Price of a Bluebird

[Pete Masterson]

Ryan,

That sounds pretty good... and is comparable with my expenses. The
"ten thousand" figure for repairs also includes "upgrades" (such as
the entertainment system you got -- or the bamboo floor I put in) as
it's inevitable that there will be things you just want to change.

Pete Masterson
'95 Blue Bird Wanderlodge WBDA 42
El Sobrante CA
aeonix1@...



On Jan 27, 2008, at 12:24 PM, Ryan Wright wrote:

> On 1/23/08, Ryan Wright wrote:
>>
>> I haven't owned my coach a year yet, but I have a comprehensive
>> spreadsheet listing all costs involved. So if anyone wants info, I
>> can
>> get it, just let me know.
>
> I had enough off-list interest in this that I decided to post some
> statistics here:
>
> I bought my '86 PT-40 in April 2007. Since that time, the coach has
> been driven 3,446 miles and the genset has been run 138 hours.
> Expenses are as follows:
>
> Fuel: $2,800
>
> Preventative maintenance: $375 - This is for oil changes on both the
> 8V92 and Yanmar genset, as well as new filters, including fuel
> filters, all around, and some extra oil & spare filters.
>
> Repairs: $2,850 - About $1,500 was for transmission service and
> another $600 to replace the alternator & belts. Most of the costs on
> those repairs went to labor. The rest of the repairs were all minor
> parts expenditures with no labor costs involved (I fixed it myself
> with the help of the list - thanks guys for giving me free repair
> advice and saving me thousands more on labor!). Note that I bought a
> very clean, well cared for coach, so the "$10,000+ for initial fixes"
> figure that some have thrown around has not applied to me.
>
> Misc: $6,200 - These are the various odds and ends we bought to
> "stock" the coach. It includes $1,200 in air fair to fly my family to
> Texas and things like pots & pans, dishes, kitchen supplies, linens &
> bedding, tools to stock the tool chest, etc. I wanted the coach to
> have it's own set of "everything", like a second home, so we didn't
> have to waste time "loading up" housing type supplies every time we
> went somewhere. Most of these are frivolous expenses; about $4,000 of
> it is in a computer/entertainment system.
>
> I expect to continue spending $2,000 - $5,000 a year on maintenance
> and repairs, plus fuel & licensing costs, figuring most of the labor
> will be my own with only the occasional outsourced job. I am finicky
> about maintenance and will spend top dollar on parts to keep the coach
> in perfect condition and repair even trivial cosmetic blemishes.
> Someone who is less finicky may be able to get away with spending
> less.
>
> Hope this helps those who were interested in understanding some first
> year ownership costs. Of course these will be different for every
> person and every coach.
>
> -Ryan
> '86 PT-40 8V92
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>