My newbie thoughts on buying an RV - and the ones we've looked at so far...

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nuttyzoomzoom

nuttyzoomzoom

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 5, 2013
Posts
125
Location
Metro St. Louis
Welp.  When I bought my first MG, I found one, looked it over, drove it home.  RVs aren't that easy.

In our price range that we've looked at and driven:

1st -1999 or 2000 Four Winds 5000 Class C - had the delamination issue.
2nd - 1990 Jamboree, Class C - mileage in the upper 70s, no levelers, well kept, no real issues, price firm.
3rd - 1993 Sea Breeze, Class A - needs tires, electric step broken, no levelers, awning worked funky, no oven, dash AC needs annual freon, bugly carpeting. 

We're going to look at a few local dealers between now and the weekend.  There's a couple on craigslist we're going to look at in the next few days.  And one south of Memphis (good reason to go visit our friends)  It's a 'too good to be true' sounding ad on craigslist though, $7900 for a '99 Coachman, 40k miles. http://memphis.craigslist.org/rvs/3676081951.html

What I have learned, in a month's time:
***I want instant gratification... I want my camper YESTERDAY!  :eek:
***The absolute perfect camper in our price range won't be the first one (or 2nd, or 3rd or prolly 10th) we look at.  ::)
***NO camper is going to have exactly what we want, how we want it and where we want it.  :(
***Sellers want more money for the camper than buyers want to spend.  :p
***There are a lot of good people here willing to take their time to help us out.  :-*

We ARE willing to wait, spend this season looking, camping with our friends in their Class A to make sure this isn't a passing whim.
We ARE willing to travel (possibly any distance) to look at/buy an RV in our price range with our *requirements* - provided we can find someone knowledgeable in the area willing to do the initial runthrough. (dahubby and John flew to Portland to buy and drive John's Class A home - but AFTER John's brother-in-law inspected and approved the camper in advance)

So - at this point THANK YOU ALL for all the invaluable advice and information.  Please, please PRETTY PLEASE keep your eyes and ears open in case My Perfect RV is in your area.  And keep the suggestions coming!
~Janel

 
You should be happy you are having problems finding the RV of your dreams. It is not easy to find it. If you did buy one of the very first ones that you looked at the odds are in a month you would be very disappointed with your purchase. It takes me about 4 months of intensive shopping to find my next RV.

Why not put together a list of exactly everything you must have, everything you want to have and everything you don't want, along with your price range and area. Then post that in the "want to buy' section here on the forum. There are thousands of RVers on this site every day and someone might be wanting to sell you exactly what you want to buy.
 
If you are serious about that C you showed, be sure to check the overhang/bed area very carefully. Those overhangs have a nasty habit of leaking, especially around the windows, causing  wood rot and requiring a complete rebuild of that section. There are several here on this  board that have gone through that.  Their notes can be found easily by searching.
 
Alfa38User said:
If you are serious about that C you showed, be sure to check the overhang/bed area very carefully. Those overhangs have a nasty habit of leaking, especially around the windows, causing  wood rot and requiring a complete rebuild of that section. There are several here on this  board that have gone through that and their notes can be found easily by searching.
Click to expand...

I think we've ruled out both the Cs we've looked at.  I DO like the overhead bunk (our friends with the Class A have a full *dropdown* bunk over the cab portion of theirs and it's great to have that additional sleep space.
 
SeilerBird said:
You should be happy you are having problems finding the RV of your dreams. It is not easy to find it. If you did buy one of the very first ones that you looked at the odds are in a month you would be very disappointed with your purchase. It takes me about 4 months of intensive shopping to find my next RV.

Why not put together a list of exactly everything you must have, everything you want to have and everything you don't want, along with your price range and area. Then post that in the "want to buy' section here on the forum. There are thousands of RVers on this site every day and someone might be wanting to sell you exactly what you want to buy.
Click to expand...

I think I need to revise the *want ad* I listed earlier this week!
 
Suggestions: 

1. Do not fall in love with an RV.  It will not love you back.
2. Larger generator and 2 AC is better.  It will be cool when it is hot and you have a spare if one of the AC's goes out.
3. Single piece front is not good -- If you have a fender bender the whole front of the RV has to come off and its a wrecker.
4. Best to avoid rubber roof.
5. Does the engine leak oil? 
6. If the engine is noisy you probably have manifold issues.
7. If the vacuum drops and engine dies when the engine gets hot you probably have warped manifold.
8. An RV has all the problems a car that hauls trailers has, and all the problems a house has.  If you are a good mechanic and handyman and don't mind doing most of your own work and learning the vehicle it can be fun.  The documentation on RV's is nonexistent so you have to be good at figuring stuff out yourself.  If you are not good at these things or don't have the time/patience for it, prepare to spend some money keeping it running.
 
Lessons learned.  Our first RV, a gas front engine 26' GMC was $11K and then we put more than that into upgrades and repairs starting with new tires all around.  Second one, a 34' diesel pusher was very low mileage (18K) and only 4 hours on the genset and very few repairs, no upgrades but more expensive initially.  Third one turned out to be too small (Class B, 22' Sprinter, Mercedes diesel engine) when we thought downsizing was a smart thing for both economy and efficiently.  We're currently on RV # 4 and are still making repairs and upgrades but the latter clearly our choice and not necessary for operating the vehicle.  This was all over a period 12 years.  If the PO (previous owner) has all records, all the better.
 
Big items not mentioned so far to check are tires, are they outdated, batteries, and make sure the fridge works properly. Those can be big expenses to pay for right off the bat.

Bill
 
Yes, definitely checking out the high dollar items.  Learned that right away!!!  Have one we looked at, dash ac doesn't work - well, that's an expensive fix.  Ditto with frigs, tires (we're interested in one that needs 7 new tires, 3 new batteries)

Exhausting fun!
 
drusher said:
Suggestions: 

1. Do not fall in love with an RV.  It will not love you back.
2. Larger generator and 2 AC is better.  It will be cool when it is hot and you have a spare if one of the AC's goes out.
3. Single piece front is not good -- If you have a fender bender the whole front of the RV has to come off and its a wrecker.
4. Best to avoid rubber roof.
5. Does the engine leak oil? 
6. If the engine is noisy you probably have manifold issues.
7. If the vacuum drops and engine dies when the engine gets hot you probably have warped manifold.
8. An RV has all the problems a car that hauls trailers has, and all the problems a house has.  If you are a good mechanic and handyman and don't mind doing most of your own work and learning the vehicle it can be fun.  The documentation on RV's is nonexistent so you have to be good at figuring stuff out yourself.  If you are not good at these things or don't have the time/patience for it, prepare to spend some money keeping it running.
Click to expand...

Great advice.  Why not the rubber roof?  And never gave thought to a single piece front! 

Hubby is great mechanically.  That's helpful!  And most owners have had full records on their vehicles so that is a big plus to me!
 
nuttyzoomzoom said:
Have one we looked at, dash ac doesn't work - well, that's an expensive fix.
Click to expand...
If you were to find an A/C that actually worked on a rig that old for sale it would be a "man bites dog" story. They rarely get fixed because it is so expensive and it is much cheaper just to run the gen and the roof air while traveling down the road.
 
My dash air still works, but if it didn't I'd fix it, because that's what I do for a living. I run the hvac shop at one of ours hospitals  here in town. Just because the dash air don't work, don't assume it cost an arm and leg to get it repaired. I'd be more conserned with the fridge, tires, and brakes. Hydralic levelers is a must for me, this the first coach I've had with them and I wouldn't buy one without. I know, it don't take that long with blocks ect, but only 3 minutes with them. ;D ;D
 
One major gripe I have with my Class A is the large, wrap-around windshield.  You'll be cleaning it every time you stop for fuel and it's a pain.  Try using a gas station squeegee to clean the wrap-around edge.  Can't be done without spending 5-10 minutes at it, cleaning one small swipe at a time.

And if your outside mirrors are set forward so you view them through the edge of the windshield, better run the wipers and make sure they clean the area you look through to see the mirrors.  Again, something I forgot to check on my current motorhome and it bit me the first time I drove through some moderate snowfall in WA state - inside of a few minutes the wipers pushed the snow off of the area they covered and right into the area where I look at the mirrors.

Flat windshields don't look as sexy but they're sure a lot easier to keep clean!

 
92GA said:
Just because the dash air don't work, don't assume it cost an arm and leg to get it repaired.
Click to expand...
When we are talking about an older A/C it will cost an arm and leg to fix it. Those have to be converted over to the newer freon and that is not cheap.
 
Yes to checking or knowing condition of tires, batteries, refrigerator and all the rest of the electrical and plumbing systems.  You don't take your house on wheels down the road at 60-79 mph and not have things come loose.  Engine condition, mileage, hoses and clamps too while you're at it.  And oh yes, by the way, seals around windows and doors.  And probably several other things I haven't mentioned.
 
Try checking on Ebay. I have bought several off of there. You HAVE TO check them out in person though. Another good spot that I would recommend is Karolina Koaches (karolinakoaches.com) They were fair and dealt in used coaches. They guaranteed everything to work.
 
Ramzfan said:
Try checking on Ebay. I have bought several off of there. You HAVE TO check them out in person though. Another good spot that I would recommend is Karolina Koaches (karolinakoaches.com) They were fair and dealt in used coaches. They guaranteed everything to work.
Click to expand...

Bought a week ago after physically looking at near 20 of those buggers!  We did look at ebay, but only for local RVs.  Found a one-owner class A 15 minutes from home (see the HaRVey post).
 
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