Not so much concerns but I would check out a few Rexhall owners forums, get the scoop from them on the nuances of your model, and feedback on pricing, G

Older Rexhall's always looked quite good to us. Lately Rexhall has been playing up its Christian connections, a red flag for me since I find businesses that do that are not sincere.

Thanks Bill & Ron - I agree Bill and good points Ron - there is just so much knowledge and help on this site - it is wonderful!

kb0zke wrote:

---

You are looking at a rig that is 15 years old and has less than 30,000 miles on it. That translates to under 2000 miles per year. You can expect to spend a fair amount of time and money replacing various hoses, seals, and belts because they have deteriorated due to lack of use. Been there, done that. Now if it had 130,000 miles on it, I'd be more impressed.

---

 That is a point that I was about to make too.  A lot of the engine and transmission seals depend on the lubricant being moved about to keep them supple.  Replacing transmission or engine seals could be expensive!  I'd think about taking the rig for a long ride, then having a mechanic check for any kind of fluid leak.  A very small leak may be just the tip of the iceberg and a warning of bigger things to come.

 

Our coach was 11 years old when we bought it and it's now 23 years old. I can tell you that you will be taking on a lot of maintenance, repair, replacement, modifications, fixes, repairs, maintenance, replacement, updating, repairs, replacements and, oh yeah, repairs.
With all of that firmly fixed in your mind, we have enjoyed almost every minute that we have owned our coach. We are lucky in that we don't have to worry about things like side wall delamination since we have plenty of leaks (argh!). We have replaced our fresh water holding tanks and re-plumbed the water connections to eliminate those leaks, rebuilt the engine, replaced the engine fan and radiator, repaired the A/C several times, reupholstered some of the furniture, replaced the convection/microwave, replaced the gas cooktop, replaced the kitchen and bathroom sinks, replaced the toilet, changed mattresses (twice), removed one of the 2 sofas for additional room (no slides) and replaced with a desk, replaced roof top over the air antenna which was destroyed at 70 MPH, replaced several gauges, the coach radio, 3 TV's (move to digital), changed the desk top lighting fixtures too many times, added an insta-hot fixture in the kitchen (a real hit with Janet!). I am sure there is more, but it pales compared to the new paint job that we now need! Despite all of that, we love our bus. We would trade it if we could but since we know we can't we love it!

-- Edited by Bill Adams on Sunday 22nd of May 2011 05:18:23 PM

No, I did not have anyone check out anything. Maybe that would have been a good idea, but I have put over 180,000 miles on this coach since 1999. Stuff happens! The coach has over 300,000 miles on the odometer so what would you expect but our bus conversion is designed for this kind of usage. The leak in the holding tank bay would have been found by a good inspector but I am not sure what else that happened in the last 12 years could have been predicted. The reality is that we take a lot of equipment that was designed to be in a house and put it in a mobile environment and then subject it to the equivalent of a daily/weekly/monthly Category 6+ earthquake. Are you really surprised that stuff fails? We have had to replace all 8 tires twice due to mileage plus a couple more due to unexpected flats (one my fault, one not). The last set of 8 tires cost almost $6,000 while the first replacement set only cost about $4500. That stinks up it was also 80,000 miles ago and there are not a lot of things that are going down in price.
Save money? What are your REAL expenses now? Don't sugar coat it, add them all up. Taxes, insurance, interest, maintenance (all of it) including yard work, garbage collection, utilities, cable, on and on. The more you move the higher your costs will be as most campgrounds offer weekly rates and even better monthly rates. We almost always have to pay daily rates as our business keeps us on the move and we are rarely in one place long enough to take advantage of a weekly rate (on average we move about 60 times per year).
I am not trying to discourage you or anyone else from jumping into this lifestyle as it is BY FAR the greatest thing I have ever done in my life! Come one, come all, most folks (but not all) will simply love it. However, I do want you to take a realistic view of what you are getting into. You are going to need to have some money available for unexpected repairs.

I own a 1994 Rexhall Aerbus that I bought for about the same amount that the RV you are looking at. I am happy with my RV although I wish I would have looked more closely for an RV with a generator. I would also look at what modifications the previous owner made because the previous owner of my Rexhall did some modifications some good and some that made me nervous. For instance he did some rewiring on his stove but forgot to put a wire cap (I think thats what you call it) on exposed wire and it was dangerously close to the top of the stove. He also took out an RV refrigerator and put in a regular house refrigerator. The good is that it gets nice and cold the bad I can not run it on propane if I want to travel. Please feel free to ask any questions you have.

Coly

RVPAINTER wrote:

---

Thanks Coly I appreciate your feedback. The horror stories by Bill are concerning, but I tend to think they are over played with drama. Yes things break down - happens all the time in any type of home. I think if someone is pro-active with PM the chances of breakdowns are certainly lessened. If all of Bill's stories are accurate I would have driven that thing over a cliff real quick like! We are still waiting for our home to sell and I'm sure the unit will be gone by then - it is at PPL in Houston TX. All the feedback has been very educational and thought provoking for sure. Thanks

---

 Hard to understand where you think Bill's comments are overplayed and drama.  He is telling you the real story.  If you think for one minute you are going to use a vehicle for 180K miles and not have repair issues, yu need to get a grip on reality.  he had to replace tires 2 times.  Gee, getting that many miles out of tires is not easy.  Replacing a firg in 12 years, easy to understand.  I know people that have replaced RV frig 3 times in 5 years.  At least he has a home designed unit, but it must not like an earthquake. 

You can call Bill's post as horror stories if you wish.  But, you better find something else to do with you life, because it is evident RVing will cause you a lot of heartaches and stress.  When my stuff breaks, and yes it breaks, I fix or replace and consider it a part of life.  Besides, if you drive anything over a cliff, the gov't will charge you to recover it and then you have to find a way to dispose of it, at your cost.

 

Bill's first post started with "Our coach was 11 years old when we bought it and it's now 23 years old."

What didn't you see? :)

-- Edited by Luvglass on Tuesday 24th of May 2011 02:11:09 PM

I am sorry that you saw my post as doom and gloom as it was not intended to appear that way at all. However, it was meant of offer a bit of reality to another person who is considering buying a 15+ year old coach. The low mileage you mention may mean that the interior hardware is in excellent shape but not necessarily. It also may mean that your drive train could have problems as lack of usage can be very bad, but not necessarily. I actually did not list a single that we did not actually do. Heck, take a look at what Howard had to do to his coach just to allow his overweight coach to be safe to travel in! You should look at that list again and be sure that you keep things in perspective. I did not say that we HAD to do some of those things, only that we had done them. Some things were done because we live in our coach and they just wore out. Put 2-4 cats in your coach, use the same chairs over and over and over for 12 years, shake the crap out of your household appliances as you drive down the road and let the ravages of time take their toll and you will find that things need to be fixed and replaced. There's nothing you can do about it, you just either grin and bear it or choose another lifestyle. Some folks will see higher maintenance costs and some will see less. You are considering buying an older coach and can expect higher maintenance costs. If you would like me to give it to you they way you were hoping to hear, here it is.
I would highly recommend that you buy that youthful beauty. Everything should be fine, you should have no problems, you will never have acne again and you will likely get 20-30 MPG. That's a joke, just in case I have said something that offended!!!! Please re-read what I posted with an open mind. I love my coach. I have put 180,000 miles on my coach. I have updated my coach. I left my antenna up while I drove down the road and had to replace it (not the coach's fault). I just want you to be aware that a 15 year old coach might, just possibly, have a higher expense ratio that a newer coach might have. For me, I save about 75% by buying a used coach so the ongoing costs are acceptable.

Bill - I understand where you are coming from - I understand what you are saying - I am a 71 year old RV-Virgin who is looking forward along with his DW to inhale all the wonderful sites in this country, Canada and BCS Mexico. We went to an RV show in Albuquerque last month and that was the first time in an RV - nuff said!!! I think you have put enough doubt in my buying a used RV that is as old as the one I asked opinions about. We have now shifted our search and research back to used RV's in the range of 2003-2009, with perhaps an average of 7-10K miles per year. I've asked the question about milage B4 and there is a wide range of answers - "The less milage - the more chance of repairs due to dried our seals etc etc. On the same hand most agree with the fact that most RV's are not driven a lot, so short of buying a new one and letting the seals dry out because YOU (me) do not drive it a lot, it would seem that the replacement of dried out seals for example is just a fact of RV-ing - whether you (me) or some one else lets them dry out. Sort of a catch 21 me thinkith :>)

I've read one should have a reserve fund for repairs - we plan on a reserve fund of $10,000 to be replenished as used. Crap happens but you can still land the plane (from my Air Force Days) and NO it was not during World War I :>)

Appreciate your feedback and I apologize for my mis-understanding of your intentions. I'm makin a list of "thingies" to add to our RV and just added the Progressive EMS - great advice. I'm starved for RV info and trying to get as much as I can. Of course it may take 5 years to sell our home and by then I'll forget all I learned any ways and could be in a home drooling on my new plaid shirt! :>) As we say in New Mexico -
Peace Bro!!