adlereins
Tri-Cities of Apple Valley, Hesperia, Victorville
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w3ozwizard: I have a Ford based Tioga from El Monte. I found out something that took a lot of digging. The alternator ground on the V-10's will sometimes become corroded. This is a "mechanical" ground . i.e. metal to metal where alternator is mounted to the block. This will in turn cause one or more diodes to weaken or fail. Which in turn, you guessed it, put me on the side of the road one dark and lonely night (sorry for the pun ![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/smile.gif "smile") Watch your battery light and gauge for any impending problems. I changed alternator, cleaned mount, and all is well. Hope this helps anyone further down the road.
Take Care,
Allen B.
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Mocoondo
Chicago, IL
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Joined: 02/23/2010
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BoxinTheCompass wrote:Mocoondo didn't you work for cruise America at some time back? Any insight on CA maintenance?
43 years in business renting motorhomes, hundreds of thousands of coaches sold. I think that pretty much speaks for itself, doesn't it?
As to maintenance, all vehicles follow a standard manufacturer maintenance schedule for commercial vehicles. Items within the house are repaired or replaced when they break. Upon retirement, the rental vehicle receives a thorough (and quite impressive) refurbishment such that when the vehicle is ready for sale, it barely resembles the rental unit that it once was. Are they keeping track of shower heads and toilet seats that get replaced? I have no earthly idea. If a toilet seat needs replaced, we replace the toilet seat and throw the old one away. In my fleet, I do not personally keep track of parts thrown in the dumpster. I don't understand how that would be any sort of a reliable metric on the overall quality of the maintenance program. Either the toilet seat is a good toilet seat or a bad toilet seat. And for that matter, why would I keep track of every time I replace a toilet seat in a rental vehicle if it is just going to get replaced during pre-sale refurbishment anyway?
The bottom line is this: Any time you are contemplating the purchase of ANY used RV, do a thorough pre-purchase inspection. Make sure everything in the house works and is serviceable. Make sure the chassis is sound. Make sure the roof is good. But don't fixate on the toilet seats that were previously thrown away. That is all red-herring information that might make you feel good, but has no bearing whatsoever on the CURRENT condition of the coach.
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Travelon
Sierra Nevada Foothills, CA
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Joined: 03/20/2004
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43 years in the business?...UHH, I don't know...Do you have any other credentials? ![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/biggrin.gif "biggrin")
Travelon
2004 Silverado 2500HD D/A CC LB 4x4, Timbrens, Fold-a-Cover,
Line-X, DeeZee Running Boards, Prodigy, Husky 16K UBS,
2004 Titanium 32E37DS, Two Honda EU2000i
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BoxinTheCompass
Florida
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Joined: 06/16/2014
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Thanks Mocoondo for all your info over time on this topic....
Also thanks to Iamichabod, Gotsmart, KristinU and all others who are actual owners of purchased rental units who have posted their experiences and true tales
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IAMICHABOD
Sunny So Cal
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Joined: 12/12/2011
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Mocoondo wrote:BoxinTheCompass wrote:Mocoondo didn't you work for cruise America at some time back? Any insight on CA maintenance?
43 years in business renting motorhomes, hundreds of thousands of coaches sold. I think that pretty much speaks for itself, doesn't it?
I think hundreds of thousands is quite a stretch when you look at the Large National Brands like Cruise America, with the turn over on a 3 year schedule. They started in 1973 and claims to have sold about 25,000.
El Monte started in 1970 and is a smaller company but turns over its fleet every 18 to 24 months as it did in 2007, that is about 20,000.
They also sell thru their whole sale dealers where they had 1,600 units in their sales fleet in 2010, both Class C and Class A RVs.
The company provides a complete service history along with the original manufacturer’s owner care packet with operating manuals.
That is one reason I bought from them.
Needless to say there are a lot of owners of Ex Rentals out there and most seem to be happy, or we would have heard from them I would think.
2006 TIOGA 26Q CHEVY 6.0 WORKHORSE VORTEC
Former El Monte RV Rental
Retired Teamster Local 692
Buying A Rental Class C
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Mocoondo
Chicago, IL
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IAMICHABOD wrote:
I think hundreds of thousands is quite a stretch when you look at the Large National Brands like Cruise America, with the turn over on a 3 year schedule. They started in 1973 and claims to have sold about 25,000.
I think your math is a little bit off.
6,000 units in the fleet, 40+ years in business, retiring a third every year.
Where are you coming up with 25,000?
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IAMICHABOD
Sunny So Cal
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Mocoondo wrote:IAMICHABOD wrote:
I think hundreds of thousands is quite a stretch when you look at the Large National Brands like Cruise America, with the turn over on a 3 year schedule. They started in 1973 and claims to have sold about 25,000.
I think your math is a little bit off.
6,000 units in the fleet, 40+ years in business, retiring a third every year.
Where are you coming up with 25,000?
From Cruise America's very own website of course.
As a Cruise America Dealer and a seemingly knowledgeable source of information on anything Cruise America,I thought you would know all of this.
Scroll down to the 3rd Question,which is.
Who would buy a Motorhome with 100,000 or more miles on the odometer. Click there,you will find this.>
"Lots of happy campers – about 25,000 so far. Look – all our used Motorhomes are ready to roll and qualify for an extended service plan. There’s years and years of good life left in every coach."
They may have 6,000 units now but that was not always the case, in some years such as 1987 they had a peak of 886 vehicles in the fleet, in prior years a lot less. In 1990 they sold 1227 units,but in 1991 that number fell to 400. So over the years that number of 25,000 total may be a bit inflated or not.After all at an average of over 600 a year, it may be possible.![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/huh.gif "huh") Clearly not "hundreds of thousands"
I found it all on the internet so it can't be wrong.......oui ![[image]](http://www.picgifs.com/smileys/smileys-and-emoticons/thumbs/smileys-thumbs-217948.gif)
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BoxinTheCompass
Florida
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Well Cruise America has a pretty good inventory of the 19 and 23 foot models but the 28A seems to be in limited supply.
I am wondering if they will run a clearance on those models... I would be looking for the 28A myself....
Does anybody know if they run a sale at end if the season?
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w3ozwizard
Lacey, Washington
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BoxinTheCompass I bought a 2009 this past month. In looking at their total inventory it does not look like there are many 2009s left for sale anywhere and I doubt they will have a sale. I was told they bought just a few 2010s but the 2011s are starting to show up but they are running around 35K. This is not the time of year to look for a good deal on a used motorhome. Wait until the weather gets bad and people are not thinking about camping.
2009 Four Winds Majestic 28A
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Bea PA
Waynesboro, PA, USA
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Joined: 12/28/2000
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I am glad I found this thread, I am buying a 24 VR Winnebago Chalet with 14,000 miles. I will not pay for the unit until I have spent a day using all the systems.
It is not fully stripped down, has ladder, electric step,fan, ducted air and power windows and mirrors. This is not our first MH and after having 2 new motor homes in the last 15 years , it will be nice not losing a chunk when we drive it off the lot. I test drove it on the back roads and at highway speed, It seems to handle well.
I can live with the corner bed, had one on a trailer, It will sleep 6 adults. Only thing we don't like is the Jenson TV and the non powered antenna. Wish us luck
Bea PA
Down sized Winnebago 2012 24V Class C
2003 Gold Wing 1800 recently triked (Big Red)
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