Going to look at another Roadtrek next week.

[Atlee]

It's another Roadtrek. It's a 2005 190 Popular. It has 45,005 miles on it. Is that an orange flag, if not a red one? It's a bit expensive at just north of $42k. Just seems like all the RT's are priced like that.

My wife really wanted an enclosed bath. That's one reason for looking at PW Excels. She has relented on that issue, at least for now. It does have the twin bench seats in the rear which she does like. I like that it's regular van width and not a "wide body".

Some of the plusses are: New tires in 2023 with only 12,000 miles on them. 2 new 12V AGM coach batteries in 2023. New chassis battery in 2025 w/ disconnect. New radio with satellite, bck up camera plus a VIOFO dash cam. New Tripp-lite inverter/charger. New Maxxfan Deluxe 7000. All interior lights except the ring light at the rear have been replaced with LED's. Previous owner replaced the water heater. Generator has 196 hours on it. New oil and air filter at 170 hours. It has been exercised by current owner (past 2 years) once a month for at least 1 hour under load since he got it.

Any thoughts?

 

[booster]

Pricing is difficult these days, as prices have dropped a huge amount since the pandemic insanity. But many sellers of currently for sale vans paid those prices so reluctant to be at more current ranges.

My guess would be it is about $5K high and condition may push it lower. Hard to predict what low mileage stuff sells for. 45K is low, but if done uniformly over the years probably no issue. If it sat 10 years of it straight it would worry me

The van appears to be listed on a site I often use to see what people are asking for Roadtreks. It looks clean in the limited pix of the outside only, but pix can hide a lot.

Normal description highlighting good points, with two mentions of stuff you should check carefully, one outside and one inside.

First is a specific mention of "surface" rust on the frame/underbody. Normally I don't see things like that mentioned on older vehicles as it is so common. Probably the only 20 year old vans that wouldn't have some of that would be those stored inside with temp control. It could be an admirable attempt at good disclosure or an attempt to head off scrutiny if found and is actually a bit more than that. Up here in salt country surface really often just means no big holes. Check the generator cover and mount to see how rusty they are as they are early rusters. The 10mm head bolts under the hood above the radiator can also be an indicator.

Second is no inside pix and claim of "normal" wear and tear so might be a surprise. To me normal for a 45K miles van should be petty pristine. Normal for a typical 20 year old Roadtrek would show more miles an interior. Depends on sellers reference point.

If it looks like you want it, a Carfax to see history of where it has been. Floods and storms can be issues in some areas. See how the miles were accumulated.

A vehicle inspection by a good shop would probably be well worth the money.

Good luck.

 

[wmgeorge]

I just paid $41000 for a 2008 210 Popular with 108000 miles checked over at a very good dealership and things replaced as needed, and with new tires, everything works. Insp by State of Minn and I drove it 6.5 hours / 350 miles home.

 

[Atlee]

Pricing is difficult these days, as prices have dropped a huge amount since the pandemic insanity. But many sellers of currently for sale vans paid those prices so reluctant to be at more current ranges.

My guess would be it is about $5K high and condition may push it lower. Hard to predict what low mileage stuff sells for. 45K is low, but if done uniformly over the years probably no issue. If it sat 10 years of it straight it would worry me

The van appears to be listed on a site I often use to see what people are asking for Roadtreks. It looks clean in the limited pix of the outside only, but pix can hide a lot.

Normal description highlighting good points, with two mentions of stuff you should check carefully, one outside and one inside.

First is a specific mention of "surface" rust on the frame/underbody. Normally I don't see things like that mentioned on older vehicles as it is so common. Probably the only 20 year old vans that wouldn't have some of that would be those stored inside with temp control. It could be an admirable attempt at good disclosure or an attempt to head off scrutiny if found and is actually a bit more than that. Up here in salt country surface really often just means no big holes. Check the generator cover and mount to see how rusty they are as they are early rusters. The 10mm head bolts under the hood above the radiator can also be an indicator.

Second is no inside pix and claim of "normal" wear and tear so might be a surprise. To me normal for a 45K miles van should be petty pristine. Normal for a typical 20 year old Roadtrek would show more miles an interior. Depends on sellers reference point.

If it looks like you want it, a Carfax to see history of where it has been. Floods and storms can be issues in some areas. See how the miles were accumulated.

A vehicle inspection by a good shop would probably be well worth the money.

Good luck.

I got a bunch of photos from the seller. The floor stains inside he mentioned looks more like darker places where shoes would have been when sitting around the dinette table in the rear. If that's all their are, I have no problem. There are hardly any pictures of the ceiling or the upper right or left corners in the rear. Water stains here and other places where holes come through the outer skin would send up a red flag for me.

There is a shot of the new MaxxFan in the ceiling. There is no evidence of a leak around the fan.

There are no pictures of the underneath chassis. That will take a look see by me. That will determine if it is only a little surface rust. I know what I define as surface rust in my mind.

There were several close up shots of the front bumper cover. I could not see the deflection he mentioned. I guess I'll notice it when I look at it.

He included a shot of the the "Service Parts Identification" placard on the B Pillar of the van. When decoded, this tells the various parts that complete the van.

Here are 5 of the Alphanumeric codes.

GT5 - AXLE, REAR, 4.10 RATIO

KC4 - Cooling, external engine oil cooler
COOLING SYSTEM, ENGINE OIL

KD1 - Cooler, Transmission oil
COOLING SYSTEM. TRANSMISSION OIL

KG3 - Alternator, 145 AMPS
GENERATOR 145 AMP

MT1 - TRANSMISSION. AUTO, 4-SPD. THM-R2 (4L80-E)

This tells me it does not have the rear locker or external transmission cooler. since it isn't mentioned in any of the Alphanumeric codes.

By the way, per the chevy VIN, the chassis is also a 2005 model year.

I do plan on getting a CARFAX before going to see it.

 

[Atlee]

I just paid $41000 for a 2008 210 Popular with 108000 miles checked over at a very good dealership and things replaced as needed, and with new tires, everything works. Insp by State of Minn and I drove it 6.5 hours / 350 miles home.

Good information to know.

 

[booster]

I just paid $41000 for a 2008 210 Popular with 108000 miles checked over at a very good dealership and things replaced as needed, and with new tires, everything works. Insp by State of Minn and I drove it 6.5 hours / 350 miles home.

Why did it need to be state inspected. I thought that was for over 10K trucks and all salvage rebuild vehicles.

 

[Atlee]

Why did it need to be state inspected. I thought that was for over 10K trucks and all salvage rebuild vehicles.

Obviously, I can't speak for MN, but here in VA, all vehicles must pass state inspection every year. At the time I get new plates for any Class B I might buy, I'll have to register it, get a title, and inspect it, along with paying a state sales tax of 4.15%, nor the yearly personal property tax paid to my county of residence.

 

[booster]

I got a bunch of photos from the seller. The floor stains inside he mentioned looks more like darker places where shoes would have been when sitting around the dinette table in the rear. If that's all their are, I have no problem. There are hardly any pictures of the ceiling or the upper right or left corners in the rear. Water stains here and other places where holes come through the outer skin would send up a red flag for me.

There is a shot of the new MaxxFan in the ceiling. There is no evidence of a leak around the fan.

There are no pictures of the underneath chassis. That will take a look see by me. That will determine if it is only a little surface rust. I know what I define as surface rust in my mind.

There were several close up shots of the front bumper cover. I could not see the deflection he mentioned. I guess I'll notice it when I look at it.

He included a shot of the the "Service Parts Identification" placard on the B Pillar of the van. When decoded, this tells the various parts that complete the van.

Here are 5 of the Alphanumeric codes.

GT5 - AXLE, REAR, 4.10 RATIO

KC4 - Cooling, external engine oil cooler
COOLING SYSTEM, ENGINE OIL

KD1 - Cooler, Transmission oil
COOLING SYSTEM. TRANSMISSION OIL

KG3 - Alternator, 145 AMPS
GENERATOR 145 AMP

MT1 - TRANSMISSION. AUTO, 4-SPD. THM-R2 (4L80-E)

This tells me it does not have the rear locker or external transmission cooler. since it isn't mentioned in any of the Alphanumeric codes.

By the way, per the chevy VIN, the chassis is also a 2005 model year.

I do plan on getting a CARFAX before going to see it.

Does it have a G80 code? That would make it a Gov-lok differential in a 10.5" full floating axle and a very good thing.

 

[booster]

Obviously, I can't speak for MN, but here in VA, all vehicles must pass state inspection every year. At the time I get new plates for any Class B I might buy, I'll have to register it, get a title, and inspect it, along with paying a state sales tax of 4.15%, nor the yearly personal property tax paid to my county of residence.

We got rid of emission testing years ago and never have had mechanical checks for under 10K vehicles that I know of.

That why I asked.

 

[Atlee]

Does it have a G80 code? That would make it a Gov-lok differential in a 10.5" full floating axle and a very good thing.

Unfortunately, it does not have that code.

 

[wmgeorge]

Obviously, I can't speak for MN, but here in VA, all vehicles must pass state inspection every year. At the time I get new plates for any Class B I might buy, I'll have to register it, get a title, and inspect it, along with paying a state sales tax of 4.15%, nor the yearly personal property tax paid to my county of residence.

Perhaps it was not State but a Dealer Insp its got a couple stickers on it which I did not read. I would pay for a Carfax and I did on this one.

 

[Atlee]

Perhaps it was not State but a Dealer Insp its got a couple stickers on it which I did not read. I would pay for a Carfax and I did on this one.

Did you find any surprises in the CARFAX? Were there any "holes" in the info?

 

[wmgeorge]

Did you find any surprises in the CARFAX? Were there any "holes" in the info?

It was not as pristine as I wanted but no accidents or floods plus not stolen or rebuilt I was ok with it. But its like $49 for one or something like that and for a little more you can get two reports and the first one did not work out on the other RT with the buyer. Sellers are not always trueful.

 

[Atlee]

Purchased a CARFAX for the RT we're going to see next week. Made for interesting reading. It is on it's 3rd owner currently.

The first owner (about little is known) bought it new in 2005 and owned it 14yr and 6mo and put approx. 26,377 miles on it. This works out to about an average of approx. 1819 miles/year.

The 2nd owner owned it approx. 3yr and 1mo. He put about 6,376 miles on it, averaging approx. 2,070 miles/year.

The third owner has owned it a little under 2 years, and has put approx. 12,193 miles on it, averaging approx. 7,717 miles/year.

Except for it's recent move to Virginia, it has lived it's entire life in the Black Hills area of South Dakota.

The service record is a bit hit or miss. WRT regular commercial service businesses. Of course that doesn't mean it wasn't serviced privately.

One little surprise. It was involved in a reportable accident while owned by the 1st owner. On 07/09/18, it was involved in a rear end collision with another motor vehicle. It resulted in damage to the right rear and rear. Functional damage was reported. The airbags did not deploy.

 

[booster]

That is interesting.

The Black Hills area is a high snow area and also prone to hail in the summer. Most RVs are stored indoors there in the winter from what we have seen and been told. We go there for two weeks every spring and have for many years so talked to many locals. They do use salt in the winter in the towns and major roads.

The accident is a question that will have to be answered, I think, especially with "functional damage" with no damage description. Damage to the rear and side could mean a hard hit or not. Airbags usually don't go off on rear hits. You might need a body shop to look and maybe get it on a 4 wheel alignment rack. Follow the test drive from behind and watch for dog tacking.

The right rear is home to the hinge side of the rear door, probably a water fill port, drain for the AC, battery box and cover on side behind wheelwell. Propane tank right behind bumper. Corner hits can make good fits like the door seals difficult to fit well. Biggest major thing would be if the rear was hit hard enough move that side of the frame forward or bent enough to change the rear spring shackle mount location. Those hits would be quite hard to do that. If the side hit was on the wheel, it can bend the rear axle housing.

It is interesting that it was sold the first time right after the accident by a long time owner, it appears.

It could be just fine and well repaired, but I do think it will require a bit of extra checking to make sure.

 

[Atlee]

I'm beginning to think I will stay with what I know, and have. My truck and TT.

 

[Atlee]

Well, I have no worries about the one I was going to see. Just got an email from the seller telling me someone offered him his asking price with immediate payment tomorrow. He accepted.

So, it's back ro the drawing board.

 

[Doneworking]

Atlee, I am sorry you are having so much trouble finding what you want. They are out there I am sure that pretty closely meet your needs. You might take a look at PPL Motorhomes in Texas to get some ideas. If you are not familiar with them, they are the largest consignment dealer in the country (I think they still are?).

We wanted an enclosed bath after having a 1996 RT 190 and we got that along with a lot of storage space when we ordered our 2007 Roadtrek 210P. We also got the twin couches/beds you mentioned and they are perfect for my wife and I. No, ours is not for sale but I mention it to just confirm what you are looking to find probably exists somewhere but I am sure it is a frustrating hunt.

Personally, I never worry about what our RT has and doesn't have on many of the chassis things people worry about. All I know is I can cross (and do every year) the high passes of the Rockys with my 6L Chevy with no problems and my old four speed transmission. Ours is pure stock chassis wise as it left the family-owned factory. It has served us well for a long time. Probably our luck and results are due to a great extent to a single fact of our RT's life: when we brought it home it spent the night in an HVAC controlled garage at our home and is out there sleeping now after almost 19 years, waiting to go on its next adventure. I think maintenance and storage means a lot more than miles.

Just my thoughts.