Have you bought a ten year old or older rv?

I have not bought one that old, but my current motorhome that I bought brand new is 11 years old. I'd buy mine from me only because I know I've taken care of it. And mine has been indoors for probably two thirds of it's life. That really helps keep things in good shape.

As usual "it depends"....... I've seen 5 year old TT which looked trashed because of poor maintenance/storage. My TT is now 10 years old and has always been stored in a barn (dry and away from direct sunlight). My wife is religious about cleaning after EVERY trip, she does the inside and I do the outside. I clean the underside to keep the chassis rust-free and except for one dent in the siding, the TT looks brand new. I have NO plans to sell it ant time soon.

There is a Class-C down the road which is less than 5 years old and poorly maintained. It was covered in green mold, the roof was leaking, it looked trashed. So................ there are good ones out there.

We bought our 1999 HR Endeavor in July 2014 with 85K miles on it. Other than a few cosmetics and some minor things that are just simply going to wear out....it was and is in great shape! Now, I wouldn't recommend that a 15 year old coach be where anyone should start, but in our case we personally know the previous owners (very meticulous in every day life) and they had great maintenance records. So, for the price, we figured we couldn't go wrong. Lovin' it!!

Wow,
I know I will be out on the edge here, but it has been my experience that the calendar age of any RV is much less important than the initial quality and the care that the individual unit got.

If you are looking at "stick and staple" construction and it has ever had a water leak, the age is not an issue. It is probably junk already. If it is any with real structure, a water leak is not a killer, but it can hurt.

Next is the, "It ran great when we parked it" (a decade ago). These will lull a prospective buyer along until he is in way over his head. Low odometer numbers can be worse than high, but again, this case specific. All elastomers (rubber things) have a limited life. This is not just tires (~7yrs) but also hoses including fuel, water and brake (~10yrs) and belts (~12yrs) and they should be replaced. These are all numbers from my personal and painful experience. Brake fluid and coolant are also limited life issues. The best thing about have an old coach is that I don't have to make payments when she is in storage.

We only put about 10K on our 40+yo GMC (TZE not P3X) last year. The year before was over 12. Do things break and require attention? Yes, but no more than any RV. How much longer do we plan to keep her going? That is a question for an actuarial to answer, but I am hoping it is no time soon. We have 6k to go next year just to the planned rallies. The places that don't want older coaches are places we don't want to go anyway.

Matt

I sold a 13 year old coach this summer and it was a gem. Everything worked and worked well. It will make a great coach for many years to come. So nah that ten year max is bunk.

We purchased our 1998 Itasca Sunflyer in May 2013. It only had one previous set of owners and only had 17,500 miles on it at the time. However, we really liked the floorplan and the price was perfect and we figured why not, even if it wasn't perfect at the time (older electronics, small fridge, cracked windshield...) In the 2 1/2 years that we have owned it, we have made several improvements and plan to keep her for a while.

Thanks for the info and sharing with me about your rv past. It is good to know that there are good older rv's that are worthy of consideration.

Bought our first, a 94 in 2006. Sold it last year and bought our 2000 with 92,000 miles. It now has 104,000.

Although we've basically bought the last few RVs new we have in the past bought older units. In 1976 we bought a 1959 custom built chassis mounted camper on an International Harvester 1 1/2 ton truck. It held up well.

Our most recent RVs have been a 23ft TT purchased new but used monthly for 16 years. It only had a couple of problems during those 16 years. It looked new inside and out when we sold it.

Our current 38 FT 5th wheel is 21 years old. It has had minor problems lately all expected due to age.

I do all the work on any of our vehicles and perform preventative maintenance as well as repairs.

Most vehicles/RVs if well cared for will provide years and miles of trouble free enjoyment.

So find a well kept 10 year or older RV and have fun.

I can afford to budget quite a bit for yearly upkeep for my 18 year old because it does not have one extra that the new ones would for me..........PAYMENTS!