Best area of the country to buy a motorhome?

[Back East Don]

It's the middle of summer and it's a bit quiet around here.  I've long had this question but really don't know the best way to get it answered.

This is not specifically about Toyota's but considering price, selection and condition, where in the US are the best deals?  Any other variables such as type and size change the opinions?

Been poking around the market lately which just makes me even more curious with regards to this question.

[fred heath]

my preference would be states with little or no use of road salt. Prices with the internet search engines available will probably be fairly consistent.

Keeping in mind the cost of retrieval would have to be added to the purchase price vs. a local purchase.

[zero]

I don't know if there is any "best" or "worst" place.  I've gotten a lot of rust-free older motorhomes with very low miles from some of the "rustiest" places in the USA.  By that I mean areas like where I live in Michigan where the roads are salted in the winter and the summer (they just salted our roads today for the third time since spring).  My 1988 Toyota Minicrusier has been in northern Michigan since it was new and it has no rust anywhere. I suspect that is because in cold areas with lousy winters - some of these RVs just get stored much of the time and only get used a few weeks a year in the summer.  I recently sold a 1984 Datsun RV and it too was in Michigan since new. NO rust anywhere.  On the other hand - my 1978 Toyota Chinook came from Louisiana and had quite a bit of rust up top, not underneath. I suspect from the salt in the air from the ocean.

I HAVE noticed that many RVs from the snowbelt areas suffer from wood-rot. Mostly from being parked outside and getting snow sitting on top all winter (tarps don't help).

I suspect old RVs in best original condition are likely from the southwest.   They also might get a lot more use and more wear.  I guess it's a crap-shoot.

 

[Back East Don]

I asked this as a general question because I really don't think I am at the point where I've narrowed down the price range for starters and exactly how big.

Before deciding to buy my Toyota, I spent quite a bit of time on Ebay searching for all manor of RV.  A lot of window shopping to be sure but I wanted to get a sense of what was out there and how much.  I primarily searched just for motorhomes but others like airstreams (always been fond of the idea of them).  Back then it seemed there were lots in Texas.  Some pretty cheap but hard to know without checking them out.  The saying about everything is bigger in Texas though seemed true.

So right now I am only poking around craigslist and searching the northeast and southeast.  What is striking is how different both markets really seem.  Up north there is a bunch in the really cheap range (sub 5k to 10k) junk and rarely anything comes up in the mid (15-20k) that isn't someone thinking their old RV is worth more than it is.  Then it goes up, up up.  Florida seems to have less of the cheap, cheap stuff and it just seems newer RV's for what some are asking for stuff up to 10 years older up north.

This winter I might have the opportunity to spend a couple of months in Florida.  Testing the waters of my retirement.  I'm not however tied to one state and if things go well, I'll be in the market.  Don't know if that make the question clearer or just muddies it up further.

[jjrbus]

 Florida seems to be pretty expensive and I see a few reasons for it.  RV's can be lived in in FL and there are a surprising number of people living in them. There are many RV parks around where the RV's have not moved in years.  Fl seems to be the dream destination for people who want to wheel and deal for a living so anything that comes up for sale at a reasonable price is quickly sold being bought for resale.  Likely in better condition than those from the north also.  Then there a lot of retiree's who want to travel and are in the market. Used cars seem to be more expensive here also, I was looking for a 2 or 3 year old car and for the price difference ended up buying new.

[zero]

9 hours ago, Back East Don said:

  Up north there is a bunch in the really cheap range (sub 5k to 10k) junk and rarely anything comes up in the mid (15-20k) that isn't someone thinking their old RV is worth more than it is.  Then it goes up, up up.  Florida seems to have less of the cheap, cheap stuff and it just seems newer RV's for what some are asking for stuff up to 10 years older up north.

 

I watch four areas since I have friends or children who can check out a rig and get it for me - if I want 1978 it.  West coast of Florida (Naples, Punta Gorda).   Central New York (Coopestown, Syracuse).  Colorado (Westminster, Longmont, Denver), and basically all of both Michigans (upper and lower).  I've been doing this for over 10 years and have by far, found the best deals in the northeast and northern Michigan.  I paid $1800 for my 1988 Toyota Minicruiser with no rot, and matching 6 lug front and rear wheels. Needed some minor repairs and some cab-wood rot fixed but ran perfect.  Certainly not what I'd call junk.  I picked up my 1978 Toyota Chinook in Maine for $500 and it was a good running rig with no rust except along the top of the windshield. I also bought a 1984 Datsun Minicruiser here in Michigan a little over a year ago and I think I paid $1200 for it.  No rust and supposedly 84K original miles.  I wish now I'd kept it.  Had an OEM full-floating rear, 4.30 rear-axle ratio, five-speed manual trans, and a 2.4 liter carbed engine. Again, certainly not "junk."  I had it parked in front of one of my barns in northern Michigan some guy came buy and offered me twice what I'd bought it for (which was still cheap) and I sold it.  I now really wish I hadn't. It was a weak moment.  I cannot stand to drive anything until I've run it into my shop and spent a lot of time checking over everything.   I was feeling overwhelmed on that day, and decided to actually make some money for once - but now really regret it.  Overall - the 1984 Minicrusier is nicer then my 1988 Minicruiser.  I also really like the Datsun part with the five-speed trans and 4.30 rear. The old guy that had it for sale on CraigsList had owned it for several years but never used it once. His wife was mad at him for having it and he started out asking over $3000 for it. It took a few days of back-and-forth with him but I finally got the price down to $1200.  I have found that often asking prices on CraigsList are posted way higher then the owner really wants.  My 1988 that I got for $1800 had an asking price of $4500 when I first saw it.

[Back East Don]

32 minutes ago, jjrbus said:

 Florida seems to be pretty expensive and I see a few reasons for it.  RV's can be lived in in FL and there are a surprising number of people living in them. There are many RV parks around where the RV's have not moved in years.  Fl seems to be the dream destination for people who want to wheel and deal for a living so anything that comes up for sale at a reasonable price is quickly sold being bought for resale.  Likely in better condition than those from the north also.  Then there a lot of retiree's who want to travel and are in the market. Used cars seem to be more expensive here also, I was looking for a 2 or 3 year old car and for the price difference ended up buying new.

I am only commenting on what I see here in the northeast. In only a impression of things way, there seems a $20-50k range in Florida where you get newer, lower mileage class A's in comparison to here.  The never moving part would explain the low miles.  Here the RV parks are not year round so a seasonal site is just that.  A guy we met, who had the site near some friends of ours, only moved his motorhome 2-3 times a year.  They didn't own a home and lived in it.  Towed a huge Hummer and a Harley behind it.  Rig was way out of my league.

I'm a long way from pulling the trigger and really have only started window shopping.  No decisions have been made on when.

[zero]

Here is one that "got away" because I "bit my nose to spite my face."   1986 Sunrader in Fly Creek, New York.  Asking price was something like $3600. I was told later it sold for $2500 (cannot verify that).   I got in a heated dispute with the seller who I never got to meet and never got to make an offer.  All on my cell-phone. I had driven 30 miles to go meet with him and he did not show up.  After waiting an hour in the pouring rain, I got him on the phone and he said HE decided not to show since so many callers had stood HIM up and he did not feel like getting wet.  I got ticked off, we started calling each other bad names on the phone, and it was all over  and I left.  I never got to hear it run  but it certainly looked nice.  Seller claimed it ran perfect and also had new tires, and a brand new Dometic refrigerator.

[Back East Don]

4 minutes ago, jdemaris said:

I watch four areas since I have friends or children who can check out a rig and get it for me - if I want 1978 it.  West coast of Florida (Naples, Punta Gorda).   Central New York (Coopestown, Syracuse).  Colorado (Westminster, Longmont, Denver), and basically all of both Michigans (upper and lower).  I've been doing this for over 10 years and have by far, found the best deals in the northeast and northern Michigan.  I paid $1800 for my 1988 Toyota Minicruiser with no rot, and matching 6 lug front and rear wheels. Needed some minor repairs and some cab-wood rot fixed but ran perfect.  Certainly not what I'd call junk.  I picked up my 1978 Toyota Chinook in Maine for $500 and it was a good running rig with no rust except along the top of the windshield. I also bought a 1984 Datsun Minicruiser here in Michigan a little over a year ago and I think I paid $1200 for it.  No rust and supposedly 84K original miles.  I wish now I'd kept it.  Had an OEM full-floating rear, 4.30 rear-axle ratio, five-speed manual trans, and a 2.4 liter carbed engine. Again, certainly not "junk."  I had it parked in front of one of my barns in northern Michigan some guy came buy and offered me twice what I'd bought it for (which was still cheap) and I sold it.  I now really wish I hadn't. It was a weak moment.  I cannot stand to drive anything until I've run it into my shop and spent a lot of time checking over everything.   I was feeling overwhelmed on that day, and decided to actually make some money for once - but now really regret it.  Overall - the 1984 Minicrusier is nicer then my 1988 Minicruiser.  I also really like the Datsun part with the five-speed trans and 4.30 rear. The old guy that had it for sale on CraigsList had owned it for several years but never used it once. His wife was mad at him for having it and he started out asking over $3000 for it. It took a few days of back-and-forth with him but I finally got the price down to $1200.  I have found that often asking prices on CraigsList are posted way higher then the owner really wants.  My 1988 that I got for $1800 had an asking price of $4500 when I first saw it.

 

Perhaps junk was a poor word choice.  The northeast does seem to have a good selection of old RV's really cheap.  There are just a lot of gaps moving up the scale here and some real head scratcher asking prices on some old stuff.  The selection is a bit more sparse as well here.

[Back East Don]

4 minutes ago, jdemaris said:

Here is one that "got away" because I "bit my nose to spite my face."   1986 Sunrader in Fly Creek, New York.  Asking price was something like $3600. I was told later it sold for $2500 (cannot verify that).   I got in a heated dispute with the seller who I never got to meet and never got to make an offer.  All on my cell-phone. I had driven 30 miles to go meet with him and he did not show up.  After waiting an hour in the pouring rain, I got him on the phone and he said HE decided not to show since so many callers had stood HIM up and he did not feel like getting wet.  I got ticked off, we started calling each other bad names on the phone, and it was all over  and I left.  I never got to hear it run  but it certainly looked nice.  Seller claimed it ran perfect and also had new tires, and a brand new Dometic refrigerator.

I keep being called crazy for wanting to go through this again but I am very much also still in the market for a rear dinette Sunrader for a top down restoration project.  I'm retiring and am in no hurry to buy anything and no rush to fix it up.  Would be an epic project.

[naganthunter]

On 7/15/2016 at 5:36 AM, Back East Don said:

I keep being called crazy for wanting to go through this again but I am very much also still in the market for a rear dinette Sunrader for a top down restoration project.  I'm retiring and am in no hurry to buy anything and no rush to fix it up.  Would be an epic project.

You must have forgotten the pain that accompanies the work!  I'm 6+ months into my "I don't want another project" project.

 

[Back East Don]

39 minutes ago, naganthunter said:

You must have forgotten the pain that accompanies the work!  I'm 6+ months into my "I don't want another project" project.

 

First one came accompanied with all sorts of pressure and expectations from the Mrs who was far too eager to go camping.  The project might have been less torturous otherwise and more fun.

I have a friend who just built a huge garage because he collects and restores old cars.  When he accounts for all the work, the return on investment leaves him in the hole.  Hobbies can be more work than a job.

I'm not completely convinced this will ever happen.  I would need to find the right platform to start with and they are getting so hard to come by.  Plenty of other options out there on what to spend time on.  Right now it is fishing.

I came pretty close to buying one last year but we were dealing with my dying mother-in-law at the time and let it slip through my fingers.

[naganthunter]

I hear what you're saying.  Shopping is half the fun.  I spent nearly a year looking for the right one, and when I found it I realized I missed looking at them.  I enjoy working on it, but I really want to get out and USE it.  Unfortunately, mine's not there yet.  I'll most likely miss the summer camping season.  I hope to have it ready in time for this year's desert season. 

 

[naganthunter]

On 7/15/2016 at 5:30 AM, jdemaris said:

Here is one that "got away" because I "bit my nose to spite my face."   1986 Sunrader in Fly Creek, New York.  Asking price was something like $3600. I was told later it sold for $2500 (cannot verify that).   I got in a heated dispute with the seller who I never got to meet and never got to make an offer.  All on my cell-phone. I had driven 30 miles to go meet with him and he did not show up.  After waiting an hour in the pouring rain, I got him on the phone and he said HE decided not to show since so many callers had stood HIM up and he did not feel like getting wet.  I got ticked off, we started calling each other bad names on the phone, and it was all over  and I left.  I never got to hear it run  but it certainly looked nice.  Seller claimed it ran perfect and also had new tires, and a brand new Dometic refrigerator.

I would have chewed him out as well.  Don't feel bad.

 

[Back East Don]

3 hours ago, naganthunter said:

Unfortunately, mine's not there yet.  I'll most likely miss the summer camping season.  I hope to have it ready in time for this year's desert season

First year came and went and when we got in to fall I had to regroup.  Decided I needed the winter to decide if I was even going to finish.  Spring came and I had decided to give it a go and things just clicked.  At that point I no longer felt under pressure of some artificial deadline.  By mid May we were ready for the first trip out.  Not perfect but most of the systems worked.  I had replace the fridge, stove and toilet. Lets just say finishing touches were sparse.

It was extremely important for our sanity to get out.  There needed to be a feeling that the effort was worth it.  We had a blast that first year.  From May to Oct, we only spent 3 weekends home.  I was traveling quite a bit for work so it wasn't unusual for me to fly home on Friday and drop off one suitcase for a my travel duffel bag and head out in the motorhome.  You'd think it would be exhausting but in fact just getting on the road and pulling the plug on everything else was wonderful.

Hope you get out this year.

Edited July 17, 2016 by Back East Don

[RVdaytrader]

man, the black tank sure looks low on that sunrader!...I know I would have lost it several times on the roads I take yoda on.

[naganthunter]

On 7/16/2016 at 5:33 PM, Back East Don said:

Hope you get out this year.

So do I.  I travel a lot as well, which eats into my time to work on the camper.  I hope to get out in it as much as you did.  

[Totem]

On 7/17/2016 at 9:33 AM, RVdaytrader said:

man, the black tank sure looks low on that sunrader!...I know I would have lost it several times on the roads I take yoda on.

looks normal to me. Mine is identical.

Of course what you dont see in the picture is the welded "V" tank protector on the other side that takes the hit and prevents tank damage.