Buy or Remodel & Paint

[traveler of california]

Just looking for opinions, pros and cons regarding our MoHo. Our rig is an '01, suits us well and we love it. But it is 10 years old and within the next year we thought we would either buy or perhaps redo the interior (furniture, floors, window treatments, etc.) and perhaps paint.

Of course we could buy new or perhaps used. We have about 110K miles on our ISB Cummins at this time.

Suggestions or advice?

Nick

[John Hilley]

If you plan on driving it for 5 years or more it may be worth it. You will never get the cost back when you sell it. Probably cost about $20,000. If you can get some really good deals, you might be able to do it for $10,000.

[Steve N Sal]

Heck, if you like it and it suits you just remodel it. 110K miles is nothing on a diesel. Not even broke in yet. JMHO

[smlranger]

We struggled a bit with the same decision couple of years ago. In the end, we decided to get a full body paint job and gradually upgrade the interior. We've not regretted it. The paint job was not cheap but I have/can do most of the interior upgrades so we think it will be worth it in the long haul. We plan on keeping the beast for several more years.

[WeatherTodd]

Originally Posted by Steve N Sal

Heck, if you like it and it suits you just remodel it. 110K miles is nothing on a diesel. Not even broke in yet. JMHO

I never get that rationale??? 110k miles...conservatively estimating it cost at least $10k in fuel and probably 1/2 that for operation service.

Do you know how much $$$ it cost to maintain a "high mileage" diesel? I do. I also have 2 friends with very busy heavy truck shops that do too. Im talking tourbus/18 wheeler type vehicles... ones built to go "lots" of miles other less powerful diesels claim.

[traveler of california]

My expenses are not even close to that. I know that there will be things to take care of on an older rig, but I'm trying to balance that with the cost of a new rig, payments, DMV, insurance, etc.

My thinking was that a few interior changes and perhaps a paint job would be much cheaper, especially since we really like the MoHo.

Nick

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by WeatherTodd

I never get that rationale??? 110k miles...conservatively estimating it cost at least $10k in fuel and probably 1/2 that for operation service.

Do you know how much $$$ it cost to maintain a "high mileage" diesel? I do. I also have 2 friends with very busy heavy truck shops that do too. Im talking tourbus/18 wheeler type vehicles... ones built to go "lots" of miles other less powerful diesels claim.

But the OP doesn't have a "high mileage diesel" they have one that is still considered low mileage even by the engine makers.

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by traveler of california

Just looking for opinions, pros and cons regarding our MoHo. Our rig is an '01, suits us well and we love it. But it is 10 years old and within the next year we thought we would either buy or perhaps redo the interior (furniture, floors, window treatments, etc.) and perhaps paint.

Of course we could buy new or perhaps used. We have about 110K miles on our ISB Cummins at this time.

Suggestions or advice?

Nick

Ours is an '02 and is almost 10 years old too. Put new tires/Alcoa wheels on last year and new batteries this year (finally), and two new TV's.
Just ordered three new LazyBoy recliner/rockers to replace the couch and rocker already in there. 12 year old grandson wanted to know where he was going to sleep, wife told him he doesn't want to go with us anymore anyway and he has a sleeping bag that can go on the floor or use one of the chairs (he's done that already).
We ordered the rig the way we wanted it to be our retirement rig, sure there are newer, fancier, more powerful units out there and I'd love to have one. But why if what we have works for us?

[jlfbatonrg]

We dealt with the same issue about a year ago.

But first a response to an earlier comment. IMHO fuel costs don't factor into the decision about new versus used diesels. Either will cost about the same. General maintenance costs will be close to the same, but 110,000 miles on a diesel pusher really isn't much mileage. The average life on these engines is ~500,000 miles in an RV. We know several folks with more than 150,000 miles on their coaches with no real problems.

Now to your question. we chose to remodel our coach because we love it so much. We removed both couches, the booth dinette, the carpeting, etc. We then installed a dishwasher, circular dining room table and chairs, 37 inch flat screen TV and credenza, and two Euro loungers. We did all the work ourselves, and our costs were nowhere $10000. Our purchases came to ~$2000.00. The coach looks great, and gets rave reviews by all that see it. As to resale value, I believe the value will not change much. These coaches tend to reach a certani value, then basically stay at that level.

Whatever decision you make, keep in mind, you know your coach and it' mechanical condition. You always take a bit of a gamble when you get another coach. let us know what you decide.

Jim

[W4RLR]

Update the interior, paint the exterior, do it as you can and pay cash. Sure beats a monthly RV payment.

We've followed that axiom with our 1995 Jayco fiver. I actually looked at new ones last weekend. Nice dreaming about one until I figured out the monthly payments. The monthly payments on my current rig are $0 a month, as I paid it off years ago. Now my only expenses are maintenance and improvements, of which I am making many now that we are full-timing.

[1ciderdog]

My opinion FWIW is if you like the RV and the floor plan (you don't need the triple or full length slides, those newer things, etc.) you would be better off modifying your present RV.
Safe Travels
Bob

[Dogpatch]

I agree. Remodel.

Once you get to a certain year and qualiy of build, going newer, only gets you newer, not usually different or necessarily better. You know your coach and if the condition over all is good, do the mods. From my experience in looking for my present, new to us RV, is that spending an additional $20,000 on a newer RV would not get me what I would want, but spending $20,000 on renos would get me very close to having it by doing mods.

[ron55]

I have redone mY VOYAGE $15,000.00 for paint at precision painting in Indana, one of the dumbest things I have ever done. Some reasons are terrible job for the money, they only paint according to their paint diagrams not back to winnebago schemes which means any thing goes bad, hatches lids so forth you then have to have that repainted to match the precision scheme, big big mistake.
So I have redone the inside compelety rebuilt the easyrest couch and dinette, 32"tv, convection microwave, washer/dryer, travler satt dish, full size kitchenaid drawer dishwasher.
Last August I burned the 8.1 engine up in Colorado workhorse rebuilt (no new 8.1s)$20K
I WISHED I HAD TRADED THIS THING A LONG TIME AGO, even with all the money I have spent it is not worth anything on trade' every dealer has to many workhorse gas 8.1 setting on their lot.
The engine is running ok right now but I don't trust it anymore.
I stoped at LazyDays last fall to trade and would have except they did not have any winnes or tiffins that was not painted black and black is to hot in florida. Take this for what it worth, I am still looking to trade!

[Dogpatch]

Sorry to hear ron55. I suppose there will always be exceptions. You do have some valid points though. Losing the engine definately put you over the top, however, I guess you could blow the engine on a 3 year old coach just out of warranty. Only protection you ever have for that one is warranty coverage of some kind.

[charles tuit]

We looked at new and newer coaches and chose to remodel. You would be surprised what a new full body paint job will do. Also did new swivel recliners and tv's etc.She got 166,000 miles and plan to put another 166,000 if health holds out. Don't forget to factor in depreciation on a new or newer coach when making your decision.Charlie Tuit02 JourneyXL-7 toad

[Steve N Sal]

Originally Posted by WeatherTodd

I never get that rationale??? 110k miles...conservatively estimating it cost at least $10k in fuel and probably 1/2 that for operation service.

Do you know how much $$$ it cost to maintain a "high mileage" diesel? I do. I also have 2 friends with very busy heavy truck shops that do too. Im talking tourbus/18 wheeler type vehicles... ones built to go "lots" of miles other less powerful diesels claim.

Excuse ME!

[Just For Fun]

Lots of interesting view points. And, to each of these with those points of view… Very good for your situations. But… I too have a point of view and it’s more based on what the specific MH owner has vs. wants.

Here’s my 36 cents worth:
1. if what you have is EXACTLY what you want – length, layout, power, options – and it’s running fine, keep it an upgrade it as you have the money and or time
2. if you WANT (as with us) a longer/larger coach and have the cash or ability to make the payments, upgrade
3. if you WANT significantly more power -diesel over your existing gas - and have the cash or ability to make the payments, upgrade
4. if you WANT options out of line with what you currently have and have the cash or ability to make the payments, upgrade

Simple logic if …Depending on your specific situation.

[movin-on]

Another consideration and don't know if this is true or not, but we were told at a Camping World that banks no longer gives loans on rigs older than 10 years old...The CW that we went to won't even take in a trade of that vintage because they would need a cash buyer...
Maybe a finance person here could confirm this......

[RTegarini]

Originally Posted by movin-on

Another consideration and don't know if this is true or not, but we were told at a Camping World that banks no longer gives loans on rigs older than 10 years old...

That's where a local bank or credit union comes into play. They typically will make loans on older RV's and at more favorable rates then the typical name-brand bank that only knows you as an account number.

And while Camping World may have a policy on not taking in units more than 10 years old, I see plenty of units older, and much older, at other RV and RV-mega stores then the 10-year-old-maximum of Camping World.

Another point in favor of remodeling and not buying brand-new, at least in California, is the cost of admission to registration and license plates. That's about 2% of the purchase price for the first year, whereas your ten-year old motorhome registered in California would be far less. (Though never less enough when compared to states like Oregon!) -RT

[TerryJ]

We had an older Dutchstar and were going to remodel it. We never had any problems, mechanical or otherwise, and really liked this MH. The decision was made to replace instead of remodel so we purchased a new Vista 35F 18 months ago. That is a decision that we have since come to regret. I have owned 7 motorhomes, 4 of them Winnebagos, and all of them combined gave me less trouble than this Vista. The build quality on the Vista is the worst I have ever seen. The quality control and final inspection folks at Winnebago must have been off the day this one was built. Damn, I really miss my Dutchstar!!