Need info on 1989 Tioga Montara
Hi there, this will be my first post, so forgive me if I'm up there on the newbie scale.. I have been looking and researching RVs, trailers and the like for about 3 months now and I have saved up e...
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I think you'll have a hard time finding a class C in decent shape for full-time living in the price range you seem to be looking at...at least, that would be true around here. (If you're from where the Tioga is registered and I'm seeing the plate properly, you're also around here, somewhere in New England or New York probably.) I may be wrong about the price range; sometimes great deals do come around. But $5000 to $6000 is IMHO more in the "retire to be a hunting camp while slowly returning to the dust from whence it came" range than the "reliable and in good condition and worthy of full-time use" range. You might find more usable trailers than motorhomes (but that does require a suitable tow vehicle).
The outside walls of the Toyota can't delaminate since they are not made with laminated construction. That doesn't mean that they are immune from water damage; typically there would be wood framework behind the aluminum siding, and it most certainly can rot. There is some definite signs of water intrusion in the cabover area from the posted pictures, and I would not be surprised if there was more elsewhere as some parts don't look very straight and true.
If this is a four cylinder Toyota, be aware that it's rather underpowered even by motorhome standards. It would get relatively good gas mileage, but probably will have a lot of trouble keeping up on the interstates (even flat and level ones). If it has single rear wheels, it's very likely also extremely marginal in weight carrying capacity and may be overloaded even when empty. It is possible to update to a dually axle, which would be safer and more reliable, but I don't know all the details offhand.
The first thing I would look for in a full-time RV is evidence of good maintenance of the caulking/sealing and no evidence of significant water intrusion. Dash AC working would be pretty far down on my list; that's only of interest when you're driving, and with a generator you could run the roof AC if rolling down the windows is insufficiently comfortable.
The outside walls of the Toyota can't delaminate since they are not made with laminated construction. That doesn't mean that they are immune from water damage; typically there would be wood framework behind the aluminum siding, and it most certainly can rot. There is some definite signs of water intrusion in the cabover area from the posted pictures, and I would not be surprised if there was more elsewhere as some parts don't look very straight and true.
If this is a four cylinder Toyota, be aware that it's rather underpowered even by motorhome standards. It would get relatively good gas mileage, but probably will have a lot of trouble keeping up on the interstates (even flat and level ones). If it has single rear wheels, it's very likely also extremely marginal in weight carrying capacity and may be overloaded even when empty. It is possible to update to a dually axle, which would be safer and more reliable, but I don't know all the details offhand.
The first thing I would look for in a full-time RV is evidence of good maintenance of the caulking/sealing and no evidence of significant water intrusion. Dash AC working would be pretty far down on my list; that's only of interest when you're driving, and with a generator you could run the roof AC if rolling down the windows is insufficiently comfortable.
