Advice on buying older diesel
Hey everyone,
My wife and I have been looking to purchase our first motorhome for several months now and have been scouring all of the classifieds trying to find one that we like. We have looked at several and they have each had some issues, and it seems pretty hard to find one that is in great shape, needs nothing, and ticks all of our boxes, for our budget which is no more than $25,000.
Here is my current quandary: I have found a 1996 Monaco Dynasty (79,000 miles, 8.3 Cummins w/ 6 speed Allison) that looks to be in excellent cosmetic shape. The older retired lady that owns it has poured a ton of money into it. Over the past 4 years she has replaced: the PAC brake, new tires, new 12V batteries, new chassis battery, new king pin, new alternator, new battery isolator, 8 new Bilsteins, 8 new air bags, a new driveshaft, and all of the fluids have been done. She has given me the contact info for her RV technician that does all of the work to check on all of this. She said she is selling because it is too big for her (it is 40 feet) and she wants a Class B. She lives pretty far from me so I am contemplating hiring an RV inspector to go check it out and if all is good, then going and purchasing it.
BUT, here is my quandary: I have heard some horror stories about the costs of a diesel pusher. We have 2 young children and want to travel the U.S. and Canada every summer to show them the beauty of this country. We would tow a car/SUV behind us as well. We are many years away from retirement so this would not be a full time arrangement for us, but I think we would do one 3000-5000 mile trip every summer (maybe a month or 2) and then 5-10 weekend trips throughout the year (with perhaps a week thrown in for spring break or fall break).
What are your thoughts about buying a DP of this vintage? I am relatively handy and change the oil in our cars/motorcycle and do basic maintenance, but I have never owned a diesel. If there are videos online that show how to do things, I can usually watch them and then do it, so I think I could do SOME of the maintenance myself on the coach. However I would not be able to take on a big repair. I love the thought of purchasing something of high quality and keeping it for many years (the interior and overall craftsmanship of this coach is far beyond all of the gassers we have looked at) but I also know that a really nice coach costs more to fix as well.
I would love to hear your thoughts, and I have attached a photo of the coach.
Not sure if you all can see the photo above...it isn't showing up for me and it won't let me post a link to it either.
My wife and I have been looking to purchase our first motorhome for several months now and have been scouring all of the classifieds trying to find one that we like. We have looked at several and they have each had some issues, and it seems pretty hard to find one that is in great shape, needs nothing, and ticks all of our boxes, for our budget which is no more than $25,000.
Here is my current quandary: I have found a 1996 Monaco Dynasty (79,000 miles, 8.3 Cummins w/ 6 speed Allison) that looks to be in excellent cosmetic shape. The older retired lady that owns it has poured a ton of money into it. Over the past 4 years she has replaced: the PAC brake, new tires, new 12V batteries, new chassis battery, new king pin, new alternator, new battery isolator, 8 new Bilsteins, 8 new air bags, a new driveshaft, and all of the fluids have been done. She has given me the contact info for her RV technician that does all of the work to check on all of this. She said she is selling because it is too big for her (it is 40 feet) and she wants a Class B. She lives pretty far from me so I am contemplating hiring an RV inspector to go check it out and if all is good, then going and purchasing it.
BUT, here is my quandary: I have heard some horror stories about the costs of a diesel pusher. We have 2 young children and want to travel the U.S. and Canada every summer to show them the beauty of this country. We would tow a car/SUV behind us as well. We are many years away from retirement so this would not be a full time arrangement for us, but I think we would do one 3000-5000 mile trip every summer (maybe a month or 2) and then 5-10 weekend trips throughout the year (with perhaps a week thrown in for spring break or fall break).
What are your thoughts about buying a DP of this vintage? I am relatively handy and change the oil in our cars/motorcycle and do basic maintenance, but I have never owned a diesel. If there are videos online that show how to do things, I can usually watch them and then do it, so I think I could do SOME of the maintenance myself on the coach. However I would not be able to take on a big repair. I love the thought of purchasing something of high quality and keeping it for many years (the interior and overall craftsmanship of this coach is far beyond all of the gassers we have looked at) but I also know that a really nice coach costs more to fix as well.
I would love to hear your thoughts, and I have attached a photo of the coach.
Not sure if you all can see the photo above...it isn't showing up for me and it won't let me post a link to it either.
