Welcome to online-rare-books.co.uk - Information on Kelley Blue Book for Rv S

People come into RVing in many different ways.

Some research for years. Others, like Penney Sales, take only a moment.

"About 30 years ago Aunt Edna came to visit," reminisced Sales while sipping cold orange juice on a recent hot summer afternoon in Sandpoint.

"It was around 1974, and she was in her mid-70s at the time. She was touring the West hand-delivering photo albums to various family members," Sales recalled.

"I thought she was pretty cool because she was driving by herself in a Chinook pop-up camper," Sales said. "Of course, this was a woman who, much earlier in her life, had traveled alone throughout Arabia. I've always remembered that."

Other than Aunt Edna, Sales, a writer and personal development coach, hadn't grown up in a camping family, and although she loved to travel, she had never consciously thought about buying an RV.

It certainly wasn't on her mind 10 years ago when she went for an afternoon walk near her home in Anchorage, Alaska.

Strolling down the street, she spotted a neighbor placing a for- sale sign in the window of a small motorhome that looked a little like Aunt Edna's Chinook. On impulse, she trotted over and declared, "I'm going to buy this."

The rig was an 18-foot 1981 Class C Toyota Sunrader with a little over 71,000 miles on the odometer. They negotiated a price of $6,500, and she put $100 down on the spot.

Before shucking out the rest of money, however, she took it to her car mechanic.

"I might not have done any research on RVs at that point," Sales said, "but I knew enough to have it checked over. The mechanic reported back that the engine was absolutely sound."

What her car mechanic didn't know, and what Sales soon learned from an RV dealer, was that all the early mini-motorhomes built on a Toyota chassis were being recalled. The original half-ton rear axle needed to be replaced with a one-ton floating axle because the coaches were built too heavy for the chassis.

Since having the axle replaced, Sales said she hasn't had many mechanical problems during the 72,000 miles she's put on the rig. "Looking back, I feel incredibly lucky I didn't buy a lemon," she said. "I do most things on intuition and it felt absolutely right.

"This RV was my very first toy. It brings me so much joy just being able to get into it and go off on an adventure." Just like Aunt Edna.

Tips on buying used RV

Not all first-time purchasers are as lucky as Sales.

"The normal RV buyer isn't skilled enough to know what to look for," said Bob Gummersall, chief technical officer for rversonline.org, a free non-commercial Internet resource for RVers.

"There is no better way of determining the condition of an RV than by paying a qualified and independent RV mechanic to perform an inspection," Gummersall said in a telephone interview from his home in the Seattle area.

Word-of-mouth from other RVers is the best way to find a good RV mechanic, he said. "I've tested this a hundred times, and it always works."

Gummersall suggests stopping by a local campground or driving around until you spot an RV. "Go knock on the door and ask them where they would recommend having your RV fixed," he said.

Another way of reaching thousands of RVers is through online message boards like rversonline. "Chances are someone will know the area that you live in and will come up with a recommendation," he said.

Ask the mechanic for a detailed list of every problem, with estimated costs of repairs.

"If you still want to purchase the rig," Gummersall said, "the list will give you an excellent tool to help you negotiate a lower price."

There are two source books that give a price range for used RVs: NADA Guide and Kelley Blue Book.

Both are available at most public libraries as well as banks and insurance companies that deal with RVs. NADA allows you to look up high and low retail prices online. Kelley Blue Book does not offer its information on the Internet.

The going price for an RV inspection by an independent qualified mechanic is around $200, Gummersall said. "And it's the best $200 you can spend."

For additional information

To read more of Bob Gummersall's technical advice, go to www.rversonline.org. It is edited by extended-time RVers Tom and Stephanie Gonser of Friday Harbor, Wash.

If you're interested in Toyota mini-motorhomes, there is an excellent Toyota owners chat room at Yahoo.com. Go to http:// groups.yahoo.com/group/toyota-campers/files. NADA is on the Web at www.nadaguides.com. Kelley Blue Book's Internet site is www.kbb.com.

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