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Old 05-09-2020, 05:52 AM   #1
GstreamNewbie
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Default Thinking about buying a 2009 GulfStream Crescendo

Greetings all!
I’m totally new to RV Camping but have been interested for a while to learn more and potentially buy a GulfStream to live in for a couple of years and travel around. Now there’s a 2009 GulfStream Crescendo (19 000 miles) for sale in my area which has 2 slide-outs and looks nice on the pictures. Could you help me answer my questions?

1. How many days could you generally expect to go without having to fill up on water / empty the plumbing system?
2. What’s the Rough average cost of parking it at a campsite with facilities (per day?)
3. If you want to park it in your garden for some months and live there, what do you need to install to empty plumbing, fill up water, etc? (Cost?)
4. Could a 2009 with 19 000 miles be considered in ”good condition” Or more ”average”?
5. What potential expensive problems can come up? (Generator failure, engine etc)
6. Do you need to go to specialty workshops in case anything breaks?
7. What annual depreciation should I expect on an RV such as this? Are they hard to sell?
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Old 05-09-2020, 07:03 AM   #2
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an '09 Diesel Pusher with only 19k miles in over 12 years is probably not good - so little miles means that it's probably been sitting WAY more than it's ever been used... send a link to it's ad and we can all see 'more' details about it.

- 'days' off-grid with only the water tank and holding tanks is totally up to you, there's no way for anyone to be able to guess that - the size of the tanks, how often you use them, etc.
- campgrounds and rv parks range anywhere from $20 to $120 per night, depending on where you are going, whether it's a 'resort' or just a basic park, etc.
- being 'parked' for long-term means you want to hook up to the 3 basic utilities - electricity, water, and septic/sewer. Septic tanks/sewers are the most problematic, though many homes have external 'clean out' plumbing outlets that are the same as with any campground or rv park. Electricity is easy - whether you simply run an extension cord from your home for limited power, or you want to spend money to run a full 50amp RV outlet from your Main Panel, for full power. Water is fairly easy - just a long water hose from the house.
- 'good condition' is subjective, only YOU can determine what that means for you. I would be concerned about the few miles over 12 years and whether the oil has ever been changed even once in this engine, though it could still be a good engine/trans combo - inspecting it closely will be warranted - take a diesel mechanic friend with you. Crank it up and let it run for a while - take it for a test drive, of course. Diesel oil changes usually are 15,000 miles or so, but more costly since there is a lot more oil, though Speedco and large truck shops can do them easily.
- the Generator is of concern, also, as I imagine it also has not been used very often, but the same applies to it since it is, after all, a small engine, too. Prime it, crank it, let it run for quite a while, and run the air conditioners both for a while to give it something to power to show that it is still capable of handling them easily.
- generally things don't 'break', but maintenance and any issues will determine 'where' you go - engine/trans/generator/chassis related issues will be handled by truck shops/freightliner/cummins, etc. 'RV' interior issues can mostly be handled by mobile rv repair or rv dealerships.
- Depreciation is also subjective. You're already buying a 'depreciated' vehicle, so it will continue, but at a slower pace. Older RVs certainly don't hold their value any more than any other type of vehicle, unless they're a 'vintage' Airstream, maybe. Larger motorhomes are harder to 'sell' simply because they are a lot more money compared to other rvs.

Without photos, a copy of the advertisement, and more details about the pricing and any current issues that the owner is stating, it's hard for anyone to really comment on this specific motorhome, though it sounds like a good one.
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Old 05-10-2020, 06:10 AM   #3
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Thanks for the reply!

Interesting point about it havibg low miles and that it should be a warning sign, usually with regular cars, it’s the other way around it seems. If I go and have a look I’ll try to find a friend who knows his way around diesel engines.

The off-grid time, is there a rough estimate? A couple of days? A week? Two weeks?

Is there standard connections for sewage and water around the world? I might want to go to Europe with it...
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Old 05-10-2020, 09:46 AM   #4
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Full size diesel pusher coaches are not really intended for extended off grid 'dry camping' use. In my coach the refrigerator is a residential style that only runs off of 110 volts AC (not the little propane refrigerator style used in most "camper trailers") so it needs to run off the generator, the inverter, or the park hook-up AC service. This coach does have a large fresh water tank and a battery powered water pump so it will have pressure water between hookups when traveling, and you can likely get a few days of use if carefully rationing the use of the shower and dishwashing, but the pacing item for operating fully self-contained is the AC residential refrigerator which causes the generator to be run at least once a day for a few hours to replenish the inverter batteries.


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