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  1. Hello everyone and THANK YOU for this wonderful resource! Been out of the RV thing for about 10yrs. This will be my 2nd. First was a 1976 Dodge Eldorado that my wife “had to have”;-) She thought we got a great deal and we sure did have a lot of fun it. I am hoping that my fun to work quotient will be much closer to hers with the Toyota. The Dodge was a 360 V8 moving a coach about the same size as the toy without the rooftop air or duals. Very easy and enjoyable to drive. That being said, the 8-9 mpg that went along with it was simply not acceptable. I was always telling her that if it was my decision we would have got a Toyota. What do you know, some times she actually hears me;-) Once again she simply “had to have” an RV and this time it was a Toyota. I have a few questions I would like to ask this great community. First I would like to lay out my thinking of how I am approaching this purchase. My hope is to not only have a reality check for my thinking but also to help others by using the collective wisdom to demonstrate how to safely enjoy our mini homes on wheels. So we have an RV… I want to be able to take my grandson without worrying about his life or being stuck by the side of the road. I also would like to keep this for a long time and be able to boondock in comfort. Was not expecting to simply buy a 31 year old MH and have it meet those criteria. This was a Craigslist purchase for $3,500 near Memorial day in Minneapolis. Certainly with more time and patience a better deal could be had but this is what she found and wanted now. Looks like it has been maintained pretty well and the inevitable water damage appears to be minor. From what I could see by crawling around underneath the rust didn’t appear too bad. Ran well and I was surprised at how adequately it got up to speed. Bought it. In the spirit of this thread I would like to point out that the first thing you should do before a purchase like this is to fully inspect all systems and that involves a lift and knowledge. Also in the spirit of what I hope this thread becomes sometimes you won’t. In my case we bought it without adequate inspection. My thought was that it was actually a $6k purchase and I hope that my inadequate inspection is good enough. To me, $6k is certainly not an unreasonable expense for a 21’ motorhome with a 22re 4spd and 6 bolt floater. Everyone’s value choice is different and from what little shopping I have done price and condition vary so widely that it is hard to even make any sort of judgement on this. First stop was to a competent tire shop for chassis and brake inspection. No major rust damage so time to continue. New rear brake cyl, shoes, emergency brake repair, diff fluid change, transmission oil change, all wheel bearings re-packed, and 6 new tires will leave me with about $1k left to work with. To me this step wasn’t optional and while I could have done everything other than the tires myself, not having to crawl around underneath was worth the extra expense. Some people will just get in and go and just wait for something to break. These are Toyotas after all. I would prefer to address likely failures and hope to enjoy trouble free use. Next step will be to go through the 30K and 60K maintenance schedules and replace all cooling system hoses and vacuum lines. Hopefully the EGR valve is good as that would take a big chunk out of the remaining budget. The other stuff should be pretty minor expense wise (all tolled about as much as the EGR valve). The first time I have enough days of dry weather I intend to re-seal the coach seams. Looks like some kind of white rubber paint is on them now. Any recommendations for the best way to do this? Anyone know where to get the vinyl trim that goes between the glass and the metal window frames on the outside? Have to get the proper horizontal LP tank for it. Have had it hooked up to a BBQ grill cyl and the system did not leak and fridge burner and stove worked. Haven’t went through the water heater or furnace yet. Shore power works but haven’t put a house battery in yet and haven’t confirmed the operation of the isolation relay. Also plan to replace all the cabin lights with LEDs. Setup for generator but not on the priority list for this year and likely would blow the budget for this year anyway;-) Rooftop air is fine for guest room use but boon docking I would prefer to live without it rather than run a generator even if I did have one. Faucet needs repacking and toilet valve needs fixing / replacing. Haven't filled the house tank yet so I don’t know if there are issues with the pump or tank yet. City water works other than noted. The last part of this long post is the worst. Have a Dometic RM461 with a bad cooling unit. I have found two different people selling rebuilt cooling units for about $400. One charges $500 but will refund $100 on core return. Looks like it will run closer to $800 for a brand new fridge and then of course I will have to remove the seat to get it in. Repair or Replace? Any experience with either? That’s how I am approaching my 1985 21’ Coachman. Look forward to comments! My ideas have already been compared to crazy on this site and that is OK with me — just as long as I learn something. Wade
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