NADA is nothing more than a guide and cannot be used as a bible. This is especially true with older units. NADA arrives at their figures by taking average of actual transactions, this becomes unreliable if there only a few transactions for a given model & year, as would be the case with older units. More important than NADA or KBB would be compare to other units on the market in your area. And as previously mentioned-- the condition (water damage) is most important-- roofs have average life span of 10 years, bunk running lights are very prone to leaking causing water damage-- pull the mattress out and carefully inspect the bunk area, check under all windows for soft areas in the walls. You will want to budget $1000/ yr for maintenance & repairs- with that you can still get several years of service from a late '90's rig. Regarding Ford chassis: 1997 was a major upgrade with introfuction of the V10 and Superduty (E450) chassis. Early 2000's saw an upgrade to the motor ( better spark plug sockets, etc).
We bought our '98 Coachmen Lepracaun in 2011 for $9900 with new roof and new tires as well as recent 100K tune up-- excellent running rig with everything working as it should. We did new rear brakes and all new lines in 2012 for $1000. We had work done to the bunk (damm running lights) and steering stabalizer this year for $2000. Next year the tires will be 5 years old- $1000 for new tires.
Good luck with your search...
