Older Motorhome

[Vach]

The joys of owning an older motorhome. I have a 2008 Winnebago Aspect 26A on a E450 Ford. This trip has been interesting. The morning of a our departure we had to have our fully loaded vehicle towed out of our driveway to have a new starter installed for the motor. Then within a week we repaired the refrigerator (new card) and the generator (new fuel pump). $1,500 later I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed.

Everything has been pretty reliable before, except for some fairly minor repairs and routine maintenance. Those of you who have been here before, is this the beginning of the end, or just and inconvenient blip? Should I expect occasional issues or the start of a driving money pit? I don't mind occasional issues and would have changed the starter myself if it wasn't 15 degrees and snowing. We really like our Aspect, it's pretty unique and fits us just right. We are planning another trip to Alaska this summer. Just trying to figure out what my future might look like so I can better prepare.

Thanks in advance for your input.

[Vach]

I have enjoyed reading all the post. Many more than I thought I'd get. Lots of good advice and observations. We decided to keep what we have, at least for now. We looked at several new options and are not sure we found anything that fits us better. I don't mind doing some repairs I can handle and new motorhome cost certainly is a factor also. Wish us luck and stop if you see us on the side of the road with our hood up. Lol. I'll look out for you too.

[JaxDad]

Vach wrote:
The joys of owning an older motorhome. I have a 2008 Winnebago Aspect 26A on a E450 Ford.

I have a 1995 Ford E-350 based C, I don’t think I have that many problems in any 5 years. LOL.

[Gjac]

Owning a 1996 GBM Class A I can identify with a lot of the posts. Every trip something needed fixing. The major costs were the IFS which were caused by the front end shop putting in the wrong ball joints twice. If I remove those costs I ended up spending about $1200 in 16 years of ownership. Including the front end costs it was $21,348.This is for repairs, modifications like headers and routine maintenance like oil and other fluid changes. I put on over 100k miles in 16 years it now has about 130k miles on it. So we used it enjoyed the trips the only time I had to be towed were do to the front end failures. I did have a fuel pump go out on the road but was able to drive to a shop. These times were not pleasant and can really put a damper on your trips. So if I add the total cost Of $21,348 to the purchase price of $28,500 that would be $49,848 for 16 years of ownership. By contrast my friend has owned 3 new MH's during that same period and has lost more than that in deprecation alone. As far as repairs his first DP was in the shop almost 3 months for warranty repairs so he lost a whole summer and sold it the following year. My conclusion if you don't want to work on these yourself don't buy or keep an older MH. I wonder if TC's have less problems/expense than Class A's or C's?

[ron_dittmer]

Our first motor home, we had 3 minor road trip mishaps with the chassis in the 24 years we owned it.
-a clogged gas filter
-a loose connection on the chassis battery
-the main coil wire casing developed a crack and I noticed it arcing to the body.

I never even had a loss of air in any tire.

[sullivanclan]

We purchased our 16 yr old motorhome about four years ago used. Now with 48,000 miles. Focused a lot on maintenance and will do tires this year and rear brakes. If I suspect something, I get it checked right away. No issues to date for our Ford 450. I look at an older RV as a hobby, knowing that there will be fix-it's along the way. Some of the work I can do, some I can't. My biggest worry is our long extended road trips and having mechanical problems. But that can happen with anything mode of transportation, a car, airplane, cruise ship etc.

I do wonder, do Class C's have more repairs or does a Class A if there is much difference at all. I know a Class A costs more to maintain.

[Matt_Colie]

There is a very good chance that my response will be the oldest coach, maybe not by miles though. The coach is a 1973 GMC it shows 78K and I have records from PO that show that this is the second time around. We have done 70+ of that. The coach was down a lot of last year because a piston broke. I could have bought a replacement engine, but I don't let people I don't know touch my engines and everybody I used to trust retired if they made it.....

Point being, I do the maintenance.
Grease is cheaper than parts.
You want the coach to run forever?
You want the coach to be reliable?
Get the manuals, learn to do what it needs. You cannot pay someone to be as conscientious as is required. If something is a little off, put it on the list to get at least looked at if not repaired.
Chaumière will be going a thousand miles in a few weeks and the backhaul will be half again more.

An older coach requires love. Just like your senior dog. If you aren't ready, buy something newer and get ready to trade off to new problems regularly.

Matt

[maillemaker]

Thanks Ron!

Nope, ours is built on a Ford E350 chassis. Ours is the WF327RT model. To big for the little Toyota, probably! 🙂

Steve

[ron_dittmer]

maillemaker wrote:
Our RV is a 1990 Winnebago Warrior Class C.........Steve

Steve, I commend you for your determination. Many people would have thrown in the towel long ago and replace it with something they can't afford, adding that to their life long pile of debt.

I assume your Warrior is built on a Toyota chassis. If so, make sure your rear drum brakes are adjusted properly so they do their share of stopping power. There are two indications they are not.

1) The front brakes lock up when stopping hard
2) The parking brake works but is ineffective.

Adjusting the brakes costs nothing but your time. THIS POST covers the process in the 3rd page.

[maillemaker]

Our RV is a 1990 Winnebago Warrior Class C.

Our roof was shot - previous owner had coated the entire thing in Heng's Roof Sealant or similar. I just do the same thing and it's mostly water-tight. Had a leak in the sunroof over the shower but I just gooped over the cracks.

Headliner disintegrated - I pulled it all down and glued up fiberglass paneling.

Fresh water pump died; I replaced it.

Control board in water heater died; replaced with Dinosaur Electronics board.

Control board in fridge died; replaced with Dinosaur Electronics board.

Had to have cab AC fixed and converted to new refrigerant.

Genset didn't work when we got it 10 years ago - $500 to fix.

Just replaced all electronics on the genset last year - $500 more.

Had to replace Ignition Control Module for engine last year.

Had to replace radiator last year.

Had to have engine water pump replaced a few years ago.

You better be handy or have money if you have an old RV.

I'd like a newer one but we'll never be able to afford another one so I just keep it limping along.

Steve

[ron_dittmer]

tragusa3,

We do seem to be the "rare few" with plans for such a long ownership.

Back in 1983 we became parents at the age of 25. We loved camping and decided to buy a new motor home for easier parenting during our travels. The rig we bought SEEN HERE was extremely simplistic and also affordable. It was more like a conversion van than a motor home. It was our second car the first 7 years. We owned it for 24 years. It would have continued to serve us well if not for us getting older and needing more facilities. So with that experience along with my continued determination, I hope we can keep OUR RIG TODAY until we are done with such travel style. If we are done with our house at the same time, because the motor home fits inside it, I could see us including the motor home as a bonus to sweeten the sale of the house. But like I say, we hope that is many years away when we just can't live life the same way.

My wife and I are both determined people to keep things going. Our washer and dryer lasted over 35 years. The fridge we bought in 1978 still serves us part time during the holidays. My MTD Ranch King lawn tractor is 30 years old and continues to serve me well. Our 30 year old house still has the original furnace, air conditioner, hot water heater, and water softer. We have been in process of replacing our original furniture that dates back to the late 70's. People who buy it from us on CL loves it all because of style and condition. But we love our new Amish replacements. We turned 60 last year and I think we both still wear a few articles of clothing that date back to high school. We are not pack rats. Everything has it's place. We designed and built our house to fit into our life style of Mr. & Mrs. Frugalfixit. It's our way of life to get the most from stuff.....within reason. So we hope this motor home will serve us until we are done with the travel style.

I should include that we also know how and when to make changes. We retired our Windows 98, Millennium, and XP computers along with our 56k modem at the right times. We don't have any CRT TV's in the house. We don't dress "70's". Hey, we even have S8 and S9 smart phones. 🙂 🙂 🙂

[tragusa3]

Ron, I wonder what percentage of owners have a goal that far out? We happen to be one. I'm 49 and we just bought a 7 year old rig in excellent shape with only 9k miles on it. We keep ours in covered storage and hope to make it to about age 70. This would put our rig at 28 years at that point.

[ron_dittmer]

Big Katuna wrote:
There is definitely a ten yearish honeymoon period.

I can see that, especially if storing your rig outdoors in less than ideal conditions.

When not in-use, our (purchased new) 2007 rig stays indoors in our heated garage.
The garage being partially under-ground & under-house, the rig is also kept relatively cool in the summer. 12ish years and ~40k miles so far, our troubles have been nil except for batteries of both sorts over the years and one set of replacement shocks last summer. There have been monetary interior things hardly worth mentioning. Most of my work on the rig is what I call improvements, not repairs.

But during the next year or two I will be going through preventative maintenance on the chassis changing fluids. The most expensive thing coming up will be new tires and Alcoa wheels.....the wheels being another enhancement.

We hope to keep our rig until we are too old and dangerous to drive it which we estimate is still 25 years away. So our plan is in the ball park of 37 years of ownership. I hope our rig goes easy on me. As long as I can do most of the work myself, we should be okay. But if it's a serious money pit later, then we'll have to give it up early.

[BFL13]

I recall a TV comedian who said, "This is the very same axe that George Washington used to cut down the cherry tree. It has had three new heads and five new handles, but it is the same axe!"

[toedtoes]

I have a 1975 class C.

As Chum Lee points out, you're paying for it either way.

I tend to look at my clipper more as a "house" purchase than a "vehicle" purchase. Meaning, when things start needing repairs, I repair them knowing they will be fixed for another X years. I don't sell my house because the water heater went out, so I don't sell the RV when something goes out.

And, even with a rebuilt engine, new carb, and new fuel tank, I have still put out less money than I would have spent buying a new rig - which would likely have issues needing to be dealt with under warranty.