A couple of questions for the group.
Hi Folks, We ran a class A Pace Arrow back when the kids were the size of our Grand babies today. With just the 2 of us now we are setting up a C. I was wondering if you would care to share, ho...
Forum Discussion
ron.dittmer wrote:
Life expectancy?
So much depends on "what" you bought, how it has been stored, and how you will be storing it. Is it going to be stored indoors or outdoors. If outdoors, will it be protected by the elements in some fashion? What is the quality of the house construction. Not all motor homes are made the same. Some are built to be affordable and others are built to last.
We have been very fortunate to be able to store our quality-built motor homes inside year round and heated in the wintertime.
We bought our first motor home HERE new in 1983 and owned it for 24 years and it had a lot left to go with only 107,000 miles on the odometer. We sold it only to buy one with more creature comforts.
Our current motor home HERE we bought new in 2007. Today it has 32,000 miles. We hope to keep it going for 35 years when we are too old to safely drive it. Hopefully we'll be using it more in the coming years now that I am retired....well....sort-of retired. Being on an E350-V10, I won't be worried about miles driven. It would be great if we could have 200,000 on the odometer when we say good bye to it. In it's late years, I won't be worried about the miles as much as the condition of the house. Rain water will be it's worst enemy. Being quality-built, I hope to have addressed that concern, but time will tell.
How many 35 year old motor homes are out there today? That would be a 1982 model year. I think we can do it.
I have a 94 with 60K miles, so shes a bit old but she has been well taken care of. Wear and tear items of course have been replaced eg, brakes, shocks, black water valve, heater blower motor. Occasionally I cover it but I am religious about seam inspections, I do it at least twice a year by walking my roof and looking for cracks. No leaks to date and the only appliance that has been entirely replaced was the roof A/C. It might help that its only a 21 footer so the body has less flex while driving...
One thing you want to do with a class C of any age is a cold start and an immediate light revving of the engine. Listen closely for a "tap tap tap" noise coming from the dog house. Could indicate a exhaust gasket failing. Van chassis' are notorious for this, and you could use it to haggle down the price or make them fix it.
