Ok so I wanted to get you guys opinion. I just got home from looking at a 21' Class C. It's a 1996 Dutchman with a chevy front end. Has 73,xxx miles. Here's the deal. It had a leak in the over the cab bunk at one point. It was repaired and no longer leaks, but the front sags slightly on the passenger side where the leak was. The interior is great, starts right up. Has the layout we like. BUT, like I said had a cabover leak at one time....He was asking $8,000, and I was like "I'm going to tell you what i'm thinking, but this is not an offer. I'm thinking $5,500 tops."He then said he'd take that, rather quickly I might add. So I was really thinking maybe getting it around the $4500 range. I would say the RV overall looked really nice for the most part. I live in Oklahoma and he said they recently got back from South Dakota with it with no issues.What do you think???Thanks,Brent

Water damage is very difficult and expensive to repair. The water can cause rot and mold. Just stopping the leak doesn't get rid of the damage that's been done. How do you know if water/moisture is still trapped behind the wall?

Tires are 2 years old as well. No cracks.

Good points fishing hat. The ceiling in the cabover was completely removed during the "fix" and replaced.He has owned it for 6 years and never had a problem.

Do you have the skills, tools, time, a place to work, and the budget to rebuild the cabover if it turns out that you've been fed a line about how well the leak and damage were fixed? The list in the cabover says to me that there may be unrepaired damage. Jim, "The dog ate my lesson plan."

I have worked on cab over leaks with water damage and rot. RUN AWAY!

A would you buy, what do you think thread. | Good Sam Community

Bordercollie
Explorer
Nov 06, 2013
If there is visible water staining and/or mould smell or soft areas in roof or ceiling I would pass it up too. Our '79 Delta money pot had water damage which I never had repaired. I sealed the leaking roof and side parts but there was an old, vaguely mouldy smell when we finally sold it after investing some $8K in engine and appliance repairs on top of the $13K purchase price. Don't buy on impulse and take your time learning as much as you can before you buy.
Sea_Dog
Explorer
Nov 05, 2013
Get on the roof, jump up and down,
if the cabover feels solid, go for it!
ron_dittmer
Explorer II
Nov 05, 2013
I cannot recommend buying a conventional class C with a history of significant water damage. Given there is a structural sag, the rig is pretty much junk. If the OP got the rig for a thousand or so and was very eager to reconstruct the RV properly, if he fails, he lost little money and lots of time.
mlts22
Explorer
Nov 05, 2013
bolivier wrote:
like I said had a cabover leak at one time....

Run.

(edited)

With a cabover leak, $4500 may or may not cover what is needed. Water can disperse down fiberglass insulation into other parts of the rig as well as the inside "attic", between the ceiling and roof, causing rot and mold there as well. I wouldn't be surprised if there is rot damage in other places.
Bordercollie
Explorer
Nov 05, 2013
With a price of $4500 and everything working or needed repairs/upgrades/replacments priced out, you may be happy with this old rig. If not you could probably sell it for $4500 before you spend serious money on it.
DaHose
Explorer
Nov 05, 2013
Sag is full on BAD. That has to be torn apart and rebuilt. I agree with your decision Brent.

That is a MAJOR project to rebuild that sucker. Having a shop rebuild a sagging cabover is $5K - $8K and I would absolutely use that fact in my negotiation strategy. If all appliances are perfect, water heater works great and tires are in decent shape, I say fair price is around $3500. They want more, then they can find some other (sucker) buyer.

Jose
Cobra21
Explorer
Nov 05, 2013
If you can't get the sag out, you probably won't be happy with it. But if
you could...without too much work the price is tempting.
Brian

P.S. I have a 21' Chev with the 350 and it is pretty sweet!
bolivier
Explorer
Nov 04, 2013
I do have the skills and tools, but not really the motivation. I'm a trim carpenter by trade so I have plenty of tools. I didn't like the sag either. Good looking RV, but I think the damage is a deal killer. You guys told me what I was already thinking. Too bad though....it was less than a half mile from me and just what we were looking for. I'll keep looking. Thanks....
Brent
Holiday27
Explorer
Nov 04, 2013
That's a pretty good deal. I fixed the cab over leak on my old RV, I didn't have any sag though. Look it over closely. The sag makes me nervous.
Yaj
Explorer
Nov 04, 2013
I have worked on cab over leaks with water damage and rot. RUN AWAY!