10 year old Class Cs: Which makes are known to be best built and lowest maintenance?

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It is those hidden things that are most important to find, and a detailed inspection is helpful here. Also many / most first time buyers don't have a frame of reference as to how certain things should look, ie should that sealant be cracked, or is that bulge a sign of delamination in the side wall. In other words a newby might think they are buying a coach that is in great condition, but an RV inspector can walk up to it and see delaminating side walls, a failing roof, wood rot, and unsafe leaking propane system with expired CO and LPG detectors..

As to inspections being worth it on older RV's it depends, it sounds like this dealer is selling as is and is not going to fix any problems that are discovered, at which point the question is should you get an inspection where your only recourse is to walk away from the deal if major issues are found. If the drive train is your major concern you should have a mechanic familiar with this brand of chassis inspect the engine and related systems. In an ideal world you should do both, as a mechanic will likely have no idea how to inspect the roof of an RV, and it is too much to ask that RV inspectors know the workings of every brand of motorhome chassis.
 
DonTom said:
An honest person would make a poor salesman.
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The sales commission system is not one that encourages honesty. Most such people get little or no pay unless they make sales and they get more money if the sell the higher cost products for the highest possible price. Consider the salesperson who is late in the month with few if any sales for the period, but with a family at home who need clothing, food, college tuition, or any of the hundreds of other things that families need or want. The pressure to sell at all costs becomes tremendous, along with the fact that he is also in danger of losing his job. So he tells himself that just this once, I'll stretch the truth and hide the negatives because I need the commission and that customer can afford the loss.
 
DonTom said:
It doesn't cost anything to repair if you never notice the problem. :)

-Don- Reno, NV
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The problem arises when you don't notice the problem before driving it away (after all there was a test drive, wasn't there?), but it surfaces after you have it home AND it was obviously pre-existing. Personal experience...
 
DonTom said:
It doesn't cost anything to repair if you never notice the problem.
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Most problems become noticeable at some point in the future. They may or may not impact your use and enjoyment, but the potential for significant (and expensive) repairs is fairly high.

E.G. The buyer didn't notice that the front wheel wobbled until it fell off!
 
bottom line with all RVs is the quality control that has been lacking overall in the industry since day one. Hard to say that manuf "X" is better than manuf "Y" as it all goes back to luck and chance as well as how owners took care (or not) of the issues that came directly out of the factory. My 2008 Tioga, I am still finding stuff to fix that was done wrong or poorly by Fleetwood.
 
decaturbob said:
My 2008 Tioga, I am still finding stuff to fix that was done wrong or poorly by Fleetwood.
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I purchased my Y2K Tioga when it was several years old. I noticed the fresh water tank said empty even when it was full.

So I removed the sensor assembly from the freshwater tank and it still had the insulation on the wires that check for the resistance of the water. I removed the insulation and it now reads perfectly.

So even in Y2k, there were things over-looked by quality control--if there really was any. And nobody bothered to fix it until I purchased the RV used many years later. It had to be from the factory like that.

When I purchased my new RV, I was surprised they wanted to check everything in a new RV. But now I understand why. But they missed many things as well, as shown here at message 47. The owner really does the best quality control checks, IMO.

And add one item to that list. Several missing tire lug nut caps.

-Don- Auburn, CA
 
gfmucci said:
Interesting. I was at a General RV dealer today discussing 12 - 15 year old model Class A and Cs. I asked about independent RV inspections. He said they're not worthwhile for older units because its guaranteed they'll be a lot of things wrong with them. And he said they don't usually inspect for engine/drive train/chassis stuff anyway.

That was not the response I expected. I sense it was based on a conflict of interest. Even if some problems aren't negotiable, I would still want to know what I need to fix.

From my review of the above linked inspection report, it does appear that some inspectors (not all) DO cover it all.
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Considering that General RV sold us a Class A that cost us $10K to repair within the first six months, I'd take what they say about inspections with a grain of salt. Had we known ANYTHING about purchasing an RV before actually doing it, we would have gotten an outside inspector and asked them for recommendations from former customers before hiring them. We made the mistake of buying a Class A that was BEAUTIFUL. Super high quality materials, fairly low miles, etc. However, we knew nothing - I mean NOTHING - about RVs. All of the bolts holding the chassis to the body had been sheared off (in an accident?) and the slides had done such damage to the floor (hidden by the carpeting) that, as we were doing the final run through of the travel trailer that we'd already signed for, they took $3,000 off the trade in. It was a nightmare. This time, I'm trying to find - if not a dream - at least a clear-minded sleep.
 
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