2 Years with a Older Class A

[angler]

Not sure why I'm posting this, but maybe it will help people looking at a class A. Now realize I'm one of those people who make sure everything works and takes care of his stuff. I don't like anything that doesn't work. I also like everything relatively clean. My costs over two years for people looking into the class A world. Your costs may vary.

Guess one good thing is I don't have any deprecation costs. Class a is the best way to travel!

Jacks 1000
Flooring 500 (did myself)
Fluids 600
Awnings- Slideouts 700
Tires 2500
Refigerator 1800
Batteries 200
Starter 550
Air Conditioner seal 125
Sky Light 125
Starting issue -Winter 2018 100
Oil Changes 200
Faucets 150
Spray Paint 30
Telivisions 200
Varnish 25
Total 8900

I'm hoping for 3 more years with reduced costs:)

[FloridaRosebud]

Gjac wrote:
I bought my current MH 16 years ago when I retired, I kept track of all my expenses including mods and improvement like headers, FF muffler CAI etc, repairs like autopark failures,front end repairs, hyd jacks, fuel pump replacement, control boards etc and general maintenance like fluid changes( oil transmission,rear end), tires etc. To date it cost me $21,348 in total in 100,000 miles of travel. I have done most of the work myself except for the front end,headers and changing the fuel pump while on a trip. The biggest cost was the IFS front end which was about $7000 most of that was caused by a shop installing the wrong ball joints causing two accidents. The total cost was $1334/year. If you have a newer MH with a straight front axle most of those front end repairs would go away so I think a better estimate would be more like $1000/year. Almost every trip something had to be fixed. Another way to look at it is if you bought a brand new MH you would lose more than $21,000 in depreciation in the first year alone with multiple trips back to the dealer for warranty work.

That's great you kept track of all your expenses. I'm doing the same thing. However, I think it is reasonable to assume that if you had to pay labor for all the repairs (IOW - you didn't do it yourself) your cost would probably be at least double. That would translate into $2668 per year, close to what I'm budgeting. Still, as you said, is way less than the depreciation of a new motor home.

Al

[Gjac]

I bought my current MH 16 years ago when I retired, I kept track of all my expenses including mods and improvement like headers, FF muffler CAI etc, repairs like autopark failures,front end repairs, hyd jacks, fuel pump replacement, control boards etc and general maintenance like fluid changes( oil transmission,rear end), tires etc. To date it cost me $21,348 in total in 100,000 miles of travel. I have done most of the work myself except for the front end,headers and changing the fuel pump while on a trip. The biggest cost was the IFS front end which was about $7000 most of that was caused by a shop installing the wrong ball joints causing two accidents. The total cost was $1334/year. If you have a newer MH with a straight front axle most of those front end repairs would go away so I think a better estimate would be more like $1000/year. Almost every trip something had to be fixed. Another way to look at it is if you bought a brand new MH you would lose more than $21,000 in depreciation in the first year alone with multiple trips back to the dealer for warranty work.

[ncrowley]

If I was purchasing an older Class A, and the current owner says "In the last 6 years, my expenses have been low since I have just needed to do oil and filter changes", or something like that, I would run. If you do the recommended scheduled maintenance, your costs would be much higher.

[SuperBus]

wolfe10 wrote:


Many just defer needed maintenance and upgrades for the next owner!

My personal experience is that the above is true more than anything else. Initial quality, ongoing maintenance (or lack thereof), and duty cycle/usage define the costs over time. Most everything I have had to replace would be considered regular replacement items (batteries for example). In this case I have an all electric coach and the batteries were well beyond the point of replacement when I purchased the unit. This was absolutely a deferred item by the previous owner as the cost was not insignificant.

I think it is very important to consider motorhomes are both vehicles and homes, with the problems and maintenance of both with the complications and disadvantages of something that moves, built at relatively low volumes (which increases cost saving pressure for the manufacturer), and most things need to be downsized from their residential counterparts which also has a unique set of challenges. This just sets up the situation that we all know - owning a class A is not an inexpensive venture.

[FloridaRosebud]

Andy F wrote:

FloridaRosebud wrote:
We too bought a used class A; 2006 National SeaBreeze LX, 33 foot. We've had it 18 months now, and have done the following:

1. New tires all around, $3000
2. New fridge - went with a residential - $1200 (my option)
3. New front TV - $350 (my option)
4. Suspension mods - $1000 (my option)
5. Fluids - $500
6. New transfer switch - $600
7. Re-seal roof - $400
8. Defog Windows - $900
9. New A/C compressor for V10 - $450

Total is $8400 so far - BUT - we love the MH. Most of these costs are not annual costs (tires come to mind) and some were my option to upgrade. I'm budgeting $3000 per year for required maintenance. We'll see if that is enough as we move forward...

Al

Quick question - what type of roofing do you have? And can you use eternabond tape to reseal your roof if it is fiberglass? I used eternabond on my travel trailer roof seals with great results.

Thank you to both you and the OP for posting your numbers. We are looking at 3 to 4 year old Tiffin Allegros and your experiences will help.

Mine is a fiberglass roof. The RV place just re-caulked, as it was getting a bit ratty after 14 years...

Al

[angler]

Think all tiffins are fiberglass roofs.

[wowens79]

FloridaRosebud wrote:

ferndaleflyer wrote:
Guess I am lucky. I bought an 8 year old high end DP kept it 12 years and in all that time other than yearly service which averaged about $300 each year only did the following in 40,000+miles.
tires $1800
radiator $1500
injector line $300
This unit was never babied and seldom sat for more than a month. I have had its replacement for a little over a year now and had one repair that was there when I bought it and cost around $2000.
They are expensive but fuel and repairs are things you have to do if you want to use them and ride.

There is a good point "hidden" in your post - "...seldom sat for more than a month." I'm beginning to see the same pattern of use/repair that years ago I learned having a sportscar. If I drove it all the time it didn't need repairs. Let it sit for extended periods of time, and things start to break down. Now this is all observations on my part without any real data, but my thought is if your RV goes out a lot I'll bet it doesn't break a lot....I would love to see some real data to either back up or dispute my observations....

Thoughts anyone?

Totally agree with that point. I've seen it with boats, if you let them sit stuff goes wrong, run them regularly and they seem to have less problems. When I had boats, I would either take them out, or at least run them on a hose at the house about once a month year round.

Al

[Andy_F]

FloridaRosebud wrote:
We too bought a used class A; 2006 National SeaBreeze LX, 33 foot. We've had it 18 months now, and have done the following:

1. New tires all around, $3000
2. New fridge - went with a residential - $1200 (my option)
3. New front TV - $350 (my option)
4. Suspension mods - $1000 (my option)
5. Fluids - $500
6. New transfer switch - $600
7. Re-seal roof - $400
8. Defog Windows - $900
9. New A/C compressor for V10 - $450

Total is $8400 so far - BUT - we love the MH. Most of these costs are not annual costs (tires come to mind) and some were my option to upgrade. I'm budgeting $3000 per year for required maintenance. We'll see if that is enough as we move forward...

Al

Quick question - what type of roofing do you have? And can you use eternabond tape to reseal your roof if it is fiberglass? I used eternabond on my travel trailer roof seals with great results.

Thank you to both you and the OP for posting your numbers. We are looking at 3 to 4 year old Tiffin Allegros and your experiences will help.

[wa8yxm]

Running down your list
Jacks 1000 About what I have spent (14.5 years old)
Flooring 500 (did myself) About 1500 I'm not doing it myself
Fluids 600 Did not track but I do routine oil changes or have them done
Awnings- Slideouts 2000 had to fix it twice
Tires 2500 2300
Refigerator 1800 650 plus shipping handling and install. Just replacing coolign uint not full fridge but the price is close to what I was quoted for a full fridge
Batteries about 300
Starter 550 No not yet
Air Conditioner seal 2000 for 2 new A/C's installed and one of them is in need again
Sky Light 000
Starting issue -Winter 2018 100 Blown engine 2014.> OUCH Due to road hazard duping the oil.. Insurance paid
Oil Changes 200 Mentioned above
Faucets more like 80
Spray Paint 30 I've spend about 90 on spray paint
Telivisions 200 Sounds about right
Varnish 25 No not yet
Total 8900 No total

But I picked this puppy up new may 2005 and this has been my most expensive year (Tires, Slide out, Floor in slide out)

But .. Running out of things to fix.. I hope.
have another 500 or so in floring to re-do next year and one A/C.

[angler]

Maybe a little OCD instead of "higher standards" 🙂

[wolfe10]

I suspect quite a lot of the cost is that you have higher standards than many owners.

Many just defer needed maintenance and upgrades for the next owner!

Enjoy your coach that you now have in excellent condition.

[angler]

I guess maybe just a little bad luck:) I'll stay away from the lottery for a while.

Using them definitely helps.

[FloridaRosebud]

ferndaleflyer wrote:
Guess I am lucky. I bought an 8 year old high end DP kept it 12 years and in all that time other than yearly service which averaged about $300 each year only did the following in 40,000+miles.
tires $1800
radiator $1500
injector line $300
This unit was never babied and seldom sat for more than a month. I have had its replacement for a little over a year now and had one repair that was there when I bought it and cost around $2000.
They are expensive but fuel and repairs are things you have to do if you want to use them and ride.

There is a good point "hidden" in your post - "...seldom sat for more than a month." I'm beginning to see the same pattern of use/repair that years ago I learned having a sportscar. If I drove it all the time it didn't need repairs. Let it sit for extended periods of time, and things start to break down. Now this is all observations on my part without any real data, but my thought is if your RV goes out a lot I'll bet it doesn't break a lot....I would love to see some real data to either back up or dispute my observations....

Thoughts anyone?

Al

[ferndaleflyer]

Guess I am lucky. I bought an 8 year old high end DP kept it 12 years and in all that time other than yearly service which averaged about $300 each year only did the following in 40,000+miles.
tires $1800
radiator $1500
injector line $300
This unit was never babied and seldom sat for more than a month. I have had its replacement for a little over a year now and had one repair that was there when I bought it and cost around $2000.
They are expensive but fuel and repairs are things you have to do if you want to use them and ride.