Are you satisfied (repair cost wise) with your MH?

[goufgators]

Many, if not most, posts are regarding problems with RV's. That's normal since this is one of the better forums to go to for good information and advice when having problems. But, reading this and other forums might give a newbie or a prospective newbie an impression that buying or having an RV, particularly a MH, is nothing but a pocket draining problem. Admittedly, it can be an expensive undertaking...no one denies that. But, there must be numerous MH'ers out there who are perfectly satisfied with their coaches and, as a result, never or rarely post regarding their RV's concerning problems or otherwise. Let's start a thread ? describing how and why we are very satisfied with our MH's (or other RV's) and rarely incur major repair costs AND who are perfectly satisfied with the RV life. Maybe such comments will tend to allay fears of many 'newbies' who might be having second thoughts about jumping into the RV business based on the many posts regarding mechanical and other problems with RV's as seen on this and other sites. Caution though: We do not want to try to convince or suggest to potential buyers that the RV's they might purchase will be 'trouble free' but that there are many of us who are having relatively few problems and would not hesitate to buy again. ... No I'm not an RV salesperson!

[Jayco-noslide]

Someone at a campground that one should set aside $2000 a year in the budget to maintain a used MH. I think $3000 wouldn't be too much.

[Crespro]

Speedco for annual service, but with the help of generous folks on this list and YouTube, I have done most of the other maintenance the past five years.

Replaced the water pump, changed the tube TV to a flat screen, replaced the water heater, replaced the satellite dish with HD, replaced the solar panel with two 100 watt panels, recoated the roof, Eternabonded the roof seams, replaced most of the filters, replaced the Norcold 1200 cooling unit with an Amish unit, replaced the CU propane nozzle, replaced the retracting step unit, installed the TPMS, replaced the front power screen mounts.

Most of the readers here could do this and some could do much more. If you are a motorhomer, I think it is good to be able to do most of your own maintenance, except for major engine, transmission or chassis work.

I did have an RV mechanic set up my M&G and Demco baseplate on the Buick and set up the wiring and air connections on the motorhome.

[xctraveler]

On the road for 15 years part to full time. Bought the first coach new, cheap, had a couple of chassis problems, not related to "cheap" but between warranty and Coach-net cost us nothing but a couple of days inconvenience. Drove that coach 45,000 miles in three years and completed the trade while broken down in rest area waiting for a tow, paid for by Coach-net.

Replaced that coach (Damon Daybreak 33') with new '04 Southwind 36' on Workhorse Chassis. The only mechanical failure in 110,000 miles (including Alaska) was burnt out exhaust donuts, total cost $250. I had every PM service in the book done on time or early. The only thing I did myself was the routine Generator service every 100 hours or year. Coach was sweet in good repair when traded, but the interior needed to be redone after 8 years of living in it.

Bought the current coach in May 2012. There has been a fair amount of repair work done, but it has all been self inflicted. there were two major repairs, new floor in the DS/LR slideout and the roof rails were replaced. Tiffin took care of the that, even told us it needed to be done. Cost was a couple of week camping on their dime in Red Bay. Not the most pleasant camping but we all have to be someplace. The interior failures have been minor, no more than you would experience in a s&b and mostly fully covered by Tiffin. We love the coach.

Clearly this is not a poor person's activity and I am prepared for large expense should it happen, but it is our lifestyle and it fits within our financial ability. I know there are much less expensive ways to RV, but those were not our need or choice.

[DSDP_Don]

"Jayco-noslide"......Yes, good point and you're right about the TITLE of the post, but the OP was discussing how many newbies read these posts and think there are nothing but issues with RV's. Many of us are trying, at least what I was doing, to point out that buying an RV is great, but not for the faint of heart. If you can do your own work, great, but I would guess that 60% -70% of RV owners don't have the skill, time or health to do their own repairs. In that case, a new owner should be made aware of what is involved. If someone new makes a purchase knowing there are going to be things that will occasionally need repair, it might be easier for them to accept with less aggravation.

I tell anyone who buys a major item like a car, boat or RV to go to the forum related to that vehicle and read up on the complaints, then make a decision if they're founded or affect your use of the vehicle. I just bought a new Acura MDX. The Acura forum had several complaints about the new 9 speed transmission not shifting smoothly. After reading through the complaints (reading between the lines, mostly guys trying to drag race the car) a went to the dealer and spoke to a service tech. He said they hadn't seen the issue at their dealership on the MDX, but had on his own TLX. They made some updates provided by Honda and it's fixed. He said if I had an issue they would just do the updates. The answer was good enough for me and we bought the car. It runs great with no trans issues. It just takes a little homework.

[Chum_lee]

There is a lot of experience and absolute brilliance posted so far in this thread. I'm not being flip or sarcastic. When you commit to buying an RV you are buying a house, a car, a power plant, a sewage treatment plant, and all the related things that go with it all in one. (except the yard work!) I'm an Architect, a General Building Contractor, a Mechanical Engineer, a Machinist, and an Automotive Technician by trade. I've regularly needed ALL those skills to keep my current RV on the road at a reasonable cost. I feel sorry for those who aren't. Make this thread a sticky!


Chum lee

[D_E_Bishop]

The biggest problem we have had or do have with our rig is that it is 26 years old. A lot can happen in 26 years and the worst thing I had happen was a $15.00 relay went bad but not just died but died off and on. Other than that we're really happy with ours. Oh yeah, we are looking for a replacement due to it's age.

[Jayco-noslide]

I envy you guys that do a lot of your own repair or maintenance. That must help a lot with expense. But, keep in mind that this post is for any and all potential MH buyers, not just the mechanically inclined. I'm guessing most are more like me (about all I do is winterize it; no repair)than the semi-mechanics so, yes, it's going to cost you.

[gbopp]

DutchmenSport wrote:
A little off-topic, but it drives me absolutely insane watching television home-buying programs

A television show, Nuff said.
But, I agree with you. 🙂

[DSDP_Don]

Wow.....I've been on here for almost ten years. This has been the best, most civil post with the greatest information that I have read to date. "Cloud Dancer" is correct about writing a book on things these coaches need.

I'm certainly not rich, but often worked two and three jobs to be able to RV and boat with my children when younger and now get to enjoy RVing with my wife of 40 years in our retirement. I have two main reasons why I do my own work. I just can't afford to pay to have people do repairs on my coach. The other is that having done mechanical work in my high school days, I don't trust most repair shops. I also believe that if you learn to do some basic repairs, like changing fuel filters (DP) you're less likely to get stuck on the road at someones mercy. My coach is my hot rod, so I enjoy working on it and fabricating items that make life simpler.

Outside of some minor warranty work, my coach(s) have never been worked on by anyone but me. I know that many can't do their own work because they're smart enough to know it's not their thing or their health prevents them from doing so. I always try to tell new owners that they need to be able to do some minor stuff on their own, or they'll go crazy with the stuff that pops up.

Over the ten years I've been posting here, I see guys that R&R their own motors to guys that complain to a dealer that a screw is loose, their coach must be a lemon. I think there needs to be a happy median. "rgatijnet1" brings up a great point about maintenance. We RV with many different families and friends each year. There are two in particular that show up every trip with something that broke on the last trip, but never repaired it. Then they complain the whole time. I'm a big believer in washing and waxing your own coach inside and out, if you're physically capable, as one of the best ways to find problems with your coach that you may have not noticed.

Lastly, I'm guessing that less than 1% of the RVing population shows up on these websites and the majority of those are looking for a fix or complaining about something that broke. If people recognize this, it should help them realize that RV's are not as problematic as they appear on here.

[Jayco-noslide]

Mostly we are pretty satisfied with our 2002 30 ft. Itasca Class C purchased 2 yrs ago but afraid I can't do much to allay the newbies fear about the expense of a motorhome, new or used. New ones have terrible resale value so depreciation becomes the most expensive part of RVing. Used ones also depreciate and at times it seems that it needs something repaired or added most of the time. Going a year without repair cost would be unusual even though ours only had 21,000 miles. My son, with a used Class A, feels the same. He jokes (not funny) that it costs him $300 every time he takes it in for anything. I guess we have grown to expect and accept the cost and really enjoy using it and just hope that in the long run it won't cost more than long trips using hotels, etc. I never advise anyone to RV to save money, even with trailers but we do hate motels. Sorry, just trying to be realistic.

[dbates]

I don’t really know what too much or very little maintenance cost for a MH should be but my MH is a 30’ 1998 Winnebago Itasca over a 1999 Ford F53 V10 engine that I bought used in February 2005 and have driven it 58,000 miles. I try to keep up with preventative maintenance and have most if it done by professionals. I do keep detailed records of my maintenance and fuel costs though. Maintenance cost has been $828.68 per year (including $1800 for new tires 3 years ago). This does not include insurance costs or camping fees. Fuel costs have been $2,048 per year or 38 cents per mile.

I do know that just like a summer cottage, boat, airplane, golfing, etc. if you play you pay.

Dave

[bluwtr49]

I'm on my second Beaver and so far actual repair costs that were not self inflicted have been minimal. Still, there is the routine maintenance that must be performed but that would be true no matter what MH we have.

On the other hand my propensity for upgrading has certainly consumed a few $$$ but, in my mind, that's an elective and part of the fun of ownership.

Since we have bought both Beavers from a dealer that performs extensive PDI inspections there may have been a lot of issues that were resolved before we took delivery and we simply never knew about them. As a result there haven't been any significant surprises.

[Dale_Traveling]

All the postings to the thread have been spot on. Myself, I very satisfied with my coach. I enjoy both the time on the road and the weekends not camping that I spend either making it better or ensuring the overall reliability of the systems. I actually look forward to winters since I usually have some grand plan to add or improve something to the coach. Gives me something to do rather than just planning the upcoming camping season adventures. I always try and soften my responses when I do reply to pre-ownership questions but potential owners need to know what owning a rig is going to require of them and if neglected will result in what could have been someone's pride and joy that is now destine to the RV grave yard.

A coach of any type or age must have regular care and feeding. Ownership is going to be a pocket drain. No way around it but if an owner stays on top of preventative maintenance then the cost of corrective might not be the expenses that never gets paid. An owner can mitigate the cost thru education, research and thinking outside the box. But if an they are fully dependant on the local RV service center the drain can be dramatic.

I've had plenty of minor problems that I feel are just part of the ownership experience. Flat tires, bad solenoids, engine problems, toilet flush valve breaking (multiple times), roof leaks (several), door step gear box failure, generator starter failure and so on. But I'm very fortunate in that I don't fear tearing into something to figure out what the problem is then finding a solution. Having the physical mobility to crawl under the coach or go up on the roof helps. There resources are out there but knowing where to look or even what to enter for as a search parameters on a forum can be a bit overwhelming to the experienced owner but the novice shape tree RV owner is going to need help even if they are a space shuttle mechanic.

We all have read the laundry list of problems new owners have posted along with the long delays waiting on repairs. An owner really needs to have some basic skills or they will forever be at the mercy of the service center. Running a bead of sealant doesn't take much expertise but we all know how fast a water leak will destroy even a rock star coach. Then there are the postings concerning fairly new rigs that end up in offsite outdoor storage for months, never touched or checked, that now has extensive water damage due to one small roof leak and owners asking what went wrong. Tires failing after a few seasons but the last person to check the air pressure was back at the factory. 10 year old low mileage rigs for sale in what appears to be excellent condition but the generator has 10 hours on, original engine oil since the mileage never got high to warrant a change and tires the chassis builder installed. Then the postings by a potential owner with a $10K budget (and nothing more), never camped a day in their life but wants to take the family on a coast to coast adventure in a month that is looking for a rig. I'm sure it can be done but the risks are pretty high and there are some very empty parts of this country where a break down won't make life enjoyable.

[Ivylog]

I often post a MH is the nicest and most expensive way to go RVing. I also suggest that you not buy an expensive toy until you can use it 100+ days/year. Even paying cash, this has not been a cheap sport... For 11 years my depreciation has been $14K/year, insurance $1200/year, 1000 gallons fuel/year ($2-3000)... at 100 days/year that's $160/day so it can move down the road. At 180 days/year it's $90.

If you are at the mercy of someone else fixing things at $100+/hour it takes a lot of fun to offset the pain. Fortunately I'm still able to do all the repairs and maintenance myself, especially since I'm 100 miles from the nearest dealer. It would help if the dealer fixed things on the first try and in a timely manner, but from what I read... rarely does that happen and that would take a lot of the fun out of RVing.

The most expensive item has been my NoCold 1200 refer. Between a auto fire system, new Amish cooling unit, new control board, new ignitor... $1800+ in the last five years. I just finished replacing it with a home refer and here's my DIY post. In hind sight and even though we boondock often, I should have done this long ago as a 21 cu ft refer only draws 100 watts when running.

I also learned the hard way that you should buy more RV than you think you need... ONE TIME. Has it been worth it??? click on "How I spend the winter" below and put a big :B on my face.