Help...Us buy our first motoerhome......

[Ryan Wright]

Mark,

You should be able to drop two or three grand, at will, when necessary. You might do this once or twice a year, or you might do it every two or three years, but the fact is something is going to fail. My air compressor croaked and it cost me about a thousand bucks with labor (I had them replace some deteriorated coolant lines while they were back there). A new alternator was in the $400-500 range. My refrigerator died, that was $1200 (I replaced that myself).


Point is, if you have money set aside and can pull a couple grand out to fix something on a whim, and if you can reasonably replenish that fund in a few months just in case you need it again, you will probably be fine. However, people who are living month to month where a $500 repair is a huge problem for them, probably should reconsider buying a coach, especially one like this. It will quickly become an anchor around their neck, deteriorate and turn into a yard ornament.


You can do a lot of work yourself. I spent a weekend replacing some parts on my generator. ~$100 worth of parts and saved ~$2000 in labor by doing the work myself. It wasn't even that difficult, as I had forum members here who gave me the necessary advice and virtual hand-holding to get through it (thank you!). This is an excellent resource. I could have replaced the alternator and compressor, too, but I was in a hurry and just wanted it done (and didn't really have a good place to do it myself).


I'd plan on $3k to $5k per year in maintenance. If you can handle that, you'll be fine. If you get a good coach and take care of it, you won't have to spend this every year. Some years you might only spend a couple hundred bucks on oil and filters. As long as you are able and willing to spend this much yearly, you shouldn't be disappointed in your new toy.


You mentioned "major systems... such as (the) engine." Expect to pay $25,000 give or take if you need to rebuild your engine. That's a huge hit for most of us. I mitigate this potential by keeping up on all engine maintenance, keeping the radiator cleaned, and watching the gauges closely for signs of trouble. Thankfully, a Blue Bird has an abundance of gauges.


-Ryan

On Tue, Jan 19, 2010 at 9:00 AM, Mark <"summitwolf@comcast.net"> wrote:

 

Thanks Brad and Pete for those insights. I don’t have
any problems doing stuff like you describe.

I think my worry was about major systems failures such as
engine and driveline. Stuff that cannot be fixed

While boondocking.