For my first RV, four years ago, I bought an 86 Ford Tioga Class C. I knew nothing about it. First camping trip with it was the start of a seven week 5000 mile trip. Never broke down, but we had it gone through pretty seriously by a mechanic and ended up replacing some suspension components and the steering gear. Tires were expensive so only replaced the front ones. Mistake; had an old rear tire blow out... very scary. The old Onan generator was a pain. However, we had also updated the old interior and made it pretty nice.
We hauled a 78 Jeep CJ5 behind ours for almost every single mile driven. Averaged 5.5 mpg.
My advice; if it runs drive it. If it breaks down then be prepared to shell out some good money.
