One of the issues with buying from private parties is that they are oftentimes upside down on what they owe on their RV. This is a combination of overpaying for the RV when new coupled with long term financing on the rig. Some lenders will loan up to 20 years on a new RV. The problem is that these folks generally expect the next buyer to bail them out of their bad decisions. You are asking the right questions to make sure you buy your RV smart.
My suggestion is to be patient and research. This involves watching Craigslist and other local listings over time to see what the RV you desire are selling for. You will see some listed month after month and others are gone in days. That will tell you which are priced well and which are overpriced. Settle on a floor plan and type and then find out if it is in your price range. It might take awhile but it worth the effort to save yourself. I found almost every dealer asking price to be over inflated so keep that in mind when you see their prices. Also be aware of the CL scammers who list stuff for well below market hoping to catch a sucker.
In our case, it took 2 years but most of that time was because of health issues. That gave me plenty of time to discover what we wanted and what we wanted to pay for it. I now have a beautiful 2008 RV in my space at the storage lot waiting for the weather to break to go camping.
