Pre Buy Inspection,

[falconman]

My wife and I are closing in on the purchase of out first class A after looking at about a dozen.. We currently live fulltime in TT. I know everyone advises to get a inspection before buying which is good advice but I wonder what is they actually do that we can't? Now, I'm speaking about the MH body not the engine/ chassis. We have spoken to a couple of tech's about the inspection process and they are not very clear on what it involves other than seeing if all the systems work. We feel pretty confident that we can turn things on and off, check for leaks, and run the slides in and out. We have owned several RV's in the past and have repaired many small items, roof resealing, wiring updates, etc and are having a hard time justifying a quote of $1000 for this service. We will have several days if necessary to check out the systems and it does have all service records. Am I missing something?

[Dale_Traveling]

That's about what I did. Creeper, flash light, inspection mirror, camera, multimeter, clip board, propane sniffer, OBD Code Reader, oil sample kits,,,

[Executive45]

The dealers love it when you put on a jumpsuit and pull your creeper out of the car....:B....Dennis

[Dale_Traveling]

I did my own inspection but the dealer gave me all the time I wanted alone with the coach. Tires were bald, roof seals were cracking, a small area of delam below the floor line were the major items I recall. All easy repairs I did myself. Used my punch list to negotiate the price. Having documentation to back up your side of the negotiation helps a bunch.

[falconman]

Thanks for the responses, they are quite helpful. Yes, an independent engine/chassis inspection is planned. For those of you that had issues discovered by a tech that you would not have found, what might they have been?

[wolfe10]

Wow. As someone who has done mechanical inspection on motorhomes for a number of years, there are what I find to be some very "interesting" responses.

Let's divide the components into the various categories-- some of which you may be able to do yourself, some you may need outside help for.

With a trailer (assuming you are good with preventive maintenance and know how and what to check) you can likely check the house systems yourself.

Chassis-- that is where most RV inspections fall apart. If diesel, did they check the SCA of the coolant? check hose routings for chafe, help you determine what needs to be done from a Preventive Maintenance perspective and help you decide what you want to tackle and what needs to be hired out. Rust? Brakes?

Body-- I start on the roof and end up under the coach. You are looking for evidence of water leaks, delam, gel coat cracking, signs of damage.

Ya, this is only a partial list.

Unless I am very familiar with the item, I would NEVER buy something without an independent inspection-- I have been that way of each of our boats, houses, and our first motorhome. Cheapest money you will ever spend.

[AllegroD]

Some dealers have a flat rate for the inspection. You do it in 2 hours and they get a large profit. Take ten hours and their profit comes way down. We convinced them to throw in a sleep number bed for the $2000 they were including for prep/PDI.

Take yur time. The inspection is only over when you are happy, even if it is 8-12 hours. The idea is the same in an A as you are already familiar with. Touch, open, start and stop everything. Since we had a TT and a MH prior, cabinetry, fridge and other such systems was easy and simultaneous. It was a hot day so they had the ac running. The tech had a surprised look on his face when I asked him to sit down on the couch, while we went to work an to be prepared to answer our questions. We started by turning everything on but genny. Turned on the fridge and put in a gal of water and a plastic solo cup of water in the freezer. We flipped on the ice maker and went to work. Turned off one AC then switched them and then proceeded to turn them off and the heat pump on followed by the gas furnace. We turned on everything. We did not have to know all of the features of the nav system to see that basics worked. We literally touched everything, inside and out. The tech just shook his head when both my Angel and I climbed the ladder to the roof. The tech was less surprised when I pulled out a clamp on voltmeter, with 12v & 120V. Then we went to gen power. Each step we verified such things as the inverter/charger, even without shore or gen power.

About 6 hours later, the water was cold and frozen. We only had about 6 minor fixes, some of which were being tweeked as we inspected. While we were signing final PPWK, the rest were fixed.

We had a door fit issue that we had to return for but that was scheduled for after a 6k mile shakeout. During the shake out we had a couple of problems. The biggest, a front slide ram leaking, did not turn out to be disasterous, though could have. That was replaced. The fridge started whining. Found out the burner was not mounted correctly, thought they replaced the burner unit in the process. This last paragraph was fixed approximately 1 month after we drove it off the lot, as we found it while playing.

[ncrowley]

I recommend an independent inspection. Mine was not very expensive and worth every penny. He found some things we would have never found. He also gave us advice when we were looking. He charged an hourly rate for the consultation and the inspection.

[SooperDaddy]

For as low as $100.00 get a Seal Tech leak detection test. RV Dealers and mobile service can do this. This is the proceedure where a RV is sealed up with tape and pressure tested using a glyceryn mixture...bubbles will appear where a leak point is. Then the leaks are caulked. Quite effective, inexpensive and can save you a lot of headaches.

Some RV Manufacturers use this priceedure on ALL of their new units, and some use a random test on every 20th rv.

[Executive45]

You are experienced RVrs so perfectly capable of doing your own pre inspection. That said, have a WRITTEN list of items to check so you don't forget something during the process. We actually had a Dynasty IV that I had negotiated on buying when we went to Az. Two hours later and three pages of things I found wrong and we nixed the deal. He still made out as my wife spotted the Exec on his lot and as they say, "The rest is history"....Dennis

PS. If it's a diesel all the driveline components are computer monitored. A Cummins/Allison/Cat dealer can give you all the info on their servicing by plugging in their computers. Not expensive...D

PPS. Don't forget to check the tire date codes...D

[justlou]

If someone gave me a quote of $1,000 for a service and couldn't give me a comprehensive list of what it would include, I would find someone else. Paying the hourly labor rate at a dealer you could probably get it inspected and still save some money.

[Dog_Folks]

2oldman wrote:
Forget hired inspections. I think they're just a ripoff like home inspections.

Your opinion. Personally, I would never buy a house again without one, even though I have built my own house and have the knowledge.

[2oldman]

Forget hired inspections. I think they're just a ripoff like home inspections.

[Dog_Folks]

I would think that your experience with TT would make you capable of doing the coach portion of the inspection. You probably know what to look for. Just take your time and don't let anyone rush or interrupt you while making the inspection.

What about the running gear? Are you going to hire an inspector for that part?