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.

[Executive45]

True Story....I had purchased a 34' fly bridge Bayliner boat that I used for many years. I finally had the urge to sell it and did so in record time. Armed with a fist full of cash and limited brain cells, I decided to look for another boat. Near the launch ramp was a boat storage lot. In cruising the lot, I found another Bayliner, brand new, with no plates, no CF number, nothing...just a new boat sitting on a trailer. I pulled the VIN off the boat and trailer and ran the numbers. It was owned by a local so I called the number and asked him about his boat. He said he purchased the boat "several years ago" because he and some buddies wanted to cruise in the boat parade. He used it that one night and forgot where he had parked it! I asked him if he wanted to sell it and he said make him an offer. I told him I'd give him $2k CASH..:W. I also knew there was almost $2k in storage fees due and told him so. After some dickering, he agreed to sell me the boat for $1k if I'd pay the storage fees. 30 minutes later, I owned a brand new 2 yr old boat! Some folks just have too much money and don't know how to control it's feeding and care....I used that boat for almost 10 years and sold it for a lot more than I paid for it.....Dennis

[PatStab]

We bought ours and it had set for at least 5 years from the date of the safety sticker and some other papers I found, that took quite a toll on it. I think what happened with it was the folks that owned it were in construction. Well we know what happened during the recession, I think they likely couldn't afford it and let it set and must have finally sold it. I'm guessing it was under covered storage for part of that but likely during part was not. They could have gotten more out of it if it had been cared for but like you say people do funny things. At least they finally sold it.

I don't plan letting it set if I quit using it, but it is old and I doubt someone else will spend what is required to keep an old one going. I would hope so as we have repaired and updated it. I need to do some cosmetics inside also. Just hope someone eventually takes the old girl and continues with her when I'm done. I too hate to see things like this just allowed to rot down.

[jwmII]

Same thing with boats both on dry land and down at the docks at your local marinas.

[93mastercraft]

et2 wrote:

93mastercraft wrote:
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.

To some shelters are not available near there residence or are ridiculously priced to rent. I seen just about every covered RV spending more money than the covers are worth to repair the damage those covers have done.

We have always had ours outside over the last 20 years and never covered them nor stored inside. Keeping them washed and waxed and caulking sealed. Never had any problems keeping them looking great. After all they make these thing to handle the elements.

I once also had previous RV's sitting outside for over 10 years. As of last year My new MH is inside a garage. I am not so sure mine can handle the elements. So, I am not taking any chances.

[RayChez]

I agree with et2 about the covers. I bought a cover about seven years ago. I used it one season, it snowed, the snow turned into ice on the roof of the coach, and we had a trip we had to take. It was a nightmare trying to get that snow, ice off top of the roof. Finally what I had to do is get a water hose and wash it down. The water would melt the snow/ice. But that was the last time that cover went on my coach. It is still in my garage all rolled up.

I just keep my coach dry washed with Solution and once a year I use a power pressure washer and I spray the whole coach with Blue Coral. Then I use soft water to rinse it off and towel dry it. The paint still looks very good. I just park it on a special drive way I made next to my house in California, plug it in to AC outlet.

I live out in the high desert of southern California and it gets hot in the summer, but I do not have a barn or special garage for the coach and it has done just fine.

I do use my coach at least once a month for short trips lately around average five hundred miles round trip. I think that is very important for the longevity of any coach or automobile.

[et2]

93mastercraft wrote:
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.

To some shelters are not available near there residence or are ridiculously priced to rent. I seen just about every covered RV spending more money than the covers are worth to repair the damage those covers have done.

We have always had ours outside over the last 20 years and never covered them nor stored inside. Keeping them washed and waxed and caulking sealed. Never had any problems keeping them looking great. After all they make these thing to handle the elements.

[rockhillmanor]

..... 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 growingon it........It's getting to the point where it may not be saveable.

Not necessarily.

I just bought a house here in Florida for my winter home.
My MH is parked right out front.

I am here to tell you that that black and green mold and mildew starts right up on your MH within the first month!. I was shocked how quickly that stuff can cover your MH when it's parked. 😞

I've stayed in CG's for over a month and it didn't happen. I guess it matters where you are parked? By trees etc? Or that the ac or heat is not on inside like when you are using it 24/7's?

Good news is that it comes right off with a good power washing. Thank God.

[valhalla360]

frankdamp wrote:
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.

Are you suggesting he steered buyers away so he could get a deal on it?

I'm a bit confused that you didn't even ask who was buying it until after the sale?

Assuming there is no evidence he steered people away from it, you were offered a price and you accepted. Whether that price came from an individual or the dealer, doesn't make much difference.

[valhalla360]

I can be a variety of things:
- Money is too short to take it out on trips and maintain it but they owe more than it's worth so if they sell, they need to come up with money to pay the rest of the loan (ie: similar to houses that are underwater)
- Especially with the big expensive diesel pushers, it was probably thier dream to hit the open road some day, footloose and fancy free...then reality set in and they found they were scared to drive it or just didn't like the lifestyle but they had invested so much of thier emotion into it they can't bring themselves to sell because that would require them to admit thier dream has failed. It's especially bad for the expensive units because it's usually older folks who can afford them and they are prone to age related issues limiting them both in where they can travel to and how much maintenance they can do themselves.
- Too many toys: For most these are toys and people often don't consider toys from a financial perspective. I know working age couples with an RV, Boat, Timeshare and they like to entertain at thier home...there simply isn't enough vacation time to utilize all of them, so something is going to sit.

When the time comes to sell a toy, the best bet is to pull the bandaide. Expect to lose money but at least you aren't slowly bleeding it away with storage and rotting of the unit.

[Gjac]

In my travels somewhere down south on a lake I saw new life for these kind of MH's. What the people did was to tow these leaking, non functional MH's to a nice park on a lake and built a roof over them to stop the leaking and just used them for permanent trailers. Several I saw had wood siding added which actually looked OK. As long as the rest of the systems functioned the MH's became trailers for the rest of their lives.

[ferndaleflyer]

I was at a park near Tampa a couple of years ago and there were a whole bunch of them parked out back-----Park owner said they were snow birds that would pay storage then come down in the winter. If they missed a winter either the owner or the park would remove it. Said they didn't allow them to abandon them on the property----one year, that was it. I very seldom stay in parks but when I have I always see a few that look abandoned......

[Thunder_Mountai]

It also makes me sad reading this thread. I too have walked the dogs around a storage lots attached to a campgrounds and wondered about the rigs stored there with expired plates. I even saw a couple with temporary paper plates that expired a couple of years before.

I talked with one storage lot manager who told me that a number of units were abandoned. The cost of getting the legal paperwork to take ownership of the unit for non-payment wasn't worth it such as out of state units owned by defunct LLCs or closed estates. She said the worst cases involved lenders who had written off units and wouldn't even respond to inquiries about transferring ownership.

There was a nice older class A parked next to us when we first bought our MH in 2007. I met the owners once. They were a nice couple in their 70s. It never moved for the next three years. We were back through there last summer and noticed the unit was still sitting there. The tires were flat and the curtains sun rotted. Every storage lot queen has a story.

When I look at the boats, planes, RVs etc. just sitting around rotting I'm reminded of how people in this country fritter away wealth.

[turbojimmy]

Daveinet wrote:
Sometimes dealing with an issue is more stressful than ignoring it.

Very true. I have a couple of those myself. The benefits of resolving the issue just don't outweigh the cost in terms of time and mental anguish.

[falconbrother]

crasster wrote:
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.

I was driving from Tennessee into North Carolina on I-40. As we approached "the gorge" through the Cherokee National Forest a new looking DP entered the interstate in front of me. As the road started to twist up and down the DP slowed to a crawl and was all over the road. The semi-trucks are required to stay in the right name through there which sucks for them. I passed the DP in my old rig pulling the toad. I looked over and there was a little, really old man driving that thing. He had that look on his face and was white knuckling the steering wheel. I knew he was praying, Lord get me out of these mountains and I'll never drive this thing again.

I hope that rig isn't just rotting someplace.