Full Body Paint, Worth It ??

..Initially, I was not a fan of full body paint, did not want it when we first started looking at Motorhomes. Adds a bunch to the price, makes it harder to keep cool inside, yada yada yada.

Then, we saw a few MHs that were several years old, that had the vinyl decals and were not full paint. Many of them did not look good, showed their age significantly. Those decals just do not last. Coaches the same age that were full body paint? Well, they still looked like brand new almost. Resale value with full painted coaches is substantially better for that reason.

Anyway, seeing various coaches with and without full paint after they'd aged several years, was enough to convince me we wanted full paint! I'm very glad we went that route, too (see signature). Love the way it looks, and the fact there are no decals on it that will wear out and peel off. Definitely helps resale value a lot, and the way these things depreciate, you need every advantage you can get when it comes to resale value, haha. :)

I was a little concerned about cooling, until I learned that many full paint coaches (including ours), the entire roof is white. This helps it 'reflect' heat and not absorb so much. As hot as it gets here in the South, I would not want a full body coach if the roof wasn't white.

There is one draw-back I've found to full body paint, though, that I had not thought of: Yes, it looks very cool, but it also looks like $$$ (makes coach look like its worth a lot of $$ whether it is or not). People see it in our driveway and automatically think we are loaded with $$. Any time we have a contractor over at the house to provide estimates for various landscaping projects, we have to hide the MH somewhere else. If we don't, amazingly, their estimates sky-rocket as soon as they see the MH in the driveway, hahahaha! :)

havasu wrote:
Being a desert dweller, I never understood why people who live in the desert buy black cars!

Anywhere else it's just hot for a month or two - in the Western deserts it hits 95F mid March and doesn't get back down to that until the end of September - July/August has regular 113-115F every day.

I love the FBP but I'd want to stay away from black :)

My hope to soon to be new RV will be under a carport I will have installed here at my house, so the black won't be a problem on that issue, when I go RVing in the summer months I head straight to Cali where its cooler and the sun is not as brutal, I would rather have another color but the deal on this with all the extras like all leather inside, stainless steal appliances, Ford V-10 with 5 speed tow/haul trans with grade brake, Banks Power System, all 6 new tires, air bags with auto adjust air compressor on board, auto satellite, 1 owner, auto levers, 2000 watt whole house invertor with large solar panel and low miles makes this a great deal at $69,000.

Besides my Jeep is Yellow and black and it will tie together nicely.

:C

How many 6+ year old RV's have vinyl stickers that still look pristine?
Very few, in my estimation.

havasu wrote:
Being a desert dweller, I never understood why people who live in the desert buy black cars!

Anywhere else it's just hot for a month or two - in the Western deserts it hits 95F mid March and doesn't get back down to that until the end of September - July/August has regular 113-115F every day.

I love the FBP but I'd want to stay away from black :)

Good point and the predominant style of full body paint is very dark.

We've had 1 sticker adorned MH and 2 FBP and there is no comparison. FBP wins hands down!

Why not be a man and just get an ALL STEEL motorhome? No gelcoat, no stickers. :)

Being a desert dweller, I never understood why people who live in the desert buy black cars!

Anywhere else it's just hot for a month or two - in the Western deserts it hits 95F mid March and doesn't get back down to that until the end of September - July/August has regular 113-115F every day.

I love the FBP but I'd want to stay away from black :)

J Walker wrote:
To the OP. Check to see if the MH you are looking at has full body paint or just the black design painted on gelcoat. When you see the white color it is nearly always gelcoat. It is common to paint a pattern on gelcoat and leave some gelcoat exposed.

If its just painted design on the gelcoat that is still OK with me, as long as I don't have those vinyl decals that rot away in a few years.

To the OP. Check to see if the MH you are looking at has full body paint or just the black design painted on gelcoat. When you see the white color it is nearly always gelcoat. It is common to paint a pattern on gelcoat and leave some gelcoat exposed.

emzee wrote:
I don't know if that is a FBP on the Bounder. I think it looks great. If everything else is a go-go for it!!!!

According to the dealer its a full body paint, have not seen it in person as of yet, waiting on bank approval and if bank says OK I will be driving to Cali to check it out.