Motorhome repair and maintenance costs... and Sherman's future

We are back on the road this morning after spending another $798 USD ($1076 CAD) on repairs, this time to Sherman's water pump. But, we not only got a new water pump, we also got a new fan clutch, a new serpentine belt and a new thermostat. The labor and the parts were split pretty much half and half.

Rock Springs Auto Repair looked after us really well, They gave us an accurate estimate before starting the job, they ordered the parts right away, and they got to the job as soon as the parts showed up. They were also very fair on the labor costs, charging a total of 2.5 hours when I know the guy spent close to 4. I would not hesitate to recommend these guys if you need something done while in the area.

Some readers of this blog have suggested over the past two years that Sherman is getting past his due date.

Let me tell you some history, so that you can understand why we are still doing what we're doing with a now 25 year old motorhome.

Back up to 2007.

We spent $16,500 CAD (which at the time was about $13,000 USD) to purchase, licence, and do some necessary repairs to a 12 year old motorhome that had 25,000 miles (40,000 kms) on it.

The first time we met Sherman in August 2007.

Hey, there's the little blue car too!

Between then and now, Sherman has taken us to a lot of neat places. He has been from the Guatemala border to the far reaches of northern Canada. He now has 130,000 miles (208,000 kms) on the clock. 

We don't baby him. He's got scratches and war wounds from taking us to places that many motorhomes would never venture. He did 1,100 miles (1,800 kms) of rough dirt roads getting us up to the Arctic Ocean. He's been from the British Columbia Pacific coast to the Mexican Pacific coast to the Florida Atlantic coast to the Nova Scotia Atlantic coast. And pretty much everywhere in between.

And throughout it all, he's been a trooper. There have been only a handful of times where he has let us down. And considering all that we've put him through, we think that's pretty good.

I keep track of all of our expenses. So, from the day we bought him we have all of his expenses documented.

Not including the purchase price, associated costs to get him roadworthy, or insurance, we have spent a total of $20,000 CAD (maybe $15,000 USD averaged out) over the years to keep him running. This includes everything from oil changes to tires to solar panels to roof repair. Everything.

A little more than $1,500 CAD ($1,200 USD) per year.

Admittedly, the last three years have been weighted to the downside. We spent $9,000 CAD in 2018, and we are so far up to $3,000 CAD this year. 

But when we consider that he is probably still worth $7,000 to $9,000 CAD to sell in Canada... we're okay with that. He owes us nothing. If we can get that money without having to spend more to get us there, we're okay with that.

And that is what we will probably do. Sell him when we return to Canada in August. We think he's better suited to retire to a seasonal site somewhere, or someone's property out in the middle of nowhere. That's what the current thinking is, but of course that can change! There is too much going on in the world that can mess things up! No point in making firm plans!

And so we really are due for a newer motorhome. But we're pretty much done with RV'ing in North America. No, we haven't seen it all, but we've come pretty close. Our next RV will be based in Europe.

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