Older Diesel or New Gas - Newbie question

Ivylog wrote:
I've been following your search since the first post and it's a tough one. Your question today is easy to answer as I have often posted that I would take a 10-year-old higher end DP over a new gas motor home any day for the same amount of money.

Man it's been a journey since the first post. We started with a toy hauler, but in the end, i just don't want my wife to drive separate. I really like her and i being able to talk together. And, it's also a lot easier for me to drive distance than for her. I'm just built that way, i guess.

I know a lot of people have commented so I'm going to try to roll a series of answers into this one post.

1. We definitely will not be schooling while driving. That would be just impossible- not to mention inherently dangerous. We'll school while parked.

2. as for the van we plan on towing. it's a 2005 Dodge Caravan SXT. It weighs about 4000lbs.

3. Regarding the Georgetown. UVW is 18,000. I had to call a dealer to get that because everyone unit is weighed individually and forest river doesn't list an approximate UVW on their site. GVWR is 22,000 and GCVWR is 26,000. I care a LOT about being within specs (blame my engineering brain hahah). I think we'll be close on the gcvwr. Also, nothing says we can't just drive separate up the mountains on those days we need to.

4. While the above is do-able. I like the extra storage and CCC of a DP. Plus, quieter and cooler while driving. That would be nice. I also want to put solar panels up top before long and with my photography, i want us to boondocks for 2-3 days at a time to find "those good photo spots". The georgetown only carries 50G of water. That's a bit of a concern.

5. Finally, i called a company that customizes RVs. They quoted me about $4k to put in bunks, 4k for a fridge, etc. I'd love to find an older DP and just put $15k into it to make it what i want, but the concern on water leaks and slides failing is still there. Also, i don't want to be locked out of campgrounds because the vehicle is too old.

Today the Mrs (I keep telling her she needs to join here, but she reads the posts and let's me post her questions hahaha (i'll keep trying) found a 2001 newmar mountaineer for 50k with 123k miles on it. It has a rebuilt turbo and needs some cosmetic work. It's sitting at a dealer about 10 minutes from our house. We'll go take a look. But 14 yrs old.....ouch!