1988 Coachman Catalina

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Johnnybgood

Well-known member
Joined
May 28, 2010
Posts
47
The wife and I are looking at a 1988 Coachman Catalina 23' with the 350 Chevy. Everything works, it has 20,000 miles on the odometer and someone replaced the roof with a solid sheet of metal. Everything looks new. No signs of leaks and no signs of rust. They are asking $7000. What do you think?
 
That price seems high, but it may the one that fits you. Be sure that YOU test every system on that unit. Drive it, not two miles, I mean drive it. It's not a classic car where you have to keep the miles down, get on the highway and roll on. After you are satisfied with the test drive, now check all of the house systems. There is a check list in the site library section. The fridge is very costly and takes a while to get fully cold. Take your time and make sure that the fridge works, can take more than four hours. The freezer may get cold quickly but the feefer part never cools enough. You have to fire up the heater and run the A/C. test the water system, 12v and city. How old are the tires? At 7g's they should be fresh, the tires have a date code on them. Doing your homework now can save you hundreds.
J
 
All good advice from 34footer.  I don't care how few the miles are, or how good it looks, a 22 year old RV has vast potential to be a money pit.  The low mileage indicates little use, which is ok for upholstery and carpet, but bad for anything that relies on lubrication and/or regular movement to avoid rust and corrosion.  That's most moving parts and most anything with seals or gaskets. And anything made of rubber or similar compound dies of old age and 22 years is old.  That's drivebelts, hoses, etc.

With those precautions in mind, check everything out closely using the checklists in the Library. If you still think the price is ok and it suits your needs, go for it. Sometimes these oldtimers can be great.
 
Back
Top Bottom