We Want a Class C Motor Home

[pdub]

and do bundle up with your flame suit, RV salesmen make used car salesmen seem like angels.

and when they say "it's a simple leak to fix" .... run. just run.

I think we've got at least a decent place to start not far down the road from here. We don't know CRAP about these things, the more we find out, the learning curve is vertical.

[silver_bullet]

It could serve you well to see if Vic would be willing to take a look around ..... Just sayin'.... There's not many that I trust, and He is the top of the list....

[DanStokes]

I know SBG is sending you the best info he has but I think his info is dated. There was a time when pretty much all of the Diesels were pushers but that's no longer the case (though those BIG Mammas are). In the dead of winter I have zero issues with fuel gelling, even when I've driven up North which I've had to do a couple of times - my guess is that if you take decent care of them it's not an issue. On the cost - we're talking USED here! Negotiate!

My personal experience is to get as small a unit as will do what you want done - you have to live with it driving in traffic, parking it, etc. and a Greyhound bus is no fun for that.

I second having Vic look for you and, of course, to have him look over whatever you find.

Lots to learn, for sure!

Dan

[pdub]

Guys, thanks so much as always for the great info. The only two things I'll say is, please keep it coming, and second, I have to believe and imagine Vic's plate is surely full already

[DanStokes]

Don't forget he has Brian there, too. And if you need something done call on a busy man!

Dan

[Deaf Bob]

Another place to look is a bank repo.. Buddy got a big motorhome that way.. Less than 5K on the clock and half price.. Folks that bought it made one big blowout trip, made no payments, let it go back.. Buddy bought it for little over 1/2 price new.

[SuperBuickGuy]

I know SBG is sending you the best info he has but I think his info is dated.

Dan

cutting edge tech by Dan

So Dan, my Galaxy S8 is acting up, can you fix it for me

[SuperBuickGuy]

While Dan is trying to figure out what a Galaxy S8 is - here's illustration

https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/rvd/d/1998-national-seaview-8330/6430289000.html

$18.000 1998, same features, gas


1998 Diesel pusher

https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/rvs/d/country-coach-intrigue-40/6426372236.html

diesel pusher, $35,000



twice the money, maybe 15% better fuel economy.... it doesn't pencil out. However, if I were going to live in one, I'd spend the 35k but it'd never move

[Beagle]

While Dan is trying to figure out what a Galaxy S8 is - here's illustration

$18.000 1998, same features, gas

Ford Chassis - that'd be probably be a 460, probably an E40D. To my thinking, It's kind of out of it's class in a 20,000 + pound vehicle. I feel the same about any gasoline mill in a vehicle that size.

1998 diesel pusher, $35,000

"Engine Type: DIESEL - Cummins 6CTA / 8.3L - 325HP
Transmission - Allison MD3060 6 Speed Fully Automatic"

so, 85 more horsepower, probably 350--400 more ft lbs of torque minimum (basically double), and a transmission that will outlive us all... in hilly country, I can guarantee you which one I want. Not to mention that Cummins was rated at 430 and up in Marine applications, just in case you can't get enough tickets in a 40 foot freight train.

That'd stop us from chanting TURBO TURBO TURBO when Pdub here says "It won't make it up the hills"

Personally, I'd like to see Pdub take this on as a retirement project ...

when you're all stove up, have a look at that guys channel videos. He's a nut, and damn good at it.

Pdub, you don't want that pusher... you aren't interested. SBDoooooooood may have found my new mobile retirement community!

[Beagle]

and do bundle up with your flame suit, RV salesmen make used car salesmen seem like angels.

and when they "it's a simple leak to fix" .... run. just run.

ROGER THAT... and "It had some small leaks but my husband / girlfriend / meth cook fixed them" ...

[silver_bullet]

https://chattanooga.craigslist.org/rvs/d/gulf-stream-endura-super/6379512426.html

It ain't cheap, but looks to be a very nice unit....

[74NovaMan]

Neat unit for sure. This caught me funny though:

"Brand new tires front and rear (6 tires total) with only 12k miles on them"

Especially since the total miles on the rig are 24k. How "brand new" can they be?

[Loren]

Well I guess I will step in here. We may plan to retire essentially into a motorhome with a small property/house to home base in. In our case that motorhome is old stuff/art project so my example doesn't apply, but I could still offer a little advice:

Stay away from RV salesmen at first. They can be highly motivated to quickly figure out how much money you have to spend, encourage you to up that by half then take it all. You are too new to this to be pressured in any direction! There are other guys that will help you buy, offering patience and advice, who may keep their own stock or just act as a go-between but aren't standing on a lot with 50 or 100 or their own units needing to be moved. I'd feel more comfortable with that person.

You want a class C? Some people like the idea of a major mfr.-built cab. They are comparatively cramped and don't work well as living space when you're parked, but when you climb in you're in a different world ready to drive and not driving from your house...some people like that. Chassis wiring etc. produced by GM and not Winnebago or whatever tends to be better engineered.

A class C has the motor in the front obviously and will probably thus be gas powered. Front-motor diesels will tend to be in the medium-duty truck cab models (those bigger cabs that look like commercial rental trucks and not regular vans), which are kind-of a newer deal in the motor-home scene and big bucks. Not what to get as a starter. Stick w/ gasoline until you're ready to step up, if ever. Yeah it's expensive...just don't drive all the time. Go a couple-hundred miles, settle in somewhere for a few days, repeat.

I have years of experience watching people who don't have years of experience handling and parking 30' motor homes. It can be extremely frustrating for them, there winds up being arguments and anger instead of pleasantry and fun. You don't have 4 kids, smaller units have all the features you need short of washing machines/dryers, just less space. Do not saddle yourself with anything larger than your minimum need. Ours is 24' and I consider that the maximum of what I want to deal with.

With a MH you don't just have gas pedal, brakes and the heater controls to deal with like a car...it's also a travelling outhouse with fresh water, gray water, black water to manage plus whatever other small system such as water heater, generator and the HVAC. This can be an unpleasant scary chore that you screw up all-to-hell like a newbie or it can be part of the challenge...fun and rewarding. There is nothing quite like being out in the middle of nowhere, caked with dust or ocean muck and be able to step into a hot shower for a couple of minutes. You can then pay for that pleasure by having to pull into a line of cranky retired couples and empty your black water tank into a hole in the ground with a big hose you have to reel out and put away after. All part of the deal.

Can someone sleep while you drive? Riding in any portion behind the rear axle would not for me be a relaxing experience, you can really get thrown around back there. Might work on very smooth roads. Why not just cook and sleep when you're parked and share the driving/riding experience when you're moving, wearing seatbelts? My opinion.

Agreed about avoiding new units. Just a story: My big bro likes to get ones that have been owned by an older couple who took good care of it but aged out which in some cases does not take that long. He just bought a -smallish- (27'?) Cummins diesel pusher a couple years ago for under ten grand and loves it. The guy has two motor homes now, the other converted from an airport bus.

For you guys, knowing what I know and guessing what I'd guess, I like something like this; Chevy big-block, 24', $17,500 and 30K miles: https://sandiego.craigslist.org/ssd/...409991936.html Just an example.

[pdub]

Neat unit for sure. This caught me funny though:

"Brand new tires front and rear (6 tires total) with only 12k miles on them"

Especially since the total miles on the rig are 24k. How "brand new" can they be?

Yeah, what happened at 12K miles? Where are the original tires, is that how long they last? If so, that would add new meaning to pit stop - pee, filler up, gulp gulp, gulp, and since that'll take so long to fill up we might as well have them put new tires on it while we're having lunch. No need to change the oil yet, we can do that at the next pit stop.

Guys, thanks so much, we're loving this. Learn, learn, learn. This really is deer meat, it gets bigger as you chew it. They have a guy at the dealership in Ringgold who makes some great sales videos. Watch about 6 of them and he'll have you buying every one of them. For all the right reasons. Gas, diesel, drag it, push it, they're all just perfect no matter how you want to use it. I mean, he's good. We're starting to even love the shopping, and especially the learning part of this.

[pdub]

Here's one that would be a great "project" even before we leave to go somewhere. This could have been Patsy Cline's tour bus, there's no telling.