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Friend is looking to buy low mileage XL40
A buddy of mine has found a 95 Marathon XL40 with only 43K miles. It was garage kept, generator has less than 500 hrs. After our discussions here today about my own situation, I want to give him some advice on what to look for in terms of inspecting the right places for weak areas, since it is such a low mileage coach!
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2 Replies
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With such low mileage it is assumed the coach has been a “hangar queen” most of its life. Storing a vehicle is not a big deal, but chances are this coach has not been treated as a “stored” vehicle, but one that has sat awaiting its next trip.
I would be concerned about the condition of rubber parts which seem to always preform better it exercised routinely. Air bags, brake chamber diaphragms, tires, Norgren valves (the o-rings), and countless other items that do not benefit from just sitting. I would question corrosion of the engine on the coach and generator. Even if not corroded I cringe when I think of an engine sitting for a long period, and then the scraping of metal to metal when it is started and prior to the circulation of oil. Maybe others are not concerned and see low mileage as a plus, but I see it as having the potential to surprise a new owner for quite a while with problems that crop up due to inactivity.
If the coach was stored with the air compressor on, or if the engine was started and run for a little each month I would run away from it because the moisture from both is probably more damaging than just letting it set. If it sat outside I would run faster.
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Good points, I too was weary about rubber parts just sitting, somewhere, and then you mentioned the metal to metal action upon the first start up after a long rest….not good either.
Apparently the coach is from California, which really does not score any points with me, as I lived in that state for 20 years and am pretty familiar with the climatological differences in different parts of that state. Just because a vehicle is from California doesn’t mean it wasn’t exposed to a rust prone environment!
I will advise him to try to get a hold of the previous owner and find out the conditions under which the coach was “pickled” before he blows $100K on a “bargain” .
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