One of the major problems of buying used, however, is fear. Fear of breaking down on some deserted road. Fear of costly repairs that exceed the actual cost of the RV. Fear of ending up with a lemon that's unusable. Fear that you'll be forced to sell the RV at an extensive loss. Every one of these fears is justified; but the risk of these fears being realized will be very low if you follow proven guidelines.

As JD Gallant says in his book, How to Select, Inspect, and Buy an RV, you must stay within your budget, get a floorplan that works for you, and buy a quality unit. To do each one of these things takes some discipline, but when you make a successful purchase and end up as a "happy camper", you'll consider the time and effort well spent.

The easiest way to be sure that you are buying a reasonably risk-free motor home is to buy one that is "almost new" at a price between 30% and 60% of its "new" price. An "almost new" motor home should have the following characteristics:

• The mileage is relatively low — less than 10,000 miles or no more than 2,000 miles per year of ownership (well below the 5,000-mile average).
• It's old enough (2-5 years) that depreciation has slowed significantly.
• It's had only one owner.
• Records should indicate it's been well maintained.
• The tires look brand new.
• The RV drives like new.
• There's minimal wear and tear inside and out.
• The interior does not have a "lived-in" look and all the appliances and equipment are in perfect running order.

Buying "almost new" isn't as difficult as you think if you follow the above guidelines, you're not in a rush, you're willing to let everyone know you're in the market, and you're good at research.

In preparation for this article, we let people in our area know we were looking for an "almost new" motor home and came up with a perfect example within twenty miles of our offices. We were surprised to find that this eight-year-old RexAir (by Rexhall) had traveled only 3,012 miles. Study the example on the next page and see if you are motivated to buy "almost new."

(The next page contains photos. Please be patient while page loads.)


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