What is average spent on 2001 or older motorhome maintenance

I do my own maintenance and repairs. It is a 1991 and 100% functioning. In the last six years I have replaced an air horn compressor ($80.00), cruise control cable ($39.00), idler pulley ($14.00), fan belt ($28.00), door latch stop ($.85), back up camera ($225) and batteries ($240.00). My repair costs has averaged
$104.48 annually.

I am not a DIYer and my number would be more like $1500 per year. That number also includes tires and batteries.

I've owned the MH in my signature since the fall of 2005 when it had 32,000 miles on it. Repairs and approximate cost since then are:


New Tires........................................$1850

Koni FSD shocks....................................650

Add rear air bags..................................275

New spark plugs.....................................50

Replace hot water electric fuse.....................25

Replace hot water electric element..................15

Replace batteries (3)..............................350

Align front end....................................150

Re-balance front tires..............................40

Replace air lines to inner duals....................20

Replace brake pads.................................190

Flush and replace brake fluid.......................20

Air filter (twice)..................................40

Oil and filter (annually at $50)....................450

Changed tranny fluid to synthetic and filter.......150


For a total of about $4025 over 8 years of use and 48,000 miles. That makes about $500/year. The tires are due for replacement next year, so that will bump up the average at the end of next year. I may have forgotten a couple of things, but not much.

I've also invested in a spare engine belt, spark plug coil, and house water pump that aren't in the above list.

Please note that the only "hired" labor in the above was for the tires and alignment. If you have to hire all the labor, the number above would double and likely triple (partly due to unnecessary things being recommended by the mechanics involved).

If you have a DP and hire the labor, it's going to be even higher.

On my 2005 I budget 1,000-2,000 a year, This year it will be new batteries and a jack I pretzled.

In eight years since new, about $500 per year for tires, $130 for batteries, $180 for transmission, $300 for chassis and $1,500 for upgrades (PRXB, TPMS, Dish, Flat screen, solar panel, Eternabond, AirTabs, VmSpc with computer and dash flat screen, SiriusXM, updated Bluetooth radio). About $20,000 total over the eight years.

With everything done, it may reduce costs to about $1,200 to $1,500 per year in the future.

(Many readers are laughing about the "everything done" thought.):B

We use a software program to track all motorhome expenses except fuel and insurance. Our 2001 Adventurer was costing us about $1,000.00 per year. This included all the maintenance and upgrades for a 12+ year period and over 100,000 miles. I should add that I performed most of the maintenance and all of the upgrades. In the 12 year time period it went to the factory service center 4 times. It also went to the local Ford when the weather was bad or time was short.

I have a 1996 GBM MH which I purchased 10 years ago. It was my first MH and not knowing much I spent a lot of money fixing things the first several years. Once the major things were fixed and I got help from folks on this forum and learned to fix some things the cost of repairs came down. I kept accurate records of what I spent which came to about $12,000 in 10 years or $1,200 per year. If I remove the improvements or mods like headers, mufflers, HD springs etc and just count oil changes, and other fluid changes(trans,rear end brake fluid) general maintenance it was about 1/2 of the total or $600 per year. I never knew if this was good or bad but I will watch this thread for other peoples experiences.

nehi wrote:
I spent 2 to 3 thousand a year on repairs on 2001 winnibago journey is this normal?

Are you talking scheduled or non scheduled?

Basically we stash away $25-50 a month for tires. Other stuff is right out of pocket. Other than the tires, I do my own repairs. Parts are pretty easy to replace. Sometimes I even repair my own parts (like rebuild my alternator etc.)

I'm not going to divulge the low $$$ for my RV. The gods may be listening....