--- In Diesel-RVs@yahoogroups.com, "northstatebiker"
<djohnsonhot@...> wrote:
>
> That was an excellent list. Good detail. Would take hours but it
is
> worth the time.
>
> There are advantages and disadvantages to working with retail RV
> dealers versus working with the original owner.
>
> One advantage: I always ask the owner to perform the first 15 to 20
> minutes of the actual test drive and then pull into a lot and I do
my
> thing.
>
> Why have him or he drive it? Well, I hope that this is not too
> obvious but it is easy to spot a lead foot who drives the rig hard
> when first cold. It the guy starts it from dead cold, which is
what
> you tell him to do (Sir, please do not start it before I show
> up)....and he gooses it right off, I may not be interested. I am
> spooked by lead foots.
>
> Sure, you'll have plenty of people here who drive that way, but my
> method is to drive slowly, and surely after a short warm-up and let
> the rig warm to operating temps prior to achieving high RPM's.
>
> Second, how does this person drive? Do they push it hard, break
> hard, all in a big hurry? Well, that tells you something.
>
> Third, ask about how he maintains things. The more detail that he
> provides, the better. I would shy away from the non-mechanical
types
> as they are not all that good about their own maintenance, such as
> small items like lubing your automatic steps, taking care of water
> quality (semi-annual or better treatments), checking for voltage at
> campgrounds.
>
> In short, sorry about the length, an original owner can truly
reveal a
> lot beyond the sales pitch.
>
> I have personally seen Sales guys at dealers run their used and new
> inventory really hard. Sales guys are notorious for showing
off "how
> much power she's got!!"
>
> I would be wary of an owner who only talks about the
> performance--which is a tell-tale sign of a person who drives hard,
> breaks hard, is generally impatient and the condition of the engine
> and tranny will suffer as a result.
>
> IMHO, this is how I look at used coaches. I am sure many will, "ah,
> you can't hurt a diesel." But the engine is but a small part of the
> drive train and there's much more to these rigs in terms of
> maintenance than anyone will tell you. Gas rigs are much easier to
> maintain and require quite a bit less attention.
>
> Finally, an owner's "mentality" is really what I am after. My
> favorite prior owner is an "attention to detail" type of guy. I
could
> go on and and about a friends used DP that he bought last
summer...it
> was so clear to us when we saw this coach, right off, and the number
> of problems they uncovered after the sale has been ridiculous.
> Luckily, they got a pretty fair price and that money savings has
> easily been spent....my buddy totally ignored my advice and has paid
> dearly for his lack of a good checklist and his inattention to the
old
> sick fella who was selling this coach.
>
> DJ
>
thanks for the info, kim
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