Anyone make a mistake buying first MH ?

[Dollar98]

Just curious.. No matter how much research you do , it seems there is no substitute for owning and using a MH.. Anyone buy one and then realize you made a mistake on the first one.. If so, how did you rectify it. I haven't felt this way yet and hope I don't.. With all that is involved, I could see it happening.. I believe the best advice I got was to buy an older one and then see what you really want by trial and error..

[stephen_haley]

wolfe10 wrote:

stephen haley wrote:
one other thing pertaining to the purchase of a used MH. i see some diesel pushers that are as old as 1990, maybe even 1989; and they are asking well over $50k for them!?!?!?!?!

now i am not knowledgeable about MH's in the first place but even after looking into NADA and assuming a discount for haggling i can't imagine they will sell for anywhere near those prices. brand name that i was looking at was a Foretravel.

i have seen many and even the gas ones are much higher than others of the same year.

anything special about these Foretravel's?

stephen

Stephen,

Sorry, your post really struck me the wrong way.

If, as you say you are "unknowledgeable about MH's" what is the basis for your conclusion that you can not "imagine they will sell for anywhere near those prices".

Have you even been in an older Foretravel? After all, they are built very near you in Nacogdoches, Texas. Look at and drive a 15-20 year old Foretravel DP and get back with us.

We welcome new members and their questions and comments. But we also respect those who ask questions if they do not know, rather than drawing their own conclusions and TELLING us not based on FACTS.

And absolutely, there are those who like and dislike most coaches-- no problem. But most have some facts to back up their opinions.

[stephen_haley]

my uncle said the biggest mistake rv buyers made was having to buy up after buying too small a rig at first.
i'm going for the 40 footer, if i can. i'm gonna live in it for several years while traveling the states so i feel i need the room.
sorry again for posting anything received poorly. that was not my intent.
i was only trying to pass on what i had gotten first hand from an uncle that was in the industry.
a DP just seems the way to go if you are using the rig regularly and expect to get the best bang for your buck when selling.

apology again for any problem i have caused.
stephen

[stephen_haley]

My uncle was a mortage broker for the RV industry from 1972 through 1998.
My posting, i hope, did not come across incorrectly. I was trying to bolster the value of a DP, not talk it down. It historically has a higher resale value than a gas engine. And of course it does cost more. A typical gas unit (maintained properly) will only provide @ 125 to 150k miles of worry free service before it begins to fail in both power and economy. DP's will go 500k (maintained properly)and provide over those 500k miles lower service costs than a gas unit would, when considering it would have to be rebuilt twice to get to the 500k mile range that a DP can reach.
I've rented coaches and MH for 15 years but never owned one. Always got one from my uncle to travel in so my experience is near zero for ownership but i have ten's of thousands of miles in everything from tents to DP's.
I certainly did not mean to speak anything that was hurtful to anyone. My apology.
I just feel a DP for an RV'r that uses it regularly is the best investment.
I also was told by my uncle to buy used, 2 to 5 years old. His experience in lending showed a minimum of 25% and a more realistic average range of 35% loss in resale value in ALL rv's as soon as they are titled and driven off the lot.

hope i did not offend you or others, that was not my intent. DP's are just superior in my opinion. And as for Foretravel units they are a perfect example of my feeling. DP Foretravels in the 1989 to 1993 still pull in from $25 to $45k+. The Foretravel gas rigs are half this on the average depending on condition. Foretravel are one of the very best made rigs in the industry and have been since they were founded by the name sake that built his first in his back yard i believe. You can't use Foretravel as the benchmark. It has no real competition with the mass produced rigs out there. They'd all fall apart before the Foretravel would begin to squeak.

stephen

[stephen_haley]

wolfe10 wrote:

stephen haley wrote:
one other thing pertaining to the purchase of a used MH. i see some diesel pushers that are as old as 1990, maybe even 1989; and they are asking well over $50k for them!?!?!?!?!

now i am not knowledgeable about MH's in the first place but even after looking into NADA and assuming a discount for haggling i can't imagine they will sell for anywhere near those prices. brand name that i was looking at was a Foretravel.

i have seen many and even the gas ones are much higher than others of the same year.

anything special about these Foretravel's?

stephen

Stephen,

Sorry, your post really struck me the wrong way.

If, as you say you are "unknowledgeable about MH's" what is the basis for your conclusion that you can not "imagine they will sell for anywhere near those prices".

Have you even been in an older Foretravel? After all, they are built very near you in Nacogdoches, Texas. Look at and drive a 15-20 year old Foretravel DP and get back with us.

We welcome new members and their questions and comments. But we also respect those who ask questions if they do not know, rather than drawing their own conclusions and TELLING us not based on FACTS.

And absolutely, there are those who like and dislike most coaches-- no problem. But most have some facts to back up their opinions.

[LACO-1]

We rented a number of class A's over the years, and decided when I retired, two weeks away, now, we would buy a MH. We started looking last Spring, and bought one last month. My wife and I both knew we planned to spend at least two to three months a year in it, and didn't want to feel too cramped. I knew I wanted a DP, and IFS, if I was to drive it for long periods of time. We settled on a 40 foot 06 Allegro Bus, which so far does not seem to have been a mistake. Its bigger than any we rented, so wheeling it around small streets and tight fuel stations is taking some getting used to, but so far so good. It sure has everything we both wanted. A year from now I should know if we did make a mistake, but the idea was to buy big so we wouldn't regret feeling cramped in a small MH. We don't so far.

[wolfe10]

stephen haley wrote:
one other thing pertaining to the purchase of a used MH. i see some diesel pushers that are as old as 1990, maybe even 1989; and they are asking well over $50k for them!?!?!?!?!

now i am not knowledgeable about MH's in the first place but even after looking into NADA and assuming a discount for haggling i can't imagine they will sell for anywhere near those prices. brand name that i was looking at was a Foretravel.

i have seen many and even the gas ones are much higher than others of the same year.

anything special about these Foretravel's?

stephen

Stephen,

Sorry, your post really struck me the wrong way.

If, as you say you are "unknowledgeable about MH's" what is the basis for your conclusion that you can not "imagine they will sell for anywhere near those prices".

Have you even been in an older Foretravel? After all, they are built very near you in Nacogdoches, Texas. Look at and drive a 15-20 year old Foretravel DP and get back with us.

We welcome new members and their questions and comments. But we also respect those who ask questions if they do not know, rather than drawing their own conclusions and TELLING us not based on FACTS.

And absolutely, there are those who like and dislike most coaches-- no problem. But most have some facts to back up their opinions.

[stephen_haley]

Does this mean your's was a Foretravel? If so what year and model?

Sorry to hear you had an ordeal but i am glad to hear you are back on the RV road, it's a good one.

As a side bar, don't beat him up too much on buying the MH. Us guys are known to have brain farts time and again so it's an expected problem we have. Genetic.

Anyway he's learned his lesson and now you folks are back at it in a good way!lol!

stephen

[2_Retired]

You mean our 'motorhome from hell'????just had to have an old Concord Class A Concord that was owned by a person in our town I had known for many years. He was a successful businessman but I 'knew him when' and saw him as a conniving, scheming cheat.
My dear spouse said it was a 'great deal' and I couldn't talk him out of it.
Anyway - anything that could go wrong did. We took our 2 boys on a trip to Myrtle Beach, towing a small compact. We got as far as South of the Border and something 'fell out'. We thought it was fixed by a local mechanic and went on our way. While on Rt 501 going east people were beeping and waving to us - my husband said it was Southern hospitality. No, they were trying to tell us that flames were shooting out from our undercarriage.
Let's see, what next - oh yeah - the clutch went on our Toad! We had to rent a car to pick up our RV from yet another mechanic. Did I tell you the Fridge went as well and that the AC broke down? One more thing - the starter went on the way home and my husband was shown how to use a screwdriver under the rig to somehow bypass the starter so we could stop on the way home - which we had to do often because we burned so much oil we had to put more in about every 100 miles.
We pulled into the driveway and I told my husband I would never, never go inside that rig again. I didn't even help clean it out from the trip. I swear all of this is true!!!
That was about 20 years ago and we are now on our 5th rig, a 30'TT pulled by a Ford F350. We still love camping, just not that abomination! No, it wasn't our first, and certainly not our last, but it is part of our family's book of memories.

[stephen_haley]

one other thing pertaining to the purchase of a used MH. i see some diesel pushers that are as old as 1990, maybe even 1989; and they are asking well over $50k for them!?!?!?!?!

now i am not knowledgeable about MH's in the first place but even after looking into NADA and assuming a discount for haggling i can't imagine they will sell for anywhere near those prices. brand name that i was looking at was a Foretravel.

i have seen many and even the gas ones are much higher than others of the same year.

anything special about these Foretravel's?

stephen

[Houndog101]

Totally satsified with Ours..

[dlhaynes]

Only in size. I've been pleased and lucky with each one I've owned. A total of 4 so far. Working on the 5th.

[Beach_Boy]

stephen haley wrote:
I'm going to take the camping world tech school. they teach you everything from a to z about repairing a MH and that's what I need. it'll also come in handy and if I ever need to work and don't desire to return to const. I can hook up with just about any quality RV service center and get some part time work I believe.

stephen

Stephen, the training school should be a smart decision. I suggest that you attend the training school before you buy your used MH. Buying an used MH is a MUCH better financial decision then purchasing a new MH if you do your homework extensively and leisurely.

As for if I made a mistake purchasing my first MH, my only regret is that did not do my homework extensively and paid too much for a well maintained, well-built used MH. I should have figured in a 20% safety margin into the price offered for unseen items and changes to the MH to suit me.

Bill

[stephen_haley]

well i am a single dad at age 54 and retired this past january.
it's just me, my dog, my golf clubs and a dingy.
i'm not going any bigger than a 30 footer and staying with a 454 chevy.
no slides either.
windsport and airstream land yachts seem to be have what i want. and are affordable in a used MH.
i'm gonna travel for 2 or more years and just see the sights then decide what to do.
i'm going to take the camping world tech school. they teach you everything from a to z about repairing a MH and that's what i need. it'll also come in handy and if i ever need to work and don't desire to return to const. i can hook up with just about any quality RV service center and get some part time work i believe.

stephen

[bagman]

Our first MH was a 96 Tioga 31N (good MH), but can't say the same for FW customer service. Second MH is an Allegro Bay 37DB (good MH) and superb customer service! Bagman.

[beardog]

The jury is probably still out...bought my first nearly 4 months ago after 6 years of looking and dithering...started looking at ClassB - got to thinking about rainy days in a ClassB with dog and cat I travel with - started looking at ClassC and salesman talked me into taking an A for a test drive - Love! Dithered a few more years and looked at trailers and truck campers. All the time asking - how am I going to use it, what do I really want to do with it, will I like doing something different once I get "into in"? $$$ - yikes! This spring sold my house and a piece of property I had and did not find a house I liked so rented for a year - have a long term consulting contract - time seemed "right" - went browsing and bought nearly the first Class A I saw: Winnebago Adventurer 33V '03, 11K miles. So far - great! I had this summer for shakedown - both me and the coach and plan is an extended land cruise next summer - working 1/2-3/4 time. Scary thing for me - I'm 50 - is putting that much money into a depreciable asset and not having an appreciable one...I'm "rightside-up" on the loan and still have resources to buy home or property but... However, I've given myself 18 months to give this a try on all fronts: enjoyment and financial. Time will tell. Ultimately I'm not sure that you know until you jump in and try and if I have any regrets currently it is not getting "something" sooner!