karitoki
RVF Regular
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2020
- Messages
- 10
- Location
- Kent, WA
- RV Year
- 1994
- RV Make
- Coachmen
- RV Model
- Santara
- RV Length
- 35’
- TOW/TOAD
- N/A
- Fulltimer
- No
Greetings from the Seattle area!
I'm victim. My wife and I were the owners of a 12' tent trailer that we enjoyed, but was tired of the setup/breakdown labor involved. So, I said enough is enough and posted it on Craigslist. While looking around, I saw an add for a 1994 Coachmen Santara diesel pusher. It looked fairly clean, but what caught my attention was that the mileage in the add was 14.5K. I figured it was a typo and that he meant 145K, but I shot him a text on a lark. What do you know it was still available, so me and the missus jumped in the car and drove about 25 miles south to check it out. The guy we met was the son-in-law of the owner and a really nice guy. He'd been required by the owner (his wife's dad, right?) to not only take the bus out once a month but also pay the $200.00 a month storage! He'd been nagging the owner to just get rid of the bus. Needless to say he was eager to end his servitude. Anyway, the bus looked weathered on the outside, but the inside was almost perfect! Not a spot or tear or wear mark on any of the seats. The roof was sagging a little by the forward A/C unit, but it didn't feel soft. We didn't plan on doing anything more than look at it out of curiosity, but we agreed to go on a test drive. SIL offered to let me drive, but the bus was rocking 2016 plates so I politely passed. It started right up, and after a little warm up we were on the road. Brakes worked fine, and it tracked straight, even when braking. All the gauges were showing good readings, and yes, there was only 14,500 miles on the odometer. While were going down the road, my wife (Who's sitting behind the SIL) is nodding at me to say, "Make an offer!" We get back to the yard and I tell the guy, "Look, there's a hundred things in this rig that I'd need to check to give you a fair offer, but I'm going to throw you an offer for the bus "as-is". BTW, they were asking $13,500.00. I told him I'd give him $7,500.00. He called the FIL and came back with $8,500.00, which I accepted. Anyway, 24 hours later it's in front of my house registered and insured, and I have no idea what I'm doing! Yes, I'm surfing YouTube to get ideas, but it's still drinking out of a fire hose. Right now, I've got a heater and a dehumidifier running in the rig. Tomorrow I'm going to check the oil and air pressure in the tires. I'll probably end up getting replacement tires all around, but until I have a mechanic inspect this thing it's not moving again. It has a Cummins 5.9 so the KDP correction will be at the top of the list.
Anyway, I'm a blank slate. Look forward to becoming part of the foil.
Best,
Rick
I'm victim. My wife and I were the owners of a 12' tent trailer that we enjoyed, but was tired of the setup/breakdown labor involved. So, I said enough is enough and posted it on Craigslist. While looking around, I saw an add for a 1994 Coachmen Santara diesel pusher. It looked fairly clean, but what caught my attention was that the mileage in the add was 14.5K. I figured it was a typo and that he meant 145K, but I shot him a text on a lark. What do you know it was still available, so me and the missus jumped in the car and drove about 25 miles south to check it out. The guy we met was the son-in-law of the owner and a really nice guy. He'd been required by the owner (his wife's dad, right?) to not only take the bus out once a month but also pay the $200.00 a month storage! He'd been nagging the owner to just get rid of the bus. Needless to say he was eager to end his servitude. Anyway, the bus looked weathered on the outside, but the inside was almost perfect! Not a spot or tear or wear mark on any of the seats. The roof was sagging a little by the forward A/C unit, but it didn't feel soft. We didn't plan on doing anything more than look at it out of curiosity, but we agreed to go on a test drive. SIL offered to let me drive, but the bus was rocking 2016 plates so I politely passed. It started right up, and after a little warm up we were on the road. Brakes worked fine, and it tracked straight, even when braking. All the gauges were showing good readings, and yes, there was only 14,500 miles on the odometer. While were going down the road, my wife (Who's sitting behind the SIL) is nodding at me to say, "Make an offer!" We get back to the yard and I tell the guy, "Look, there's a hundred things in this rig that I'd need to check to give you a fair offer, but I'm going to throw you an offer for the bus "as-is". BTW, they were asking $13,500.00. I told him I'd give him $7,500.00. He called the FIL and came back with $8,500.00, which I accepted. Anyway, 24 hours later it's in front of my house registered and insured, and I have no idea what I'm doing! Yes, I'm surfing YouTube to get ideas, but it's still drinking out of a fire hose. Right now, I've got a heater and a dehumidifier running in the rig. Tomorrow I'm going to check the oil and air pressure in the tires. I'll probably end up getting replacement tires all around, but until I have a mechanic inspect this thing it's not moving again. It has a Cummins 5.9 so the KDP correction will be at the top of the list.
Anyway, I'm a blank slate. Look forward to becoming part of the foil.
Best,
Rick
