Reliability of older Class C’s?
I posted this as a question within another thread/topic, but thought that it may make more sense to post it as it’s own specific topic in the Class C section... I am considering a Class C for a cro...
Forum Discussion
older rv's can be good and bad. I would recommend nothing older than late 90's, but even that is just a guess. Out here in Az there are many older units found on craigslist, saw an 84 chebby think for around $6K (ouch), many are less.
If you have time see if there is a basic auto maintenance class available in your area so that you would have some idea of what to look at and what you are being told. There is a group of ladies around (do an internet search) and they would be the best source of information for your situation. Also it depends on the size of the animals you plan to haul around as to length, but again I would recommend nothing over 28ft and would be leary of those that are shorter since they really do not offer much room even for a single.
Something else is what do you have plan for for emergencies? breakdowns (good sam has age limit on the units) personal protection?
Another thing I was told was to avoid units from where there is salt in the air, (seasides, flooding etc). So the advice of getting it inspected by someone knowledgeable is the best you would be able to do. New tires (6-7 will run over $1000, basic service will vary but expect another $1000 for belts, brakes shocks alignment etc) I was quoted $700 just to replace brake pads and install shocks this past summer! 4 new tire in the rear cost me around $800 with in being under warranty at time so less to pay. A tread separation on my pickup cost around $4K to repair so you can imagine what tire damage could do to an RV particularly an older one where there are not any readily available replacement parts. Also you should consider a towed vehicle as a breakdown can leave you out of everything phone range. tow range etc. Yes you can rent but how do you get there to do so?
Newer vehicles also have issues, ours is 2012 we had a mechanical breakdown that took almost a week to fix. Shop let us stay in the rv on the lot but that is generally the exception not the rule. My out of pocket was around $400, GS covered the rest, to include towing.
So really there are a lot of variables to answer your question and it will really come down to what makes you comfortable and fits your budget. I am including a mix of A's and C's for you to look at. I am not associated with any of these so dont really have any knowledge on them but you did not indicate a price range I only looked for the lower cost older for the samples.
If you have time see if there is a basic auto maintenance class available in your area so that you would have some idea of what to look at and what you are being told. There is a group of ladies around (do an internet search) and they would be the best source of information for your situation. Also it depends on the size of the animals you plan to haul around as to length, but again I would recommend nothing over 28ft and would be leary of those that are shorter since they really do not offer much room even for a single.
Something else is what do you have plan for for emergencies? breakdowns (good sam has age limit on the units) personal protection?
Another thing I was told was to avoid units from where there is salt in the air, (seasides, flooding etc). So the advice of getting it inspected by someone knowledgeable is the best you would be able to do. New tires (6-7 will run over $1000, basic service will vary but expect another $1000 for belts, brakes shocks alignment etc) I was quoted $700 just to replace brake pads and install shocks this past summer! 4 new tire in the rear cost me around $800 with in being under warranty at time so less to pay. A tread separation on my pickup cost around $4K to repair so you can imagine what tire damage could do to an RV particularly an older one where there are not any readily available replacement parts. Also you should consider a towed vehicle as a breakdown can leave you out of everything phone range. tow range etc. Yes you can rent but how do you get there to do so?
Newer vehicles also have issues, ours is 2012 we had a mechanical breakdown that took almost a week to fix. Shop let us stay in the rv on the lot but that is generally the exception not the rule. My out of pocket was around $400, GS covered the rest, to include towing.
So really there are a lot of variables to answer your question and it will really come down to what makes you comfortable and fits your budget. I am including a mix of A's and C's for you to look at. I am not associated with any of these so dont really have any knowledge on them but you did not indicate a price range I only looked for the lower cost older for the samples.
