50,000 mile purchase.

[Fla904]

Purchasing a 1998 Dutchmaster from camping world. Anyone had experience with them? I keep hearing like a broken record "after 50k a RV is worthless". Is this true??? Can't be.. The rv has 50k on it at the moment, my main concern is the engine blowing while halfway across the country or something else detrimental happening while I'm far away from home. Are these motors reliable? It's the ford gas engine by the way. What should I be looking out for?

[Mote]

Is it the Ford V10 engine ?
I agree with having a mechanic look over the engine and transmission. If gives the thumbs up then buy it have all the fluids changes (engine, transmission, rear diff). Change the engine belt too. then just drive it and enjoy it.

[valhalla360]

The milage isn't the concern. The overall age is the concern.

Assuming reasonable maintenance, the engine should be good for 150-250k miles. The big issue is you are looking at a 17yr old MH, which translates to around 2500miles per year. Most likely it sat for months at a time with no use. That means all the belts and gaskets had time to dry out. The oil had time to drain off the interior engine parts, did they really keep up on oil changes and other preventative maintenance? You need to be more concerned with the lack of use.

If you have a mechanic you trust, might be worth paying them $100-200 to look over the drivetrain and do a compression check. If it checks out, it will probably be fine...of course there are no guarantees.

The real issue driving the price down is the overall age of the unit. Is the roof in need of replacement, what about the air/con, fridge, furnace, etc... That's not to say you won't get 10-15yrs of use with minimal repairs but as it gets older, those repairs become more likely.

Also by that age, there is the keeping up with the jones factor. It will be obvious to anyone looking that it's a 17yr old MH, so people will not be willing to pay as much for it.

This is not meant to scare you off. Our 5th wheel is a 1997 and we expect to get at least another 5-10yrs out of her before selling. If we wanted to, we could keep her going indefinetly but at some point it makes more sense to trade up to something newer rather than put money into something older that has no resale value.