High end gasser or entry level DP

way2roll wrote:

timjet wrote:
From the title of this thread, I would never buy an entry level anything. You must determine gas or diesel but consider you can afford a DP and a quality one if you go back enough years. We purchased a 10 yo quality DP and had it inspected, especially the chassis, and have not been disappointed. The ride is soft and comfortable, conversation easy even after almost 100,000 miles.
2007 and earlier eliminates the DPF and DEF hassles.

What you are saying makes sense and I had thought of going older to get a higher quality coach. The issue is floorplans. A high end DP older than 7 years doesn't have the floorplans to support 3 adults (2 parents and a 17 yr old) and a work space (I work remote full time) to full or even part time. Seems like all the higher end units - even newer ones- cater to 2 people only. Entry level DP's seem to cater more toward families. Of the hundreds of floorplans I have scoured in coach years over the past decade, there are really only a few that will work for us. I had even thought of going with a 15-20 yr old Prevost and gutting it to make it what I want but, I don't have the time, the space, or the ambition for a project like that. While quality is important, our hierarchy is floorplan, reliability, then comfort and quality. There is also the thought that a 10 yr old coach will start to need mechanical things replaced/fixed sooner than a 5 yr old one. What is in our budget and floorplans are high end gassers or an entry level DP's. All that said, DW and I have started looking more into the mid level DP's. They seem to hit most of what we are after but they start to creep out of our initial budget. We may be changing our budget. I don't want to have regrets with this coach, wishing we should have spent a little more to get that coach we liked more than the one we bought.

On edit - there is also the issue of financing. Originally we thought we would sell the home and full time. That would have allowed us to buy a lot more coach. We've changed our minds and keeping the house until my son decides where he wants to go to college. So our budget has changed and so has our need for financing. The older the coach, the more difficult if not impossible to get financing. I think most banks won't lend on an RV older than 10 years - and if they did I imagine terms would be poor.

We bought a 2006 National gasser in 2018 and financed for 15 years (on purpose, and in 2 years we have paid the loan down by 40% - that was the plan), and to date have only spent about $1300 to fix things that have broken. We have bought new tires and batteries (normal wear items) and upgraded the fridge to a residential unit, but if you get a motor home that has been well taken care of with all the proper maintenance performed you shouldn't have the problem with lots of stuff breaking. So personally I would have no problems buying an 8-10 year old DP.

Just my 2 cents....

Al