Newbie Questions that scare him

[Plumber101010]

As a first time RV here, going full time, in a 2002 Newmar Dutch star 40 foot diesel, 50k miles, there are things that I just don't understand yet and SCARE THE HECK OUT OF ME.

1) Just how often do motorhomes like these breakdown and leave you stranded? Is this a common thing, or a rare occurrence?

2) Assuming this thing were to breakdown, as I get soooo scared reading these articles that say it's $1000 to get it towed somewhere, and that's local!!! Exactly what do you do if you break down on a 200 mile lonely stretch, and the nearest facility is several hundred miles away? You just fork over $5000 for a tow?

3) Roughly speaking, what does general every day maintenance cost? Like is a brake job $500 or $2500? Are new tires $500 or $2500? Being a diesel and Allison transmission, how much would it cost to rebuild something like that? Is a tranny rebuild $5000 or $15,000?

4) Wait times? Again, I read horror stories of how somebody breaks down and it takes them two months to fix it. There isnt exactly a surplus of RV service centers hanging around. How do you handle it if the slide, let's say, were to get stuck in the out position? Bring it to someplace, and then sit it there for a month because they are so busy they can't even get to it, and when they do, they have to order parts? Being a full timer, that would be a nighare.

My biggest fear is not the initial cost, my biggest fear is having the money to take care of these issues should they arrive. Any input would be nice to calm this shaking boy down on Xmas morning.

[Golden_HVAC]

Big rig trucks drive 8,000 miles a month without breaking down once! They might go 10 years and never need a tow truck! It is all in the preventive maintenance. You don't wait until you have a blowout to replace your tires, you replace them at about 7 years old, (according to the date codes on the tire) or when the tires look worn out.

Same thing with engine service. The engine will last over 300,000 miles in line service driving a 18 wheeler coast to coast several times a month! It is not rare to see a used 5 year old Volvo with a 14 liter inline 6 and 540,000 miles on it! Many of the used trucks for sale have between 500,000 and 750,000 miles on them, and are only a few years old.

Motorhomes are very reliable!

Have fun camping!

Fred.

[Plumber101010]

racerchaser wrote:
I fully agree with jmtandem. Either arrogance or ignorance has someone start RVing in a 40-ft diesel. I do not blame you for being highly concerned. What was the largest vehicle you drove before buying a 40 footer? As opposed to the latest autos you cannot just drive and add fuel and oil. These things need to be maintained and not just by a mechanic. If you are not handy stand by to be writing many checks, some small, some not so small. I would venture to say that most of the folks on these forums have a set of tools and know how to use them. Do you?

I can see you have very keen powers of observation....

Signed, PLUMBER

[racerchaser]

I fully agree with jmtandem. Either arrogance or ignorance has someone start RVing in a 40-ft diesel. I do not blame you for being highly concerned. What was the largest vehicle you drove before buying a 40 footer? As opposed to the latest autos you cannot just drive and add fuel and oil. These things need to be maintained and not just by a mechanic. If you are not handy stand by to be writing many checks, some small, some not so small. I would venture to say that most of the folks on these forums have a set of tools and know how to use them. Do you?

[gemert]

Plumber101010 wrote:
Bought from a dealer who installed brand new tires and went through that legendary "check list" that we all know they just check off without actually checking....

What about towing? Any clue? Decided against roadside plans after reading about LONG wait times as they try to find the cheapest tow around..

you will spend as much time looking for a competent tow company and then you can pay 2000.00 instead of 100 a year. You might want to look at that again. I don't have extra money for things like that if I can help it.

[jmtandem]

As a first time RV here, going full time, in a 2002 Newmar Dutch star 40 foot diesel, 50k miles, there are things that I just don't understand yet and SCARE THE HECK OUT OF ME.

1) Just how often do motorhomes like these breakdown and leave you stranded? Is this a common thing, or a rare occurrence?

2) Assuming this thing were to breakdown, as I get soooo scared reading these articles that say it's $1000 to get it towed somewhere, and that's local!!! Exactly what do you do if you break down on a 200 mile lonely stretch, and the nearest facility is several hundred miles away? You just fork over $5000 for a tow?

3) Roughly speaking, what does general every day maintenance cost? Like is a brake job $500 or $2500? Are new tires $500 or $2500? Being a diesel and Allison transmission, how much would it cost to rebuild something like that? Is a tranny rebuild $5000 or $15,000?

4) Wait times? Again, I read horror stories of how somebody breaks down and it takes them two months to fix it. There isnt exactly a surplus of RV service centers hanging around. How do you handle it if the slide, let's say, were to get stuck in the out position? Bring it to someplace, and then sit it there for a month because they are so busy they can't even get to it, and when they do, they have to order parts? Being a full timer, that would be a nighare.

My biggest fear is not the initial cost, my biggest fear is having the money to take care of these issues should they arrive. Any input would be nice to calm this shaking boy down on Xmas morning.

This is NO way to start out Rving. Either don't do it or quit worrying. Most of the things you cited probably will never happen to you with the exception of normal maintenance items and tires, etc.

If this is a huge stumbling block and you can't relax about the motorhome RV lifestyle consider getting a fifth wheel and a stout truck. It separates the house from the tow vehicle so if the truck is in the shop for some maintenance your coach is still totally usable in a campground or RV park. Less stress, more fun!

Check the Escapees web pages for full time issues. And lastly go get CoachNet or some similar towing service. Worry won't fix anything and won't make your full time life enjoyable. Most thing we worry about never happen.

[JetAonly]

There are reactive and pro active things you can do. As mentioned buy a towing/roadside plan for reactive responses. A pro active choice, for example, is don't drive at 2300hr if you can't stand the idea of breaking down then. Prospects for help are dismal on the weekend? Travel during business hours. Don't want a blow out? Keep track of tires and pressure to minimize your chances. Preventative maintenance is just that, to prevent problems. That all said, life is a gamble. Learn to enjoy! Plan for the worst and hope for the best, reality is usually somewhere in between.

[pianotuna]

Hi Plumber,

Welcome to the forums!

I've had two Class C motorhomes. The first one was a diesel. In 15 years and 180,000 miles I've only failed to return home once. That one time the tow was about 40 miles. Repair time for a replacement transmission was 24 hours, as the repair place had one in stock.

You do need to check all fluids and I'd probably replace them all so you know where you are starting from.

I believe in preventive maintenance, so if I were in your shoes, I'd replace all the belts and hoses. A couple of thousand now would give me peace of mind.

How often does plumbing fail? Not very often.

[tonyandkaren]

Yep, check your insurance because you probably do have a rider for roadside assistance. Make sure that you get a fulltimers policy because if you need the insurance to cover damages from an accident and you don't have the correct policy you may get turned down.

We've used our roadside assistance three times in 21 years. Twice for towing and once for a new starter battery. Very prompt service. Our service is with Foremost, our insurance provider, and is inexpensive. There's no need to get a separate policy from Good Sam or AAA.

Service centers usually are understanding about fulltiming and will try to get your repairs done as quickly as possible with the least inconvenience for you.

Go have fun!

[Plumber101010]

Great stuff!!! Thanks. I guess it would be a cheap $99 investment. Looks like everyone likes coach net vs good Sam, but I won't open that debate here, there is plenty of reading on that already. So I guess here is what I have learned thus far.

1) They don't really break down, least ways, in regards to being stranded and with new tires, chances even more rare.

2) Get a roadside plan from someone and don't worry about towing costs and where to bring it, they do that.

[Plumber101010]

jplante4 wrote:
Hmmm... I'm thinking these are things you should have had answers to before dropping $50k or so on a coach. Search this forum ( and iRV2.com and FMCA forums) for "towing" and you'll get the stories. Just be aware, almost no one sits down and writes "Just had a wonderful towing experience".

Get road side assistance (it's like $99/year) and join FMCA.

I did. PRECISELY why I'm still apprehensive...

But I DO like the almost no one sits down to write about a wonderful experience. That is true. Guess if you HAD to wait 12 hours for a tow, what better place to wait then a motorhome 🙂

[Alfred622]

I have the CoachNet road service. In 9 years I've only needed them twice. Once was when the MH blew a hydraulic line. When I called their service, a human answered on the 2nd ring, asked if I was in a safe position (I was in a parking lot), and then I was transferred to an RV Technician that apparently had access to the manuals for my MH. After additional information, the tech said he would have a tow truck sent. Within 30 minutes a HUGE tow truck appeared, the driver disconnected my driveshaft and hauled the MH almost 100 miles to the nearest factory authorized service center. Total cost to me: $99 (which was my annual membership fee) This would have been multi-hundreds of dollars without the membership. About 30 min later CoachNet called back to follow up with me. When I got to the service facility (past business hours), I found a service tech standing there saying that CoachNet called to arrange for necessary service. The got the MH into the shop immediately & the tow driver left. The service tech said it would take several hours to do the repair so we arranged to have it done the next day. I was very satisfied with their service and the way the tow was handled.

Moral - emergency service is a good idea. I like CoachNet because I can talk with a skilled RV Technician 24x7. They also cover all of my automobiles for no extra cost.

Tires: Yeah, these buggers are expensive. They don't wear out (hard to drive them enough to chew up the tread) but the will age out (figure 5 years... but I store my MH in a steel barn, have the Michelin XRVs inspected by a dealer every year, and after 10 years of use got them replaced). Using the FMCA (great magazine) program saved me hundreds.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy your MH purchase. Now that you've got it, go USE IT!

[Dutch_12078]

Plumber101010 wrote:
Bought from a dealer who installed brand new tires and went through that legendary "check list" that we all know they just check off without actually checking....

What about towing? Any clue? Decided against roadside plans after reading about LONG wait times as they try to find the cheapest tow around..

The long wait times are usually related to where an appropriate tow truck has to come from. The ERS companies usually have a number of tow services they work with under contract, and only go outside of those companies when no one is available. The longest we've waited for a tow was about two hours for a truck that came 65 miles, and the shortest was one that showed up while I was still on the phone with Coach-Net. That one was pure coincidence though, since the driver was on his way back from another call and stopped to see if we needed help. He got the call from his dispatcher a few minutes later.

If you check out the features that the Coach-Net and Good Sam ERS plans offer besides unlimited towing, you might see why many of us never hit the road without them. Tire changes, lockout service, fuel delivery, jump starts, and tech support for your coach appliances are just some of the benefits that can be more than worth the annual cost.

[Gjac]

Check with your insurance company it may include towing service already. Mine covers the MH and tow car. To answer your question of how often a tow is needed in 10 years I have not had to use it yet. As far as how often parts fail as others have said this is difficult to determine. When I worked will the Army they had statistics on every part for their systems and when they would fail MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) the simple conclusion that I came away with is statistically once you pass the "infant mortality" phase you had a good chance to go to MTBF and beyond. So if your MH is several years old the parts that would fail early would have been replaced already. I think your drive train( eng, trans, etc) will last a long time with proper maintenance several hundred thousand miles. Some other parts on the MH will probably fail on every trip but not leave you stranded but just needs to be fixed with some help from your friends on this forum. Your fear will diminish as you use the MH and begin to learn the systems and start fixing the little things. Good Luck and enjoy your travels.

[ferndaleflyer]

Not spending that $100 for Good Sam (cheaper right now) will be the dumbest thing you ever did in your life. I flat tire in the middle of nowhere taken care of in no time, considering where I was, paid for it for 10 years. And it even covers your car, truck, wifes car, kids car, and tows you to the place of your choice to get it fixed.......I was at my other house 3 weeks ago and my diesel duelly died in the garage. Good Sam came and towed it to a repair shop right out of the garage....best $100 I have ever spent. And quit worrying about the other stuff and deal with it when it happens.....just part of life, things happen.

[peaches_cream]

Your MH is 13 yrs. old. Alot of things go out between 10 and 15 yrs. of age. Refer, Waterheater, Micro oven, etc. Hard to check for failure of these items. Just have a few $1000's on hand for replacement.

Motor and trans are usually bullet proof unless unit has been abused. Have brakes checked and fluid flushed. Same with trans. Change all belts and hoses. Flush rad and cooler. Check waterpump for seepage. Check age of batteries. Don't forget, if you have towing service, you still have to pay the cost of having the problem fixed once you get too the repair shop.

If you are mechanically inclined, you can solve these problems as they occur. If not, have a "large" financial reserve.