Passed on a used coach today, did I make the right decision?
Okay, so today I did my first ever inspection on a private sale RV that I was seriously considering buying. It was 1989 Toyota Dolphin, 4 cylinder, new transmission, only 75 K miles, for just under $10,000 firm. The thing had had "6 thousand" dollars worth of repairs done in the past by a previous owner. New paint job (well done), new transmission, new flooring (wood laminate), lots of resealing done everywhere/around the cab(but could tell there was a little rust in one corner from exterior), new roof ac, maybe even a new interior ceiling too. The inside was beautiful, very clean, no bad smells. Floor was solid, interior roof was solid for the most part, except for maybe in a few small areas. Pretty much, you could tell the entire RV had had a ton of expensive/serious work done to it. Current owner however had only owned the RV for a month before she decided to sell it because she decided RVing "wasnt for her".
However, when I looked up at the exterior roof, it looked like dog poop. The thin sheet of fiberglass or whatever material is used was totally delaminated from the wood underneath, and was wavy everywhere. Discolored too. I could push down and have it pop down/up all over the place. However, the wood underneath seemed totally solid, and not squishy. Then on the inside, I found in one of the roof/sidewall cabinets, a grapefruit sized patch where the wood was rotted. The hole that had rotted that wood from the roof had just been sealed earlier that day before I saw it, and was told it was a pinhole sized hole. Those two things were enough for me to just walk away and not investigate any further for any more rotted wood areas inside. The exterior sides and back of the coach felt totally solid though and looked good. The generator had trouble starting, but did start after three tries and sounded good, but there was a significant amount of liquid coming out of the exhaust. Anyway, was the exterior roof issue and small patch of rotted wood enough to walk away from this coach? If everything else had been spot on, would it have been worth it? Or worth it to try and haggle the price down?
Overall, it was a very informative experience I'd say, and I am just a little closer to owning an RV.
However, when I looked up at the exterior roof, it looked like dog poop. The thin sheet of fiberglass or whatever material is used was totally delaminated from the wood underneath, and was wavy everywhere. Discolored too. I could push down and have it pop down/up all over the place. However, the wood underneath seemed totally solid, and not squishy. Then on the inside, I found in one of the roof/sidewall cabinets, a grapefruit sized patch where the wood was rotted. The hole that had rotted that wood from the roof had just been sealed earlier that day before I saw it, and was told it was a pinhole sized hole. Those two things were enough for me to just walk away and not investigate any further for any more rotted wood areas inside. The exterior sides and back of the coach felt totally solid though and looked good. The generator had trouble starting, but did start after three tries and sounded good, but there was a significant amount of liquid coming out of the exhaust. Anyway, was the exterior roof issue and small patch of rotted wood enough to walk away from this coach? If everything else had been spot on, would it have been worth it? Or worth it to try and haggle the price down?
Overall, it was a very informative experience I'd say, and I am just a little closer to owning an RV.
