1999 Monaco Windsor 36SLD - Advise Appreciated

[ArdraF]

Bayrat,

We had a 34-ft. 1999 Monaco Windsor, just like this one, except shorter.  The 1999 Monacos definitely had a fiberglass roof which was one of our primary criteria when deciding.  We didn't have any major issues with ours and, in fact, traded it in a few years later on a 40-ft. Monaco Executive which also has been relatively trouble-free.  Monaco made an excellent product and these were when it was in its heyday.  That said, with any RV of this age I'd be very pickey and look it over very carefully.  How many owners?  What mileage?  How many obvious defects?

Air leaks can be easy to fix - or not!  They usually are not a safety issue, just an annoyance.  They're usually in the air leveling system and not the air brakes.  Our Windsor had one that was checked at several rallies.  At the last rally, at 4:30 p.m. on the last day, the Monaco tech was working under the steering wheel and hushed everyone because he heard the leak.  After replacing numerous pieces from the rear of the motorhome to the front, the culprit turned out to be the dashboard air gauge itself!  That was the last place anyone thought to check.  They got us one from the parts trailer, told Jerry how to replace it (easy job), and he installed it the next morning.  No more leak!

By the way, driver doors tend to be kind of useless on a big Class A because they're too high and awkward to use effectively.  Class Cs are different because they're significantly lower and the doors are designed at the factory to be used.  Moving up from a Class C, we never even thought to include a driver door on our list of criteria and really don't miss it all.

ArdraF

 

[Ken & Sheila]

Bayrat,

Have the rig professionally inspected; house portion and chassis/engine/trans. Make sure they check all roof seals and have any that need it redone.

If it checks out OK, then try to make a deal.

ken

 

[Bayrat]

Here are the results of my trip and many thanks to all above here for the helpful advise, I would be lost without it. I am posting some pictures, some show the water stains on the ceiling which I found went from the area of the leak in the bathroom and showed up again in the bedroom on each side of the coach above the windows in that room. Not real noticeable and in fact one of the dealer's employees that was with me noticed them and pointed them out. He had not seen that prior to this which is understandable as they did not show until I started the generator which lit up all the ceiling lights.

Take a look at the ceiling in the bathroom and focus in on the vent fan opening. I pulled the frame back which covers the cut in the roof and found a section of deteriorated luan flooring on top of the plywood. The plywood itself in that area was a bit warped but not rotten.

Rear cap showed stress cracks similar on both radius corners from the top down a about three feet. Nothing major there, appears cosmetic.

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There is a small section, about 1" wide by 4" long to toward the rear of the coach opening for the slide. This tiny section is covered by the slide and the gasket, however, I found the face of it made from what appears to be luan and deteriorated. Behind it I believe is a structural aluminum member and it appears this was a small cosmetic piece placed in there to fill a gap. Nothing else around it is affected.

For some reason the tile floor has been replaced with that floating wood that feels like it has a rubber base. You can see from the photo I took an area in front of the sink cupboard which has depressions from the slide moving back into position.

The automatic steps do not work, they would be repaired and all systems would be operational upon purchase. The tilt wheel telescopes but does not tilt. The rear tires are all shot. Front look new but are seven years old. I saw the invoice when this vehicle was sold to the second, current owner. It had 60164 miles at that time in 2006 and it now has less than 62,000 so not driven much in six years.

It runs and drives like a dream and is the first coach I have driven that was not full of squeaks and groans. It was pouring and I did not notice any water leaks in the coach or when driving.

The outside is really in nice shape, it simply needs a cleaning from sitting under the trees in this private camping park. The dealer owns the park and told me after having built his business over 43 years was not about to jeopardize it by misrepresenting something that he is selling for one if his seasonal renters. The lady whom owns this coach purchased one of those camp model tow behinds as she no longer feels comfortable driving that motor home around. She is pushing 70.

What say you?  ;D

 

[Bayrat]

By the way, that one picture with the rippled paper is inside a cupboard far from any water damage. It appears only to be some that did not adhere well, it's actually not a large area, perhaps 6" wide and a few inches long.

 

[COMer]

I'm sure you will get suggestions that you should walk, with all the probeoms it has.  And how many are not as apparent as the ones you listed?  But it also has something you like, and AT THE RIGHT PRICE, might be worth it to you.  You have listed many defects that will need to be fixed and ALL the tires would need to be replaced.  If the price was down in the low 20's, it might work for you.  The NADA should be about $29,000 in average shape which it is not.  The tires would not normally be new but better than what they are and the various leaks would have been dealt with and repaired so you couldn't see them  If she really wants to get rid of it, and the dealer would help you by explaining to her that her pricing is wrong, it could be worth pursuing.  If not, my humble opinion would  be to keep looking and let her know you would like to talk again if she dropped to a proper price.

 

[Bayrat]

I'm sure you will get suggestions that you should walk, with all the probeoms it has.  And how many are not as apparent as the ones you listed?  But it also has something you like, and AT THE RIGHT PRICE, might be worth it to you.  You have listed many defects that will need to be fixed and ALL the tires would need to be replaced.  If the price was down in the low 20's, it might work for you.  The NADA should be about $29,000 in average shape which it is not.  The tires would not normally be new but better than what they are and the various leaks would have been dealt with and repaired so you couldn't see them  If she really wants to get rid of it, and the dealer would help you by explaining to her that her pricing is wrong, it could be worth pursuing.  If not, my humble opinion would  be to keep looking and let her know you would like to talk again if she dropped to a proper price.

I doubt they will drop even to $30,000 if they are at 40K now. I showed the admiral the pictures a short time ago during dinner and she says walk, there could be mold inside the roof or walls that we can never get rid of. I'm bummed, I REALLY like this rig. How in the world can I tell if mold is in there or how could I fix it if there were some?