Longevity Question

[boatsarefunus]

Tom, thank you for your insight. It has puzzled me as I scan the
forums trying to learn as much as I can about the Birds. They look
to be a maintenance handful, with all the systems, etc., but no more
so than boats of the same vintage having the same amenities. Other
than your air systems, most other things are similar.

I have seen people go through an engine way too soon through just
plain sloppy maintenance or worse yet no maintenance at all. Sure,
there are those undetected catastrophic failures, but generally, it
all points to lack of maintenance, improper maintenance, and improper
operation. I just saw too many advertised out there in cyberland,
with recent rebuilds.

When looking for one, and in my case it would be a late 80 up to 90,
the only thing you have going for you is general appearance of the
engine, transmission, generator, and over all coach. You could do a
compression check, even oil analysis, but without continual oil
analysis, a spot sample doesn't give you much to go on. I guess the
approach is to find a mechanic skilled in the engine brand in
question, to do an engine survey and someone knowledgeable in the
coach to go through the other systems. Anyhow, that's down the road,
for now I continue to watch and listen.