I thought some people might be interested to hear first hand what sort of situation a person might get themselves into when buying an older coach. If you don't like long, treatise style posts this one may not be for you.
When I say older, I am talking 15-20 years or so. There are many inexpensive, large, well equipped coaches in the 15-20 year range. As gas prices climb and rigs age the prices continue to fall. I have seen several posts asking about older coaches, this post is just a single example of what you could be getting yourself into.
My first coach was given to me, free. It was a 1972 Executive Industries 'The Executive' 26' Class A on a dodge M400 chassis, it had been sitting for 7 years. I started with some minor repair tasks on it and then started looking at the costs to make it roadworthy. New tires would be over $2,000, and back registrations would be another $800. $2800 and it still needed brakes, some water damage repair, and a variety of other problems. Brake parts were hard if not impossible to get and very expensive due to the age of the chassis. It needed some remodels to fit my family to as it was a 'bunk' configuration, and it had very little storage. I decided to see what I could get for $3000 instead of working on the executive, I figured I'd be into it for 6-7K before I got it where I wanted it and it would still be nearly 40 years old, it was too old for me.
I found a 1990 Pace Arrow 34' class A with a rear bedroom, sofa bed and dinette sleeper, and basement storage. The floorplan was much better for my family of 5. The owner was asking $4,000 and was upfront that it needed some work. When I went to look at it I found that all of the appliances worked except the microwave, the generator worked, and all the house systems seemed to be in reasonable shape. The interior had some obvious signs of water damage from the leaking roof. The roof is rubber and the seams were split exposing the plywood underneath, the caulking was old and dried out. The hydraulic jack system had some kind of leak somewhere and one of the return springs on the jacks were broken. The main awning canvas was in very bad shape.
When I drove it, the suspension creaked; a sign of not having been properly lubed. It pulled hard to the right when you used the brakes and vibrated when driving so it definetly needed some suspsension and/or brake work. The engine sounded good and the transmission shifted well. Due to the pulling to the right it was a bit scary to drive. The tires were all in good shape and had only 6,000 miles but the fronts were older and would need replacing.
After evaluating it I talked the owner down to $3K easily, I probably could have gone lower. He was ready to be off with it, the registration was due and he had a $2K quote to fix the roof and jack leak from a mobile RV mechanic and that had put a bad taste in his mouth. He was the second owner and had owned it for 15 years but was tired of paying storage on it and was no longer able to do any maintenance on it himself.
Once I had ownership the very first thing to do was smog it. It cost $80 and passed just fine. That was a good indicator that the engine was in fairly decent shape. This could have been a huge expense if it had failed and needed emissions systems repairs.
Next up was to fix the scary pull to the right and make it safe to drive. I took it to a shop to diagnose the problem. Loose lower ball joints, worn upper bushings, loose idler belcrank shafts, bad right caliper. Quote, $2400 not including replacment of rotors (which it ended up needing).
I had the awning canvas replaced for $500 including canvas and labor as it was not something I felt I could do myself.
As a shade tree DIY mechanic I decided to take on the rest of the jobs myself. I spent around $800 replacing the brakes including all new parts, calipers, rotors, and brake lines. I also put new front wheel bearings on it at this time and lubed the chassis. After the brake work was complete the pull to the right was completely gone and the squeaky chassis no longer squeaked. I also spent $100 buying a new floor jack to help with the job. This was an easy job relatively speaking. If you've done brakes on your car or truck, this was no different, except everything is heavier. I'd call an impact wrench and a set of impact sockets a necessary tool!
We took our first (short distance) family trip in it in this condition. The suspension was still a bit loose and vibrated a bit. The roof wasn't sealed yet but it never rains in southern California!
With rain now in the forecast I decided to get on the roof and seal it. I got a quote for a basic coating of the roof for $600. That didn't include any seam repairs, they would be done at $100/hr plus materials. I think it would have cost at least $1200 to get the roof repaired at the shop, if not more. I purchased an eternabond kit made for roof overhaul which included 200' of 4" tape and some UV protectant paint. Total cost around $300, and 4 days of work on the roof.
After getting the roof done I decided to do the ball joints. I got another quote because I was afraid it might be too big of a job for me to pull off. The new quote was even higher at $1000/side. I decided to do it myself. I used the built in hydraulic jacks to lift the front end off the ground which was the part I was concerned about. 6,000 pound Safety stands made it safe and with hammers, wrenches and lots of elbow grease I replaced the lower ball joints at a cost of total cost of $230. Extensive use of an air powered impact driver and a friend with a good hammer arm made the job reasonably easy. I saved the upper ball joints and bushings for a later time as they were only slightly worn. The rig drives completely differently now and feels safe and smooth going down the road.
I found that the leak in the jack system was just the return line. For $60 I ordered a new return line and springs for the jack that had a broken spring. I purchased a $40 come-a-long to pull on them and install them. About 2 hours to replace the line and install the springs.
I found a variety of goofy wiring issues inside the coach and spent quite a lot of time fixing those and making odds and ends work properly. Knowing basic electrical wiring and troubleshooting saved many hundreds of more dollars. I fixed the microwave by replacing a $1.50 internal fuse. I rewired the batteries after a near disasterous shortout under the hood due to a previous 'mechanics' work. The batteries were wired by someone that actually called themselves a mechanic and charged for the work and they were done so poorly that it nearly caught the rig on fire. Never assume that just because a 'mechanic' did the work that it was done right.
I still need to replace the front tires, replace the house batteries with proper deep cycles, do the upper ball joints and bushings (eventually) as well as a whole bunch of minor items that need attention, I've got a list of 15-20 minor items like loose hinges, broken door latches, etc...
Overall I've spent around $2300 in repairs and done all of it myself and have used many hours to accomplish it all. If I'd HAD it all done I would be in for easily $6-7K just in repair work. I still have another $1000 or so to go to really get it in top shape assuming I do the work myself, the bulk of that is for purchase of tires. For around $6,500 I will end up with a coach that I can use for several years that suits my families needs and I know the condition of all of the systems (since I've worked on most of them) and have confidence in it enough to travel an be able to handle repairs when I need to. There is still the chance that the tranny could go out or some other major repair and it will still be ugly since I haven't done anything to improve the appearance, but overall I am happy with my purchase and not surprised by the amount of work required to get it into shape.
If you are looking at buying an older coach and have the skills and the time to work on it yourself you may be able to get a good deal. Your ability to assess the coach at the time of purchase and subsequently proceed with repairs on your own will be key to your success. If you have to have all the work done by mechanics and RV shops I think you'd be better off spending your money on a newer coach that would hopefully have less problems.
When I say older, I am talking 15-20 years or so. There are many inexpensive, large, well equipped coaches in the 15-20 year range. As gas prices climb and rigs age the prices continue to fall. I have seen several posts asking about older coaches, this post is just a single example of what you could be getting yourself into.
My first coach was given to me, free. It was a 1972 Executive Industries 'The Executive' 26' Class A on a dodge M400 chassis, it had been sitting for 7 years. I started with some minor repair tasks on it and then started looking at the costs to make it roadworthy. New tires would be over $2,000, and back registrations would be another $800. $2800 and it still needed brakes, some water damage repair, and a variety of other problems. Brake parts were hard if not impossible to get and very expensive due to the age of the chassis. It needed some remodels to fit my family to as it was a 'bunk' configuration, and it had very little storage. I decided to see what I could get for $3000 instead of working on the executive, I figured I'd be into it for 6-7K before I got it where I wanted it and it would still be nearly 40 years old, it was too old for me.
I found a 1990 Pace Arrow 34' class A with a rear bedroom, sofa bed and dinette sleeper, and basement storage. The floorplan was much better for my family of 5. The owner was asking $4,000 and was upfront that it needed some work. When I went to look at it I found that all of the appliances worked except the microwave, the generator worked, and all the house systems seemed to be in reasonable shape. The interior had some obvious signs of water damage from the leaking roof. The roof is rubber and the seams were split exposing the plywood underneath, the caulking was old and dried out. The hydraulic jack system had some kind of leak somewhere and one of the return springs on the jacks were broken. The main awning canvas was in very bad shape.
When I drove it, the suspension creaked; a sign of not having been properly lubed. It pulled hard to the right when you used the brakes and vibrated when driving so it definetly needed some suspsension and/or brake work. The engine sounded good and the transmission shifted well. Due to the pulling to the right it was a bit scary to drive. The tires were all in good shape and had only 6,000 miles but the fronts were older and would need replacing.
After evaluating it I talked the owner down to $3K easily, I probably could have gone lower. He was ready to be off with it, the registration was due and he had a $2K quote to fix the roof and jack leak from a mobile RV mechanic and that had put a bad taste in his mouth. He was the second owner and had owned it for 15 years but was tired of paying storage on it and was no longer able to do any maintenance on it himself.
Once I had ownership the very first thing to do was smog it. It cost $80 and passed just fine. That was a good indicator that the engine was in fairly decent shape. This could have been a huge expense if it had failed and needed emissions systems repairs.
Next up was to fix the scary pull to the right and make it safe to drive. I took it to a shop to diagnose the problem. Loose lower ball joints, worn upper bushings, loose idler belcrank shafts, bad right caliper. Quote, $2400 not including replacment of rotors (which it ended up needing).
I had the awning canvas replaced for $500 including canvas and labor as it was not something I felt I could do myself.
As a shade tree DIY mechanic I decided to take on the rest of the jobs myself. I spent around $800 replacing the brakes including all new parts, calipers, rotors, and brake lines. I also put new front wheel bearings on it at this time and lubed the chassis. After the brake work was complete the pull to the right was completely gone and the squeaky chassis no longer squeaked. I also spent $100 buying a new floor jack to help with the job. This was an easy job relatively speaking. If you've done brakes on your car or truck, this was no different, except everything is heavier. I'd call an impact wrench and a set of impact sockets a necessary tool!
We took our first (short distance) family trip in it in this condition. The suspension was still a bit loose and vibrated a bit. The roof wasn't sealed yet but it never rains in southern California!
With rain now in the forecast I decided to get on the roof and seal it. I got a quote for a basic coating of the roof for $600. That didn't include any seam repairs, they would be done at $100/hr plus materials. I think it would have cost at least $1200 to get the roof repaired at the shop, if not more. I purchased an eternabond kit made for roof overhaul which included 200' of 4" tape and some UV protectant paint. Total cost around $300, and 4 days of work on the roof.
After getting the roof done I decided to do the ball joints. I got another quote because I was afraid it might be too big of a job for me to pull off. The new quote was even higher at $1000/side. I decided to do it myself. I used the built in hydraulic jacks to lift the front end off the ground which was the part I was concerned about. 6,000 pound Safety stands made it safe and with hammers, wrenches and lots of elbow grease I replaced the lower ball joints at a cost of total cost of $230. Extensive use of an air powered impact driver and a friend with a good hammer arm made the job reasonably easy. I saved the upper ball joints and bushings for a later time as they were only slightly worn. The rig drives completely differently now and feels safe and smooth going down the road.
I found that the leak in the jack system was just the return line. For $60 I ordered a new return line and springs for the jack that had a broken spring. I purchased a $40 come-a-long to pull on them and install them. About 2 hours to replace the line and install the springs.
I found a variety of goofy wiring issues inside the coach and spent quite a lot of time fixing those and making odds and ends work properly. Knowing basic electrical wiring and troubleshooting saved many hundreds of more dollars. I fixed the microwave by replacing a $1.50 internal fuse. I rewired the batteries after a near disasterous shortout under the hood due to a previous 'mechanics' work. The batteries were wired by someone that actually called themselves a mechanic and charged for the work and they were done so poorly that it nearly caught the rig on fire. Never assume that just because a 'mechanic' did the work that it was done right.
I still need to replace the front tires, replace the house batteries with proper deep cycles, do the upper ball joints and bushings (eventually) as well as a whole bunch of minor items that need attention, I've got a list of 15-20 minor items like loose hinges, broken door latches, etc...
Overall I've spent around $2300 in repairs and done all of it myself and have used many hours to accomplish it all. If I'd HAD it all done I would be in for easily $6-7K just in repair work. I still have another $1000 or so to go to really get it in top shape assuming I do the work myself, the bulk of that is for purchase of tires. For around $6,500 I will end up with a coach that I can use for several years that suits my families needs and I know the condition of all of the systems (since I've worked on most of them) and have confidence in it enough to travel an be able to handle repairs when I need to. There is still the chance that the tranny could go out or some other major repair and it will still be ugly since I haven't done anything to improve the appearance, but overall I am happy with my purchase and not surprised by the amount of work required to get it into shape.
If you are looking at buying an older coach and have the skills and the time to work on it yourself you may be able to get a good deal. Your ability to assess the coach at the time of purchase and subsequently proceed with repairs on your own will be key to your success. If you have to have all the work done by mechanics and RV shops I think you'd be better off spending your money on a newer coach that would hopefully have less problems.
