Should I Purchase An Older Moterhome?

Headlesschickens wrote:
Hello. My husband and I are thinking of traveling around the US for a year and are looking at several RVs with a budget of $25k. We found a 1994 Kountry Star that looks in good shape in the photos but are concerned buying one this old for a cross country trip. We are also looking at an 2003 Bounder. They are asking $13k for the Kountry Star and $24k for the Bounder. We have never owned a moterhome before. What are yalls thoughts? Is it a bad idea to buy a 94? Is the MPG going to be alot worse in a 94 vs an 03? Do you think parts would still be available if something happened in an 94? It has a 434 V8 and from what I understand it was a luxury model in 94. My husband is confident in his mechanical skills and feels he could handle some repair. Buying the 94 gives us money left in case something happened where as the 03 uses all our budget but I'm concerned something major could go wrong and use all our budget anyway. We would like to get some advice before looking at it as it is several hrs away from us. Do you think it's a waste of time to look at it and we should stick to a newer model? Thoughts are appreciated thank you!

Nothing wrong with buying old if it's right and sounds like you should have an independent PDI done, once you decide on which one you want.
MPG won't vary a lot and is insignificant with the expense of overall ownership, anyway. Depreciation per mile is what's really expense, but you'll be reducing that tremendously, so no problem with big dollar loss going out the door. Leave yourself some room with any of them, as you will spend some money and always in the first year.
As for what to buy and for getting the best bang for the buck, first consider if you will require a slide room. Most demand it, but when you're spending so little money on an already depreciated coach, the difference in price will really surprise you. For instance, compare a non slide American Eagle DP with a National Dolphin LX GP, with one slide room and you'll find that the price will be nearly the same with both be in the $12 - $13K area. Hard to believe, but true.
Both fine coaches in their class, but the Dolphin can't come close in comparison with the Eagle all around. Naturally, the DP will have more to contend with and hiring out repairs will be more costly, so these are other things to consider.