Evaluating a 1999 Roadtrek

[Bast]

Hi
The more I read the more confused I become. I think I want a roadtrek but the only ones I can find in my price range are 1999 or 2000 models. I keep reading that any vehicle older than 10 years should not even be considered. I am aware that I shouldn't buy a vehicle with leaks but what about age. Are the hoses the primary problem? How expensive is it to replace bad hoses? Bast

 

[ilovemyvan]

Hi Bast,

I don't know much about mechanic but I doubt that the 10 years limit is an absolute. First and for most, have the vehicle check by a good mechanic. To me the amount of rust is very important. You can fix a lot of things but rust...it's a different beast. A well maintained car can go on for quite a few years. Does the owner has all of the repair and maintenance invoices? Does he/she have proof of regular oil changes? How many miles does it have? How about the appliances, are they clean and working properly? Does it smell good or does it smell old and neglected?

A lot of very knowledgeable people here can help you better than I can. Just my 2 cents.

 

[GotSmart]

10 years  :huh:  I have only had one vehicle newer than that in my life!

 

[Bast]

Hi
I thought that 10years was very conservative. I appreciate the responses.
Bast

 

[rverscorner]

My 1995 Roadtrek is still going strong at 21 years old and 185,000 KM. As a matter of fact, we will be heading to Ontario in May for a round trip of 7000km and I have no worries that my Roadtrek will be fine for the journey.

 

[TMG51]

Hi
I thought that 10years was very conservative. I appreciate the responses.
Bast

There are sort of.... two different schools of thought about vehicle age...

There are those that expect to get in a vehicle and have nothing go wrong, or anything taken care of for them at the dealer if something does. Those are the people who adhere to the 10 year advice you've cited.

Then there're those who would prefer to buy older vehicles, on the cheap, and indeed usually much greater than 10 years old because those older vehicles can still be worked on and repaired by the owner for cheap. A 10 year old vehicle now is a 2006. Newer used vehicles have a lot of electronics, plastic and other things that go wrong and are harder to repair. As you're polling responses from cheaprvliving.com, people here tend to be the latter group, who like to be able to fix things with a wrench and some curse words.

It's cheaper to maintain an older vehicle than it is to buy a new one and hope nothing goes wrong. But that does presuppose you're somewhat mechanically inclined, so the determination is yours.

Also, it's worth pointing out another reason why you're seeing 1999-2000 models of Roadtreks. There's really nothing much more recent being made for Class B RVs without spending an egregious amount of money. There are fancy conversions out there for 100k.... but no one seems to be interested in manufacturing economical conversions anymore... so if you want a Class B, your choices are buy something in that year range, or fork out a lot of dough, or buy a newer van and convert it yourself. My van is a Dodge Class B from 1999.

 

[lterry]

I have a 1990 Roadtrek and have only had to replace the alternator as far as the van side goes. Dealing with the camper side - the waterline is broken which isn't a problem as I didn't want to waste electricity on running water, and the valve of toilet was broken. A very nice person fixed that for me. And my hot water blew a fuse every time I tried to use it. Again I considered it unnucessay as I don't have running water anyway. I'm really happy with my Roadtrek. Those things I mentioned could be fixed for cheap but I choose not to. My seats are in great condition and it's a nice home inside my van. I wouldnt worry about age - I would worry about how well it was taken care of.