The Search

Over several months I looked at dozens and dozens of RV's online mostly on CraigsList. I visited dealer lots and looked inside virtually all of the Class C's they had. The new ones seemed to start at around $60,000 and go up to whatever some rich fool was willing to pay from there. I remain unimpressed with the used RV's and especially with the new RV's. They seem to be built cheap out of heavy materials and not very well thought out.

I looked at quite a few RV's that were for sale by private parties. A 22 foot Class C in good condition didn't seem all that hard to come by but I had more difficulty finding one with the floor layout I was looking for in good condition for the right price.

Water damage is a major problem with these units as one would expect from using wood on a vehicle. You have to reseal them every few years and most people don't reseal them. Typically they sit unused and often uncovered until a leak develops. Since they are not used the leak goes undetected and causes major damage.

They tended not to have very many miles on them. 60,000 miles on a 1980's model was not uncommon.

Some of them looked good in the pictures and descriptions but smelled to high heaven inside and had more that needed fixed than that worked.

I have the same problem that other buyers no doubt have and the problem that explains why wood is the material of choice. I would really like a big Mercedes sprinter van custom built for me with little to no wood on the inside and none on the exterior. That would probably be $150,000 or more and is why I now have an RV that is mostly wood from the cab back and the frame up.