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[GMCnet] Help buying a GMC motorhome [message #301884]

Wed, 08 June 2016 22:55

glwgmc

Messages: 1014
Registered: June 2004

Karma: 10

Senior Member

This is a for the good of the order post in the hope that the next new buyer can find it. Many new buyers properly come here to see if they can learn something about values and prices that will help them make their purchase decision. Over the years I have observed that most such questions are answered here with some version of "the asking price being too high." In some cases, I agree with the assessment, but in many I don't. So, I would like to express my somewhat different point of view.

My advice to any new buyer is buy the very best coach you can possibly afford and here is why.

When you break down the costs and skills required to bring current a new to you GMC the hardest and most expensive thing to do is the interior. Yet that is where you and your family will spend their time while in the coach. It can easily cost $30,000 or more to do a first rate interior restoration including new furniture, fabrics, cabinetry or cabinetry finishes, electronics and floor, wall and ceiling coverings. Unfortunately, that is often the lowest priority for a new buyer, but the very thing that you and you family will experience every minute they are in the coach whether moving or not. And, doing the interior correctly is often beyond most people's skill level.

Paint is the second most expensive thing to restore. Since our coach bodies are made from three different materials, each requiring their own special sealers and paint prep techniques, a first rate base coat, clear coat finish with properly done edge-less graphics can easily top $15,000. And, that is most often also beyond the skill level of most new buyers.

Replacing or restoring all the appliances, electrical and plumbing systems - refer, stove, roof air, hot water, furnace, microwave, toilet, sinks, tanks, lines, converters, combiners, inverters, etc. - can easily cost more than $7500 but normally is within the skill level of most new buyers. Almost no one would purchase a 70s house without thinking seriously about replacing all these unless a PO already had, but new coach buyers and their families so often suffer far too long with all the old stuff that is unreliable and which seriously detracts from the fun of coach ownership.

We all know that tires and batteries are disposable items. Five or six years are all you can realistically expect from them if you really use your coach. Many continue to suffer with the old steel 16.5 inch wheels (most likely bent and warped after 40 years of truck service) and only having one choice of tire, but the benefits of replacing them with really round alloy 16 inch wheels with a myriad of tire choices make that a most compelling case. Cost for 7 new 16 inch alloy wheels and tires can easily approach $6000 so making that change is far from a financial no brainier. And, overlook replacing the chassis and house battery banks at your own peril as a failed battery out in the boonies somewhere can really put a damper on an otherwise fun time for you and your family.

The drive train and other mechanical bits and pieces can all be replaced for about $20,000 including a new engine, transmission, final drive, cooling system, brakes, front suspension and rear suspension. And, that can be done by any competent mechanic so it is actually the easiest and one of the least expensive things to do, yet is the focus of most of our dialog here. And, the common statement by many new buyers is they are mechanically skilled so able and willing to take on these tasks themselves.

Now, to my opening statement - buy the very best coach you can possibly afford. By that I mean the one that comes the closest to already having a fully updated interior you are willing to live with right from the get go. And, one that already has paint that will keep you and your family excited for years to come. Such coaches almost always will already have updated appliances and 16" alloy wheels. Whatever you have to pay for it, you are already $50,000 ahead of the game no matter the condition of the mechanical stuff! The final point is that the mechanical stuff will deteriorate quickly if unused while all the rest will not if properly stored.

Bottom line, pay less attention to the mechanical stuff and a lot of attention to the interior, paint, appliances and systems when considering your purchase. You will be miles ahead, and your family will be millions of smiles ahead, if you do.

Jerry

Jerry Work
1978 Royale with most everything one can do to modernize a GMC
1977 Clasco restoration done in 1994. Found five years ago in an air conditioned building in Naples, FL, with 11,000 miles on the clock since the restoration.

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Jerry & Sharon Work
78 Royale
Kerby, OR