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Hiya All!

This is Lily and Nate again!  Thank you all Soooooooooooo much for all of your helpful responses to our RV Fulltime venture!

Someone had given us a VERY good advise that before we purchase an RV to get someone to inspect or check out the RV before purchase?  How do we go about getting someone to do that, and is there a typical fee when we do find someone to check out our investment?  Another wise suggestion is to get some kind of warranty?  Any MORE advise on this as well?

Finally. We came across an RV that we REALLY are shooting for, but it is a little bit out of our range!  We'd like to keep our investment between $150,000 - $200,000 in a "NEWELL" or "COUNTRY COACH".

Here is a link to what we found, that is out of our price range...BUT MAYBE....MAYBE a few months down the road there COULD be like THIS in our price range?  Here is the link:

http://motorhomesoftexas.com/coachrv_images/newell_coach/2007--newell--45Custom--P1288

Again, THANK YOU...THANK YOU... FOR ALL YOUR HELP AND ENCOURAGEMENT!

GOD BLESS! 

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All I can say is that we loved our EuroChairs. But my Dave hangs his feet off the end of the bed sometimes so he would not like the placement of the bedroom TV. I still love the desk but I would change the chair there.

Linda Sand

Blog: http://sandcastle.sandsys.org/

Former Rigs: Liesure Travel van, Winnebago View 24H, Winnebago Journey 34Y, Sportsmobile Sprinter conversion van

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7 hours ago, Lily said:

How do we go about getting someone to do that, and is there a typical fee when we do find someone to check out our investment?

There are professional RV inspectors in some areas and you can usually locate them with an internet search. If you do not find any that way then contact one of the local mobile RV techs to check the RV and for motorized RVs you should take it to a trusted mechanic to check out that part. I would expect to pay between $150 and $300 for a thorough check of a motorhome. It should require several hours and you can expect it to cost as much as the same amount of service time.

7 hours ago, Lily said:

Another wise suggestion is to get some kind of warranty?  Any MORE advise on this as well?

I suggest that you start the process by reading this article.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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Lily & Nate, can't really comment on suggestions for an inspection.  We never bought an expensive used RV so we never had one.  

The link you included for the Newell for sale was certainly a nice coach.  I assume that was a few years old?

I'll just throw this out there since you are still searching for the "right" coach.  If your budget is up to $200,000 then don't discount a couple other new models in the Tiffin or Newmar line.  With just a slight stretch you could get into a 43' with/tag axle for $230,000 to $250,000 range, even though the MSRP may reflect $340,000 and higher.  With a used coach priced in the mid $350,000 range you may not make a deal for much below $290,000 if you are lucky.  Of course on used coaches it varies from dealer to dealer how they price them in the first place. 

Just one other quick comment, since you will be full time in your coach.   Most larger diesel pushers are either Freightliner or Spartan chassis.  Almost all newer ones manufactured in the last several years have Cummins motors.   There are a bunch of Freightliner service centers spread all over the U.S.  There are Spartan service centers but just not as many.  Some folks say that Spartan chassis ride a little better, some say there is no difference.   These are just some other issues you may want to research further while still in the "hunt" for your dream coach.

Good luck, Joe

Joe & Cindy

Newmar 4369 Ventana

Pulling 24' enclosed (Mini Cooper, Harley, 2 Kayaks)

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Again, I have to ask Lily, if you think "Country Coach" (which has not been made in years) is one that attracts you, what have you got against Foretravel?      Not to mention Newmar and Tiffin.    

And when you are looking, are you planning on putting 15% or so of the purchase price aside for your repair fund?  Because it isn't a question of IF it will require repair (in addition to routine maintenance) it is a question of WHEN.   You can't move a big rig down the road without shake/rattle/roll that will loosen things up and can result in time spent getting things checked, tightened, repaired/replaced as it goes down the road.    For example, any 2007 coach, if the original tires on still on, will require all new tires around.  Figure $500/tire for budgeting purposes.   Then you will need all new fluids, filters, a check of all belts and seals, etc.

 

 

Barb & Dave O'Keeffe
2002 Alpine 36 MDDS (Figment II), 2018 Ford C-Max HYBRID
Blog: http://www.barbanddave.net
SPK# 90761 FMCA #F337834

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5 minutes ago, Barbaraok said:

Again, I have to ask Lily, if you think "Country Coach" (which has not been made in years) is one that attracts you, what have you got against Foretravel?      Not to mention Newmar and Tiffin.    

And when you are looking, are you planning on putting 15% or so of the purchase price aside for your repair fund?  Because it isn't a question of IF it will require repair (in addition to routine maintenance) it is a question of WHEN.   You can't move a big rig down the road without shake/rattle/roll that will loosen things up and can result in time spent getting things checked, tightened, repaired/replaced as it goes down the road.    For example, any 2007 coach, if the original tires on still on, will require all new tires around.  Figure $500/tire for budgeting purposes.   Then you will need all new fluids, filters, a check of all belts and seals, etc.

 

 

THANK YOU, THANK YOU! Hubby has done alot of research, and has gotten turned on to "Country Coaches" or "Newells" as he feels they are a good quality.  I trust him since, he used to drive Military Trucks and Semi Trucks? And I HAVE NO mechanical background LOL I will DEFINITELY read your input to him as I have with all I get from everyone else's!  Chris n Dennis went through alot of trouble to create an expense chart for us too, so we can stuff that in our hats! LOL

Thanks for the wisdom in putting 15% or so of the purchase price aside!  in a repair fund. I knew we had to put something back just didn't have a rule of thumb until now!  This is why, we are keeping our budget between $150,000 to $200,000, so we can have a $100,000 cushion for starters!

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2 hours ago, FL-JOE said:

Lily & Nate, can't really comment on suggestions for an inspection.  We never bought an expensive used RV so we never had one.  

The link you included for the Newell for sale was certainly a nice coach.  I assume that was a few years old?

I'll just throw this out there since you are still searching for the "right" coach.  If your budget is up to $200,000 then don't discount a couple other new models in the Tiffin or Newmar line.  With just a slight stretch you could get into a 43' with/tag axle for $230,000 to $250,000 range, even though the MSRP may reflect $340,000 and higher.  With a used coach priced in the mid $350,000 range you may not make a deal for much below $290,000 if you are lucky.  Of course on used coaches it varies from dealer to dealer how they price them in the first place. 

Just one other quick comment, since you will be full time in your coach.   Most larger diesel pushers are either Freightliner or Spartan chassis.  Almost all newer ones manufactured in the last several years have Cummins motors.   There are a bunch of Freightliner service centers spread all over the U.S.  There are Spartan service centers but just not as many.  Some folks say that Spartan chassis ride a little better, some say there is no difference.   These are just some other issues you may want to research further while still in the "hunt" for your dream coach.

Good luck, Joe

Hiya Joe,

Yes it was a 2007 I believe....I'll relay your input to hubby.....I'm so grateful that these forums are available to help give us some food for thought! Thank you...Thank you!

 

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18 hours ago, Kirk Wood said:

There are professional RV inspectors in some areas and you can usually locate them with an internet search. If you do not find any that way then contact one of the local mobile RV techs to check the RV and for motorized RVs you should take it to a trusted mechanic to check out that part. I would expect to pay between $150 and $300 for a thorough check of a motorhome. It should require several hours and you can expect it to cost as much as the same amount of service time.

I suggest that you start the process by reading this article.

Thank you Kirk Wood!  I'll pass along this information to hubby!  Thank you for being resourceful and helpful! Thank you..Thank you!

 

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21 hours ago, sandsys said:

All I can say is that we loved our EuroChairs. But my Dave hangs his feet off the end of the bed sometimes so he would not like the placement of the bedroom TV. I still love the desk but I would change the chair there.

Linda Sand

Awwww heck Linda!  Hubby and l just like the idea, that we can hide that big ol' TV!  Who knows what we'll finally end up with when we're good n ready!  Gotta sell our house first! LOL

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Think you will find that Newells, Country Coaches and Foretravel's in your price range have in house built chassis. But they use common truck chassis parts, so service would not be a problem. They will have Cummins, Catepilliar, or occasionally Detroit, so no problem getting service there.

Kieth and Kieth are techs at MOT and are strait shooters, they will inspect any coach and give you the low down, even if it is consigned at MOT.

Somewhere on the forum someone posted the motorhomes most likely to use the "lemon law", interesting reading.

Foretravel 40ft tag 500hp Cummins ISM  1455 watts on the roof, 600 a/h's lithium in the basement.

 

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4 hours ago, dewilso said:

Brett Wolf for inspection of class A's. Well known among high end owners.

Thanks for the update, thought he only did older Foretravel's. You can find him on Forefourms.com.

Foretravel 40ft tag 500hp Cummins ISM  1455 watts on the roof, 600 a/h's lithium in the basement.

 

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That is foreforums.com to find Brett Wolfe. Yes, he is THE MAN when it comes to inspections.

I'd strongly suggest that you plan a road trip soon with stops in Miami, OK (Newell) and Nacogdoches, TX (Foretravel) to tour the factories. Since the Foretravel factory and Motorhomes of Texas are very close to each other you can easily see the selection of used coaches at both places.

Yes, until a couple of years ago all Foretravels were made of a custom chassis, but they used standard big-rig parts. Same thing for Newell. We have a Detroit 6V92TA in our Foretravel, so finding a mechanic who knows that engine is a little more difficult, but not impossible. Foretravel never used the Detroit Series 60 engines, while Newell did. Everything for the past 10 years or so for both companies has been Cummins.

Country Coach was on our list of possible brands when we were researching, but since they went out of business we decided to drop them. There have been rumors of them coming back for a couple of years now, and I believe there is a "factory" service place in Oregon.

The big differences between Foretravel and Newell, to me, are that the Foretravels are basically production coaches (yes, you get to pick the fabric, but the basic floorplan is set) while Newell is pretty much a custom coach. For the owner of a used coach, that means that another Foretravel owner can likely tell you where that hidden switch is, while another Newell owner can just tell you where it is on his coach. Offsetting that is the fact that you can call Newell 24/7/365 with a question and you will get a factory person talking to you shortly who actually knows what he is talking about because he has the plans for your coach right in front of him. The other difference is that, to me, Newells are more "glitzy" than Foretravels. MOT has some of both brands, and you will quickly see what I mean.

One other difference is that Foretravel has a fiberglass skin over a steel frame. Newell has an aluminum skin over a steel frame.

David Lininger, kb0zke
1993 Foretravel U300 40' (sold)
2022 Grand Design Reflection 315RLTS

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KbOzke,

VERY interesting and extremely helpful information!  

I've made a copy of this info. including with many, many other resourcful pieces of information, to come up with an educated decision on RV's

Thank you...Thank YOU SOOOO much!

 

Lily

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