided the maintenace has been done. Pull a good, thorough inspection before you buy, and if you are not comfortable doing it yourself, it is worth hiring a RV mechanic. This will be a major expense and your home for a couple of years, so check everything.

Good luck and post back.

I'm totally agree with you man...you'r 100% good...age doesn't matter...and this will be a major expense and your home for a couple of years, so you check out everything there...Thanks for taking this opportunity to discuss this.