So I am contemplating retiring in a few years and buying an RV to long to full time RVing. The question is for those who have owned their MH 10+ years and bought a new one. Why did you get rid of the old one? Would you have felt comfortable still traveling with the old and just wanted all the new updates? I'm thinking of getting one that is 10 - 15 years old as the prices (for the right one properly maintained) seem to be exceptional. We have never RV'ed before and I 'm thinking 2 years of RVing and then go from there. We may hate it and quite after 6 months or we may love it and hit the road for the rest our health. So my thinking is get a well maintained older model and put a several thousand into it to get up to snuff then if we decide after 6 months to sell it then I can dump it without to much heartburn. I'm afraid if I rent one first for a week or so and we have a bad experience the wife is going to nix the whole idea. I have been cultivating the idea for a while now and have gotten her from are you crazy to yeah maybe we can do this for a while if you really want to. We have been researching and looking at prices for a while trying to learn all we can not wanting to go in things blind. I would really like to get thoughts from those who own or have purchased older MH and the pros and cons.

I bought my class A DP MH brand new just before retirement, in preparation to go fulltiming at retirement. Its now 10 yrs old and I plan to keep it another 10 yrs. But I do all my own maint and knowing the condition of all the major components is a big part of using a 10+ aged vehicle. I would never buy a 10 yr old MH unless it was from a close friend - family member who I knew took as good care as I would. I agree completely with buying a well maintained used MH, but I would look more to 5 yr old units to avoid buying someone elses problems. It also depends on how mechanically inclined you are. Having to take a 10+ yr old unit into a $100/hr mechanic everytime you think somethings wrong, can add up quickly. At 5 yrs old, even a rig that didn't get top notch care is not too far gone to recover. But after 10 yrs of neglect, major problems are almost guaranteed. just my opinion, others will vary

We have gone from a pop-up to a 43' DP with lots of variants in between. In each and every case, we changed due to one "main" fact....we wanted something larger.SimpleRon

A 10 year old motorhome is just fine for traveling full-time but when you find one you should really get it checked out thoroughly by a private inspector - not the dealership. Also check the tire dates. So that you won't have to put a lot of money in tires right off the bat they should be 3-4 years old or less. A diesel in this age would be better than gas, in my opinion, because it would just be broken in. :) Mileage doesn't count on a diesel. If you can find one by a private party it would be best because you can 'feel out' the owner as to how the motorhome was cared for and he should be able to give you all records for maintenance/repairs done on it. Also consider a top manufacturer. We full-timed ten years in our Newmar and it was great and looked like new when we sold it. We previously full-timed in a 33' 5th wheel before the motorhome. We liked a motorhome best because we were able to pull the Jeep. We didn't like driving a big truck around when we had the 5th wheel. A good manufacturer will have better insulation, double pane windows and solid cabinets with good drawer fittings. Everything about it would be good quality and will hold up better.If you're willing to put some money in an older one to update it then I think you'd do just fine.I do have concerns though on you not having RV'd previously and it sounds like your wife isn't totally sold on the idea. Having full-timed for 16 years I will say that you BOTH have to want to do it equally or it won't work. Is she really willing to give up all the 'stuff' in the house? Are you both extremely compatible that you can live together in a small space? Do you have the same travel expectations such as siteseeing, outdoor activities, staying in rv parks or campgrounds or out in the boonies, moving around or sitting in one place, possibly volunteering in parks?If you're not going to retire for a couple years yet I might suggest either renting at least a 30'32' Class C (big enough to have some extra space) and doing so for a couple weekends to see how you do. It's very expensive to rent so you won't want to do a lot of it but it would give you an idea of living in a small area. Good luck!

Nickelman, we bought our first coach new and kept it 7.5 yrs. and 69,700 miles. Even though our coach was in fantastic condition and overly maintained, I knew that it would be a wonderful coach for a new buyer with some value still attached to it. I wanted to sell it within the 10 yr. period as it's harder to get an RV loan on coaches approaching 10 yrs. (from what I have heard) if someone was not paying cash. I think our buyer did get a loan. Over the 7.5 yrs., we got back 45% of our purchase price including the commission, 49% without the commission. We could have attempted a private sale but I just didn't want to deal with people. I think our percentage of return was not bad.So, we now have bought new again with intentions of keeping this coach for at least 10 yrs. unless life throws us something not anticipated. I do like new and I take very good care of my vehicles which make them good, fast sellers.MM.

The motor home in our signature is our second RV. We initially purchased a 1999 Monaco LaPalma - gas coach with one slide out and we were the first owners. It had sat on a dealer lot for nearly 18 months when we purchased it. The dealer went out of business within 60 days of our purchase. We were basically on our own learning to RV. We learned a lot from reading this forum as well as the IRV2 forum. We were both still working and were rarely able to use the coach for the first four years we had the coach. Then we retired and used it more frequently for longer trips up to 3 months in a row. It was at that point that we started to talk about going fulltime. We were returning from a longish trip and weren't looking forward to all the work that needed to be done to unload the coach, put it into storage and then the work to be done around the house.That is when we decided to pursue selling the house and getting a larger motor home to full time in. By that time, we had a much better idea what we were getting in to with fulltiming. We knew, for us, for full time use, we would want to have the larger carrying capacity and room that a forty footer would give us. That is my long way of answering your question. I would suggest doing your research now and getting a coach before you retire if possible, traveling in it for a while and then consider whether you want to get something different for full-timing.

Newbee question for long timeRVer's | Good Sam Community

24 Replies

J-Rooster
Explorer
Jul 25, 2015
I traded my old RV in on a new one for more space. I upgraded from a 31' to a 36' to better our living quarters. I've been RVing since 1976.
KountryPastor
Explorer
Jul 24, 2015
Used for sure. We were in your current process just a few months ago. We weren't really looking to get into RVing full time but family circumstances dictated it. It was actually the wife who thought of it first. I didn't sit around waiting for her to change her mind. Spend 3 months searching and evaluating across the country. Didn't really know the first thing about them. And still don't.
Anyway after searching the country we found a 95 Class A Newmar Kountry Star 38' Gasser. I feel like we stole it at under $9K. I've put the Banks Powerpack on it and have enjoyed every minute driving, sleeping, and eating in this "Covered Wagon". We plan to keep our feet wet in this one for 1 year and then sell it and look for the Pusher. I'm a little leery of DP's as I am a decent DIY Gas man, but not very smart in the Diesel department. Guess I'll keep learning.
New to the Forum and have loved every thing I've read.
wallynm
Explorer
Jul 23, 2015
We bought what we thought was our retirement motor home in 1999 after we stated out in 1978 and had owned 4 used motor home. In 99 we traded in a 86 or 13 year old motor home. We had 3 Dodges (318, 413, and 440) and one Chevy (454) We ordered at an RV show (Ford with a V-10) and got a lemon (box not the chassis). Was so bad that we were able to have it returned to the factory for repair and they flew us to the factory to pick it up. My wife said they delivered a kit to the dealer for him to assemble.

in 2002 we decided to take the plunge again and order a DSDP and unloaded the 1999. It was probably a decent rig by then as we had worked out all of the problems except the side was still cutting the carpet.

The 02 is a Newmar and it is still sitting outside with a little over 82,000 miles on it. We are slowing down and will take one of two more long trips before getting out of the RV business. The DSDP is our only pusher (Cat)and has been relatively trouble free and always has gotten us home.

Based on what you have said I suggest you purchase used.
Kayteg1
Explorer II
Jul 23, 2015
Being long time Mercedes and Prevost owner I can only say that good quality 10 years old coach will beat brand new fir and particle board (el cheapo) coach hands down.
Passin_Thru
Explorer
Jul 23, 2015
Had 500,000 miles on it!
cwdavis
Explorer
Jul 23, 2015
Hello nickelman,

We are now in our (very) late 60s, and we bought our MH in 2006 with similar thoughts to those you are contemplating. It was then 11 years old with 100K+ miles, but it was/is a quality DP built by a then competent company (one hopes that CC rises again!), bought for ~25% of MSRP. It's now 20 years old and is still in good condition. Over the years we've owned it, the major repairs have been the refrigerator, a windshield, tires, and a new set of house batteries. We've also replaced most of the covers on the roof (minor), but even the AC units are still good (major!). The chassis has required nothing major and is still in very good shape.

Our major expense, actually, have been renovations to upgrade the living area with a new floor, replacement captain & mate chairs, & nice euro-recliners.

So, I'd say from our experience that our philosophy of buying an older, used, quality DP worked for us; however, the 'proof will be in the pudding', as we're now preparing to sell our home and move in to the MH. So, stand by and ask this question again in 10 years ...

Good luck,
DSDP_Don
Explorer
Jul 22, 2015
I think you're already ahead of the game by coming on this forum first and asking questions. If you had been RVing for years, you would probably know exactly what you wanted in a floor plan and options. Even though you may know what looks right to you, you can quickly find out that something doesn't work after full time use.

The old adage is to buy your last motor home first, but that only works when you intend to keep and use it for many years. Since you're new and not sure if you'll even like the life style, I think you have a good plan. Buy a good used motor home, that you like, try it for awhile and make notes of things you would really like to have. If you enjoy the lifestyle, then start a search for exactly what you like. A good used motor home, purchased at the right price, will depreciate very little if you keep and maintain it in good working order as you plan.
Mickey53USA
Explorer
Jul 22, 2015
Like a lot of motor home owners, we migrated from travel trailers. Four of them over a 12 year period. They all kept getting bigger. In 2005 we traded our truck and trailer for a 1999 34 foot motorhome. Put 20K miles on it (still working, retirement to come). We did a complete refresh of the interior, flooring and furniture. Took it in for some minor service work and walked out with our current 2009 37 foot motor home. For us, the price was right on the 2009, they were giving us top dollar for the 1999, and it will be paid for shortly after we retire. But, I think you should rent a unit first just so you have a little more information to make a decision with.
Two_Jayhawks
Explorer
Jul 21, 2015
Unit in my signature is 13 years old and as of last Saturday sold in favor of a new one. Outgoing coach is a gem, everything works, runs great. Choice to go new is simply a want.
ncrowley
Explorer II
Jul 21, 2015
I purchased an 8 year old diesel pusher because that is what I could afford. I have had the coach for almost three years now and overall, I am glad I purchased the coach and plan to keep it for many years. I am making sure I keep up with the maintenance and take good care of it. I would not hesitate to purchase a used coach as long as it checked out. I had an independent inspector look at the coaches I was considering.