Advice for used RV

[nanewnanew]

Hi,

I'm new to the site.

I'm looking to buy a used Class C RV, about 25 feet in length. I was wondering if people could weigh in on the following topics:

1) Miles - How many is too many (or too few)? Would you rather have a 2015 with 125k or a 2005 with 40k, for example? I know things stay lubricated, functioning, etc when used, but should I stay clear of vehicles with 125 miles?

2) Make - I have been thinking only Winnebago for quality of workmanship but am feeling the sticker shock. My main fear is water leaks. What are some good makes? I know maintenance is hugely important, but for equally maintained vehicles, what are the best makes? I want slide outs (because they're cool).

3) Anything else you'd like me to know.

Our budget is 35k. My main priority is reliability and quality of manufacturing, don't need any bells/whistles.

Nanewnanew

 

[nanewnanew]

Forgot to add. I'm looking at buying something used through an RV rental company, so the vehicles tend to have a lot of miles. My thinking is that these vehicles are generally well maintained. Would that be a correct assumption?

Nanewnanew

 

["EZ"]

Forgot to add. I'm looking at buying something used through an RV rental company, so the vehicles tend to have a lot of miles. My thinking is that these vehicles are generally well maintained. Would that be a correct assumption?

Nanewnanew

My opinion is that the extra maintenance you *might* get from an RV rental company would be much less important than the extra wear and tear from idiots treating the RV poorly simply because they didn't own it. People are animals. Ask anyone that owns rental property. I would much rather try to find a low mileage used RV from an individual. It will be much easier to find a motivated seller buying from an individual than from a rental company too.

 

[nanewnanew]

That makes sense, thank you. I can imagine someone gunning a rental up a big mountain pass. Brutal.

By the way, I am going to be traveling with my wife and our three little ones: a baby, 2 year old and 4 year old. We are going back and forth between a class C RV and a suburban + trailer pop up camper. I'm feeling nervous about the RV because of maintenance and quality versus the simplicity of the other set up. Any advice on making that decision?

 

[DHudson]

My opinion is that the extra maintenance you *might* get from an RV rental company would be much less important than the extra wear and tear from idiots treating the RV poorly simply because they didn't own it. People are animals. Ask anyone that owns rental property. I would much rather try to find a low mileage used RV from an individual. It will be much easier to find a motivated seller buying from an individual than from a rental company too.

Agree

 

[bpaikman]

I’ll be watching this post - we also are weighing age vs mileage.

 

[rv4travlin]

We started looking for an RV over a year ago, mostly online. We looked at the Cruise America refurbished units and a couple of non-refurbished units. They were $30,000 to $45,000 but all had over 100,000 miles on them. The refurbished units looked pretty good, but we (the wife) wouldn't go for such high mileage.

 

[PartTimeRVer]

Hello nanewnanew. Something crazy is happening in the RV world right now as we type. Sales are through the roof. People are buying these things like crazy. What that means for you is if you are not in a hurry to purchase this Covid BS will hopefully die down soon. A lot of people are not going to enjoy their motorhomes as much as they thought. I believe in a year or so people with be dumping these like crazy and causing the used market to be really low priced. However, I could be very wrong.
All that being said, I would try to stay with a vehicle as new as possible. Some RV parks restrict vehicles over 10 yrs old unless you can show yours in really nice condition. Good luck to you.

 

[Wandering Don]

Forgot to add. I'm looking at buying something used through an RV rental company, so the vehicles tend to have a lot of miles. My thinking is that these vehicles are generally well maintained. Would that be a correct assumption?

Nanewnanew

FYI. Want to point out that you can EDIT your original post and any follow up posts you make. Better than doing an add...

 

[Neal]

Welcome @nanewnanew

 

[Retired]

Two of my friends have bought Cruise America units and are happy with them. I think thats a good way to go if you are in it for a long haul. If you pay 35k for a unit with 125k on the odo and try to sell in a year or two, you are looking at taking a big loss. Much bigger than if you buy an older unit with less miles. As stated, many think the bottom will fall out of the RV market in a year or two, on the other hand many of the new RVers may like the freedom and lifestyle and stay in it. As with everything, its a crapshoot.

 

[Germanrazor]

My opinion is that the extra maintenance you *might* get from an RV rental company would be much less important than the extra wear and tear from idiots treating the RV poorly simply because they didn't own it. People are animals. Ask anyone that owns rental property. I would much rather try to find a low mileage used RV from an individual. It will be much easier to find a motivated seller buying from an individual than from a rental company too.

100% agreement! If you ever had rental homes and seen what folks do to your property, then you get the picture. They just don’t care one bit. I have rented things and turned it in cleaner than I received. But that is how I was raised to be but folks now days are inconsiderate and as stated by EZ......worse than animals in my opinion.

 

[Gueromeister]

My opinion is that the extra maintenance you *might* get from an RV rental company would be much less important than the extra wear and tear from idiots treating the RV poorly simply because they didn't own it. People are animals. Ask anyone that owns rental property. I would much rather try to find a low mileage used RV from an individual. It will be much easier to find a motivated seller buying from an individual than from a rental company too.

I don’t agree...I always take very good care of things that are not mine & most people I know do the same....There can be costs to returning a rental In bad condition...right?

 

["EZ"]

I don’t agree...I always take very good care of things that are not mine & most people I know do the same....There can be costs to returning a rental In bad condition...right?

I travel for my job staying 100-140 nights a year in hotels. Not flea bags either. Decent hotels. They make you sign when you check in that you will have to pay a $250 cleaning fee if you smoke in the room. I can smell the cigarette smoke in almost every room I stay in. It's REALLY hard to get out. You think people care? NOPE. Same with rental cars. No smoking signs in every one of them too. They all smell like smoke. Why? Because people don't care because it's not theirs. Look at public restrooms. How many times do you have to stand in a puddle of piss to use the urinal?? Think they do that at home?? What about the ones that shove a whole roll of toilet paper in a toilet?? Seen that at anybody's house? NOPE. I'm telling you when people don't own something they treat it like crap. You may be the exception but you are out numbered I'm afraid.