Should I keep it or trade it?

[brucehelen@charter.net]

I bought a 2007 Damon Daybreak 3060 (emphasis on "break") new in '08. No water problems so far, but the dashboard had a crack in it, the dash fan dropped down, the radio disc player had to be replaced, some of the outside trim molding was cracked, the instrument panel fell back into the dash board, the back-up camera screen came loose from one side, the crank-up mechanism for the antenna fell out, and the decorative decals on the outside are peeling off. Should I keep it or trade it?

[garykd]

Hi thebreeze1,

Compared to many of us, your situation is a step up. Owning a coach is one of the three great money pits. The other two are a boat and a horse. Don't ask how I know this.

The questions to ask are:

1. Do you like the RV lifestyle?

2. Does the coach floor plan meet your needs?

If the answer to both questions is yes, then it is time to recognize the coach will take time to settle down (mine took over 3 years). Once you finish the factory's job, it should serve you well.

[Guest 2driftrs]

Look at it this way - - it's cheaper to keep than to replace, simply because you just ate up a huge amount of depreciation! We had the same kind of annoying problems when we bought our rig 10 years ago. The worst ones were the plastic instrument panel that cracked, plumbing that leaked, engine air intake hoses that plugged with water, etc. But the cost to fix was a lot less than the thousands of bucks we lost just driving the rig off the dealers lot.

[NWJeeper]

Hi thebreeze1,

Compared to many of us, your situation is a step up. Owning a coach is one of the three great money pits. The other two are a boat and a horse. Don't ask how I know this.

LOL, I have experience with 2 of the 3. My dad always used to say that horses were good for putting money in one end and getting poop out the other, can't tell you here what he used to refer to them as.

I agree with your assesment though. All new motorhomes are going to have problems, once corected they usually become quite reliable. It's for this reason that I always advice first timers to buy a used motorhome as the problems have been worked out and they can learn the ways of and RV without the hassle of fixing these things.

If you like your floorplan and your RV, keep it and work through the issues.

[brucehelen@charter.net]

thank you all. i do like the floor plan and nothing major has gone wrong. although we dont go too far i love RVing. thanks again, i feel better about it.