I got mine as a private sale, off of Craigslist. Looked at at least half a dozen before I found one that seemed right. It's a Class C, and my regular mechanic looks after the Ford van parts, and a series of RV repair places have taken care of RV-specific issues. I was pretty darn naive, but like you I did a lot of reading and asked questions here. There have been some major repairs (it's a 1999 vehicle) but nothing I couldn't handle. Get the seller to share the maintenance records of the rig -- if they won't, or there aren't any, that may be a red flag. Good luck!
Rich (former clueless newbie)