rmg21 Report post Posted August 9, 2012 I'm considering purchasing a 2000 Allergo Bay 35' Diesel pusher. The RV only has 20,000 miles and is in real good condition. The RV has new tires and batteries and has recently been serviced.. As you can imagine the interior looks like brand new. What concerns me is the age of the RV. Even though it hasn't had a lot of use being 12 years old I'm worried about the mechanicals, (engine/trans, slide, rubber roof, generator,hoses, wiring etc). The RV is selling for about half of what the average dealer price is so it would be a great way for my family to start off with a nice diesel pusher. I talked to Tiffin and they ran the VIN. The RV checked out OK and the Service Manager I talked to said this particular year and model was very good. Because of the RV's age I understand I will have to have to perform additional maintenance. Is a great price worth the possible maintenance I may incur. Does anyone have an option on what I should expect as far as maintenance and what I might be getting myself into? Thank you Richard. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tbutler Report post Posted August 9, 2012 Have you owned a motorhome before? If so, you understand the upkeep that goes with any motorhome, even new ones. Our first motorhome was a 7 year old Monaco Dynasty diesel. It had about 50,000 miles on it. We kept it for 2 1/2 years before trading for our current motorhome. We found that the two previous owners had made some cheap decisions on repairs. The alternator failed within the first year. One of the previous owners had put a cheaper alternator in and then made changes in the wiring so it would charge the house battery as well as the driving battery. Checking maintenance paperwork we got with the motorhome we found that the alternator had been replaced twice. We decided to purchase a new alternator of the correct type and have the wiring restored to the original. $1000. The dash air conditioning failed about the same time. That was simply a matter of replacing a hose and recharging the system. $300. Then we had a roof air conditioner quit and had to replace it. $1200. Shortly before we traded it in the engine coughed up an exhaust valve which required a new head, piston, cylinder sleeve and turbocharger and a few other parts. $10,000. There were a number of minor things we had fixed as well and constant minor repairs that I did. We had some great times and accomplished what we wanted to do. We determined that, despite what is described above, we enjoyed living full time in a motorhome. In the 2 1/2 years we put about 50,000 miles on the Dynasty so it got a good workout. I would recommend that you hire an RV tech (not associated with the selling dealer or owner) and have them go over the motorhome to give you an expert assessment of its condition, seals, appliances, furniture, plumbing, electrical system, suspension, leveling system, etc. Then take the motorhome to a dealer for the engine and have them hook it up to their analysis equipment and determine is current condition. Do the same for the generator. You could do the same with the transmission as well. This will cost you some $$ which may be out the window if the coach doesn't pass (in your opinion) this going-over. On the other hand if significant problems are found you would have paid that and more. My point is that you should find out from people who are working for you, not take the word of the seller and manufacturer, for an impartial opinion on the condition of the motorhome. That is the only way I know to get a good idea of what problems you might have with this particular motorhome. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wolfe10 Report post Posted August 9, 2012 Try to get some more history on the coach. Under 1,700 miles per YEAR scares me. Sitting in a field for a couple of year is a lot harder on a DP than an extra 50,000 miles. Do you have access to any maintenance records-- many items are based on time as well as miles. Brett Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rmg21 Report post Posted August 9, 2012 Thank you for your replies. I will go through the maintenance records. I was planning on taking the RV to an independent shop for an assessment. Money well spent. I know that this RV had two owners. The current owner has had the unit for 6 years and they are keeping it in their driveway. The owner has told me that when they are not on the road he runs the engine and generator every few weeks as well as driving it around the block. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wolfe10 Report post Posted August 9, 2012 The owner has told me that when they are not on the road he runs the engine and generator every few weeks as well as driving it around the block. BAD news. Particularly on a diesel, do NOT start it unless you can get the OIL, not just coolant up to operating temperature. If you start it and don't put enough load on it to get the crankcase up to temperature, you are just adding condensation to the crankcase (water vapor is a normal combustion product). If you can't drive a minimum of 25 highway miles, don't start it. That is directly from the Caterpillar Engine Maintenance Seminar I will be presenting in Indianapolis and applies to all brands of diesel engines. If properly done, the generator can be run in the driveway-- just turn on electrical loads equal to at least 50% of the generator's capacity and let it run a minimum of 45 minutes. Brett Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
charles10 Report post Posted August 9, 2012 Three years ago we purchased a 37 ft diesel Pusher 2000 Allegro Bus. The reason we purchased this bus was Tiffins reputation, the size and floor plan fit us and we had done a lot of research and picked out this model, when we found the price we thought was good we purchased the bus. It was a dealer (consignment) who had checked the unit, they did fair, everything worked at the time. When we discovered the model refrigerator was a fire hazard and we spent $400 on the current one and the second trip to repair we installed a new one. (looked at one unit that had $30,000 repairs from refrigerator fire) The Bus had 60,000 miles, 2 owners and many maintenance records, 2 year old tires and new roof. Last owner died during negotiations, said he could not do proper maintenance for several years. (I had been watching the unit for sale on the internet for about a year) My son, a diesel mechanic went through the unit when we got home and did small maintenance like filters, fuses, etc. We have now put 15,000 miles on the Allegro Bus, without many problems. Our biggest problems were going from an Airstream to a Motor home.........new ball game! This year we have had to stay at home more so we have installed new shock absorbers, tires,stabilizing bar, and leveling jacks, had front end aligned and installed Banks system on motor, (have the small Cummins). The only thing that had failed were the leveling jacks, they quit while being parked for 3 months this summer and not used. This work we feel was good maintenance for an older unit and it had not been done for several years, our total bill was approx $8,000. and done at our convenience. The one mistake we made was not purchasing a unit with a larger motor, our rig did not do well in the mountains with a pickup towed-- that is the reason for the Banks installation. If we were to purchase used again probably would do it for the difference in the cost. We do not live in our Bus but we want dependability which we have had and we do not like payments which would have been necessarily if purchased new. The other members here have some good advise.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rmg21 Report post Posted August 10, 2012 Great responses from everyone. I really appreciate all of the good information. Thank you! I'm going back to look at the Tiffin tomorrow and I'll have more to talk about. Richard Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
