Buying advice please

Think older .... I just sold a 15 year old 31 foot no slide hurricane with just over 45k miles. It was in great shape with just a few "age lines and spots". Never gave a thought to taking it anywhere, any time. Lots of good older used motorhome out there in the $15-25k range, may need a few bucks to catch up on maintenance, but nothing close to your budget. Then in a year you can sell it for closer to what you pay for it.

Is there reason you are think specifically of ACE or FR3? For example, do you need the drop down bunk? Or is it the lower price point of new models? ,Or something else?

If you are set on those models, I might try to find a used one with lower miles than the one you cite. hopefully it would have decent resale value for you a year and 20k miles down the line. If you are not set on those models, perhaps consider other low-mileage used ones from reputable manufacturers.

I'm a newbie,too, so take my thoughts for the little they are worth. As I shop for a used Motorhome, I might not be attracted to 3 year old unit with almost 50K miles. Somebody planning low mileage trips might be attracted to it, but that restricts your pool of buyers.

In my personal experience, we bought our first ACE and had a little over 2 years and sold it for about $20k less than we purchased it for (we wanted a new model). When you are talking about only spending 70-75k, 20k is a lot to lose on the first 2 years. And that private sale was well above what the dealership offered us for a trade. in 2 years a new ACE will be worth about $45-50k on the wholesale market depending on miles and the shape. It's a very entry level unit. The ACE is great as a weekender you plan on keeping a few years, but I don't know that I would consider it or the FR3 as a full time contender and then re-sell. Frankly no MH is a good investment for resale. Plan on losing about 20-30%. And although we love our ACE, it's not the best long distance MH. Most gas MH's are loud and don't handle particularly well and it's exacerbated on the entry level models. Point being, it can wear you out. We use ours for destination trips and it's suited for that. If I were to full time, even for a year, I would consider an older, higher end model that you can get for a price that is already depreciated. I would even consider a DP as they hold their value better despite adding miles, ride nicer and make the trip more pleasant - not just the destination.

Some of the early ACE models were on the F350 van chassis. Accessibility for maintenance was not a consideration in the design.

fortytwo wrote:
Some of the early ACE models were on the F350 van chassis. Accessibility for maintenance was not a consideration in the design.

I'm sorry, this is not true. I bought an ACE the first year they were introduced and it's always been on the F53 chassis. Perhaps you are thinking of the Vegas .

If your planning on a 10 to 15 k loss in one year...why not rent. You will have 0 maintenance, no storage issues, there are lots of smaller rental outlets that will work great deals on units for long term rentals, they rent summers and major holidays after that the Riggs sit. There is usually no problem getting a rider from your insurance Co to cover a big whoops.
It's not even math it's arithmetic, run the numbers and see how it works out.
Good luck

Uneasy-rver I think you plan is sound and reasonable. As a first time buyer you're looking at basic class A's that will get you where you want to go at a reasonable cost. Might not have the ride comfort of a diesel and the added options that make life a bit easier on the road but for a single year you should be OK.

The year range of a few seasons old is also good. The tire should have plenty of life, no major maintenance items coming due and buying used the last owner took care of the post sale warranty items. The house and chassis warranties will probably have expired but you still in the sweet spot of coach age with regards to overall reliability.

Both the Ace and FR3 are fairly popular rigs and shouldn't be too difficult to sell after a year. Plus you can throw in the CRV towing equipment to sweeten the deal. Keep the coach clean inside and out. Maintain a log of everything you do to the coach from fuel fills to oil changes. If you sell it yourself you'll minimize the loss. Take it to a dealer and your costs will escalate quickly. Dealers sell at retail but buy wholesale.

prstlk wrote:
If your planning on a 10 to 15 k loss in one year...why not rent. You will have 0 maintenance, no storage issues, there are lots of smaller rental outlets that will work great deals on units for long term rentals, they rent summers and major holidays after that the Riggs sit. There is usually no problem getting a rider from your insurance Co to cover a big whoops.
It's not even math it's arithmetic, run the numbers and see how it works out.
Good luck

Hmmm. That sounds like a pretty good idea. Especially if there is a engine problem or tires that need to be replaced.