Thinking seriously about a used DP, never had a diesel
Hi to all,
Many thanks to the folks who have responded to my other posts about probably going from a TT to a MH. We just recently found out (after we bought a 2 yr old 34' TT last Fall) that our German Shepherd dog is not going to be accepted at many of the private parks so we've decided that some type of MH with generator for A/C(s) will be in order if we need to light in a rest stop or truck stop overnight.
We've had Class C gassers before and there was one older gas Class A in the family that we used a few times, but we've always been told that if we could see our way clear to go for a DP then that is the definitely the way to go.
Our budget is $40k and we visited a dealer today that had a few units in this price range that looked good to us but they had age on them. The ages varied from 1999-2002. One unit in particular that met our floor plan and accessory requirements was a 2000 Fleetwood Discovery 37V with 65k miles. It was very clean inside with a little fading on the outside and one small area of delam about an inch wide just forward of the bedroom slide. Other than that it looked very good but it did have a few rock rash marks, but not many. Ok here go the questions, and my apologies in advance for being diesel ignorant (but I can learn)
Is 15 years too old to buy a DP with 65k miles if the dealer makes sure that everything is working (and we verify) when we leave the lot?
The dealer says this unit has a Cummins 300 hp turbo diesel with 6-speed Allison trans, but NADA lists this model with a 275 Cummins. Could the 300 hp have been a factory option?
One fellow at the dealer said this unit has an exhaust brake, but another person at the dealer said that it does not have the exhaust brake because he didn't see a switch on the dash. Is there a dash switch for the exhaust brake? I figured the exhaust brake was an automatic thing once installed, but then again I'm diesel ignorant.
The dealer said this unit is on a Freightliner chassis with full air suspension and that this chassis is so popular that just about any large truck shop can perform maintenance on it (not necessarily an RV shop). Does this sound correct?
And one thing that didn't sound right to me is that they won't allow a test drive due to liability insurance. Does this sound fishy or legit?
So whether we deal with this dealer and unit or not, this info will help us along to learn some basics when we look at the next one.
Any other specifics that we should ask greatly appreciated.
Many thanks in advance for all your knowledge and help,
Marty
Many thanks to the folks who have responded to my other posts about probably going from a TT to a MH. We just recently found out (after we bought a 2 yr old 34' TT last Fall) that our German Shepherd dog is not going to be accepted at many of the private parks so we've decided that some type of MH with generator for A/C(s) will be in order if we need to light in a rest stop or truck stop overnight.
We've had Class C gassers before and there was one older gas Class A in the family that we used a few times, but we've always been told that if we could see our way clear to go for a DP then that is the definitely the way to go.
Our budget is $40k and we visited a dealer today that had a few units in this price range that looked good to us but they had age on them. The ages varied from 1999-2002. One unit in particular that met our floor plan and accessory requirements was a 2000 Fleetwood Discovery 37V with 65k miles. It was very clean inside with a little fading on the outside and one small area of delam about an inch wide just forward of the bedroom slide. Other than that it looked very good but it did have a few rock rash marks, but not many. Ok here go the questions, and my apologies in advance for being diesel ignorant (but I can learn)
Is 15 years too old to buy a DP with 65k miles if the dealer makes sure that everything is working (and we verify) when we leave the lot?
The dealer says this unit has a Cummins 300 hp turbo diesel with 6-speed Allison trans, but NADA lists this model with a 275 Cummins. Could the 300 hp have been a factory option?
One fellow at the dealer said this unit has an exhaust brake, but another person at the dealer said that it does not have the exhaust brake because he didn't see a switch on the dash. Is there a dash switch for the exhaust brake? I figured the exhaust brake was an automatic thing once installed, but then again I'm diesel ignorant.
The dealer said this unit is on a Freightliner chassis with full air suspension and that this chassis is so popular that just about any large truck shop can perform maintenance on it (not necessarily an RV shop). Does this sound correct?
And one thing that didn't sound right to me is that they won't allow a test drive due to liability insurance. Does this sound fishy or legit?
So whether we deal with this dealer and unit or not, this info will help us along to learn some basics when we look at the next one.
Any other specifics that we should ask greatly appreciated.
Many thanks in advance for all your knowledge and help,
Marty
