Everyone's needs are different, as is everyone's own comfort level. In the end, the decision has to be yours, not ours. We can only give our opinion what we would do. In the end, you have to live with your decision. I know, sometimes it's not easy making decisions. All of life is a gamble. The day you get ready to leave for your life-time of an adventure trip, your 32 footer may decide to fall apart! The 42 footer may fall apart 20 minutes after you hitch up too. It's a roll of the dice.
On a more positive note, you know the history of your current camper. You know it's weak point and it's strengths. You've tested the waters with it, and you've found it to be dependable for you. Giving up this comfort and peace of mind is a bit threatening for an unknown.
One hand says to keep the existing camper. The other says get the newer one with more space that will accommodate your needs and future plans better.
It's quite obvious your heart want the new camper. It's quite obvious your head is out-thinking your heart! That's a good thing. (Keep the head in the oven and the heart in the deep freeze and you will come out ok).
There are many folks who have nothing nice to say about Thor Industries RV. I'm on my 3rd one and have been quite satisfied with all 3. Each of them had their own idiosyncrasies and required a learning, fixing, and adjusting curve time period. But in the end, all 3 turned out to be really great campers. But one thing you cannot be afraid of, is, doing your own repair work. As you know from prior RV ownership experience, they all require ongoing maintenance.
Now, my opinion about your dilemma? Get the bigger one! If you are working from the camper, you will appreciate the space. But, get it and use it before the full-time adventure begins so you can work the kinks out and get to know it like well fitting pair of shoes. Considering the unit you are looking at is a 2013 model, you will find one of 2 things:
1) all the kinks are already worked out and you'll find the camper in great shape. Anything defective has already been fixed under warranty, and you'll just have to deal with regular maintenance.
or...
2) the previous owner neglected everything and the camper is a mess and they are trying to get rid of it, just to get rid of a problem.
That is why you really, really, really need to inspect and test everything on the new camper before you buy. Make sure everything is satisfactory for you, and if you find anything that would suggest abuse, neglect, or someting about ready to be a costly disaster... drop this unit and move on. This is the most important part in your decision. Inspect it, if it looks good, feel good, and is good, then do it!
