Super C: New, Used, Class 8 Trucks

[asolarrv]

Hi,

As my wife and I continue our research on purchasing a Super C in 2-3 years, we come up with questions. Today, we are curious about the following and look forward to your insight.
1) new or used? . Will probably full time, or at least use it a lot, for 6-7 years so selling a new Super C might be easier - a buyer can still get a loan. Some banks will not loan on an 10 year or older vehicle making it more difficult to sell one of o were to buy a 3-4 year old vehicle and keep it for 6-7 years.

2) we recently learned incredibly nice used class 8 conversion semitrucks are available for $100k-$200k. IMHO, those are stouter trucks than a motorhome since they are on a true semitruck frame like the Coronado, vs the Seneca, etc frames. We do each plan on getting a CDL license to help with over zealous authorities, although one is not needed.

3). A recent post suggest 30-35% off MSRP for a good price, with $170k suggested is a good price for a 2020 Seneca. The local Camping World has two and they had them at about $188k and $200k, if I remember correctly. They were there 3 weeks ago. Used 2015-ish models are styling for about $135k. Is it worth the $ $35k difference to buy new or buy a 5 year older vehicle?

4) What about buying a 2008 Gulf Stream for about $75k and forgetting completely about 10 year or older vehicles, or similar older Super C's? What about a 2008 Seneca in the Kodiak frame for about $55k? Heck, you could buy 3 of the Kodiaks for the price of a 2020 Seneca at $170k. Even crazier, you could buy an older class A for $10k-$20k every year for 8 years. So many choices and considerations.

TIA

[asolarrv]

BUMP - was hoping to get others thoughts and opinions as to my questions.

Why did you buy the Super C you bought?
Did you have any considerations as we do?

Thanks.

[SloPoke]

never saw this the first time...

1) We bought our Seneca technically used (9k mi) but never owned/used. We purchased this as our LAST Motorhome to buy in our lifetime. We never considered reselling it - it will be an inheritance to someone.

2) Some of the Class8 rigs on the FL chassis are awesome. Those who know the Volvo chassis will tell you to avoid it like the Covid-19 virus. Volvo has a unstable reputation in the industry, and getting service is why you don't see as many new Class8 Volvo Tractors on the road today as you may have in the prior 10 years. If you can afford a custom Coach on a Cascadia chassis... you wouldn't be on this forum.

3) going to skip for now - we can talk in PM if you wish

4) I am not sure about your thinking here... Buying a SuperC MH and fitting it to your liking is more of a long term commitment. If you are looking to keep swapping a broken-down Gulf Stream or an older unit for another older unit every couple of years... that is not our same way of thinking here. The Seneca has evolved every 10 years or so... From the Kodiak Chassis - to the Freightliner Chassis on steel springs, and then to Air Ride and then to the SRV2 custom chassis. If you are looking at Class-8 rigs and also at Kodiak's... What are your GCWR needs? are you towing?

[SloPoke]

Oh... and body parts for Kodiak's are now nearly impossible to find... they lost a steer tire and ended up in the center median on the interstate 70 (upright) and they are now 9 months waiting for body and front suspension parts.

[EA37TS]

We bought a 2020 Accolade in October 2019. The Accolade, like the Seneca (virtually the same) sits on the S2RV chassis which is a class 7 with a GVWR of 29K and GCWR of 41K. The tow hitch is rated at 12K which is twice as much as we will ever need.

When we were looking we looked at some super c versions on the class 89 chassis but to us they did not have any more value for the dollar and the additional dollars required were considerable.

30 percent off MSRP is a good starting point. We paid less than that will most options (WD, theater seating etc...) included. We did not buy from Camping World.

I would never consider buying something 10 years old unless I wanted to go into the restoration business. Before he passed away, someone that we know was into the motorhome "flipping" business "flipping" about 10 to 15 units per year with average ages of 5 to 12 years old. He told some horror stories about the unseen issues such as mold etc on units between 5 and 10 years old.

Not sure if this helps but enjoy the search.

[Superseneca]

The kodiak chassis is very reliable. The duramax/ allison power train is reliable and economic to maintain and operate. Having hydraulic brakes do it require an air endorsement license. The quality of the units built 10 years ago is better than what you get today. If you can find a unit that you like, I would not hesitate to buy the kodiak based seneca.

[RyRoRyan]

Here is my input here. A class 8 chassis would be amazing, but the upkeep on that coach is going to be pricey. Not really on the chassis side, but the coaches that are on class 8 frames normally have so many more features, motors, lights, and things to go wrong that unless you have money coming out of your eyeballs, its not worth the extra benefit you get from them. My Seneca sitting on the M2 chassis is VERY well built and very well known to all freightliner dealers as there are SO many of these out there doing commercial based services everyday...think the Culligan water guy, delivery trucks, some fire trucks, septic trucks, etc...they are everywhere. The coach that it is attached to that Jayco adds to it, while not the best compared to brands like Renegade or high end Class A's, are still very nice and actually pretty easy to repair on your own. I bought mine new and love it. If you can find one that is one or two years old with less than 10k, you can get a great deal on one and still have basically a brand new coach...just make sure that the previous owner or the dealer works(ed) out all the little bugs that got past the inspector when it was new.