mrad
Zimmerman, MN
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Joined: 08/23/2007
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My wife and I had been looking for a travel trailer for the past year, but were having a hard time finding the one we wanted that we could tow with our Suburban. The other day as I am driving to my parents, I see a used class A in their neighbors yard for $5,995 or best offer. I started discussing with my wife that this may be an inexpensive way to get into Rving. I thought the vehicle would most likely get the same or better mileage than we would get while towing a travel trailer with our Suburban. Today I had my dad check with his neighbor to get some info on the vehicle.
He didn’t give me the brand but I am guessing it was a GM as it had a 454 chevy engine. The vehicle was a 1985 27’ with 62,000 miles on it. A new motor, transmission, and radiator were put in at 45,000 miles. The vehicle has a fiberglass shell and a stainless steel roof. It has one double bed in back and a bunk above the driver. It has roof air and an Onan generator. My dad said it was in really good shape. The tires looked good also. The owner said she would get up to 10 mpg and 7 when pulling (not sure what she was pulling). Does the 10 mpg sound wishful?
We are a family of four. Our kids are ages 9 and 7. I figure the most I could lose on this (as long as there are no spendy repairs) would be 3,000-4,000 if we decide to get rid of it after a year or two. We also have a boat and this would allow us to tow the boat.
We were planning on spending $15,000-20,000 on the travel trailer, so this leaves us quite a bit for gas and traveling.
Now, tell me why I should stay away from this vehicle and where to look for problems. I am a bit worried about a 22-year-old motor home.
Mike
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Joy
Henderson KY 42420
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Joined: 08/10/2001
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Have its engine & tranny inspected by a mechanic you trust and also have someone fluent in RV to check out all the RV specific systems. Be sure to have the dates on the tires checked, too - looks can be deceiving and if they are over 5-6 yrs old, should be replaced even if they do look good. If they all OK it, buy it and enjoy!! Oh, check with NADAguides.com for a price to be sure it is in line.
See ya' down the road!
Don-SCPO USN Ret.Corpsman
Joy-Ret.Off.Mgr.
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LIFE ISN'T ABOUT HOW TO SURVIVE THE STORM BUT HOW TO DANCE IN THE RAIN.
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Rick Knee
San Diego
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Joined: 07/14/2003
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Don't buy it unless it's a 454 with fuel injection. The carburated ones got terrible mileage. Mine is a 1998 with fuel injection and on a good day with no tow it will get 9.5 mpg on a 1100 mile trip.
Rick
Rick and Lenora
http://rickandlenora.home.mindspring.com
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fulltimin
Home is where we Park It.
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Joined: 12/14/2003
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Rick Knee wrote:Don't buy it unless it's a 454 with fuel injection. The carburated ones got terrible mileage.
Rick
Hogwash. I own a 1983 with a carb and routinely get between 9 and 10mpg. That is based on about 20,000 mile of travel from the east coast to the west coast. It's a matter of proper tuning, both tune up and tuning of the carburetor, as well as driving styles.
Dave
If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy....
Shower head mod to conserve water.
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SieraSam
Gold Country
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The key is a well documented maintenance record that shows everything done per the owner's manual at a minimum. Also check with a dealer for that brand if you can still get parts for it. For example, if your toilet is over 12 years old, you will not be able to get replacement parts for it, so if the seal at the bottom goes out you will have to get a brand new toilet. Otherwise, if you are mechanically inclined and you enjoy tinkering with minor items that need repair, go. for it. It is very unusual to have a stainless steel roof on that class and type of MH. If true, that is great!! Inspect for cracks at the edges anyway.
Class A, FMCA #F269745
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busric
West Texas Cotton Patch
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Personally I would be interested in knowing why a 454 had to be replaced at 45K miles in the first place. Sounds odd to me.
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ranger7
Nashville, TN.
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When he said that he got worse gas mileage when towing he was referring to towing a toad(Car or truck) use as a way to get about the camping immediate area without having to tear down the camp site and move to motor home.
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Gale Hawkins
Murray, KY
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Joined: 07/22/2007
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Mike if it really only has 17K miles on a new engine and transmission and radiator you should be good to go for another 100K miles. It is a good chance the carb was at least rebuilt at the time of the new engine. Many on this forum are running the same set up, pre 1989 454. The 3 speed automatic transmissions are considered to be very strong.
Is it running now? If not since it is a neighbor of your dad's I would put in the effort to get it running and go get some propane so you can check out the stove, frig and hot water heater. Needing a frig could be show stopper.
The roof sounds good but check for seam leaks. If no decay they can be addressed. It sounds like a C vs. an A with a bunk over the driver. If the tires check out to show now dry rot and are less than 10 years old they should have some service left in them especially if you are not doing a cross country the first trip you make. 
Seriously get it running if it is not and check out the roof and appliances. $4K should buy the MH. DO NOT spend any major money on the rig until you get a 1000+ miles running around locally getting a feel for it and finding the bugs in it.
A dry MH with a new like drive train is about all one can ask from any MH. The other stuff is doable. If it has set (not been out of state) for a long time you may have trash in the gas tank. If you purchase first thing replace the in line fuel filter near the tank and in the one in the carb inlet line. See if the old ones had trash in them. Most of the time after stopping up two or three fuel filters they will get OK unless it is totally rusty or what ever.
Actually starting with a unit that is old but solid is a good place to start if you have some ability to trouble shoot and repair things. One must be prepared to walk away from a unit if it turns out to be a no win situation.
Drive and a check it out well but get a firm price based on it checking out OK or you are just adding value for the current owner. Since it is a neighbor of family I would just do the little stuff out of my pocket. Spending $100+ to know what you are getting will be cheap in the long run plus could be some fun learning new stuff as well.
Update us on what you find.
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Daveinet
il
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Rick Knee wrote:Don't buy it unless it's a 454 with fuel injection. The carburated ones got terrible mileage. Mine is a 1998 with fuel injection and on a good day with no tow it will get 9.5 mpg on a 1100 mile trip.
Rick TBI from those early years didn't do well and actually did worse than carb in the winter. The only FI that would be better would be MPFI, which is only slightly better. TBI is less efficient than a carb because it does not atomize the gas as well.
Don't so it unless you are capable of doing most repairs yourself. If you are capable, then it can be a good way to go, although you still budget 4-5K in the first 2 years of ownership for repairs. If you pay someone else to do the repairs, triple that number. Mine has run about a grand a year until this year.
Dave
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olfarmer
Iowa
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Joined: 03/29/2006
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I have an '87 32'Itasca it gets about 7.5 mpg average on a long trip driving about 65 mph. It is a carbureted 454 Chevy engine with 62000 miles on it. It is the original engine and it uses no oil. I have been very happy with the engine drive train and chassis. You will probably have some small issues due to age but if you are handy and don't mind fixing things yourself it sounds pretty good. You are only talking about $6000 and that is not a great deal of money now days. You could afford to spend some on repairs and still have a lot left over for gas and maintenance. If you are not able to fix things yourself I would not recommend that old of a unit in fact unless you are well off it costs a lot to hire things fixed on any motorhome and if you read this forum it sounds like even a lot of newer ones need quite a bit of attention. You have a motor vehicle plus a house to take care of with a motorhome.
Good Luck on what you decide,
Ed
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