I have been an RV enthusiast for more than 50 years, and during that time have seen that my fellow recreational vehicle owners are paying far too much for parts and labor when their coaches need repairs and upgrades. Repairs are constant and can be extremely expensive, so it pays to learn about potential costs before you purchase of an RV. Some dealerships have the attitude that if you can afford to pay several hundred thousand dollars for a coach, you can afford whatever they want to charge to repair it! Some will give you a break and instead of charging by the hour, will offer you a flat rate per job. If you can get them to do this, you'll save a bundle. Many of the items used in RVs are no different than the ones you can purchase in stores or online. Certain things, such as specially sized plumbing parts, cannot be bought this way, but most others can. These people charge far less than RV dealerships do, and the quality of their work is just as good, if not better. Sometimes people who already are employed in a dealership will also hire themselves out when they are off duty. Employing them can easily reduce labor and parts costs by half. Dealerships would like people to think that they are the only places where consumers can find RV parts and services, but this simply is not true. Owners have all sorts of options for cutting costs if they will just take the time to ask questions and let workers know they are in the market for less expensive services and parts. Check out the savings in the ad I show below for the one we purchased from Amazon recently. Same product, lower cost. However, people who own luxury coaches can pay significantly more for parts and labor. The good news is that Good Sam Club offers warranty insurance that will pay the bills to repair or replace most items if you own a newer coach. You might be wise to buy that coverage if your rig qualifies. To get an idea about prices for general parts your best bet is to go online and do some quick cost comparisons at sites such as Amazon, Camping World and Ebay Motors. Some people think that buying new protects them financially from the high costs of parts and labor, but this is not always true. New is not a guarantee against the need for repairs. Problems began on day one and continued until the warranty ended five years later. They did, and some other poor soul eventually purchased that same coach and got stuck with his own set of headaches! The rule of thumb has always been that the simpler and more well constructed the RV, the less costly it will be to fix it. However, what you pay for repairs depends more on the specific coach you purchase than on its age. However, those that have been well maintained may actually be better because their issues may already have been addressed. If problems appear within the warranty period and you have a good warranty , repairs will cost nothing, if not, they can cost plenty! If you buy a new RV from a dealership, they usually will offer a 5 year warranty for all repairs, but these warranties are not always as good as people think they are. The bottom line is that no matter what you buy, you should plan on spending a great deal of money to maintain and repair it. As with all things, it is up to you to do your homework. RVs are luxury items, and should be seen as such. How much it will cost to repair will depend on what you buy, how well you care for it and where you take it to be serviced. Unfortunately, even when you take steps to reduce expenses, the price is never going to be cheap. However, provides some good cost cutting ideas that can help. Motor homes, travel trailers and campers are wonderful to own, but before you buy one, you need to make sure you know how much it will cost to keep it repaired. Unless you are planning to do the labor yourself, you are unlikely to find the cost of this part. If I were you, I would take a trip down to the closest large dealership and stop by their service facility to speak personally with someone in charge who can look up prices for you. This is not something you want to do by phone. David Clinton-Reid: Before you do anything, prepare a cost estimate of all the work that needs to be done. Generally, this is not the type of work a handyman can do because RVs are so specialized. Old RVs however, are tricky because many of their parts are fragile. You'll have to decide if the cost of making repairs is worth the risk of damaging your coach. I have an excellent workshop which is top of the line and labor costs to match. I don't want to scrimp but some of the jobs could be done with local handy man? I love the vehicle and just have the dilemma of investing or walking. If your investment is small, I'd suggest using and enjoying it until repair costs get to be too much. At that point you can either trade it or park it an live in it full time. It's just too old for that. Engines and generators can be replaced as can tires and appliances. If you love the coach, only you can decide what it is worth to you to keep it. It's in great condition and there is room to invest for safety and general maintenance. My concern is that if I encounter big expense, In will be stuck with a good looking mill stone around my neck. Some friends suggest I rent it out. This might accelerate deterioration and bring expensive repairs closer. It's not buyers remorse. I love the motorhome and so does my wife. It's only got 36,800 miles and has been cared for but it is nearly 28 years old and brakes, suspension are possible weak areas. You need to take your coach to a certified RV repair shop Camping World has them to find out how extensive the damage is and to get an estimate for repair work. Most RV dealerships have repair shops that would handle jobs like this, but all will want to make sure about the seriousness of the problem. It could be that you have termites, wood rot or any number of issues. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. HubPages ® is a registered Service Mark of HubPages, Inc. HubPages and Hubbers authors may earn revenue on this page based on affiliate relationships and advertisements with partners including Amazon, Google, and others. This website uses cookies As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, axleaddict. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so. 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