Class C Motorhome Reliabilty

Travel trailers are great for going to one place and parking it for the duration of your vacation.

Motor homes are nice for trips that involve multiple destinations.

With that said, if you really would like a motor home, by all means don't buy a travel trailer. Just be sure to get a motor home built to last and you will do fine.

Keep in mind that motor homes are both a house and a vehicle together. You have to add house fixins with vehicle fixins which might seem to be a lot of fixin. The worst contributor of motor home trouble is that due to size, they are parked for long periods of time out in the elements. Any vehicle sitting outside for 7 to 9 months at a time will yield trouble of sorts. Affordable indoor storage is always a great idea for it will preserve the rig in many categories from chassis to house, from tires to brakes, from roof to caulk work. You can't go wrong with indoor storage. I would call around, especially to vacant warehouses "for sale or lease". Sometimes they will store your rig inside at an affordable monthly fee.

Then there is the rig that is built to be affordable, and the rig that is built to last. But that is another long winded reply.

Most "C"s are essentially vans with a box on/around the cab. The Econoline series has been around so long, most major show-stopper bugs are pretty much gone. This doesn't mean there are not lemons, but all and all, they are pretty reliable. Sprinters are similar. If you have a T1N Sprinter, you get the metal carb resonator. Both Sprinters, you get a transmission cooler added, if it isn't there already.

There are two things which kill Cs:

1: Water damage. A lot of older Cs have windows in the cabover, and seams on the corners. This almost guarantees water damage and major rot after a few years. The only real way to deal with that is to buy a "C" that either is fiberglass (Born Free, Coach House), or a "C" that covers the seams with fiberglass caps, so they are not directly facing incoming water coming in at 80+ mph (60mph of rig + 20mph or so of the wind) when going on the road.

Of course, it can't hurt to get a rig with a fiberglass roof. That way, a twig scratching it undetected won't cause major water damage down the line.

2: Neglect. I've seen lots of rigs on CL and other used sites with the other touting "2002 blah-blah, Just 10 hours on the generator!". I would rather have a rig with a generator with 1000 hours on it, that has been maintained to Onan's schedule than one with 2 hours on it that has just sat there, factory oil still in the pan, windings corroded into something only copper thieves would want to grab, and a carb that is completely inoperable due to varnish. Similar with engines. A 10 year old coach still sitting in its factory engine oil at 5000 miles is a lot scarier to me than one that has seen 100k miles on it, but has had the upkeep guide followed to the letter.

Neglect also invites other problems. If mice infest a rig, the entire thing might have to be totaled, and possibly torched due to hantavirus or other rodent-borne diseases. Undetected rust can also be a vehicle-killer. Of course, neglect can end up causing water damage which would have been detectable and fixable to turn a complete rig into scrap.

Most of these class C motorhomes are on E450 chassis which has as much (or more) payload margin than typical pickups pulling a trailer. I don't anticipate undue mechanical issues on my Ford cutaway. The hand built "coach" tends to be the most problematic-and that exists whether in a trailer or a motorhome. Additionally some RV coach products such as air conditioners, skylights, toilets, refrigerators, etc. seem to rank lower on the reliability scale than many consumer products. Again, though same stuff on a motorhome vs. trailer.

I'm happy I made transition to class C from a trailer. It certainly has not been more upkeep when taking tow vehicle into consideration.

Any RV if not taken care of will give you problems.

Class C's and travel trailers have the same appliances, plumbing, electrical amd gadgets. Class C's are like trailers mounted on a cutaway van chassis. You will need to learn care and feeding of house batteries with either, possibly have some plumbing leaks and electrical glitches. Fridges, roof AC units, water heaters and generators can eventually have problems. Tires need to be replaced every 5-7 years for safety. Some spend money on steering and suspension improvements. Trucks need maintenance and repair, maybe somewhat more reliable if they are driven frequently. Don't buy an old 'money pit" unless you are really handy with repairs, have time and workspace.

Love my "C". Just jump in and go. We even take it to relatives for overnights and have our own bedroom and our own bed.

A Class C has the same running gear as most tow vehicles. Big thing you need to do with both is use them from time to time. If you just let them set for months and expect to jump in and go you will find your self having problems. The more you use them the fewer problems. We use our class C often for day trips and shopping. Like we would a tow vehicle. Never have any problems and do keep every thing checked ready to go. If you use it once or twice a year expect to end up working on it..

My 2013 Class C MH has the same Ford V-10 engine that my 2010 F250 had. What's different to break down?

Newer Class-Cs are miles ahead of where they once were. Older motorhomes were so problematic because they were overloaded empty. Newer motorhomes have ample margin left before they hit their powertrain limits. Still have to watch those tire weights though...

We've had two Class C's. First was a 1984 that we ran from 1999-2007. Quit three times on the road. A voltage regulator went out. A fuel pump fuse blew. An ignition coil overheated. The current 2002 that we've had since 2008 has run faultlessly.
We made a pact when we got the first one: Go Somewhere at Least Every Month. Drive it, Use it, Service it, you'll be fine.