True or False?

Jackalope wrote:
After many years of looking at RV's and wanting one, I've finally retired and we're looking for a rig. But I'm having problems and maybe you veterans can help.

I've always bought used cars and I've always gone by the rule, the year doesn't matter...look at the miles. For the most part, that works fine for cars...but for RV's?

Recently, I found what appeared to be a very nice 2005 Damon Challenger with only 19,000 miles on it. It appeared to be clean and well taken care of. Unfortunately, it's at a used car/used RV dealership. They don't have the facilities to hook up shore power or sewage lines so there really isn't any way to check those things out.

I wanted to take the unit to the closest Damon dealer to be checked out. They say they can't do that, but that I can use a mobile repair service to conduct the inspection, and I do know that there are a number of businesses that'll do that.

But in the meantime, I had to make a quick trip to Florida and went by to look at a few campgrounds near my son's home. One of them had a very nice, and it appeared to me, very knowledgable owner. He said that at the 10 year mark, almost all RV's started having major problems. Replacement of appliances, replacement of the roof, replacement of tires (because of age). And he also stated that there was no way in the world he'd buy an RV without being able to fully hook it up to see all systems function.

The last part makes a lot of sense. But what do you think about this "ten year curse"? Is that true? Do most need all those replacements at that point? If I buy this Damon, am I probably looking at spending thousands in a very short time?

THIS DEALER IS GOING TO SCREW YOU! RUN, Forest, RUN!
This has nothing at all to do with the coach. Any reputable dealer will allow you to have the coach checked out. They don't have power available? Are you kidding me? Run, run, run!
The tires need to be replaced at 7 years and not 10 and problems will exist in a 2 year old, 4 year old, 6 year old......coach. There's nothing magical about 10 years. The older stuff gets the more likely repairs are going to be necessary. But that must be kept in perspective. A new coach costs $250,000. You 10 year old coach costs $30,000 (random number). Who do you think spent more money on their coach at the end of the day? Yes, you are going to have to spend to money as time goes by but you will still be way ahead of the game compared to a new purchase. Just be sure the dealer (not this dealer, but a good dealer) is willing to get the coach up to code. That means you need tires that are less than 7 years old, you need new belts and hoses, new oil change, lube and filter, new transmission and power steering fluids and filters and air filter. If they won't then you need to consider the price against the cost to get these things done as you do need to get the coach to a known starting point so you can proceed with the regular maintenance routines. You absolutely need to be able to play with every single device in the coach and hopefully you can get some previous owners service records. I bought an 11 year old coach and they allowed me to go to a local campground and spend a day and a night in the coach. It was a one and done option. Buy it or not, but we will fix any problems you find during that stay if you do buy it. I gave them a large down payment but it was not a deal until I signed the papers the next day. I still own that same coach today!