2006 with High Mileage -- Good or Bad?

My 2002 Workhorse has 125,000 Miles, still going strong. Oil Changes every 3,000 miles. Replaced several several items, power steering pump, replaced brakes, rebuilt front end, replace refer, etc. Several grand a year. But no payments.

Chris, I think you made a good decision. With everything put together (like you said), there are a lot of units here in the States to consider.

Good luck.
MM.

Thanks for all of your help. I guess in the end what I would do is to look at it on a case-by-case basis. It isn't necessarily something to completely rule out, but at the same time... it is something to be cautious about and make sure to do a full inspection before purchase.

In the end, I walked away. Not for the condition or mileage so much, but rather the hassles of importing... Or more precisely, the combination of all of them put together made me feel this wasn't the best way to go for my very first MH.

So the search will continue. I look forward to joining your ranks as a fellow owner and appreciate all of the help this board has to offer.

Chris

Interesting how people look at an engine that will run for 200K miles and never consider it at 80k miles. Just doesn't make sense to me. The op will never use anywhere near the useful life of the engine. I have had several cars with over 200k miles and a RV with over 150K miles. Still running strong.

Our previous motorhome was a 91 Pace Arrow with a 454 engine. At around 78,000 miles one of the exhaust manifolds warped. When I took the manifold off, one of the bolts broke, and since I couldn't get the stud out, I took it to a machine shop. As I had most off the engine anyway, I took the other head off as well and had the shop do a valve job. The machinist said it was high time for the valve job. So, I would not get a gas motorhome with that many miles. There are too many good older diesels coaches out there for cheap monies.

Chris, check out stories. 2 trips a year to florida. Many factors to consider, where in canada to where in florida? Round trip mileage in the 6 to 8,000 miles. My question would be why 2. Thats 8 to 12 days driving. How do the kids leave school? Self maintenance logs or records. No dealer close? Find out his location. Look for dealers or rv shops. NADA says low retail 32,873, average 39,605.

(I think by "every trip" he means the big ones from Canada to Florida. He does that twice a year.)

You said talk with truck shops... I was actually contacting RV dealers/service centers. You think truck shop instead -- even for a gasser?

Chris

This all sounded pretty good until the part where the owner claims he greases the front end before "every trip". On that I call BS.

I know some maintenance crazy truck guys but greasing your front end before each trip -- well??

That being said it may still be a good unit and just what you want. Find a good truck shop in the area and find out what they would charge for an independent inspection. $300.00 or $400.00 spent now on an inspection is money well spent.

Thanks again for the replies.

J&R makes a great point as to how we intend to use it... and to be honest... I'm not really sure just yet. It is our first RV and my wife and I do work full time. We are in our late 30's (Okay... early 40's for me next month) so retirement is not in the immediate future. So probably some weekends, and maybe a week or two along the way. We are trying to balance getting into this as cheaply as possible, but still getting what we need/want.

Our main feature that we are looking for is a Class A with bunkbeds. As it appears that this is a relatively new (and relatively rare) feature in Class A's our options are rather limited in our price range. I am going to be buying this cash -- no financing -- if that makes any difference.

Almost everything that I am finding for sale seems to be in the $50-65k range. So I have been keeping my eye out for something that is quite a bit less. My goal was sub $40k and I have found it.

The details -- please feel free to weigh in, positive or negative.
2006 Forest River Georgetown SE 350DSse. It is located in Canada. It does have 87,000 miles (140,000km) but seems to be well taken care of and used extensively. The owner has put a lot into it, including a dash mounted tire pressure monitor, a ScanGauge, and an SCT X4 Power Flash RV tune. The owner says that he put about 15,000km on per year. He doesn't live close to a service center, so he does the work himself. Says that he would change oil twice a year with Synthetic and would grease the front end before each trip.

The listed asking price is $36,500.

So there you have it: The good, the bad, and the (hopefully not too) ugly.

Again, comments are welcome and appreciated!

Chris

I did forget to add is what are your intentions. How are going use it, weekend trips, long trips and live in? If your looking at it as step to next, mileage will hurt, so offer as such.