Which Class C Should we buy and why?

We are in a similar situation and looking for something in that range. The difference is we are van campers (Sportsmobile actually) and dearly love it, but as you said, age is taking it's tole. We want to upgrade to a Phoenix Cruiser, which has gotten the best reviews of many if not all of the competition. Our Sportsmobile is only 4 years old with about 30K miles and really hate to get rid of it, but the last two years either one or the other of us has had health issues and we need a few more conveniences. Might be slower, but not given up. May be making the switch from camping to Rving, but still getting out.
But I degress. My suggestion to the OP is to check out Phoenix Cruiser for a quality unit. Built on a Ford cutaway.