I live in Florida and I would like to travel and see North America while I still can, but on a stipend of 2,000 USD per month. I can get a used Class C motorhome for around 5,000 - one short enough to be allowed in the national parks. I would not have a tow vehicle, just the motorhome so I can drive to the grocery store or emergency vet or doctor visit if necessary. I think my biggest concern is the repairs of a used motorhome. I should be able to do full time RV'ing for about $1,500 per month and put $500 per month in savings. I did look in the Class C FAQ section but could not find an answer.1 - Are there any brands or years I should stay away from? (I know I can do a search for a mechanic that can help with checking out the RV before I purchase.)2 - Worst case scenario the engine goes - cost for repair/replacement - $3,000 or $5,000? Perhaps someone can tell me the most common major problems (suspension, leaks, engine, etc.) and what it cost them to fix.3 - I can get Good Sam roadside assistance and RV insurance. The extended service plan I cannot get because the RV would be too old (>15 years).4 - Also, how do you get groceries when you stay at a national park or RV park for over a month? (ex: stock up for a month, go every week, etc.? I am sure some national parks are far away from a grocery store.)I am just trying to plan ahead and get an overview GENERALLY of what to expect so that I am not left stranded in a national park because I did not have the foresight of the $$$ of a major RV occurrence. This is my only concern that holds me back from making this dream happen. I know there are people here that have full timed for many years and I would be extremely grateful for any insight.

I suspect RV's for you will be like BOATS - Always something to dump money into it. The bigger they are the more they take...My OFF-ROAD POPUP trailer is very low expense and my truck gets great gas mileage pulling it...May have to pick your choices...

First, if you buy a used RV for $5000, you better be real handy fixing things and have a fairly good budget for repairs, especially if you will be traveling extensively and living in it full time.You will not be staying at a National park for a month...most have either a 7 or 14 day maximum stay.

At $5000.00 my guess is all the tires will need replacing BEFORE you travel. Any tire 0ver 6-7 years old no matter how much tread left has a greatly increased chance of blowout. A blowout can cause thousands of dollars of damage. SO NO MATTER WHAT THE SELLER SAYS check the tire dates or have someone you know and trust check them for you.Think about camp hosting/volunteering in state or national parks. Sometimes the park has an area where the volunteers stay and get water, elec and sewer in exchange for 20 hours of labor +- per week. Someone there may become friendly and take you to town for shopping when they go.

Your $5000 price target determines your year range (it is going to be '80s or older to be that cheap and usable) and you don't need to worry about brands because the individual RVs will be those that have proven themselves by 20+ years of survival.Your repair risks will be most likely related to the house, but at $5000 you should be considering only RVs in sound condition with everything working. "Needs work but runs" deals are more often in the under $2000 range. I have a neighbor who picked up a 22 foot Brave (a small type A, something else to consider) for $1000, he probably needs another $2000 into the house part to change it from the weekend camping shelter it is now into a functional self-contained RV for travel. Chassis and running gear, you want that in good condition from the start. Most likely cost is tires, because they get too old to be safe long before wearing out, and run $1000 to $1500 for a set of six. If you get one so old it has 16.5 instead of 16 inch wheels, tires can be almost impossible to find at any price.Next risk is brakes, they deteriorate by corrosion while sitting, and a medium truck brake repair/replacement can be a few hundred to more than a thousand dollars. I had to have my brake calipers replaced at about 30,000 miles and ten years old because corrosion kept them from releasing; another $1200.Engines? A remanufactured big-block V8, Chevy or Ford, will be $2000-3000 for a long-block plus labor for installation, which might double the price, and then there can be issues with the condition of the parts that get transferred from old engine to new, because failures there are much more likely than a failure of the core.Transmission? A rebuilt TH400 (most likely transmission mated to a GM big block 70s vintage) is around $1200-1500, with maybe $100 credit for your rebuildable core. Labor added to that. It might be a little less for a local shop to rebuild yours, costs depend on extent of the rebuild, how many parts reused, what parts are replaced. That's actually pretty cheap compared to rebuild costs on modern automatics.But you should be more concerned about the condition of the house: no leaks, no former leaks, no water damage to the structure. Staying in National Park campgrounds, quite often there will be camp stores in the more developed campgrounds, but prices will be high. Many RV parks I've used have had their own stores, or been withing walking distance (a few miles) of a grocery or convenience store. Most of my stays are under a week in length, so it is not difficult grocery shopping enroute to be ready for a stay. I can't see you staying in National Park campgrounds on a $1500 budget. In many of the popular parks, the campgrounds with RV hookups can be nearly $50 a day. In areas less popular and less remote, expect fees more like $20-30 a day with utilities, $12-16 a day with no utilities (but maybe water available nearby).Forest Service campgrounds can have lower fees, but often no utilities beyond pit toilets. Dispersed (wilderness) camping is sometimes possible on Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service properties, but more and more these are becoming fee areas. In the middle of the country I use state parks ($12 to $35 a day depending on facilities and demand) and the recreational access sites on US Army Corps of Engineers flood management projects ($12 to $20 a day). Almost all public-owned recreational properties have time limits. 14 days is most common, some high demand areas may have seven day limits. If you want to live in parks or recreation areas, you might look into work-camping, your labor in exchange for a place to park and hook up, and sometimes at privately owned RV parks, some wages to go along with that. Work weeks might be anything from 10 hours to more than 40 hours (with pay) but there is almost always an expectation than you will be there for "the season" and not for just a couple of weeks or a couple of months. I hitch with many of these part time jobs is that you may be expected to have your own transportation, so many people living this lifestyle have a towable RV and something to tow it, and less often are using a motorhome and a second towed vehicle. In a national park in western Colorado I met a work camper living in a pop-up tent camper (about 10 years old) getting around in a 20-year old small pickup, but he had been doing it since the camper was new (and the truck 10 years old) so he probably started out with more than your initial budget.

Old motorhomes are often "money pits". The engine, transmission, and engine cooling system may be decent but often the cooling system and brakes need serious work. The dash AC is also a comfort for driver and passenger on hot days, the dash AC in an old rig is often not working. You must have safe tires and brakes or risk breakdowns on the road, possible loss of control, and serious injury/liability. The house batteries, converter charger, and starting batteries, 110volt AC power systems and propane supply must work together and will often need repairs/replacement in an old rig. Your fridge, furnace, microwave oven, and interior lights, all depend the converter charger, house batteries and engine alternator to keep batteries charged. If you have an RV generator, it can be used in a limited way to provide 110volt AC power when you are not connected to camp/shore power. Old rigs often need expensive RV generator overhaul. You need to know what items will need repair or replacement and get independent estimates for time and materials.

Major repair costs for a Class C | Good Sam Community

TravelingDruid
Explorer
Apr 13, 2015
This is quite a pleasant surprise to get so much information from all of you in such a short amount of time. I will continue to monitor and save these pages for my reference - each post has helped tremendously in its own way. Thank you once again to each of you (and for the future posters) for taking time out of your day to respond!

Thanks Gary, I responded.
Bordercollie
Explorer
Apr 13, 2015
Most major tire chain stores can install new Michelin or other RV tires. Strange that inner tires were not replaced when outers were replaced. Most of us carry a spare wheel and tire but rely on an emergency road service to change tires. Jacking a heavy RV safely, getting a wheel/tire off and installing a spare by hand, on the side of the road is too-heavy work for many of us.
maillemaker
Explorer
Apr 13, 2015
It can be done. I'll recap what I posted before.

About 6 years ago we bought our 1990 Winnebago Warrior for $7500. It had a roof leak and it had rotted out the bathroom walls. Which I eventually ripped out and re-built the bathroom. It still has a mold problem which sets off my allergies. I take a 24-hour Allegra when we go camping and I'm fine.

The rubber roof had been over-painted with sealant, so I just went over it with more sealant. It needs a proper roof repair but it is not worth the expense.

When we got it, it needed 7 new tires. That was $1000.

The generator only ran for about 20 minutes then shut down. That was $500 to fix.

The cab AC did not work. Being old, it ran on the old refrigerant and had to be upgraded to the new refrigerant. I think that was about $500.

Fuel pump went out after a few years. That was about $800 and I ended up having the wrong pump put in so the gas gauge doesn't work right. Got the manufacturer to send me the correct pump but I will have to have it installed, which I have not yet done.

Cruise control has quit working and you can no longer get parts for it to repair it.

The fridge sometimes does not like to start up on gas. If you start it on electric and switch to gas, it works fine, usually.

So. An older rig can be done, but you will probably have a lot of repair expenses along the way. I'd guess we have probably put $4000-$5000 into our $7500 RV, which, of course, we will never recover in any sale. Would we have been better off buying a $11,000 RV? Maybe, but we did not have $11,000. Could we have waited until we did? Sure, but then we would have missed out on 5 years of RVing.
garyhaupt
Explorer
Apr 13, 2015
Druid..I have sent you a long-ish pm....

Gary Haupt
Gjac
Explorer III
Apr 13, 2015
I think it is hard to predict what is going to fail on an older MH. I would start with the over all condition and not focus on brands on a MH that is over 20 years old which is what $5000 will be. Check the MH for delaminations and leaks check front end parts ball joints etc, that will be costly to repair. Make sure eng and trans are good and there are not exhaust manifold leaks or after market headers are installed. Look for maintenance records like fluid changes. Many of the systems like the refers you will not be able to find parts so you will have to modify newer parts to fit. Plan on spending another $5000 to repair and modify the MH to your liking. Just some data from my experience, I paid $28k in 2002 for a 1996 GBM. Over 10 years of ownership I put $12,000 into it half for repairs and mods like headers,ff muffler,front end work new tires etc, the other half for general maintenance like fluid changes. Having said all that, all the systems are original and all work well. AC's, refer, WH, furnace, TV. I put 80k miles on it so that works out to 15 cents per mile. To travel it costs me between $60 and $100 per day depending where we go and how long we stay. Just be ready to do a lot of work and realize that if the MH is worth $5000 and you put $5000 into it you won't get your money back, but if you keep it a while it will be worth it. You would lose double that amount just driving a new one of the lot. Good luck with your search.
wbwood
Explorer
Apr 13, 2015
If you can spend $5000 on a used RV (and considering there is no major costs associated immediately to repair things), then sit for a couple months on that $2000 and get you an emergency fund started early. Then you can start off with a few thousand and then keep adding to that. I wouldn't go putting more into it than what you paid for it though.
Brandonitis
Explorer
Apr 12, 2015
About a month ago I bought a 1978 Chevy Itasca 21ft machine, ad said mechanic owned and maintained, oil recently changed, tires 2 years old, new hoses, belts, plugs and wires. All I could do was take his word and my eyes for it, and it all appeared to be true. I picked it up for $3300 ($300 less than advertised), Right off the bat he said the fridge was questionable and that turned out to be true, we don't plan on replacing it right away so thats no biggie. Took it in for a systems and mechanical check and they confirmed the fridge being junk, the only surprise was the fresh water pump. I ordered a new one on sale from Camping World and will put it in myself and that is going to run me about $110. It came without an auxiliary battery so I just picked up a group 27 AGM battery from Cabela's on sale for around $200.
There are a few drawers that need repair, a little bit of caulking that has dried, torn upholstery on the couch cushions, a non working horn and cruise control. All in all its about what we expected, no rot, no leaks, good mechanics; maybe we found the diamond in the rough, who knows?
We're planning on redoing the upholstery and curtains and putting in some new speakers and a CD player for the road, maybe another $500 since we'll be doing the upholstery and all installs on our own.
All in all its been great so far, so sometimes in can work out to get a vintage machine and not have to break the bank prepping it for adventure. I'm not saying that we won't run into problems, we'll just prepare for those as best we can (credit cards and roadside assistance). RVing isn't just for big budgets, or at least it shouldn't be. Our monthly budget is around the same as yours, and if our costs increase, then we'll adjust how long we travel or stop and work for awhile. No big deal.
Chase your dream Traveling Druid, just buy smart and expect to pay for repairs and updates along the way.
KCCO
darsben
Explorer II
Apr 12, 2015
Rick1949 wrote:
Any references of good national chain tire companies to go to for two new inner rear tires on my class C Born Free? The old inners are over 5 years old for sure, the rest are near new. I'm driving it from Kissimmee, FL to Colorado soon and will probably stop somewhere near Kissimmee and replace those. Also, I hear some people carry a large jack and pneumatic tools to change the tires DIY style. Any ideas out there?

WHat size are they and think about putting the 2 new on the front and the fronts on the inner rear
darsben
Explorer II
Apr 12, 2015
Ohio_Engineer wrote:
darsben wrote:
At $5000.00 my guess is all the tires will need replacing BEFORE you travel. Any tire 0ver 6-7 years old no matter how much tread left has a greatly increased chance of blowout. A blowout can cause thousands of dollars of damage. SO NO MATTER WHAT THE SELLER SAYS check the tire dates or have someone you know and trust check them for you.

Think about camp hosting/volunteering in state or national parks. Sometimes the park has an area where the volunteers stay and get water, elec and sewer in exchange for 20 hours of labor +- per week. Someone there may become friendly and take you to town for shopping when they go.

Have to wonder how simple age increases the chance for a puncture or valve leak (the usual reason for Run Low Flex Failure i.e. "Blowout")

RV's tend to sit long periods letting the tires bake in the sun evaporating the oils/chemicals resulting in good looking bad tires.
Rick1949
Explorer
Apr 12, 2015
Any references of good national chain tire companies to go to for two new inner rear tires on my class C Born Free? The old inners are over 5 years old for sure, the rest are near new. I'm driving it from Kissimmee, FL to Colorado soon and will probably stop somewhere near Kissimmee and replace those. Also, I hear some people carry a large jack and pneumatic tools to change the tires DIY style. Any ideas out there?