Advice on possible purchase

[modrob]

I’ve found a Class A I’m kinda liking, but it’s hard for me to “pull the trigger”…(more questions of me as I’ve aged LOL)
It’s a 2002 Allegro, 29 foot. About 56,000 miles. This older gentleman and wife have owned it for last 8 years and kept it up well. Brand new nice tires all way around. Ford V10 motor. His wife doesn’t want to travel anymore so he won’t let it sit…
Price is 16,500, but I can get for 15k. It has “refurbished” WV title—couple years ago storms blew down a tree that damaged the rear panel, and broke off bottom 2 feet of ladder. His State Farm totaled it, and he bought it back. Repaired the panel, and had title revised. I talked to my own State Farm agent and he assured me as long as “refurbished” title, then he could insure it with no issues…
Another concern to me is the inside ceiling—a few scattered places there is a slight rusty color, but light enough it’s almost invisible. A closer inspection and I found a couple of places that look like a light coating of paint or similar covering—seeing as the normal nap-like texture appeared here to have that slight coating. The owner said it was periods of condensation on the underside they had had. A close look at the roof noted no defects, and all sealing looked fine. I believe it’s either one sheet of fiberglass or similar, and again, looks perfect.
I talked to a tech at Tiffin and he said condensation can be an annoyance and gave me some tips…
Any thoughts?

 

[High Desert]

I'd pass, especially if you're seeing signs of water penetration and "paint touchup"

 

[Lil'Skeet]

I'd offer quite a bit less with the gas engine, title, and moisture problem. That price seems pretty high to me. $8k - $10k?

 

[modrob]

I'd offer quite a bit less with the gas engine, title, and moisture problem. That price seems pretty high to me. $8k - $10k?

Yea…for sure…I’m almost ashamed to admit it, but I made the purchase, down from his original 16,500 to 15,000. I let my impatience again get the better of me (long story short, Prostate cancer, and harsh realization that for any of us time can be short…)
I should write a book on what’s been happening with this coach and all the mysteries that seem to pop up…I’ve been fixing things since bringing it home—although some are minor and expected with age.
Biggest trouble is the “past life”—trying to learn the details which can help me a lot moving forward. A CARFAX report didn’t help much other than I now know I’m the fourth owner. The older couple I bought from I believe honestly thought it was a jewel…so many details, questions I have, I really am going to start me a log of every little detail. But…I still think it’ll be a real nice coach once I get it “right” to my specs…of course many times I’ve said (sometimes in 4-letter phrases LOL) on how stupid I was to have bought this thing, and then I keep moving ahead.
A big help would be finding manuals that were specific to this unit (like the ones that came with it at initial sale) especially since there’s no previous owner that I can find that has knowledge of it.
So…I’ll have to suck it up and make the best of it. I might win in the long run…
Thanks for your reply.

 

[Lil'Skeet]

When it comes down to it what's the cost of enjoyment and relaxation? One nice thing with a gasser is maintenance and parts are a whole lot cheaper. Most diesel injection pumps are $2k alone. Another $200 - $300 per injector on the low end and you can buy a remanufactured gasser. My $200 - $300 oil changes (Xs 4 trucks) are a joy too. Oh, then that $4.50 per gallon diesel puts a smile on my face at every fill-up.

 

[offroader09]

Diesel on the Southern California coast is now $6.15 and gas is $5.60 at the discount pumps. My gasser averages 9-10 mpg, ouch!