We are presently looking at the purchase of a 2008 Lexington GTS 283.
Does anyone know the life of the roofs on these vehicles? Not sure about the previous owner's maintenance history on the camper. Is there anything else that should be examined before or after purchase?
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A good traveller has no fixed plans,and is not intent on arriving. Lao Tzu
Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. Ralph Waldo Emerson
A coincidence? We considered a 2008 283GTS about a year ago in Germantown TN. We opted for a newer model due to the size of the bed and the number of years it had not been used. I don't know an answer to your roof question, but I would make the purchase contingent on a thorough check of all systems by a RV technician of your choice. We have been mostly happy with our Lexington purchase.
First, check the date code on the tires. It's possible the rig has the original tires, and if so, replace them. For decent tires, like Michelin's, your looking at $1200 to $1400. Check wear items under the hood and suspension.
Check the seals and wipers on the slide-outs, check for signs of water damage inside.
Check all appliances and ac unit--turn em on and let em run for a bit. If dealer or owner dosen't want to turn everything on and operate the systems/slides, walk away. Appliances and ac units can get expensive to replace.
As for the roof, at that age, the seams around all the stuff poking thru are probably due to be re-caulked. You may find some cracks in the roof in non-stress areas. Several Lexi owners, myself included, have found cracks in the roof, either due to sloppy work at the factory or bad materials. It's happened on newer units, but check the 2008 also. If you find any, the only thing you can do is patch it with Eternabond tape.
Since you don't know the history or the maintaince history, these are all things you should look at before you buy it. A six year old unit should not requier too much unless it wasen't taken care of.
Grumpy
A good traveller has no fixed plans,and is not intent on arriving. Lao Tzu
Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Be advised that Michelin recalled a lot of tires for Class C's and B+'s. Check Michelin's web site. It will tell you where to look on the tires for the date and factory codes, and what codes fall within the range that is covered. Tires could have different date codes on the same RV. Any that fall in the code range will be replaced free, including the spare if it is also a Michelin. There's no limit on ownership or thread wear.
I wouldn't share that information with the seller. Old tires could be a negotiating point so don't give your hand away!
The tire dates start in 2010 but yours may have been replaced with tires that have been recalled. It's worth checking. You want to know the age of the tires on any RV you are thinking about buying anyway, so become familiar with finding and reading the date code.
A good traveller has no fixed plans,and is not intent on arriving. Lao Tzu
Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Wanderer, not trying to turn you off or get you to worrying about the Lexi. We have a 283ts and really do love it. It handles well (have done some upgrades), is comfortable for wifey and I, towes our Subi easily, and have had no real problems with it. Just went thru it fixing all the stupid little things that could have been done better at the factory.
No matter what rig you would be looking at, if it's going on 6-7 years old everyone would be telling you to look for the same problem areas that can occur on a rig that the maintaince is an unknown factor, no matter the brand or model.
It also depends on your level of DIY. If your good at it than a lot of the items can be taken care of easily. If your not, than it's going to cost you someone elses labor.
Hard to get info from the little you provided. What's the milage, is it via a dealer or private party, asking price, ect. You can also go to RV Trader and look at similar riga to get a feel as to whats out there and if the one your looking at is over, under , or priced right.
Grumpy
Grumpy, I'm not sure if this is how to ask you a question, but here goes. I own a 2013 283gts and while I also like it, I am still having steering issues in windy conditions as well as when I am being passed by big rigs or 18 wheelers. What have you done to your MH?
The lad is good at DIY. The unit has 35,000 mi on it. It is at a dealership that we trust. We were just investigateing possible issues with older units. This is new to us as we presently tow a Jayco Skylark. Love it but it's a bit small with the two of us and an 80 lb yellow Lab. The Lexi would suit our travel agenda well.
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A good traveller has no fixed plans,and is not intent on arriving. Lao Tzu
Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. Ralph Waldo Emerson
35,000 miles in 6 years is not bad at all. Shows that it was used on a regular basis, which is better than a low milage that sat for most of its life.. If you feel the need, you could always get an independant mech to check the rig over, but if you trust the dealer and feel comfortable, than go for it. If everything works the way it should, the only thing I would worry about is the roof caulking and the tires. If any older than around 4 years, than your looking at tires within a year or so. Mayby get dealer to spring for a set or use the $1200-$1500 to negoitate the price down.
As far as handling, went to a better front damper, had the alignment done to the specs posted on the forum, and had the unit weighed, which let me know I could run the front tires at 65-70 psi and the rears at 70 psi, instead of the 80 thats on the sticker. Also, new Michelins under recall helped.
Grumpy
Thank you for your insight, we are looking at the Lexi again tomorrow to examine the slides, awning and tires. if all is ok we'll be on the road soon.
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A good traveller has no fixed plans,and is not intent on arriving. Lao Tzu
Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Wanderer, another item to check is the generator. Start it and let it run for awhile under load (kick the ac on) and make sure it runs smoothly. To start it the Lexi will need to have more than a 1/4 tank of gas, as the genny is programed to cut off when the gas tank falls below 1/4 tank.
Grumpy
A good traveller has no fixed plans,and is not intent on arriving. Lao Tzu
Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Just purchased our 1st motorhome, previously owned a Jayco Skylark which we loved but finding it a bit cramped for two adults and a large Yellow Labrador. We now have a 2008 Lexington 283 GTS. Satisfied with test drive and initial inspection. Dealer doing safety check and fixing some small issues that we found on inspection. Picking it up Aug 8th then head out week later to East Coast of Canada for 2 weeks.
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A good traveller has no fixed plans,and is not intent on arriving. Lao Tzu
Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Congrats on the Lexi Wanderer. Aside from the front cap FR uses now, yours is the spitting image of ours. Good luck with it and many safe trips.
Grumpy
You're right, your's looks very similar. Nice to see they're satisfied with the design. Looking forward to many happy trips across the continent.
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A good traveller has no fixed plans,and is not intent on arriving. Lao Tzu
Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Update from DH of Wanderer
As DW said we picked up the Lexi on 8 Aug. That day I worked on the chassis radio, magnadyne 9900, and got it working - on button needed strong push. The next day with the help of son and son-in-law got the house entertainment system working properly. Front TV coax not attached, RCA video in to TV was not attached, Wingard booster had coax cables improperly attached, the dealer we bought it from had installed a Jensen in place of the Concertone that was there and not working and they had run a rca video in to the Jensen video out - anyway all set up properly now and working great.
On Sunday DW and removed "wallpaper trim" which was mactac so it just pulled off. We cleaned up some.
On Monday Lexi went to the shop all new tires, oil/filter changed out for synthetic and a general look over.
Tuesday loaded it up and a trip to the weight scales and then back to the shop for a major alignment. Looks like our weight will be 14000, FA 4500 (max 5000) RA 9800 (max 9800).
As it turned out the alignment was way way out. With 33500miles I think it was never aligned.
Last two days just finished replacing kitchen faucet with high neck pull facet, repaired a leaking connection to the toilet and removed the water filter from the house - we will use a filter on the outside. DW vacuumed rugs and washed them.
Unfortunately because of our dog's health we have had to cancel the East Coast trip. (I had posted about his problems in the Pets area).
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