[77newell]

I believe there are differences between 2-stroke and 4-stroke engines, and between electronically and mechanically controlled engines that effect longevity significantly depending on driving style. If you watch truck drivers you will notice that they keep their beasts rather wound up. Seldom do you see them lugging up a hill and frequently you see them shifting fairly frequently for passing and other speed changes. In motorhomes we tend to drive gently and we've been taught that our cars should be kept away from redline RPMs, this is bad for our big diesels since being close to or at red-line is no problem at all and in fact may help the engine's longevity. Compared to trucks we have far fewer gears which inherently means at some points we will be below optimum RPMs.

Mechanical controlled engines and 2-strokes are more vulnerable to operator "error". In particular 2-strokes really do benefit from higher RPMs. I've heard and believe its probably true that 2-strokes need to be driven like you stole them. In any case I think it likely that if we control our driving to keep RPMs up and throttle moderate our engines will do just fine.

While there are a number of coaches for sale with engines that have recently been overhauled, I've also seen others with 2-300,000 miles on them. I don't know if they are about to need significant work or not. The one thing my DD mechanic told me is that 2-strokes by design probably need an in-frame overhaul at about 250,000 miles. On my 6V92T that cost $5,000.

When looking, I would have the fluids analyzed and assess the tidiness of the mechanicals to make an assessment of how maintenance was done. If the tires are old, the engine compartment dirty and oily, or things generally look shabby I would not necessarily shy away from the coach but I would certainly build in a larger contingency fund to cover the things that can't be seen that may or may not happen but at least I've covered my butt and unlike a plumber I like to keep my butt covered.