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..

[Hoffman2]

Dollar98
We thought we made a mistake with our first motorhome but after coming back off a 3,000 mile trip, we got 10 mpg with the air on and towing a car including traveling through some hilly country. We had no trouble going up long steep inclines and maintainging at least 50 mph without excessive downshifting or pushing the gas pedal all the way to the floor. We thought we needed a diesel but not sure now.

[djevans]

GrahamG . . .

I'm going to blame it on age!

I meant the "magnifying glass" at the top right of the page (it's not an "hour glass," I'm very sorry)


*This Message was edited on 29-Jun-03 10:52 AM by djevans*

[GrahamG]

Don,

Thanks for the help. I will start a new thread with similar text. You mentioned to do a search using the hour glass above on "buying" and "negotiating" with the various sellers. Problem is I see no hour glass! I tried the link to nadaguides.com and found the price for D10. to be low retail $205, average retail $246k. So maybe they would accept $150k cash ??
But it is probably a bit bigger than we need anyhow. 36,38,40' seem more popular does a few feet make such a big difference? The amount of choice and options seems to be overwhelming though, that is my main problem. But if we rent/buy a home we are tied down, and anyway we would have to buy a bunch of furniture! I appreciate your feedback.
Graham.

[MariAnimal]

We didn't totally know what we wanted when we bought ours. We knew we wanted a couch and a queen bed, dinette wasn't critical. So the ones with twins or not enough living room were out. We did look at quite a few over many months, all pre owned ones. I'm glad we didn't act quickly on one of the ones that didn't have what we wanted to get a good deal, I see where we could have made a mistake. It helped we rented one for a weekend that was the same size as ours and it gave us a good idea of what we had to have.

I'm really happy with ours with no regrets- but we checked it out completely before buying and also knew what we wanted in general.

MA

[djevans]

GrahamG . . .

Operating costs vs home

both require:

- Insurance (home might be cheaper) our RV is not a very expensive one, and it costs twice as much as our home to insure nad we have a relatively large home

- both require energy and have associated costs - lots depend on how much you drive

- You have to plan for maintenance on both, but I seem to work on my RV more than my home. The RV may cost next to nothing other than routine maintenance of the fluids and consumables. (brakes, etc.) If the appliances are in good shape (or you are handy enough to repair those) your costs on those should be next to nothing on those items.

POST a note in the "fulltimers" area of this board. A lot of them have first hand experience.

[djevans]

GrahamG . . .

I feel you really should consider starting a new thread post so you'll get more comments.

Also, do a search using the hour glass above on "buying" and "negotiating" with the various sellers.

Lot's of us start with NADA http://www3.nadaguides.com/Values/ValueManufacturer.asp?UserID=510727521D138&DID=37801&wSec=5&wPg=10... to get some idea of present value. Still, like you, keep looking at prices and you'll get more ideas.

We absolutely will not be buying a new RV. I just wouldn't be able to "mentally tolerate" the depreciation in the first few years.

Some list the depreciation in the range of 18% the first year, 14% the next, 12% the next, and from there it start to vary less each year, but it surely continues.

I assume you are going to be traveling in your job? I guess I was just wondering. Apartments may not be an option, but in the 43' range it will certainly have to be a diesel. They "can" be better in terms of depreciation, but they go down quickly too in some cases.

If you start a new post, just ask the "group" here what they think you should pay. I know I will post a general "price question" here before we buy our next diesel RV. It's (the feedback)too valuable here. If there were problems with a certain model, someone usually mentions it. Some like RV.ORG for comments about the vehicle's themselves, but, certainly check other sites like RVONLINE.COM (and others) and compare numbers.

It doesn't matter quite as much in diesels, but it does still matter. That one you are looking at certainly has EXTREMELY low mileage. Find out the history on that. That's really low. They also have had that for some time. They may be a motivated seller, take your time in reaching your maximum buying price, whatever that may be. It doesn't seem to be a bad price.

"Cash" on hand usually gets you a better price and it doesn't muddy the price with a trade vehicle.

If you decide to "do something," let us know what happens. Good Luck and "check everything!" (price, vehicle, appliances, "never been wrecked," and the "deal" in general. Get everything in writing. I hate to be so cynical, but if it "ain't" in the contract, the seller isn't bound by it. Everything's in writing and in the contract.

[GrahamG]

In Sept/Oct I start a new assignment in the US. We are seriously thinking about living in an decent size RV 38ft+, most likely a DP. We can spend upto 175k. But I have been looking at a couple of Internet sites on and off since Jan but have become a bit concerned at how quickly the prices seem to drop. For instance, on www.PPLmotorhomes.com they have a 43' for sale item D10. In Feb this was 229k, today it is 175k. How do I know how much to pay?, if I went for this unit how much should I offer?, - lots of questions....
If we become an RV owner - how does the running cost compare to buying or renting a house etc?

[djevans]

dleslie125 . . .

I knew changing the signature would do that, but I hadn't thought about it with regard to this thread. I understand your initial thought. If I had thought about it, I would have put in a note about it. I appreciate your pointing it out though, so I can keep it in mind for the future.

I don't really care about advertising that particular system, but it does get comments and questions, gives others considering the system additional information, and bottom line, is, that it works very well for me.

I appreciate your point Don. (or Bev)

note: Get (tow) the car. It made a heck of a difference for us.

[dleslie125]

Don, I had to chuckle at this thread. You added the Banks to your signature - and that put it in right from the start of this thread. This evening I started at the front of the thread and found it strange that you were wondering about a Banks system when you already had one. It was only later on that it became clear you added Banks and put it in your signature.

[djevans]

Pushtoy . . .

When I do buy a diesel, and I will, 🙂 I will gladly follow your "orders" to the letter and get a BIG diesel!

🙂

Don . . .

[djevans]

To all those who replied to my posts some time ago, in this thread: (1st of all, "Thank you for your comments.")

Also, I mentioned this in another thread, but thought I'd go ahead an post it here too.

We did put the BANKS' Power Pack and Trans Command on our RV.

While not diesel power, it's pretty good now. I'd feel it's adequate for the way we use it. We are no longer looking to trade in the near future.

Our only negative is that it's a bit noisier inside. The main source of the noise that gets our attention in the air intake. (It was changed to K & N (I think) when CW did the install. They did charge us approx: $750.00 to install all of it. (The Power Pack) The whole thing was about $3000.00, parts and installation and one broken stud removed, they broke during the install.

It's also noisier outside, but the exhaust noise isn't that noticeable inside and we are getting used to the air intake noise. (there IS a tube to the air intake collector mounted on the front grill, but it's still louder than the factory air cleaner - again, it's not that bad though)

[eagle1]

Same advice I got on my first class A. BUy a gas unit, when I wanted a diesel. Well I have a diesel, and lost alot of money on the gas unit.

[Backman]

I don't think we made a mistake, but we did buy too fast. We did not shop around much which was a mistake. Now, one year later we are looking at a new motorhome with more room, three slides. Had we looked more and read these forums when we first bought we would never have bought what we did. It is not a bad motorhome, just not enought storage and not enough room inside for us. Everyone has their own opinion as to how much room they need. This is just my opinion.

[kinofDroad]

yes with wife not with MH

[mombum]

We started with a VW camper for two years, then a C for a year. Found a very nice, low mileage '98 Holiday Rambler from a pvt party and went full time. Like the 454 chevy. Only dislike: the lack of support/response from the mfg, Monaco. If I had a buck for all the "buckpassing" they give I could pay for a service visit.

Read a letter in Motorhome from a very satisfied Fleetwood product owner, praising the factory support he had received. Looks like a mfg to consider the next time.