To buy or not to buy?

[Don Bradner]

While there are always exceptions, I think that you can expect
moderate-to-significant operational maintenance costs with any motor home that
is driven significantly. I know my new-to-me '90 will have steady ongoing costs
and maintenance issues, but I doubt they will be any more than they were with
our '03 Safari, driven 63,000 miles in a bit under 4 years. Bounce any house
down the road 15K miles per year and there will be costs and headaches; the only
way to avoid it is to give up on the idea of actually travelling.

On 4/11/2007 at 11:07 PM littlehouseonprairie1 wrote:

>I'm on the verge of purchasing a 1984 FC33 rear bath. The coach is in
>excellent condition with recent interior remodel, new paint job, new
>generator, good mechanical maintenance, etc. The price is below $30k.
> I'm a pretty good mechanic and fair electrician. I have two early
>teen daughters and a loving wife I want to show the country to. My
>question is this... is the cost and maintenance challenge of owning
>one of these older birds worth the effort or do most people who buy on
>eventually get overwhelmed and wish they had just gone fishing? I see
>a lot of 4-figure repairs in the various notes going back and forth.
>I guess I'm just a little paranoid at this point of making my fun too
>much work.
>
>Any thoughts you have to offer will be appreciated.

Don Bradner
90 PT40 "Blue Thunder"
Eureka, CA