Looking for a Motorhome for permanent residence

If you have 20k you are better off spending on a newer coach. A slew of 2003 or newer bounders, hurricanes, windsports, winnies etc out there for sale. Age is your enemy with an RV and lack of rehab budget. Not to mention 2003 or newer the engines and chassis have not changed dramaticaly and will likley have better luck getting parts or repairs than an 80's model (vintage). Do a search on RVT, ppl, rv trader etc for 15-20k, You can negotiate from there. Stay away from Ebay as usually they are overpriced. As far as a job, that's tough for sporadic work. You can camp host but it sounds like you are younger and unexperienced, those jobs typically go to veteran rvers. Day work at a local city? Full timing while not retired usually requires a large wallet or a full time job you can do remote. It can be done, it has been done, I would think it would be very difficult but the rewards would be awesome.

When shopping used be careful. There are some sweet deals out there but, there's more money pits. I would try to stay in the 1990s and get at least throttle body injection. Carbs are fine but TBI warms up better and gets good gas mileage (well, motorhomes suck the gas but..). Most any brand will do, Bounder, Winnebago, etc.., all good. Personally, I'd pay more attention to the chassis and the condition of the house. If it has significant water damage run away as fast as you can. Small leaks that were immediately addressed aren't a deal breaker for me. It's a judgement call. Ford and GM have both made decent chassis. I'm not alergic to either.

In old motorhomes there's no meaningful difference in price between A and C. So get as much as you can for your money. But, avoid a big C class with a small V8. Get a big engine.

As far as having 120 VAC off the chassis, you can run an inverter. But, you're limited on how many watts unless you add some batteries, etc.. It's simple to do that and not terribly expensive (Depends on how many batteries you have on board already. I have one house battery. I'd want more if I was looking to use it more often.)

Get a motorhome with a generator. We use the heck out of ours. Not optional for us.

For wireless internet, there are a few out there that are prepay like Virgin, etc.. That might suit your needs. Check Walmart.

When you're looking for an old motorhome consider what you can fix, what you can,t and/or what you can live with.

Effy wrote:
I am sure you'll get a lot of somments on how un roadworthy a $5000 coach can be. Heck a set of tires will cost you half that and more. You really better be handy and carry spare parts and a lot of tools as well as a visa with a decent limit, especially for a cross country trip. That's my opinion. As far as wifi, there are several companies now that offer mifi devices. verizon, sprint and AT&T are probably the most popular. VZ has best coverage until you get to the midwest. Good luck.

Money would be a problem. Having to replace all fluids and tires is a serious problem financially for me (just got out of college.) What would a mid 80's motorhome with VERY minor problems cost? 20,000 is my absolute limit. That is pushing it. Yes you are right, Im not very handy though. Any tips in buying one? How to tell if one can take some serious miles? I have no idea of telling plus the seller would most likely be dishonest in his words of the RV limitations. Thank you.

I am sure you'll get a lot of somments on how un roadworthy a $5000 coach can be. Heck a set of tires will cost you half that and more. You really better be handy and carry spare parts and a lot of tools as well as a visa with a decent limit, especially for a cross country trip. That's my opinion. As far as wifi, there are several companies now that offer mifi devices. verizon, sprint and AT&T are probably the most popular. VZ has best coverage until you get to the midwest. Good luck.