Our Tip of the Month is aimed at the First-time Diesel Pusher buyer who is purchasing a used vehicle. There are three major expense areas you might encounter when purchasing a used diesel motor home and they are:

1. ENGINE – A diesel engine has a much longer life than a gas engine but you want to make sure the previous owner has been properly maintaining the engine to achieve that longer life. When you purchase a used RV, make sure the engine has had a recent oil change and that the filters, belts and hoses are new, or in good shape. You DO NOT want to inherit someone else’s misuse? Remember, a diesel engine has 25 quarts of oil, not 5 and the cost of an oil change that includes belts and hoses can be as high as $750.00! You should not have to begin your relationship with your New-2-You RV spending a pot-load of money!

2. TIRES – The tires on a Bus-type vehicle are MUCH MORE expensive than car tires and while they might look good with some tire paint, the BIG question you need to know is, HOW OLD ARE

THEY? It’s easy to know the age of a tire as every tire is manufactured with a little box on the side of the tire, just above the rim with a four digit code. The first two digits tell you the week the tire was manufactured and the last two digits tell you the year. The tire in this picture was manufactured the 24th week of 2013. Why is this important? Tires after six years are at the end of their life cycle and need to be replaced. You don’t want to start your relationship with your new RV buying new rubber that could cost you as much as $680 per tire, installed. Do the math, 6 times $680 equals $4,080.00!

3. AIR SYSTEM - All diesel pushers with Air Brakes have an Air System that must be kept in proper working order. Your RV has a low air warning system that MUST include a visual warning and an audible warning to let you know when your air pressure drops to between 75 lbs and 55 lbs, usually right at 65 lbs. The other part of your Air System you must be aware of is the fact that your Air Pump fills the Air Bags on your RV. If you Air System is NOT working properly and your Air Bags are not filling correctly, you are compromising your safety and could be looking at a LARGE $$$$ repair bill.

Recently we have worked with two RV owners who were unaware of the condition of the engine on their used RV; they had assumed everything was taken care of. Assume nothing, VERIFY! Both RV’s had tires at or close to the end of the useful life and none of the new RV owners had any idea what they should be looking at with their Air Systems. All of these items can significantly increase the cost of your RV and compromise your safety and for that reason, they are important.

If you’re contemplating the purchase of a used RV, ensuring that the Engine has been serviced, your Tires have lots of time left and your Air System is in good shape will make for trouble-free RVing. You’re going Thank us for all the money you save.