The death of a motorhome

[falconbrother]

About four years ago I was returning my old motorhome to the storage place. A guy that parks his motorhome across from me pulled in just after I did. It was clear that he had fresh damage on the right rear wheel well from a blowout. He looked frazzled. Anyway, this motorhome was a sweet, great looking Monaco. It's now been sitting in the same spot since that day. The tires are mostly flat, the green mold and mildew is growing on it. The curtains in the windows are stained like it has developed a leak or something. Every time I see this thing I just feel bad. It's getting to the point where it may not be saveable.

It occurred to me that very few motorhomes actually get worn out from lots of usage. Most of them die from neglect and lack of usage. I say get a motorhome and work at wearing it out. Most of us won't wear out an RV in our lifetime. It also occurred to me that if a person has a motorhome going to seed it would be better off to just give it away than to pay years of storage, let it sit and rot and then pay the wrecker guy to haul it to the junk yard. If ever I decide I'm done driving mine I hope I will get rid of it as quickly as possible, cut my loss and move on.

[Daveinet]

There could be one other possibility. It is possible that there was a dispute between the owner and the tire manufacturer. It can take a long time to settle that kind of stuff. It could very well be that the tire manufacturer wore the guy down, which can really take the wind out of anyone's sails. Sure it financially unwise, but the stress of life can get the better of anyone. Sometimes dealing with an issue is more stressful than ignoring it. I will admit to having a few cobwebs of my own - like a Goldwing that has been sitting apart in my garage for a number of years. Life goes on.

[93mastercraft]

We have several "outside" storage facilities near our home. We see the same RV's sitting out there baking in the sun and freezing in the winter. I know everyone cannot afford an inside storage facility. But, for god sake store it under a shelter or use a cover. These things will deteriorate so bad and so quick if left under the sun.

[tinkerer]

I am convinced the worst thing for an RV is to not use it. This probably is true for most vehicles especially if they have and engine in them.:)

[et2]

There are three that I know of in our storage yard right now. One right next to us., a small TT. It has mold on it and damaged aluminum siding that obviously leaks as it is fixed with duct tape. Been like that for years - however they use it occasionally. I know it has leaks because you can smell the mildew.

Another pulled in the beginning of 2014 with damage to the driver side (TT) around the wheel and the dining room window was busted out. They never bothered to tape it up. It is just sitting there collecting rain ( snow now) and whatever birds need a nice bird house.

There is a nice older Fleetwood Providence that hasn't moved in 5 years with mold growing off it, slide covers all ripped apart, and white streaks running off the roof and down the sides.

Yep, makes you wonder - most probably have a story - mostly sad.

[rgatijnet1]

Unfortunately I see the same thing happening every time we travel. Due to the economy, a lot of people have been forced out of their brick home and in to travel trailers and motor homes. In most every RV park were we have stayed, there are a lot of extended permanent residents. They are not there for a season or a few months, and then on to another location. They are living there for an indefinite period of time which in some cases has already exceeded a few years. The RV they are living in will not move until their financial situation turns around. There was one RV park that we saw that had so many permanent residents that the school bus stopped there to pick up the children.
In the meantime, the motor home or travel trailer is just rotting away on the exterior, while still providing a place to live for people that have no other place to go.

[byrdr1]

ya'll making me sad reading this post..
Man I spend as much time in my camper not camping as I do camping in it. BUT it is parked 25 feet from my house and has cable & power. Frig works too :).
Randy

[wcjeep]

People let cars goto heck too. I see it in various neighborhoods.

[crasster]

Yes it boggles the mind. I witnessed a nearly 80 year old man buy a new DP and he parked it.... Sat... Sat.... and Sat.

Well it sat for 5 years. I guess he got scared on the drive home. ? Don't know the outcome of the DP, but it was kind of sad to see it waste away.... I would have gladly put it t use for him.

[RayChez]

Reminds me when I was staying at Lake Minden in Northern California. There was a Dutch Star there in storage and I could not believe how dirty it looked. It had weeds growing out of the top of the roof, mildew and just plain dirty. It was hard for me to comprehend who would just neglect their coach that bad.

[old_guy]

sounds like he didn't have insurance since he didn't get it fixed.

[Nutinelse2do]

In our Rv Storage yard, there are several 500k DP's that haven't moved in almost 2 years. They are plugged in 24/7, and have cobwebs around them and some have almost flat tires. There is a gorgeous Monaco that has a large bucket underneath it to catch the leaking oil.
Over half of them have Montana license plates too. Go figure.
What a waste of $, especially considering they are paying over $600 a month just for storage.

[bdpreece]

I have an even more odd one to consider. Over a year ago a distant neighbor who I only have a slight acquaintance with purchased a used class A diesel. He paid to have several modifications made to the interior like adding a desk, larger flat screen TV etc. He then took delivery and the motorhome was put in storage. About 3 months later he put all new batteries in it as it would not start. This motorhome has never left the storage area since he purchase it. To the best of my knowledge both he and his wife are both in good health and have been retired for several years. What a waste!

[frankdamp]

We've found, from what has happened in our neighborhood, is that people who have lost their jobs and don't have income beyond welfare, can't keep up their mortgage payments. Homes here are expensive - median 3-bed, 2-bath 15 years old is around $250K.

Once the mortgagee becomes delinquent beyond a certain point, the lender forecloses and the owners are evicted. Why the mortgage lenders don't actively pursue re-selling them in our hot real-estate market is a puzzle.

In most cases here, there's such a demand for houses, that legitimate sales, by owner through a realtor, don't sit empty for more than a few months. The exceptions are repossessed homes and those (and there are some in our neighborhood) which have been invaded by drugger squatters who turn the houses into meth labs. I don't know how the mortgage companies deal with the remediation costs. It would probably be cheaper to burn the places down!

Fortunately, those cases are in a very small minority (two in a neighborhood of a couple of thousand homes), but it's very distressing for the immediate neighbors.

[turbojimmy]

Tom/Barb wrote:

jplante4 wrote:
I think of this situation whenever I see a post here about someone looking at a motorhome that sat in storage. You have to wonder what circumstances caused a valuable asset to go totally unused for so long a period.

Broken bank.

Yep. I see the same thing around here in houses. Vacant, obviously abandoned homes in really nice neighborhoods. How do you walk away from such a valuable asset?

[frankdamp]

After a year of not using ours, for a variety of reasons, we decided we were done. It was a 2002, so it had a couple of slides and was still in decent condition, with only 18,000 miles from new.

We decided to sell through a consignment dealer, who initially valued it at $28,500 and said he was confident they could get $25,000 for it. After 3 months of zero activity, we finally got a bid of $14,000. I told them to stick it where the sun don't shine and they unilaterally abrogated the contract.

We were very anxious to sell, so we renegotiated and the offer was upgraded to $15,800, still $5000 below NADA wholesale and over $8000 less than their minimum estimate. We were so sick of messing about and so anxious to sell, we agreed.

When I signed over the title, the dealer rep very carefully tried to hide the tear-off "Seller's Report of Sale" that is part of a Washington State title. They seemed ticked off when I unfolded it and took it with me.

I realised, when I went to file the report, that there was no definition of the buyer. When I called, the dealer said, "Oh just put our name on it". As a result, I legally sold my rig to the dealer for $8000 below wholesale. I think I got ripped off.

I've alerted the State Vehicle Fraud people to keep an eye open. Maybe the dealer will get his just come-uppance, but I'm not holding my breath. If the State finds a much higher resale price than the supposed "offer", I may have some redress.

Bottom line is "Beware of consignment dealers. Make sure the contract is well balanced". We'd had a couple of favorable reports on the dealer we chose from people we know who have dealt with them, but they sure didn't live up to the recommendations.