$200K to Spend - Older or Newer?

We are planning to retire and purchase a used Class A for full time rv living.  Our budget is approximately $200K, and we are looking for something like a Winnebago Tour, Itasca Ellipse, or an Allegro Bus. We're not wedded to those models, I mention them to give you an edea of what we are looking for.

I am seeking advice from those of you who have been doing this for a while.  Where I need the most help is in the age of the coach to target.  From my research, newer coaches (2011 to 2012) have some of the newer features with lower finishes.  Older coaches like the American Coaches (2006 to 2009) have less features but nicer finishes.  I guess my question is would you go newer or older.  Would an older coach concern you? Thanks.

I can only tell you what we did and would certainly do again if I had a $200K budget.

We had a Winnebago Journey for 8 years and it was OK for what we paid for it but wanted something larger, nicer, tag axle.  We targeted high end used DP's in the mid 2000 model years.  We wanted to get a pre DEF diesel.  We looked at high end American Coaches, Newmar (Mountain Aires and Essex), Monaco's and a Travel Supreme.  Our criteria was no more than one previous owner, must have service records, and if purchased from dealer, dealer must be able/willing to put us in touch with prior owner. 

We ended up with the 2007 Country Coach Allure in our signature.  We paid less than $200K and, with a few upgrades (new TV's, new sofa and double recliner), new cabinet hardware, we have a really nice, solidly built coach that rides, drives and handles like a dream.  Solid cherry cabinetry, heated tile floors, aqua hot heating system, and other features found in the higher end rigs.

For your budget you could even get into gently used early 2000's Newells, Foretravel, or maybe even something built on a Prevost chassis if you shop around.  Take a look at Motorhomes of Texas website to get an idea of what kind of higher end rigs you can get for your budget or less. 

Another I would put on my list might be the Entegra line.  They make a very nice coach and you could probably find a gently used Anthem at or near your price.  The Entegra crowd seems to trade up often (from Anthem to the top of the line Cornerstone), so there should be some nice later model Anthems on the market.  MHSRV in Texas, RVOne in Orlando, and either of the Lazy Days locations would be good places to look for those. 

Good luck with your search.  It can be daunting but fun.

With that kind of budget, I cannot imagine that there will be too much that is completely out of reach.  I paid less than 5% of that amount for my current trailer. 

I'm sure you'll get some good responses in this thread, and you might also want to poke around the Fulltiming board to get opinions from those folks who might not see this conversation.

From my research, newer coaches (2011 to 2012) have some of the newer features with lower finishes.  Older coaches like the American Coaches (2006 to 2009) have less features but nicer finishes.

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Can you give some examples of this?  I can't think of any such "features", except maybe USB charger ports or something recent and minor like that. There simply aren't many features missing from any high end model coach made in the past dozen years. The main difference with age in a high end coach is the interior trim styling. The older ones tend to be strongly traditional on the cabinet style and wall/window trim, but styling became more avante garde around 2010 as younger buyers made themselves felt in the market.

Yes, there is a noticeable difference in exterior finish quality in a high end model. Not particularly evident from a ways away, but it is there and shows up as a superior looking finish even after 10 years or more. Folks are always amazed when I tell them my American Tradition is a 2004 - they say it "looks new". Same thing applies to other high end brands.

If I had $200k to spend and wanted a really nice coach, I would be looking at American Coach, Monaco Dynasty & Camelot, Newmar Essex & Mountainaire , etc., of an age old enough to fit my budget.  I would not ignore nice examples of Allegro Bus and Tour/Ellipse and Dutch Star either, but those would not be my main focus. There should be some Travel Supreme and Country Coach models in that range too, but those ceased production around 2008.

I'm a believer in making lists or my requirements and segregating them into "Must Have' and "Like to have" (and also "must NOT have", if there are any). Then shop for that list without regard to brand or year, using condition and price as my culling criteria. Just making those lists clarifies your thinking a lot. If a high quality paint job is important to you, put it in the list, but consider carefully whether it is a "must" or a "nice".

With that budget it would be Foretravel for sure!

If I had a 200K budget, I would look to spend $100K and save the rest for customization, upgrades, repairs, and maintenance.

RV manufacturers build to suit themselves and their bottom line rather than build to what a consumer desires.

Since I have customized my current old rig to make it comfy for my lifestyle, I would expect at 200K to have everything my heart desired.

If you drop it all in one fell swoop you have nothing left to customize it to your lifestyle, tastes and comforts.

I have friends going through this nightmare, they spent all of their budget on a rig that seemed like it was beautiful and functional. But a year later, and they hate it. Now they are scraping around trying to come up with funds to make it more to their liking.

So proceed with caution.  ;D

Here is just one example of a beautiful, high end coach that could be had for less than $200K.  And a note about Country Coach; they were just purchased by Winnebago Industries and they are in business with full technical support, parts and service at their location in Oregon. 

http://motorhomesoftexas.com/coachrv_images/country_coach/2008--intrigue--45Splendor--C1853

Foretravel is a good bet too.  You can even get an older Newell or Marathon (Prevost conversion) in that range, if you want really top end accouterments.

And I like MissMermaid's suggestion of holding some $$ back for renovations. Few things are as rewarding as "making it your own".

Many thanks to the responders for the helpful insights.  Lots of wisdom on this forum.

$200K would probably easily cover the cost of a low mileage, 10 year old Foretravel, one of the best coaches out there.  Have a look at Motorhome Of Texas, who sell a lot of used ones:

http://motorhomesoftexas.com/c#/coachesrv/all/default/foretravel/all/all

Outbacker said:

We are planning to retire and purchase a used Class A for full time rv living.  Our budget is approximately $200K, and we are looking for something like a Winnebago Tour, Itasca Ellipse, or an Allegro Bus. We're not wedded to those models, I mention them to give you an edea of what we are looking for.

I am seeking advice from those of you who have been doing this for a while.  Where I need the most help is in the age of the coach to target.  From my research, newer coaches (2011 to 2012) have some of the newer features with lower finishes.  Older coaches like the American Coaches (2006 to 2009) have less features but nicer finishes.  I guess my question is would you go newer or older.  Would an older coach concern you? Thanks.

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I believe this coach is ideal for what you are doing. You won't find a better coach for the money.

http://wenatchee.craigslist.org/rvs/5466555246.html

Tom/Barb said:

I believe this coach is ideal for what you are doing. You won't find a better coach for the money.

http://wenatchee.craigslist.org/rvs/5466555246.html

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I have actually looked at that coach.

It is in an old aircraft hanger on the east side of Wenatchee WA. and is in very, very good condition. In fact the only snag I could spot on a quick look was a tear in the slide topper.

I did not make an offer as it did not have some of the items on my wish list. But it was one of the best values I've come across.

I would go with older because an rv depreciates quite a bit once you leave the lot no matter the price range and if you get a good enough price you can later sell it at the price you paid or more.

John in YVR said:

I have actually looked at that coach.

It is in an old aircraft hanger on the east side of Wenatchee WA. and is in very, very good condition. In fact the only snag I could spot on a quick look was a tear in the slide topper.

I did not make an offer as it did not have some of the items on my wish list. But it was one of the best values I've come across.

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This coach was advertised last fall in Craig's list, at $180 and was off the list all winter, now it's back. $20k cheaper. that's about 75% of list. If it were a dealer it would be $220k