Newell Gurus

In my search for the right DP,  I have found a lot of high mileage motorhomes. Whie I realize that these diesel drivetrains were designed for 750,000 miles, I have to wonder how the high miles affects the house part of the vehicle. 
When considering a 15 to 20 year old Newell,  how many miles are too many? What negative (or positive) effects should I look for on a high mileage RV?

I have a 2002 2 slide Newell. it currently has almost 212k miles on it. i just drove 700 miles in the last few days and it purrs like a kitten.

my coach was an indy car coach, so got used a ton. the genny has 8800 hours on it. runs fine.

the carpet is original and just fine. the drivers and passenger seats have some wear from being used.

the aquahot burner needed rebuilding. i have serviced or rebuilt normal wear items.

i will confidently take my coach anywhere.

tom

Has the high miles effected the fuel mileage any? What do you normally expect your mpg to be?

My coach has 240k miles and I average 7-7.5 mpg. (Cat C-12) I have not had any significant engine work done.

I have had a few issues where cabinets and consoles were a little loose from I suspect the bumps and shakes from driving, but now have tightened it all up. You can tell a lot from a test drive.

200k on one of these engines is just getting going. best to use them and not let em sit around

i also get 7-7.5mpg. sometimes a might higher, but has to be in the flat lands.

tom

Grandpa, what do you consider high mileage? 100,000, 200,000? Most Newells were used in one of two ways: 1) bought by an individual that travels very little, maybe 45-80k miles during that time period. 2) a coach that was owned by a company for the first several years of that time, frequently a race car driver or race team, that put 40-50,000 miles per year on it, then sold to an individual that used it very little. My 1992 has 175k miles on it and was built for Al Unser Jr. I have put about 55,000 miles on it myself during the past 11 years I have owned it. Most of the 120k miles it had on it when I bought it had been put on it while Unser owned it.

Race teams and drivers can't afford to have their coaches break down when traveling to a race so they maintain them well with their fleet of mechanics. Individuals, especially many years later, may be as meticulous or may do the very minimum maintenance. I would prefer to see a coach that has been regularly used as opposed to a coach that sat for years unattended. That is the reason that getting maintenance records on an older coach is a significant benefit. You know if the owner was taking care of it. I have put about 6,000 miles on mine during the past year.

I'm over 200k miles with no known high mileage effects. I get 7.2 on average at 68 mph. If I slow
Down to 62 the mileage can creep over 8

Thanks for your input, everyone. I consider over 200k high. I've seen MH's with well over 200k miles and 9,000-10,000 hrs on the GENSET.  I need to know if there is anything I should look for in evaluating the RV. How many hours are the GENSET's, well maintained, good for?

Before I bought my coach three and half years ago, I ask Brett Wolfe what he thought of the series 60 Detroit engine.  He said it is a million mile engine. I'm sure many a trucker put more miles than that on it.