Financing vs. buying older model?
In your opinion, is it better to finance a newer motorhome, or to pay cash for an older one (10 - 15 years old.) - or maybe something in between - like a heafty down payment on 6ish year old model. We...
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Generally speaking, the house part will need more ongoing upkeep than the chassis. That is doubly or triply true for new RVs, where the chassis probably won't need anything significant done for several years/tens of thousands of miles, but the upkeep of the house starts pretty much immediately with things like making sure the sealants for things on the roof is in good shape (and renewing if needed) and such.
I think it makes more sense, of the options you described, to find a used motorhome in good shape and pay cash. You will never owe more on it than it's worth. You'll also be more likely to have it keep a larger portion of its value should you decide to sell at some point.
It's often hard to figure out exactly what you will want in an RV until you've had and used one for awhile. Looking at a bunch of options is always a good start, of course, and thinking about what you plan to do and what it would be like to live in it while you do that, but there are lots and lots of little (and not so little) things that really only start to make sense after actually using it. This all means that there's a pretty good chance that, despite one's best attempt to the contrary, the first RV won't be ideal for you, and you might start thinking about replacing it somewhat sooner than you first anticipated.
If your husband is reasonably handy, he could probably manage a lot of the chassis repairs and upkeep. Most of the basic sorts of things that need doing are not much different from a car, just bigger, which sometimes makes things easier and sometimes harder. For the most part, though, the chassis that motorhomes are built on are quite reliable and don't need a lot of TLC.
I think it makes more sense, of the options you described, to find a used motorhome in good shape and pay cash. You will never owe more on it than it's worth. You'll also be more likely to have it keep a larger portion of its value should you decide to sell at some point.
It's often hard to figure out exactly what you will want in an RV until you've had and used one for awhile. Looking at a bunch of options is always a good start, of course, and thinking about what you plan to do and what it would be like to live in it while you do that, but there are lots and lots of little (and not so little) things that really only start to make sense after actually using it. This all means that there's a pretty good chance that, despite one's best attempt to the contrary, the first RV won't be ideal for you, and you might start thinking about replacing it somewhat sooner than you first anticipated.
If your husband is reasonably handy, he could probably manage a lot of the chassis repairs and upkeep. Most of the basic sorts of things that need doing are not much different from a car, just bigger, which sometimes makes things easier and sometimes harder. For the most part, though, the chassis that motorhomes are built on are quite reliable and don't need a lot of TLC.
