You have 10-20k, what used class C RV would you buy?

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efra1223

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Joined
Jul 28, 2017
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8
Hey folks!

Im looking at buying my first RV. My budget is around 10 to 20k. Ive narrowed it down to Winnebago, Tioga, maybe Lazy Daze or Born Free if I could find them for the right price, which I cant! I want something I can consider renting out since I wont use it tons. Any recommendations are well darn received!

Wish me LUCK!!

Ohh and I live in California if that helps with anything...
 
There is a reason that you cannot find what you are looking for, you have your sights set too high for the price point you noted. If I were looking for a motor home in the 10-20k range, I would hope for something that has at least been, dare I say it... maintained. The problem is when a motor home becomes worth so little they can be literal basket cases.

Another question, with all of the available rental agencies out there today, cutting each other's prices; how could you expect to rent a motorhome that would be...old?

I don't want to sound so negative...but, in California too!?!

Good luck in your search.
 
We were contemplating doing the same thing when we thought of getting an RV.
10 to 20k might get you something from the early 90's then you will need to be handy and able to repair most items.
We ended up with a class a and about increasing budget by 5x. Reality hit when we were looking at units that were 10 to 20k . Didn't want to spend most weekend getting the RV to our specs.
We live in Northern California. I will say for about 30k you may be able to get a 2000+ Class C.
 
All the above is great info. You budget is too low to find anything in good shape. As far as renting it, save yourself the hassle. Renting is a bad idea. There are a ton of threads covering this on here, do a search.

Best advice I can give you is, turn the tables around. Since you won't use it much, Rent one.
 
We bought a 22 ft Flair Class A about 12 years old and well cared for. It was just see if we used an rv enough to justify having one. Worked out very well and we moved up from there, but the Flair was fine for weekend trips to the lake and we might well have kept it if that were all we did. Paid 16K for it.

Ernie

Without children we didn't even consider Class C's.
 
There are units out there in your budget range, they will be 15 year old or so.  My advice is to buy from a private seller, but towards the top end of your budget range, if you will then have money to maintain it.  Simply put a $10,000 tends to be a hunters special / money pit, with some remaining value, but major issues that are not economic to repair, a $15,000 motorhome, is potentially a bit better, even functional, but for $20,000 you can find something nice with only minor issues.

When it comes to shopping and budgeting, I remember asking and selling price are not the same thing, don't be scared to offer $18,000 on a motorhome with an asking price of $25,000 - $28,000.  Also don't forget immediate post purchase expenses, sale tax, registration, insurance, storage cost, ...
 
We started out looking for something in the $15k range. After the first few weeks of viewing it became pretty clear that unless we wanted a fixer-upper (which we did not. I still work and have little time for such adventures) we needed to raise our price range. I am sure that had we been patient, we may have found just the right unit for what we wanted to pay, but we really did not want spend months looking at beat down rough-riders, in hopes of finding that perfect gem in the bargain basement.
We raised our range to $25K and still looked at some pretty rough specimens, before finding the Sundancer.

If you are a handy man, with a lot of time on your hands, you probably can find what you're looking for, eventually, and turn it into the MH of your dreams. Good luck, and happy hunting. 

 
captsteve said:
All the above is great info. You budget is too low to find anything in good shape.

Not necessarily... I'd change that statement to read "Your budget is too low to quickly or easily find anything in good shape."  They are out there, but it will take a lot of research, shopping, and inspecting on your part. 

For your first RV, do not rush into a purchase without knowing what you are doing.  I researched and shopped (mostly online, some in person) for a solid year before buying our first rig.  It was a 1994 Class A motorhome, purchased in 2007 so 13 years old at the time.  NADA book value was $18,000, seller was asking $14,000, and I bought it for $12,000.  I also drove across 4 states (from IL to NY) to inspect and purchase.  Not something I'd necessarily recommend for a first-time buyer, but as mentioned I did a LOT of advanced research.  The rig needed some TLC and we had some road bumps along the way, but we had no major problems during our 6 camping seasons of ownership.  I sold the Class A in 2012 for $8000 to a retired guy who planned to live in it full time.

We constantly preach here that year/make/model are not the most important part of RV buying/ownership.  Budget/floorplan/options/condition will mean much more to the livability and enjoyment that you experience.
 
you could buy mine for that price after January 4th 2018 :)
jk - sort of.
We have a 1991 Tioga we bought used in 1997 - paid about 30k when we got done with tax, tires, batteries, etc.
20 years later, we're still looking for the replacement, and I'm close, probably after the new year (there's my joking comment about buying mine after Jan 4).
mine has been taken care of by a professional mechanic who swears he'd hop in our rv and drive it cross country in a moments notice - everything works right and it runs great.
so do not be afraid of ALL low-priced class C units - one may be as nice as ours is, and as well taken care of.
I really want to sleep on the ground floor with my wife in a queen size bed :)
 
Unless you think you have rv'ing in your blood, and you would only use a motorhome occasionally, perhaps it would be better just to stay at motels. I am not trying to rain on your parade, but believe me, this life style is not cheap. A hotel room might be cheaper in the long run.
 
Plenty of good units out there in your price range. But you have to shop and hunt. You can't just pick a select few models and expect a great deal to fall out of the sky the next day. You have to see just what is on the market in that price range and how it suits your lifestyle.

Don't get discouraged by the well heeled so easily.

Plenty of used motorhomes in the 10-20K that are doable and not junk. Matter of fact, you can get a lot of bang for the buck when motorhomes are older and you are shopping around.

Some are very well maintained but they can't bring in top dollar because so many folks insist on new and nearly new, so the price of used ones get quickly driven down with age. Some folks think any decor that is 10 or more years old is just not livable and they are dead wrong or overly picky.

I bought a 15 year old used motorhome as a starter kit for 24/7 living. Well, I still like it, as nearly 8 years later, I am still in it. Sure I've repaired, replaced and upgraded some. But I love that "paid for" smell and mine is quite comfortable with some cozy upgrades. When spending repair or upgrading money, I factor in the thrill. In other words, certain $500 repairs may only raise the resale value by $5, but if I am going to keep traveling and living in it, then I will recoup my $500 in "the fun factor".

The problem is you did it backwards... picking the type of RV you wanted rather than checking the market to see what is available. Throw out your list of types, and make a list of comforts you want and go out and look LOOK LOOK at what's available in your price range.

If you look high and low within your budget, you will find a fabulous deal that is doable.

 
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