camper maintenance and age

Keeping the roof caulked and water out is the biggest item. I'd say spring shackles / bushings would be next. You do the wheel bearings annually or every 2 years, right?

To many variables to say. I have seen relative new units trashed in a short time and well taken care of older rigs that were in great shape. Maintenance is the key. If you store the unit out of the weather and sun when not in use it will help keep the outside in good shape, the sun does a number on RV's.

I have a 2005 Coachmen.... every item inside is original... except the power inverter.. and battery. and battery is outside . :)

and currently.. been snow birding in it for 6 weeks now.

To answer the OP's question though ... the day after the warranty expires .... you can expect everything to fall apart!

Respectively disagree with this! :B
There are thousands of RV'ers on the road with older units with original appliances still working on.

My first MH I kept for over 8 years. The only thing I had to replace was the water pump. and that was because I did not winterize correctly and the water froze in the pump and split it.

If you keep your RV cleaned and maintained from the outside very few if not anyone can tell the age of it.

I look at it this way routinely cleaned and maintained RV, if an appliance goes out, replace it! The price of 'any' appliance in any RV is a mere fraction of the cost of buying another RV.

Over time I can replace all the appliances and never even come close to the cost of the taxes on a new RV. :W

I don't want my money tied up in buying new depreciating RV's. I want the money to travel and party! So popping for an appliance or repairs once in awhile is no problem for me.:B

I think it's just a constant steady, on-going routine maintenance and replacing things as needs change and the wife demands!

We had our pop-up 6 years. It was a constant fix-up from day 1, and it was brand new.

we had our Dutchmen 3 years, not an ounce of any thing to do, except what we wanted.

Had our Springdale 8 years. Mechanically, never any problems. No mechanical failures, all appliance were still original when sold. We did put in a different mattress, and I added wire shelves for more shelf space, added towel bars.

The true break-downs was the bathroom fan blade (plastic) just crumbled to nothing (age-sun-heat). The outside shower started leaking (my fault though, I think it froze over the winter).

Current camper going on 3 years now.
We (by our choice) changed the air conditioner, removed chairs and table and put in a new couch. When we sell, the couch will come out and the original furniture will go back in.

Added more shelf -space with wire shelves, done some modification on the water pump and some electrical, and installed covers over the vents to help protect them. None of this was necessary, but we did it to prolong the life of the camper and to make life more comfortable for us.

To answer the OP's question though ... the day after the warranty expires .... you can expect everything to fall apart!

Our TT is 15 years old and had a ton of water damage due to neglecting routing maintenance, but the only major replacement was the AC unit. All other appliances are original and work great. Compared to our home appliance that's nothing since we seem to get 4-7 years out of everything we buy new these days.

I think maintenance is key. Keep the water out and you'll like a happy camping life.

While you will probably hear from many who have owned TT s for decade, if I recall correctly, the average TT owner trades for a new model in 6 or 7 years. So, as mentioned, most have not had a lot of wear.

The two appliances most likely to fail are the refrigerator and hot water heater. The undercarriage mounts and wheel bearing are occasionally mentioned.

Water leaks are probably at the top for problems.

I do not think there is any magic age number.

There is no hard rule! Equipment failures (WH, Furnance, Fridge, AC, etc.) is really based on hours of usage, not age! Preventive maintenance helps, but does not stop failures. We maintain and upgrade our RV monthly as it is a hooby since retiring. Our fridge died when the TT was 10years old, however we purchased used and it was parked at a seasonal site and they left it on all the time during the summer season, so we were expecting this to happen.