Hi Larry; you sound like me, I have been looking a while now. Drove 6,000
miles in the last 5 weeks alone viewing 12 different coaches from $10,000 -
$22,000. But if you can, before you go out, talk to an expert and an
owner or two. I almost made a disasterous mistake, but was saved by input
from the regional Northeast GMC guru, Ken Frey (Quakertown, Pa) who I will
forever be indebted to. Job #1, you need to be able to inspect for frame
deterioration. About half the ones I looked at had at least some damage
toward the rear wheels that would have needed attention in a few years
(about $5,000 to have fixed). Otherwise, some GMC truths I hold self
evident. !973 & 74's are not up to the standards of the later model years.
Again, make sure you inspect the frame before looking at the rest of the
coach, it will save you from wasting time. My guess is that driving one of
these things on a salt covered highway a few times was enough to cause a
problem to develop, even if they were stored the rest of the time indoors.
Anyone advertising a GMC in a local paper is a motivated seller. No one
looking in a local newspaper cares (like we do) or knows the difference
between a GMC or SOB. On price, do your market research. For example; I
noticed book values are starting to accelerate there decline (NADA). Unless
I made a mistake, the 4-5% drop in price that occured from 3/97-3/98 for a
std 26' 1976 model accelerated to +10% in the most recent period. My
experience is the units advertised in the $12-17k range are a bad deal and a
waste of time to look at. They have been in really bad condition and would
soon need big investments to keep them going or make them presentable. The
"best value" I have found is in the low and near $20k units. I have found
several that checked out very well mechanically, had better paint (about a
$4k job if done right), and an interior you wouldn't be ashamed of, and
everything (ie - onan, a/c, etc.) worked great. On the other extreme, Arch
I think has the ultimate solution and absolute best value for a 20+ year old
coach, buy a hulk at a low price and re-work it. Good Luck, hope you find
one soon. -walter bright. Delanco, NJ.
