1985 290 Motorhome purchase?

[jmgraham]

We are looking at buying a 1985 290. We have never owned a motorhome, what should we know about it/ what is its value? I have been searching on the forum and I can't seem to find very much information. Thank you!

[Waipio Rim]

Welcome.

Where to start...

There are several threads here with some good advice on pre-purchase inspection, keep looking. Here is a recent one:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f311...le-125624.html

As far as price goes, all I can say is that they have generally been going up but they are all over the map. There was a 310 advertised here recently for $5,500, you can find others for over $30k. It will boil down to what it is worth to you and to the seller.

[mayco]

I think you might want to start by going to the CLASSIC MOTORHOME forum, click on the very oldest thread and read them all up to the most recent. May take a couple hours, maybe not, but you would get some idea of the common problems/up dates/hard to find parts/etc.. You will definitely see some trends in what folks have been faced with after purchase. There is a MASSIVE amount of information for you to digest. THEN you can possibly ask more specific questions about what to look for and such. No disrespect intended but the answer to your original question could fill a book. Get to reading, then post a few specific questions and the folks here will gladly chime in. I wish i would have started out by doing that!!!! Good luck to ya, the people here on the forums are great and incredibly knowledgeable, AND willing to share that knowledge.
Mike

[DaveFL]

You are looking at a 20 yr old vehicle, some items will be similar to your 30 yr old trailer but with the added chassis of a truck. We purchased a 10 yr old mh and found almost all the house parts were great, chassis has had it's problems, brakes, fuel, wiring, motor gaskets, a/c, and tires. opps trailers have tires. Best advice is find an owner reluctant to sell his prized possession but needs to because of things beyond his control, it will have been well cared for up until the time he has to sell it. Previous posts have given you the best advice for research and price, after you have looked at a few you will know when you are looking at quality, and if the first one was the best it will be gone by the time you do all your research but you will be ready for the next great buy Good luck on your quest.

[Kota]

I agree with the above statement. If you have to tow it home, expect a big expensive project. The PO on mine had just returned from at trip and was selling due to employment issues. He said if you ever sell it call me. We drove it 1500 miles home and camped in Yellowstone on the way after a stop at Wallymart in Spokane to buy the basics. It was well worth extra 5-10k we spent over the ones we looked that had been parked for years.

[Vycan]

Agree with Kota, was looking in the low introductory range for a while, and all we saw was garbage, both on the trailer and motorhome side. Do not get me wrong... I love a good challenge, but eventually you have to cut your losses and actually enjoy the thing. Talked it over with the missus and we doubled our budget and that gave us many more options. We were looking for a 30' with slideout, or a diesel pusher, and the diesel pusher came along. Talked it over with the missus, and we got the pusher. I like to think of it this way: It's an airstream, it's mine, and it is not an investment it is a money sink and will not recoup it's costs. Rather it is a question of where do I want to go with it.