buying a used C class

My family travels from NW Iowa to the coast of maine every summer. We would like to do this in a C class. Not much $ to spend, but we found a couple C class at about 10K in our area. One is a 1992 toyota sea breeze, very well maintained, with about 130,000 miles. the other is a ford fourwinds, 1997, about 85,000 miles.

Is either of these likely to get us there and back? Is one better than the other? I have heard that toyota is more reliable, but it has a lot more miles. That one looks nicer & I like it better & has had more things replaced/maintained.

thanks for any advice!

You really should not expect any $10,000 motorhome to be problem free, I am not saying they don't exist, but you are playing a needle in a haystack game trying to find one at that price.  The best you can realistically hope for in that price range is a set of problems you can live with.  Having said that, if you raise your budget to around $15,000, and are willing to put another few thousand into repairs on differed maintenance you stand a much better chance of buying something that will get you there safely.  Even then expect to look at a lot of junk before finding a good coach, preferably one that someone else has recently dumped a pile of money into repairing.

The big things to keep in mind when looking at any motohome of this vintage is that a main killer of RV's is rot caused by water penetration, this rot is often FAR more extensive than it appears at first glance, and far more expensive to repair than many newbies think.  On class C's a common failure point is the window seals around the over cab bed, though any roof penetration seal, window seal, etc. is a potential source or water entry.  The other thing you need to remember is most rubber parts have an effective life expectancy of about 12-15 years, this includes all sorts of belts, hoses, and bushings, not just the obvious stuff like the fan belt, tires, radiator hose, but also rubber brake hoses, steering bushings, sway bar bushings, propane regulator diaphragm, ... In the case of tires they really should be replaced every 7 years or so based on age alone regardless of the amount of tread left.

Welcome to the RV Forum reliz

X's 2 What Isaac said. You should also be aware that cost to make the trip in a motor home is also higher in dollars and time. You won't be able to drive as fast and even then you will burn a lot more fuel.

I'm not trying to talk you out of buying either one...I'm just passing on more information.

Another option might be to rent a class c for your trip. Then you won't have to deal with all the chores of taking care of the RV the rest of the year.

thank you both for your input.

I would love to rent one, but it seems impossible. we go for the entire summer and I have not found anyone who will do two one way rental from Iowa to Maine (or even Omaha to Boston.)

Do either of you have input about the toyota vs. the ford if we do decide to take the plunge?

Welcome to the forum:

Listen to Isaac-1 & Gizmo 100.    What size is your 'family'. Take them 'shopping' with you to see how the family fits.  Keep your eyes wide open ~ ask lots of questions ~ look at lots of units.

Good Luck.

I think it going to be a toss of a coin choice..

You have seen them so trust your eyes. The one that has the best floor plan for your needs will likely be your best bet.

All else being equal, I'd take the Ford over the Toyota.  Toyota based motorhomes were underpowered for their size, meaning the Ford with it's larger engine will be a lot more responsive on the highway.

Take the Toyota on a test drive and see if it performs well enough at highway speeds for you.

I tend to lean towards the Ford, though personally I would want to buy something just a little newer.  The good thing about the Ford is that it will have an OBD-II diagnostic interface, as they were mandated starting in model year 1996 chassis vehicles (many motorhomes are built on the preceding model year Chassis, so a 97 Winnebago, may be built on a 1996 Ford or Chevrolet Chassis).    The main thing I have against a 1997 Ford is it is likely powered by the then very long in the tooth Ford 460 engine, as the 6.8L V10 was not introduced until 1998 or 1999.  Also if the dash air conditioner matters to you, R134a refrigerant which is just now being phased out was mandated starting in 1995, though had been being phased in for 3 or 4 years prior to that, meaning the Toyota may have an old R12 (no longer available) air conditioner system that may have been retrofitted to R-134a which often lead to poor air conditioner performance, which only gets worse when you add all that motorhome living area behind an air conditioner designed to cool a truck cab.

Either way remember you are talking about taking a 20+ year old vehicle on a cross country adventure without knowing details of its maintenance history.    It may do fine for weekend trips going to the local lake, the real test would be getting it out on the highway hour after hour, and see if it holds together.

Ike

p.s. before buying I would suggest you look into at least renting an older class C for a weekend at a state park or somewhere.    There are various online private owner rental web sites, it will probably cost you $150 per day or so to rent a 10-15 year old coach, which should give you an idea if this is right for you.