After months of searching, we finally purchased a “New to Us” RV.
Our first “RV” was a 1988 Toyota Dolphin that we bought specifically to do a bucket list drive up to Alaska. READ HERE. We aptly named the Toyota our “Toyhouse”. 🙂
We owned the Toyhouse for several years and it traveled all around the US and Canada. It served us well and gave us the opportunity to see if an RV would fit our lifestyle. The experience also helped us narrow down what we wanted in an upgrade.
We sold the Toyhouse last year and started keeping our eyes open for something a little newer and larger. We preferred a Class A, something simple with basic systems, no bigger than about 30 ft, with a Ford V10 chassis.
Late fall and early winter are the best time to buy, so we started getting serious and actually looked at a few in NW Ohio. We expanded our search and was looking in Florida, a lot of motor-homes down there and prices seem lower, big supply and low demand. We had a few days of vacation to burn in the fall so decided to take a trip to Florida, look at a few motor homes, and maybe make a deal.
A week or so before the trip, I seen two Mirada’s advertised around Columbus, Ohio. What the heck, the asking prices were a little high but we decided to take a look anyway.
The first Mirada we looked at was in very good condition and had a good chassis, with one, very, very major exception: the entire wall around the drivers side had sever water damage. Sad; the price was very low and well under our budget, but I wouldn’t be able to tackle the water damage until next spring. We wanted be able to use it this winter to head south west.
The other Mirada we looked at had been sitting on the dealers lot for about 6 months. They had taken it in on a trade in for a new unit from one of their loyal customers. It was very basic, good condition, BUT it also had water damage in two areas, outside under the frig compartment, and inside under the bedroom window.
I suspect when the dealer showed this couch to a prospective buyer, when they seen the water damage, especially the bedroom damage, they immediately stopped looking and moved on to the next coach.
I spent considerable more time looking at the water damage than I did the rest of the coach. There was an area under the Emergency window that looked really bad, but in reality, was simply cosmetic. The leaky Emergency window was repaired before severe damage had occurred.
However, the water damage under the frig that looked minor, in reality was very serious, but repairable. With the exception of the water damage, the Mirada looked clean , had recent tires, and was in good condition.
To the negotiation table.
We beat the RCD sales staff up pretty bad on the price. They were asking 21k but were willing to come down to 17k. To high for me. I think I embarrassed my wife, but I would constantly remind RCD that the coach had been on their lot a long time, and the reason it wasn’t moving was because it had some very, very, very serious water damage. But I was willing to take it off their hands for the right price, and I had cash.
After the RCD blood letting we finally agreed on a price, 13k, cash. But they had to fix the generator that refused to start, and also prove to me the Air Conditioner worked. How do you test an air conditioner when its 15 degrees outside? You move it inside the garage, warm things up, and turn on the AC.
After the title and registration was signed, I handed them 13k in cash and we were heading home in our brand spanking new to us Mirada. 🙂
The unit was in good condition except for the water damage. We brought all the preventative and scheduled maintenance up to date before heading out on our 7,000 trip at Christmas:
1) Tranny needs flush and fill
2) Brake pads need replacing all four wheels
3) Verify coach 12 volt system to determine if phantom loads are killing the battery. (Bad battery and minor phantom loads)
4) Oil / air filter change
5) verify truck heater / AC operation. Doesn’t seem to be switching defrost / floor, etc. (vacuum hose broken on heater system)
6) repair passenger side headlight mount (its wiggles and is held in with a tie wrap. (Repaired – JB Weld the bracket back on the headlight)
7) Verify / rewire dash radio so it can operate off coach or truck battery. (Repaired)
8) Remount TV set. (Repaired – replaced TV with newer modern LCT TV)
9) squeaky sound comes from belt / tensioner. (Repaired – replaced belt and tensioners)
10) Add the low pressure LP line to use for the Mr Buddy heater. (Installed – used all winter)
11) There is some water damage around the rear emergency window, but we’ll fix that later.
12) Water damage under Frig, repair that later. (Repaired – new plywood and epoxy, between the Styrofoam layers)
All in all, we really like this Mirada. My wife noted its the same basic layout as our ole Toyhouse, but it has more room, especially the large bedroom and shower. There are no automated systems, very basic, but functional.
It tows our toad well. We tow a Camry, a Civic, or a Vue, no problems.