Is a former rental motorhome with 150K miles a good buy?

[thedropshadows]

I am brand-new to this forum and very much appreciate any help we can get! My husband and I are considering purchasing a used RV from Cruise America. It's 19', so we love the smaller size, and these are the stats:

Year: 2010
Miles: 150,000
Price: $26,000
Length: 19'
Sleeps: 3
Engine: Ford F350
Brand: Majestic

Is this a fair price for this vehicle? We've looked at several others that are older--such as, one that's from 2006 with only 50K miles and is the same price--but we really like this size (it fits us well and fits better into the driveway).

We have no idea if this is a good deal or not! We will get it checked out by a mechanic, but any help from experts would be very appreciated.

Thank you!

[Big_Redneck]

Are you looking for a money pit? That surly would be one. I usually look for a Motor Home with low miles. Two years ago I bought a 2004 with 15,000 on it for $20,000. I only kept it for a year. Put 5,000 on it and sold it for 23,000.It did not have enough power to pull my car trailer. I would not look at one with 50,000 miles or more unless it was dirt cheap. There good buys out there with low miles. Don't get in a hurry.

[klutchdust]

Keep looking. I live in California and mine was in Minnesota.

[thedropshadows]

Thanks so much, everyone, for all of your great feedback. It's really helped us in making our decision. We're going to wait and keep doing research and look around, hoping to find a small motorhome with better mileage and/or a better price. Thank you again!

[Golden_HVAC]

downtheroad wrote:
150K on a rental that has probably been "ridden hard and put away wet."
Rentals are not treated the same as private owner user units.

I'd keep looking.

Well said.

I would keep looking. Not waste $100 for a mechanic to say it has a lot of miles, and needs this and that fixed on it. And unless they did a transmission rebuild, it is probably due for a transmission overhaul at about $3,000.

The one with 50,000 miles also seems a bit overpriced for a unit that is nearly 10 years old. But I like the 'mechanical' side of that one much better. You probably would be prudent to cover the roof with some EPDM roof coating, before the roof is in such bad shape that recoating it becomes impossible. Better to complete that task before it starts leaking.

Check out this video, it is what I put on my 97 Bounder. By the time it is 14 years old, there is not a lot left of the old roof coating (it is designed to fluff off, and keep looking new underneath, so you get white streaks down the sides of the RV and the top coat of the EPDM is washed away by the rain).

http://www.epdmcoatings.com/videos_play.php?vid=25

This coating is designed to stay on the RV and not wash away.

Good luck with your purchase. Yes it is difficult to find a 20' long class C, but a website like RvSearch.com can help. You can search within 500 miles of your zip code and for any length that you desire.

Fred.

[winnietrey]

Putting aside, the issue of ex-rental or not. In my life experience, be it cars, houses or motorhomes. I have found it works out to spend a little more, and get the newest possible with the least amount of wear and tear.

We tend to buy it once and drive rigs until the wheels fall off. Seems to work for us.

Other thing you might consider with 150k already on it, if you want to sell or trade in a few years that is going to be a negative.

NADA lists low retail at about 29K. What's weird though, at least in my opinion. Once you put the miles in, at past 50k. the value is listed the same, no matter if, it has 50,001 miles, or 200,000 miles.
not sure I can agree with that logic

[PRodacy]

I'd look for one with fewer miles. There are lots to choose from. With 150,000 miles, maintenance and repair costs are likely to add up fast.

[Jim_Shoe]

Plus and Minus. The Plus - its been maintained by the rental company better than many private owners do their maintenance. The Minus - Everyone that has driven it probably made some newbie mistakes that don't show.
In my case, I drove my 'C' some part of a final 300 mile leg home with a large nail in the inside right dually. I didn't feel any difference. When I got home, I checked it from head to toe and had zero air pressure in that tire. I could have replaced the one tire, but I replaced all four for my safety and piece of mind. I may be wrong, but I'd bet that a rental place would just replace the punctured tire.
In addition, I know who sleeps in my bed. That's the result of spending my working life traveling for the company and living in hotels. Even the high class ones moved the top sheet to the bottom and added a clean top sheet. And I wore shoes until I went to bed. Some people have a different definition of "clean".

[MinnCamper]

Run-suckers are born every day.

[Ivylog]

I would say you need to slow down and give us more info: How many people, How often can you use, How many miles/year???? You need to rent a 19' for a week and then a 30' for a week before you buy anything and welcome.
A couple summers ago I did deliver a 10 year old Majestic with 100K miles to AK and was surprised how good it was overall but it was on a E450 chassis, 28' long, and got 10 MPG.

[tatest]

I don't know whether that is a fair price. CruiseAmerica tends to be pretty market aware and prices to sell, but that mileage is an unusual market segment.

Too much mileage? Depends on how you will use it. If the idea is to drive out to the campground, 50 miles every weekend (the way I'm using mine, only it is 15 miles andabout 8 times a year) then a 150,000 mile chassis is not too worn out, maybe 10-20 years worthof short trips left in it.

If your plan is to start touring the country full time, or even a 3000 to 5000 mile trip once a year, I would recommend looking for lower mileage. In the first instance because younare looking at only one or two years worth of costant use, the second because you likely want more reliability for an annual long trip than you get with high mileage, unless very carefully maintained, which doesn't happen with once a year use. Yes, there are Ford E-series vans and box trucks in regular use with 200,000 to 300,000 miles, but that is regular use and regular maintenance, repairing all the little problems as they come up. RVs tend not to be used that way.

There is another side to this. Most of my maintenance costs have to do with things that deteriorate in storage: rubber like tires, belts, hoses, seals in engine, transmission and other running gear, and metal corroding, as in brake calipers and pistons. A 150,000 mile unit in constant rental service, this stuff gets taken care of as it happens.

[path1]

There web site only has 2009's and older. Might be out of date???

(We like ours, 5 or more years no major problems, perfect traveling machine for us. Longer trips of a month or more its to small, but that's us) CA used to have a program that you can rent what you think you want to own and take it camping or whatever. If you didn't like it for whatever reason, don't buy it, but rental fees still apply. If you liked it, rental fees go toward purchasing price up to a certain amount. That deal is usually when they need to sell and nobody's buying. I think after Thanksgiving or maybe Christmas or just after New Year??? Watch their web site closely. They have some stuff that comes and goes quickly. I think it depends on how busy of year they are having. What I understand they had a "good" (like $2,000 a week per rental) good year.

Read that link that actual rental owners responded to. Many people that have never owned a rental will tell you why its a bad deal. Personally I have only known one person that was sorry for buying a rental and they bought it off a lot that somebody else bought from CA.

Ya, its high mileage, hasn't sat around self destructing. Many get 300-400 hundred thousand from a the Ford V-10.

It will need some work I can almost guarantee it. It's not hard work but your going to have to do it yourself or pay $100.00 an hour for somebody to do it for you. And most items are simple unscrew something and screw new back in. Parts are no problem, so no frills and generic and most any RV place will most likely have parts. No waiting for parts on back order even if you can get parts for some. But the front end on any RV will probably need work and that's not cheap.

I can't tell you how may people (especially wives talking with my wife) have commented they wished they hadn't dumped a ton of money into their RV's and would be just as happy with a used rental.

The price your paying I can't say good or bad because we got ours in 2009 and we maybe put on 5,000 miles a year. But I can say ours was about $7,000 under anything else comparable at the time.

The new mattress, junk...pick up foam topper from amazon works wonders, watch drawer slides, $6.00 a piece and 2 screws to change, learn about the Fords "Coil over plug" or COP. If you add any injector cleaner, change fuel filter and every time you change oil, which I use the "severe" maintenance schedule, so every 3,000 to 3,500 I change oil and only use the Motorcraft oil filter with silicon valve. Have Boos Glass In Oly check out front overhead window if they still have them. Known leaker design and you need it fixed right, and they know how.

Just us, but in our drizzle its not fun being cooped up in small class C. And many times when we're (west of cascades getting rained on) we fire it up and go over to the dry side. Spend a week or whatever and come back.

Like anything else check out everything. Try to get one with a filter on trans line like this http://www.ebay.com/bhp/inline-transmission-filter Usually means the original trans has been toasted and another has been put in somewhere along the line. So a sign that you'll be getting a newer trans.

There extended warranty is junk IMO. Their wheel simulators stink. Most likely anything going wrong will happen with in the first 30 days. So, if you buy it,go on a 30 trip. What breaks if anything, have them fix it. But they probably have an out for that so how knows?

It might pay for you to bring along a RV fix-it guy to really inspect the unit if you are not familiar with RV's. Only really weird thing I found was a transponder hidden behind a closet wood work, so they can track down stolen units or track units taken to mexico, they charge big time on the renter credit card.

When we bought the sales guy couldn't blow his nose without calling corp. They wouldn't dicker on price but would add air and awning and something else that can't remember, maybe ladder?

Plan "B"...Go to AZ and buy the re-furbishing guys some donuts and have them spot a good one.

What ever you do good luck.

[Earl_E]

I've travelled with people in a rental RV. No way would I buy it refurbished, new mattress or anything else. JMHO

[RoadAbode]

Welcome! I am a current ex-rental owner that has had my Class C for over 10 fun-filled years with few issues. We use RoadAbode 9 out of 12 months each year.

1 - Mine had way less miles when we purchased.
2 - $25K seems high for a 19 foot unit, but we don;t know what that is buying you in options or amenities.
3 - Cruise America and El Monte both have good ex-rental sales programs - maint is done and records should be available to you. That can't be said for all private sales. That said I bought from a smaller dealer that had a small rental fleet. Still kept good maint records.

I agree that there are plenty of used motorhomes out there. There are deals to be had. Don't rush. Research. Read the link that IAMICHABOD recommended. Ex-Rentals CAN be a good value.

Good luck with your search. RVing is a great lifestyle to be a part of.

Check the blog link for some updates and places we've been.

[D_E_Bishop]

Google El Monte RV Sales, they might not be as close to you as CA but they include a lot more than CA. They have a list of things they do before selling and new mattresses are one of them.

I agree with renting first and seeing what you like. My DW(Forum talk for Darling Wife) thinks smaller would be better and I think a little longer is better. Now if we could afford a Winnie VIA, I could go smaller, I think. To me 32 feet bumper to bumper or the average 30 foot model is what I like. I'm hoping to get her in a smaller rental for a week. Most small "C"s have corner beds or only the cabover bed. It's not for me but She who must be coddled thinks it would be okay.

Look a lot and rent a couple times, then look a lot more.

Come back and ask more questions.