WilleyB
Nova Scotia, Canada
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Joined: 12/02/2005
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Well our little rig 24ft, is built on a 2000 Ford E350 Super Duty. An ex rental we bought in the Fall of 2005 with 102,000 miles on the odometer. That meant about 20,000 miles per year. We had one problem a spark plug blow out at 109K which I suspect the reason was that the spark plugs were not changed at 90,000 as they should have been. If it's a Ford modular have the plugs changes to be on the safe side.
Now as stated in the previous posts, a sitting RV will deteriorate and that includes the power train. The seals will dry out, the acids will do wonders on the bearing surfaces and all in all lead to expensive repairs.
Ours is started at least once per week, a 16 mile run (town and highway) every month, this keeps all seals lubricated and prevents them from hardening. Motor oil changes every 3 to 4 months or 3000 miles. Follow a rigid maintenance schedule and you'll have no problem putting another 100,000 miles or more on the rig. Go for the newer model with the higher mileage.
Cheers
Vanguard VXL2000
2000 Ford V10 Triton, E350 Super Duty
Just for me,the Mrs and the mutt
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djmiranda1
Downey, CA
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Joined: 09/09/2006
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Gale Hawkins wrote:Are you talking for the same money or what? No not really... I have seen the 90's for as little as 6-7K and the 2000's for as much as 18K. I know I'm all over the map... I'm just confused on what to buy. I know I want a 24fter with a rear bed.
A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.
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SemperFiCop
USA
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Joined: 10/19/2007
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Buy the Newer Model with High Mileage... 
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Gale Hawkins
Murray, KY
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Joined: 07/22/2007
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dj in that case it is a toss up and working capital amounts you want tied up in a MH comes into play. If one has $20K cash that it is OK to pull out of investments the newer may be the better route especially if all service must be farmed out to shops. If one can do everything except major chassis things like engine, transmission and brakes then the $6-7K rigs could be considered an viable option.
Both cases may be ready for tires and full service so that factor is about equal. If you can find an older rig with DRY roof in GOOD condition and a solid motor and transmission and are a DIY at least for the nick nacks AND the buy in price is low enought it can be a good deal.
On the older rig a huge plus would be tires with a few years of service left so one could get some miles on it to insure one did not buy a pig in a poke before buying tires.
For $8K (14 months ago) we bought a 32' 1993 Class A on the P30 chassis with 91K miles. The tires are in good condition but will need to be replaced in a couple years due to date. After 4K miles the 454 does not use any oil. It had an new GM remanufactored transmission replaced by the PO 17K miles before we got it.
The down side was it needed the typically exhaust manifold bolts replaced, alternator rebuilt, left rear wheel seal and the roof leaked the if parked on a totally flat surface due to the radio antenna. The roof we repaired in the driveway for about $100 in supplies and our time.
I wanted the water pump replaced before hitting the road so the shop pulled the radiator to gain better access to nose area and discovered a couple weak areas in the radiator and when the radiator shop offered to wave the repairs and recore for $450 I jumped on it. The cooling system is now a 2007 version except for the fan blade only so we have no more over heating concerns than if it was a new MH with 4K miles on it.
We have spent nearly $3K to date but other than changing the oil all scheduled service is done for several years to come and it has been gone through from end to end and top to bottom (still need to tune up gen set) and the roof is dry and the rubber roof is in good condition and sealed with Eternabond. All appliances work as new and looks inside and outside is average (not a dog).
This a lot of details but it is my guess from tune up, transmission/coolant flush, tire rotation/inspection, cleaning, waxing, roof repairing, etc we would have spent maybe another $2-3K if we had farmed it out. We are pleased with what we have that we deem ready for a cross country trip for a lay out of $11K. The upside to doing most of the service work ourselves is we can address most any repairs on the road because we have experience and tools plus we can even change a tire ourselves if we have a hard surface to jack from because we even have a heavy duty impact wrench (450 foot pound rating) and torque sticks from doing the tire rotation in the driveway.
If it had just been me and the wife I think I would have considered a $18K option but we made the 1993 a shop project to learn automotive and home repair. Actually I had fun training the kids and they were hands on from fluid flushing, roof repair, replacing the plugs and spark plug wires, pulling the distributor to replace the ignition pick up coil, rotating the tires to removing the sofa for full access to deep cleaning of the carpet and furnace inspection plus a lot more.
There is not any right or wrong way to go and each route carriers it on risks and rewards. Best of luck. Remember ROOF, ENGINE and TRANSMISSION and in that order the three big things to make sure are sound. A bad roof will cause you to lose the entire rig in time.
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Cool Mike
Mendocino. Calif.
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Joined: 06/24/2006
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One more thing to think about. In any unit you are considering, you will have little things to do to keep it up, or to make improvements, just like owning a house, leaking water pipes, bad facet, replace lights, a little re caulking, all of this stuff will come up with either unit, maybe just a little more with the older unit.
But to me as with some others, taking care of a MH is a hobby, I like doing it. If its new you would not expect to have to do this sort of stuff, but you will. And in some cases your better off to do it your self, taking it back to the dealer who may not know as much about it as you do, and certainly doesn't care as much, may not be the wise plan.
So expect to do some minor repairs and maintenance no mater witch unit you buy.
That's part of RV ownership, so plan on it.
On the post above, where the guy ended up with a whole new cooling system, that was a good deal. All of the big block engines need good cooling systems, bad cooling systems kill more big block engines than any other single thing, so now he set for 10 years plus.
If your handy, your buying your self a new hobby, if not, they sell books about fixing all of this stuff.
2001 27' Four Winds Class-C E-450 V-10.
Buick Park Ave Ultra, Ford Ranger PU, JD 500 backhoe.
1941 Farm All "A"
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Bumpyroad
Virginia
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Joined: 12/01/2005
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If your interest changes to Class As, re-ask because about 1999 there were great improvements in chassis.
bumpy
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ron.dittmer
Near Chicago
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Joined: 02/26/2007
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Lots of opinions here. Here is my input. Here are factors I didn't notice getting mentioned.
1) Was the motorhome lived in or stored when not driven?
Some RV's get parked for years with few miles, but get well worn inside through seasonal living.
2) Where Is It?
If in the south-west, you can assume possible dried-out caulk and paint fade if the RV was not covered when parked.
If in places like Florida or Seattle, moisture will surely influence the RV's condition. Mold may be an issue.
If in the cold region, then you run into possible plumbing leaks if not properly prepared for sub-zero conditions. Excessive snow can also do harm to some flat roofs.
An extremely rare find would be an older low mileage RV, priced cheap, that was used exclusively for on-the-move touring/vacationing, and stored inside a "dry" garage when not used, never exposed to freezing temperatures. Also never seeing winter salty road conditions. Basically treated similarly to a collector's car.
Assuming both RV chassis are mechanically sound with less than 70,000 miles, and both in similar over-all condition, I vote for the one that has better construction methods. A well constructed older RV with 70,000 miles would be a better choice than a newer cheaply constructed one with 30,000 miles. I am talking about the constrction of the shell here.....floors, walls, roof, entry door, seam-work etc.
Any RV with over 70,000 miles requires extra scrutiny. I wouldn't rule them out, but examine everything even more closely.
Adding Here: Others have mentioned, but I will emphasis...
The year of the chassis should not be overlooked. Improvements made over the years by Ford and GM should not be ignored. Do your research, when improvements were introduced.
* This post was
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Bought new in June 2007, Phoenix Cruiser-2350
Fits inside our garage.
Dingy towing a red Toyota MR2 Spyder
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justcuz
Canada
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Joined: 12/23/2007
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My motorhome is over 20 years old and averages about 4000 kms per year.
We usually just go camping locally.
It always has its regular maintenance and once a month it gets a good run city/highway just to keep all in order.
I have looked at and considered newer ones, but mine is paid for and we love the floor plan. I have not seen a floor plan like ours on any of the newer models. I agree the technology and improvements over the years would be much more advanced compared to ours.
But for what we use it for...it works!
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Ripsnort
Lake Tapps, WA USA
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Joined: 07/15/2004
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Dj, I might be repeating something you've heard in this thread, or outside this thread, but patience is the pay-off on a newer or older used MH. I spent 5 months searching, called on over 100 MH, and looked at approx 25 used MH in person before coming across a good deal, low mileage, 2nd owner, always garaged MH. Patience is the key word, but know a good deal when you see one and never pass it up!
I'm new to used MH ownership and regarding the gentleman's post about it being a hobby, he's exactly right. There is always something to tinker with, be it improvements or maintenance, both inside and outside. If you don't have the time for this type of hobby, you're going to be a miserable owner. 
Good luck in your search! "Research, Reserch, Research" to a MH is like "Location, Location, Location" in real estate!
Warming the globe, 1 mile at a time.
Rip's Garage!
1990 Fleetwood Jamboree 27 ft E350
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Gale Hawkins
Murray, KY
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Joined: 07/22/2007
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Ripsnort gives solid advice based on experience it sounds like. Having never driven or really even been in but a couple MH's we had this forum, ebay, PLL, local shopper ads, etc for research. Ebay is especially good due to detail photos that will apply to others of that model year quite well.
DJ the one thing we found important is to be ready to ACT, ACT, ACT when you find what you want through patiences and research. In our case our first offical looking as a family for a MH was the MH that met our requirements and at our budget. We just so happen to be the first ones to see it because the penny shopper was dropped the day we picked it up at a local business on a Saturday and we looked and bought it that night at 10 PM after looking at it for 1.5 hours. Others started calling the next day but he would not show it and we did leave him a good check that was a 12% deposit which we replaced with a bank check for the full amount 10 AM on Monday.
Had we not said yes on Saturday night it would not have been there on Sunday night. He had put a wholesale price in the ad and stated it was take it or leave it price. Later he told us he had lost his wife to cancer and he was to start chemo himself the following week. While sad he was a serious seller looking for a serious buyer. He did not want to start chemo with it sitting in his yard.
I know sometimes one has all kinds of time to talk about a deal. In our case the PO took price off the table and the only decision was YES we want it or NO we do not want it. Thanks to this forum and other research plus knowing trucks to some extent I was able to say yes after inspecting it and reviewing records for 1.5 hours. 14 months later we have no regrets. The hobby part is mentioned by others is dead on. There is ALWAYS something that could use some attention. Thankfully in our case these things take mainly time and little money. Things like sealing the end cap seems with Eternabond should be once in the life of the MH kind of things as was the day spent removing stickers, map, etc off the rear cap that really enhanced its looks.
As mentioned by ripsnort keep up your research but be ready to act if you find a hot deal. Even today it is hard to find a non haggling wholesale price deal.
By the way we were going for a 1986 Class C but bought 1993 Class A for less money and only 100 miles vs. 1000 miles for the Class C from home. No regrets on this last minute change in plans either.
Well just posting this got me excited and I am going out and work on putting back the final seam trim on the rear cap.
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