toyboxII Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 Hi all--excuse the long post. Trying to decide whether to keep the Toy or move on. 1992 Itasca Spirit, 105K mostly trouble-free miles. Is it time to replace my faithful friend? Don't have $100K plus to buy something new, but after many frustrations (lately) with repairs to the Toy and finding out that Toyota Cares means NOTHING, I am trying to decide what to do. Should I keep the Toy and deal with the ever increasing repairs or move on to something else? Thought I would like a Roadtrek or something similar and maybe have less repair with something domestic. We have four vehicles on the road and I would like to simplify a bit if possible. We summer in PA and winter in FL and have cars in both places. We drive the Toy for a week down and a week back. Can't really see myself using the Toy as my daily driver, but have been thinking that maybe a B type van would serve this purpose. The Toy really has us spoiled with all its amenities and the B van would certainly be a comedown in the creature comfort department. The more I think, the more confused I become. What would you do? Keep the Toy and deal with the frustration of repairs or make the move to something newer and hopefully less aggrevation? Thanks in advance as always for all your input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 Any used vehicle that you buy is going to need repairs. Newer low mileage Roadtrek's go for tons of money and have pretty big gas guzzling engines. I think you should try to go drive a few and join some Roadtrek groups and see what they are complaining about. Get some perspective. I would never think of a vehicle with only 100,000 miles on it as done for. Could it be possible that the problems you have had are all fixed now and it will run great for a long time? My girlfriend has a Roadtrek and it's very tight inside. How much stuff do you take when you drive to Florida. If you pack quite a bit there is no room in a Roadtrek. My 18ft Sunrader has more storage space than her Roadtrek which is a foot longer Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjrbus Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 I put some thought into this before purchasing the Toy. If I bought brand new, (I don't want brand new, I want the warranty) with a bullet proof extended warranty (more money), if there is such a thing? Drive it off the lot and the instant depreciation would be far more than I have in my Toy! So that one is out! I was not interested in a new one but was wondering if it might be justifiable. I surfed some of the sprinter type forums looking for info on used ones. For repairs the dealers seem to like to throw parts at them until they get it right. Unless you buy the Mercedes, then the dealer will throw very expensive parts at it until it is fixed! MB reliability seems to be a myth. Then decided on a Rialta, joined the Rialta forum and found they are overpriced and have way too many issues. One couple needed a transmission. They were told $5000 and they could pick it up in 4 months! On the Toy I can replace from the motor back and new tires for $5000 and have it done in a week or two or even replace the whole Toy! We all view things a bit different, if I were in your position I would pick out something I think I like, find 1 or 2 forums for it and follow it for a few months. I would look for an RV forum and a truck forum. Then you can make an informed decision. My opinion and worth what you are paying for it. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphinite no longer here Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 Old motorhomes never die, they just stick around to drive you nuts! My '85 Dolphin is just like any other thirty year old vehicle - you're on borrowed time...Almost every exterior coach panel on my rig has been rebuilt to better than new, the engine only has about 85,000 miles on it with a new radiator, water pump, timing chain, upgraded alternator, four year old tires, freshly coated roof, and I rarely take it on a trip longer than 150 to 200 miles because I never know when something is going to fail and leave me stranded somewhere. Heck, I'm going back to a tent or a slide in camper and my little Nissan 4x4. Someone will get a good deal on the Dolphin come next Spring. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyboxII Posted October 23, 2015 Author Share Posted October 23, 2015 Thanks Linda and Jim for your valued opinions. As we only use the Toy for two weeks per year with long periods of unuse between, we seem to have mechanical problems related to sitting for long periods. Same with the cars--PA car sits for six months and FL car sits for six months with mechanical problems because of the long periods of not being used. Would like to have one vehicle that I can use as a daily driver and still have the ability to camp/live in during the travel times. This all started because we were in repair for two weeks on the road because of the ineptitude of the parts guys who couldn't find the right parts to redo our front brakes. As it is, we were only able to find a right side caliper and had to reuse the left side. Luckily, it was the right side that was the problem. Five different shipments of parts during the two weeks and each one was wrong! Called Toyota for help and they have a Toyota Cares section that was NO help at all. Toyota Cares=NOT! As our vehicles get older, I am afraid that parts are going to get harder to find? Seeking a little peace of mind! Have also thought about a truck camper so that I could off load the camper and use the truck daily. If I get enough truck to carry a camper with all of the amenities of our Toyhome, using the big truck daily doesn't seem to be a very economical solution. Also, loading and off loading seems to be a hassle according to some truck camper owners that I've spoken to. Confusion reigns! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totem Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 I personally have 4 vehicles. 3 diesels and the toy. My diesels are all over 225,000 miles on the odo and the toy at 84,000. Each gets used monthly. some rules of thumb for ANY vehicle -> 1.) a vehicle in motion stays in motion. - DRIVE IT! use your toy don't let it rot! 2.) a new vehicle that sits will get issues from rodents same as an old vehicle that sits. KILL varmints. 3.) the key to having the lowest maintenance on a vehicle is to NOT let the "parts guys" or mechs determine what you want done. LEARN your vehicles. Having an older vehicle simply means you have more time to learn its intricacies and YOU become the parts guy. take personal responsibility for your vehicles, don't be a victim. 4.) If 1-3 are too much, they do have RV rentals, hotels, cabins, apartments etc. Whats the reason you are in your toy to begin with? it should be a hobby something you take interest in not someone else victimizing you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyboxII Posted October 23, 2015 Author Share Posted October 23, 2015 Hi Totem and thanks for your reply. I agree 110% with all you say. In my defense, we love our Toy and while I am handy and do a lot of work myself, as I get older I am less capable of handling a lot of jobs that are best left to those younger than I. That being said, when you break down in a strange place, you at the mercy of service people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob C Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 If you only use the Toyota for a short trip twice a year, why own it? I would sell the Toyota and two cars. I would stay in hotels on the way to each destination and drive the same 2 cars all year. It would mean that your cars don't have issues from inactivity. You would save insurance on 3 vehicles, no prestorage maintenance, and you get some of your money out of the Toy and the 2 vehicles you sell. That being said, I have a Goldwing and our Toy that are in storage about 3 to 4 months of the year. I store the Toy at the local fairgrounds because I don't want all of the snow sitting on the roof. My Wing gets started and run for 10 minutes every week so I don't have any storage issues with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totem Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 Toyboxii I say the same things and I am only 41. Right now I am in process of ripping 4 doors off of my ram and replacing them with 4 doors from a craigslist donor. The wiring, panel work and even the swap out of the lock cylinder I can handle. But man do I realize when I attempt to lift and hold a dodge ram door while simultaneously puttiing the bolts back into it that I just cannot do the feats of my 20's. When I was 25 I could hold a door in one arm and put a bolt in with the other then grab the ratchet out of my teeth. Not so today can't do it. I see you use the word "we"... you need to get your wife to help you more. Use your grand kids. use your neighbors. Beer and food are the glue of nation building. you CAN do this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 If you only use the Toyota for a short trip twice a year, why own it? Come on !! I have over a dozen cars, trucks and RVs. Obviously many spend a lot of time sitting. Works fine for me and I don't want any damn hotel rooms. The question was asked "why own it" if only using it a few times a year??? I only see a doctor maybe once a year. I have not used my house insurance even once in 40 years. I own around 150 acres of land and probably only "use" a few acres of it. I have nearly 100 guns and even touched a few in a long time. The reality is -as Americans with a very high standard of living, we hardly "need" anything that we have. It's a matter of lifestyle and being able to do what you want, when you want. If a person can afford it -why the heck not? On the subject of cars/trucks/rvs and miles. I rarely buy anything with less then 150K and then drive till it gets to 400K - 500K or rots out first. I've had very few issues with "lack of use" break-downs." But I do a lot of preventative maintenance on all our vehicles. I'd drive my 1988 or my 1978 Toyota anywhere and likely have no issues. And both only get used maybe 5-10 times each during summer months. That being said - I check both over very carefully when I first got them, checked pretty-much all moving parts and replaced "suspect" times before they failed. Works for me. Now if I was NOT a mechanic and to pay someone to do all the work - I'd probably have to revert to something newer - or just give up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 Toyboxii I say the same things and I am only 41. Wait another 30 years and see how much harder it gets. I'm building an addition on our house right now and have to get my wife to help me lift things now and then (she is 12 years younger then me). I can't swing a hammer all day long anymore and now use a nail-gun. I can't even lift my arms higher then my head anymore and keep holding back on getting shoulder-joint replacements. On the door subject - I just did a few and know exactly what you mean. I propped mine up on a stack of wood blocks that put the door the same height as the hinges on the truck and it made things much easier. Regardless of less strength and more pain - I still enjoy being able to do things MUCH cheaper then hiring someone else. There is also a certain level of satisfaction of being able to do things on your own (albeit with some help from a few friends and/or family members). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustrmrk Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 Before we bought out Toyota, we looked seriously at buying a 2005-6 Sprinter and doing our own conversion. I did a cost comparison for fuel use and the difference between 25 mpg diesel ($0.60 more than gasoline on the east coast) and 15 mpg gasoline, including the price of each vehicle and no repair costs, IIRC it would cost us $500 or so more per 10k miles to run the Toyota. The difference in purchase price between the two vehicles was about $5k-6k, It would have taken 50,000 miles to make up the difference in purchase price, and I still would have had to do the conversion on the Sprinter - the Toyota was ready to go. The Sprinter, from what I understand, uses at least three different OBD protocols, requiring special software and hardware for diagnostics. Parts availability and price, and the complexity of the Sprinter vs. the comparative simplicity of the Toyota made the decision easy for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjrbus Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 Your 2 week experience was not a Toyota parts availability problem, likely extremely frustrating but not the Toys fault. From my shopping around I do not foresee any shortage of Toyota truck parts in the next several years. There are too many of these vehicles on the road worldwide. I could be wrong? If sitting in between uses seems to cause issues, the answer to that seems simple. I like the Toy, but there have been a few days I would like to take it for a long drive on a short pier Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back East Don Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 This year turned out to be a pretty expensive year for us with our 87 Itasca. We had let it sit for 3 years moving it only to keep the tires inflated and such. Even then much of the work done was due. Any RV remotely in the price class of even the most expensive Toyota RV is going to need work done to it and pretty regularly. You'd have to go up to a much newer RV to get anything remotely resembling the kind of factory service you expect. Right or wrong, Toyota views these chassis as long having end of life from a support perspective. The parts guy may have messed up getting brakes but how many of these do you think he's run into? Not making excuses for a bad service experience. Just saying that if you want better support you might have to move to a much newer RV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dolly Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 This 88 Toy is my 3rd motorhome in a line of about 15 RVs over the course of 40 years of fulltiming. We have always done our own repairs whether a broken axle in Seligman, AZ or a blown engine in Kingman. We are now 60 and move a lot slower. The Toy is all original with 44k. Everything works but it needed a harmonic balancer and a master cylinder. Pretty good for having sat so long. It is easy to work on if you have to compare it to ANYTHING larger. Small nuts and bolts. That's why we bought it. I have a friend with who is 83 and lives in a 1979 Toy. the kind that has the single axle camper, he has had it for over 15 years and he still works on it but the engine is original and he goes from AZ to OR every year. Sometimes you get a lemon just like with everything else. They are like VWs, if you love them you keep them and work on them, if not get something else but there is nothing that you wont have to work on even if its brand new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shibs Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 even brand new campers need work. What you have here is a drive train that is 30 year old and sometimes you need to plan ahead to replace parts. But an equally important part of owning an old drive train is to educate yourself and know where you can source your parts when in need. if you are serious of keeping the toyo then I would stock up on parts that is needed periodically, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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