Opinion: 1986 Pace Arrow 27FT Motorhome Chevy Chassis

We owned that model back in the day. As I remember, there were several things that bugged me and made me trade for something else. Overall, it was a good unit and fun to drive. The roof design made not sense to me as it had a radiused edge all around, that, when you were parked dead level, created a swimming pool of water on the roof. Constantly sealing was in order to deal with constant leaks. Another constant was the hot start problem and the exhaust manifold problem that the 454 engines of that era were plagued with. The unit sounds like a good deal at the price and if you are ready to deal with the challenges, go for it!

An 86 is really old. Expect anything and everything to need frequent repair/replacement. There is a LOT of stuff on an RV that just "ages out" regardless of how few miles it has been driven. A lot of mechanical parts that will be difficult/time consuming to locate. Example: 25 year old Ford motorhome chassis need shifter cables made special as neither Ford (nor anyone else) still sells them. A nuisance a Ford owner can overcome but you sit immobile while the replacement is fabricated and shipped to you. Having an RV that old is doable if you are a DIY type person. If you have to rely on others to fix stuff it will quickly become a money pit and far less cost effective than a newer model RV. It's appearance will likely keep you out of a lot of RV parks (you'll become familiar with the "10 year rule"). Most 86 RVs of any type are about ready to become cheap fixed trailer park accommodations. Are there exceptions? Yes. But good luck finding one of those.