2000 Itasca Sunflyer 34Y by Winnebago.28,000 miles on a Ford V-10, 2 slides, leveling jacks, cruise control, back-up camera, 7000 watt Onan gennie, hitch, and a few other goodies.I checked the NADA RV prices and it looks to be worth around $25,000.Ad says it needs some cleaning up??? Going to look tomorrow.Asking price $20,000 or best offer.Any pros and cons?? Thanks in advance. :)

Winnebago makes good motorhomes in general. Ask to see the maintenance history log. They should have a record of all services performed on the motorhome. Every oil change, any repairs, it should all be there. If not, you have to assume manufacturers recommended maintenance has not been performed and perhaps the rig is running on original oil (shudder to think of that).Look at the DOT datecode on the tires. Anything more then 5 years old are candidates to be replaced (join FMCA & buy Michelin through their fleet discount but you're still looking at two thousand-ish dollars for a complete set.Make sure EVERY thing works. Does the plumbing hold pressure? Does the generator start easily and run smoothly? Do the leveling jacks work properly? Does the seller have clear title to the vehicle or could there be a lien on the motorhome that you do not know about?Hope this helps.. good luck to you!

2000 ford v-10 was 275 HP and was increased a year or two later to 310 which was better. That v-10 also had a problem with the number of threads on the plugs that could blow out of engine if not changed out / torqued exactly correct. Neither of those things would necessarily be a deal killer if all else is in good shape. I had a winnebago with that engine and towing into the wind or going over a rail road overpass would cause the transmission to down shift a lot.

Here's what I was caution you on. This has 28,000 miles and it's 15 years old. That is less than 2000 miles per year. Also it says it needs some cleaning up. I'm going to bet you that this thing has sat for years at a time without being run or moved. See if you can find that out. If they have any records I'll bet most of that 28,000 miles was in the first couple of years then it has mostly sat for the last 10 to 12 years. Lots and lots of things can go wrong when you let any vehicle sit for years. The worst vehicle I ever bought was a Chev truck that was 12 years old and had 15,000 miles on it. The guy used it in the summer to tow his trailer and then let it sit outside all winter without driving it at all. I couldn't even list all the things I had to replace or fix on that truck. Transmission, brake drums, carb, etc. It was just a mess.If they can prove to you that they went out and started it every few months and at least drove it a couple of miles and changed the oil every year, that would be different. But I can assure you they didn't.

We have the 1998 version of that very same coach. It only had 17K on it when we purchased it. Of course, we have learned a lot in the 2+ years we have owned it. One of those was that we got lucky, it had been originally purchased from the same dealer so they had all of the service records. Some things needed some work - the generator (7Kw Onan) doesn't like hot or cold weather so I just bought a new fuel pump and fuel filter for it, the slide toppers are a bit ragged, added LED TVs, replaced all tires (10 years old,) some of the drawers were in need of some gorilla glue, etc. mostly stuff that comes from age. But everything runs and it was a deal.All in all that is not a bad deal as long as it doesn't need tires or new awning, etc. and everything works, then you have some room to bargain.We love the floorplan and she has been very good to us. Best of luck in your search!

A Good Find??? | Good Sam Community

frankdamp
Explorer
Jul 15, 2015
I think its original asking price was over the top, but the deal you're getting is a good one.

As a data point, we sold our 32' Georgetown (an '02 model with the V-10) last December. It had 18,000 miles on it, 6000 miles on 4-yr-old tires. We were the second owners. Initial asking price was $28,000. One joker offered $14K! It finally sold for $24K.

There were no leaks, it had a new fridge the previous April, and was in very good shape overall. We'd bought it for $36K four years earlier.
Bruce_Brown
Moderator
Jul 14, 2015
pump-dump-go wrote:
msmith1199 wrote:
pump-dump-go wrote:
I looked at rig today, needs tires, (has originals LOL) slides work fine, no delam, are some water spots around skylite over shower, but none found else where, forgot to check levelers, will do tomorrow. batteries are 6/13, crack in passenger side windsheild, going to have RV guy who is experienced to look rv over, gennie cranks right up and runs fine, basement air cools unit but not cold, dash air not cold, got them down to $14,000. :)

That's about how much the sales tax was on my DP! I notice you didn't mention anything about the drive train. Did you drive it or start it?

Set up appointment with RV guy to look over RV, was telling him about the leak around skylite, he says from his experience with working on Winnes, he said it could be a crack in skylite, which if true, it would need to be replaced, but it should have a fiberglass roof, no rubber.
And yes, motor home engine, it cranks right up, seems to idle fine, once RV guy comes, then will take it out for test drive.
Being our first motor home, I'm not looking for a top of the line model, nor a clunker, but something that runs good, operates as it should and serves our camping needs. It will be like a stepping stone, as our camping life has been for 40 years, started pup tent for me, then cabin tent when I got married, pop-up when our daughter was born, 18' TT, 29' TT, and know our first motorhome, and hopefully not our last as we should up-grade as our needs arrive.

The one above had a cracked skylight.

Also be sure you keep the fiberglass roof sealed. Do a search on that one too, more than too many have had serious issues.

Remember, just because its fiberglass doesn't mean its quality.
racecarfan
Explorer
Jul 14, 2015
pump-dump-go wrote:
I looked at rig today, needs tires, (has originals LOL) slides work fine, no delam, are some water spots around skylite over shower, but none found else where, forgot to check levelers, will do tomorrow. batteries are 6/13, crack in passenger side windsheild, going to have RV guy who is experienced to look rv over, gennie cranks right up and runs fine, basement air cools unit but not cold, dash air not cold, got them down to $14,000. :)

that's a great deal at 14K.
msmith1199
Explorer II
Jul 14, 2015
As long as you get it checked out well. I understand the desire to get something cheaper to start out with. Like I said above, my concern is with how long it may have sat around not running. That Chev truck I bought with the low miles also started an ran just fine when I first bought it. But every month it was something else breaking on the truck.

The thing with motorhomes is when things break they are usually more expensive to fix. $14k is a great price and saves you a lot of money over buying new, but keep in mind you may need to keep a few grand set aside to fix things that break.
pump-dump-go
Explorer
Jul 14, 2015
msmith1199 wrote:
pump-dump-go wrote:
I looked at rig today, needs tires, (has originals LOL) slides work fine, no delam, are some water spots around skylite over shower, but none found else where, forgot to check levelers, will do tomorrow. batteries are 6/13, crack in passenger side windsheild, going to have RV guy who is experienced to look rv over, gennie cranks right up and runs fine, basement air cools unit but not cold, dash air not cold, got them down to $14,000. :)

That's about how much the sales tax was on my DP! I notice you didn't mention anything about the drive train. Did you drive it or start it?

Set up appointment with RV guy to look over RV, was telling him about the leak around skylite, he says from his experience with working on Winnes, he said it could be a crack in skylite, which if true, it would need to be replaced, but it should have a fiberglass roof, no rubber.
And yes, motor home engine, it cranks right up, seems to idle fine, once RV guy comes, then will take it out for test drive.
Being our first motor home, I'm not looking for a top of the line model, nor a clunker, but something that runs good, operates as it should and serves our camping needs. It will be like a stepping stone, as our camping life has been for 40 years, started pup tent for me, then cabin tent when I got married, pop-up when our daughter was born, 18' TT, 29' TT, and know our first motorhome, and hopefully not our last as we should up-grade as our needs arrive.
Bruce_Brown
Moderator
Jul 14, 2015
pump-dump-go wrote:
I looked at rig today, needs tires, (has originals LOL) slides work fine, no delam, are some water spots around skylite over shower, but none found else where, forgot to check levelers, will do tomorrow. batteries are 6/13, crack in passenger side windsheild, going to have RV guy who is experienced to look rv over, gennie cranks right up and runs fine, basement air cools unit but not cold, dash air not cold, got them down to $14,000. :)

When I get back to my PC I'll post some pictures of one that had some water spots around the skylight over the shower. I'll let you decide where to go from there.

OK, here are the pictures from what started as a little water staining around the sky light...

IMO there is no such thing as "a little leak" when it comes to an RV.

"Fixed" - as much as you can possibly fix this...

Here is a TT I did that had a little leak too. :B

OK, this had a few big leaks...

Camper Rehab
msmith1199
Explorer II
Jul 14, 2015
pump-dump-go wrote:
I looked at rig today, needs tires, (has originals LOL) slides work fine, no delam, are some water spots around skylite over shower, but none found else where, forgot to check levelers, will do tomorrow. batteries are 6/13, crack in passenger side windsheild, going to have RV guy who is experienced to look rv over, gennie cranks right up and runs fine, basement air cools unit but not cold, dash air not cold, got them down to $14,000. :)

That's about how much the sales tax was on my DP! I notice you didn't mention anything about the drive train. Did you drive it or start it?
rgatijnet1
Explorer III
Jul 14, 2015
Is this one of the Winnebagos with the roof edge sealing problems? If it is make sure that the roof is sealed and that there have been no leaks at the edge.
pump-dump-go
Explorer
Jul 14, 2015
I looked at rig today, needs tires, (has originals LOL) slides work fine, no delam, are some water spots around skylite over shower, but none found else where, forgot to check levelers, will do tomorrow. batteries are 6/13, crack in passenger side windsheild, going to have RV guy who is experienced to look rv over, gennie cranks right up and runs fine, basement air cools unit but not cold, dash air not cold, got them down to $14,000. :)
dalerussel
Explorer
Jul 13, 2015
Check tires(date not just tread), slide covers, awning, walls for delimitation and water spots in the roof. Do a quick check on the batteries (voltmeter or hydrometer) . Also have a demo of the jacks and make sure the slide go in and out easily. I would also want a mechanic to check the motor and tranmission. If that checks out OK, it sounds good.