Used Motorhomes

During the many years that I've owned/enjoyed Class A motorhomes (five pre-owned gassers and (finally) a special-ordered, brand-spanking new large diesel pusher). The best AND worst experience was my diesel pusher(very long story). Today, NOW that there are many very good deals in the type of diesel pusher that I like, I would NOT hesitate to buy a clean one-owner DP. This comes AFTER I gained quite a bit of experience in what to look for.
In my defense: with regard to my DP, we ordered new because in early 2003 there NO used units that had all the "deal breaker" features that we wanted. We also wanted to sample brand new. Where I failed is in finding out ALL the details of the design/construction of the "all fiberglass" roof that NEWMAR put on our Dutch Star (in 2003). In my opinion, I got "water for chocolate". And, it was NOT all my fault. But, to argue my case would've cost more than to learn and execute the fix on my roof.

BTW I now have a lot of roof-repair experience that I hope I will never have to use......:B

Roadpilot wrote:


New warranties don't seem to have a lot of value to me. Dealers can't fix many of the problems with MH's and the factory is a long way away. And factory scheduling has to be done well in advance. I want to be able to determine when and where we go with our MH and not have it determine it for me.

We buy used because our budget is small. I agree about the value of the warranty. My observation is with an old RV, something breaks, you pay your $500, and are on the road the next day. With a new and warranted RV, the repair is free, the trip home to wait for the repair costs, the hotel near the repair facility costs, the meals out cost, and there is no reimibursement for the month that you are without your RV.

Matt B

I've had two used motorhomes. The first one was a money pit. Paid 12k for it, spent 12k over the next four years fixing it and sold it in good condition for 12k.

The one I currently own was well maintained when I bought it and it has been virtually trouble free (KNOCK ON WOOD) for the last eight years and 72k miles.. Luck of the draw.

As with many things in life, it all comes down to quality. You get what you pay for. A low end new coach will have more issues than a well maintained older high end coach. I've seen a few older Prevost and Bluebird Wander Lodges in my travels and they are still magnificent after 20+ years.

The trouble is the people have gotten lazy and would rather write a check for a new bus than do the research and search for a well maintained older rig. I spent over 6 months looking for the Sahara after researching the line. Then they hit the forums complaining about quality. You never hear from the thousands of people who had no problems or expected issues because they could only afford a low end coach and just dealt with it.

your all right,thats why we tell new rv,ers to get a inspection. theres plenty of great used rv,s out there and a lot of junkers too. do your home work BEFORE you buy.

I've bought 2 new MH's and then 1 used one. One of the new ones was great and one had so many problems it was unusable for 2 years. After years 2 we finally had the problems fixed and then it was OK for another year. But during the 3rd year we kept a tow truck on speed dial just in case. It left a very sour taste in our mouth. We almost gave up RV'ing.

The next MH was used and it has been good. The prior owner had not maintained it to the level we liked so we brought it up to our level. Now we have it in for some updates, but not fixes. I will not buy new again. I'll let someone else work out the bugs.

New warranties don't seem to have a lot of value to me. Dealers can't fix many of the problems with MH's and the factory is a long way away. And factory scheduling has to be done well in advance. I want to be able to determine when and where we go with our MH and not have it determine it for me.

If you own motorhome, it's a used motorhome. :)

57 degrees and raining in Blairsville... 75 and sunshine in WPB. Yea I love it.

One concern I had when buying this MH slightly used (only way to get four slides in 04) was it had been at the dealer having minor things fixed more than it had been used. Fortunately that was the end of it for several years until the radiators failed but Monaco paid for the repair out of warranty... new radiators and a soft rebuild of the Allison tranny because of getting antifreeze in it.

Until last week I had not spent any money on my three AC's ($140 control board) but I did buy a new/old style spare one because the new style require an expensive rework of the control systems. Yes, I've replaced the old analog TVs with LED... tremendous energy savings and all the halogen lights with LED's from China.

Should have replaced my NOCold 1200 long before this year as I've spent more on it than any other item. Even with it's own battery bank/inverter/charger I have slightly over $1K as a DIY project. These new refers are very energy efficient as my 21 cu ft draws 8 amps DC... less than a 100W bulb when running. My concern about it and boondocking was a mistake to not switch sooner.

Pretty sure the difference in the payments/depreciation on a 5-7 year old higher end DP will more than pay for any repairs/replacement compared to a new one. Yes, there can be some used lemons out there... buyer beware but I see no reason why my rig will not go another 11 years with only minor repairs.

Mark you are correct expensive hobby but I love it.

hilldude wrote:
Having owned several used motor homes, and reading this forum. It appears new motor homes have as many problems as used.I think the used ones have the bugs worked out.

To me, once the bugs are worked out then you have to start replacing items that start breaking..... maybe a TV, air conditioner, heating system, dash air, alternator, radiator replacement, etc.

It is a never ending hobby of love.

MM.