1987 Winnerbago LeSharo

Question

The person asking about the 1987 Winnebago that his mom wants to by I have one I bought it has 51,000 miles on it I paid 1,500.00 for mine it needed some work but drove nice, I have heard from other people that when going down mountains it is good to keep the speed at 42 they do tend to overheat an it can cause damage to the transmission, but if you do get one make sure it has a duel fan for the radiator and that you upgrade the Catalytic Converter, I checked mine and all that was done all I needed was a few hoses and wiper blades and wiper a spark plug for my generator, a few minor things they will last you if taken care of,I think it was said they were made to drive at the speed limit of 55 they are oldies but real nice to drive, if you check it and all this has been done and everything in appliances work and all the lights inside and out then they can be worth between 3300 to 7,800 for the automatic front wheel drive, it took me a long time to find the right person and many time I almost gave up but after 4 mechanics from Craigslist who ripped me off I found the grange and he has been great with his prices and making sure I get the right things for it and is not ripping me off, I do wish your mom luck I am 73 and never knew to much about RV'S but I have learned a lot on this one and will keep it going for another 20 years.

lwiddis · Answer

Glad to hear you are enjoying RVing in your classic Winnie.

patj · Answer

We had a LeSharo in our family - brand new around this time (1987ish.) I was middle-school age, and I clearly remember my aunt and uncle picking this up new and how much they loved it (at first.) Their LeSharo had the Renault diesel engine with FWD and manual trans. (I purchased my first RV in 1996 so I was a bit behind them :)

The box portion of their unit was fantastic. Very well thought out by Winnebago who clearly had a lot of experience in this area. The expanding bathroom was a very good idea. The floor plan was very efficient. The appliances and fittings are all mid 80s RV standard; thoroughly de-bugged with no major glaring issues beyond any other RV from this era.

The LeSharo issues I'm aware of were all due to the chassis, and the issues were MANY. Anyone looking at a LeSharo should do some research in this area. I know there are now options to swap out the horrifying Renault drivetrain with something less apocalyptic. If you could put a reliable drivetrain up front, and replace the rear bearings with parts made from something other than warm chocolate and wax; you would have a fantastic RV.

douglasc · Answer

We have been RVing for 35 years and our 1st motorhome was a 1986 Winnebago LeSharo. The LeSharo was "a jack of all trades and a master of none". Great for a 2nd vehicle (my wife drove it to work) with good fuel economy (we averaged about 14 MPG overall)and good for weekend trips but lacked storage (both inside and out) for longer trips. And has been stated above, the Renault chassis was problematic. We had the gas engine/automatic transmission model and had some electrical problems (alternator/voltage regulator failure). Repairs were very expensive! The basic concept was good and Winnebago improved upon it when they changed over from the Renault chassis to a Volkswagon chassis in the early 90s - - and changed the name to Rialta.

After having owned the LeSharo for 3 years we decided that we wanted something larger that we could use for longer trips and upgraded to a 26' Class C motorhome - - but we have many fond memories of the LeSharo!

Forum Discussion

1987 Winnerbago LeSharo

About Motorhome Group

Related Content

Winnebago lesharo

restoring 1987 holaday Rambler

1987 Mallard sprint 20 ft

1987? Bigfoot Fiberglass Camper project time!

1987 P30 radiator