Buying First Diesel Pusher

If the coach is as you described, go for it. I have a 2002 that I bought new in 2003 and has around 59K miles with the Cat 3126-E engine. The engine is just getting broke in. My coach still looks brand new because I have taken care of it. I believe these coaches if taken care off will last you twenty years easy. You will have memories with your kids that will last a life time. The Allegro Bus is a very good coach and the person that made the statement about wet bays and radial roof problems is incorrect. It was the newer Phaeton 42'coach that had those problems.
That is a great price for that coach.
Good luck!

I don't know about the house portion, but the Freightiner chassis and the 330 Cat Engine are very good. Freightliner has a free help desk that will help you diagnose problems with the chassis (1 800 FTL HELP).

If you get it and it will sit for more than a week, be sure you're getting the batteries charged (without overcharging). The parasitic drains on the cranking batteries will really reduce the charge of the battery quickly (1 to 3 weeks to being too weak to crank it).

Fred

I f you wait it may or may not happen. I retired with medical issues from the military in 1992. Our two son's grew up and moved out to be on their own.

My wife and I had a car accident(not our fault in 1995...wife could no longer work. We decided in 1998 to sell our home and buy a yacht to live on.....we did that for a few years, then decided a motorhome sounded good and had both for two years. We lived at an RV park in Florida and helped out there for two years.

Sold the yacht as we enjoyed the RV more, decided to finally take off and travel. Well, after two weeks on the road, we received a phone call, wife's youngest sister abused and in trauma center in Memphis.

We left Ohio and drove there to be with her, she was paralyzed from the neck down and had a one year old at home. We stayed in Mississippi and after her sister got out of the hospital we put her in an assisted living facility temporary till we could get custody of her son, and get her abusive husband locked up....

She lived for 2 months and died after complications of an unknown pregnancy, husband went to prison for 4 1/2 years. We came home to Florida after 8 months in Mississippi, bought land and a mobile home with what money we had left and began to raise our nephew, we adopted him 7 years later at the age of eight finally, after a court battle with the boy's father and his Mother....

after spending thousands on lawyers and expenses we have survived it all and have a 14 year old third son now, bought another DP and travel weekends, and during the summer as much as we can with our son. Life can throw you curveballs, but if you focus and try hard you can hit them outa the park.

There is no right or wrong answer, do what you feel you want to do, as things can happen that can and will change your life....enjoy your children, your wife, and love the life as you feel fit!!!!

mike brez wrote:
Some have wet bay floor issues and roof radius problems

2002 Tiffin MHs Do NOT have roof radius or wet bay floor issues.

Sounds like a respectable deal with decent price depending on the AGE of the tires. You will get opinions on replacing between 5 - 10 years.

While Dave has some great points I kind of lean in a different direction. While putting 57k away and investing while waiting to retire and then buy is great...But what about the memories you can make with your kids now. There is no getting that back. Also there is no guaranty to live to see retirement. I'm looking for a DP also that I will probably use for six long four day weekends and one or two week trips a year if I'm lucky.

I would like to know where you get 10% on the $57K.

You stated If you put that $57k in a good investment, earning 10%/yr, how much would you have when you got out?

The OP may have access to military storage areas that are less costly. Depending on the area of the country that it is registered insurance may not be that difficult.

My concern about sitting is the deterioration of things like tires, roofs, paint or clear coat, and the furniture and other appliances inside.

Now will it last 15 years or so. In today's time that means 1998 and this one is already 11 years old so we are talking 1987. How many 1987 units do you see on the road.

Given the age factor I would have to think long and hard before I would pull the trigger.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE

We have a 40' DP as well. Wow. So many things, if you're a newbie. Guess I'll be devil's advocate here.

Coaches don't do well sitting for long periods. They need to be run. And not just up and down the highway for a half hour then put back in storage. Speaking of which, have you checked on storage costs where you are? You could pay well over $1k/yr just to store it. Plus the licensing and registration. And insurance. Figure all your costs, as best you can, annualize it, then divide that by the number of days per year you realistically expect to use it. That'll be your cost per day, plus gas.

When are you getting out? If you put that $57k in a good investment, earning 10%/yr, how much would you have when you got out?

You didn't say how often you'd use it. "Weekends and holidays" doesn't, to me, sound like justification for an expensive, relatively high maintenance, complex coach.

I was in the Navy too, and I know it's easy to get anxious about something like this. Based on the little info you put in your post, I think I would wait, and save like a madman until you get out, and then buy.

Why?

1. Coaches depreciate terribly. I bought a coach which sold, new, for $230k. I bought it when it was four (just 4!) years old, for $93k. Can you believe that? And in beautiful condition. If you were to put that $57k aside, and add to it as much as you can, if you could have, say, $90k when you got out, imagine what you could get! Something that's brand new today, might be in your price range in 5 years!

2. Coach quality and innovation are improving. You're looking at a 12-year-old coach. A LOT has changed since then; even more will change, and get better, over the next few years. And this one is just getting older and older. You WILL have things go wrong with it, and repairs ain't cheap. Mine is an '05, being maintained regularly, and things still go wrong. I'm taking it in tomorrow for $700 of *preventative* maintenance.

3. Does your coach have slides? I googled and saw one of your model with two. That's nice....but....as a full-timer with 4 slides, I can't imagine life without all four. And with a family of 5? And when you get ready to sell the coach, or trade it in, fewer than four slides will really hurt its value.


I just think, if it were me, I'd wait and get something really spectacular when I could use it a lot, or even full-time. It ain't the price of the dog; it's the "pup-keep".

If you do decide to go ahead, you might consider a PPI (Pre-Purchase Inspection). Lots of RV dealers do it; try to find an Tiffin-authorized shop. Probably cost $400. But it can really be worth it. When I sold my first motorhome, a guy came out with a buyer's checklist he'd ripped from a magazine. I saw him checking things off a list as he walked around the coach. If he'd had a PPI done, he'd have discovered that the side of the coach, while still completely usable, was beginning to delaminate (outer wall separating from the inner wall). Caveat emptor! (Let the buyer beware).

Thanks for your service....


dave

Some have wet bay floor issues and roof radius problems