I guess my largest frustration in looking for a suitable Barth or any other RV for that matter is - lack of info, or very little and almost no one has pictures or just one or two. If you live 500 miles or more away from something you think you may like, you cannot just talk about the coach and then go kick tires 1000 miles away. You need as many pictures as possible in order to be able to help make a decision. Some ad's on EBay have 80+ pictures of everything and angle imaginable. Digital cameras are getting pretty cheap so it’s not as big a deal now. Help out not only the buyers but yourself.

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Barth Wannabe
Nick and Glo

I agree with the inspector. I personally like to see at least 20 pictures otherwise I just move on...

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Larry and Heidi from CA

What do you think about creating a checklist of questions to email to sellers for their response? Would save long phone calls and trying patience of seller and buyer. I find it a tense chore to extract details from sellers, many of whom do not know their units at all especially when the unit is inherited. I have traveled 700 mile roundtrips just for 8 seconds inside the door to smell pet pee and cigarettes. What a waste of time and money. Now, if the seller was adjusting price to cover upholstery replacement, maybe it would be worth a better look. But most do not deal. What do you think? Would there be support among those of us BArth wannabes to create a checklist to send to sellers?

Bob/Larry & Heidi, thanks for responding. I think Bob has a good point. I have a rather scattered brain check list, one that lies in my mind and pops out when I do call a seller. Not good because it seems I never ask all the same questions each time. We could brainstorm this on the side. Doing so we may be considered a sub-culture within this group. Wannabe's versus owners. The lucky so and so's. We could each make our own list and e-mail to each other and combine what we left out that others thought of. What you think? I hope the sellers don't think we are plotting against them.

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Barth Wannabe
Nick and Glo

I just bought a 1986 Barth. After being on the road and getting home and working on the problems I knew about and some that I didn't I think that it would be a good idea to make up a check list that is very complete. You tend to want to over look things when you have traveled a long ways to buy the coach of your dreams. A good check list of mechanical items to look for would keep you on point and not forget the little things. It would also keep the seller from trying to lead you away from things they don't want you to see as happened in my case. Little by little I'm getting this Barth back into shape. I just wish that the cost of fuel would level out. We will be taking a lot shorter trips this summer and staying a little longer at the camp area. Dennis

Sounds like a group of marketing guys. It really is something how folks will provide the bare minimum of info and then wonder why their coach hasn't sold. And with digital cameras it is so very easy.

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OK, let's do it. I have a list started that I can email whoeverelse wants to work on the checklist. Give me thru tomorrow to finish a few more things on it. Hey, what do you think about posting inspection reports? I have seen the Airstream and Cortez forums do that. When they find what they think to be a loser unit, they post why. They also post good reports too. One Airstream one that I remember was about a MH at an Indiana dealer. Told how it took about an hour to get it started, that it ran rough and the cushions were ripped and soiled. And that the dealer would not budge on price. Probably saved lots of people trips, time and money. That would be Dave's call if he would allow that kind of reporting.

I have no problem with anyone reporting what they found while visiting a coach for sale. I know that everyone on this website would show good taste. Comments like "the is the suckiest piece of poop I've ever seen." is not helpful. A comment like, "this is a good fix up coach for a hobbyist". I think relays much of the same info in a civil way.

I have never received a cent from any of the coaches for sold here. So I think that honest critique is OK, just keep it cool and in good taste.

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For starters, go to the Vintage Bird Buyer's Checklist @ www.vintagebirds.com/bcl.htm

While we're on that topic of reporting what we found. How about reporting some disclosure items we found in conversation on phone that might be relevant before an inspection/buying trip? Like for example, a seller might reveal under questioning that odometer reading is not documented or that refrig is a repl household type and not an RV, just two examples. However their "for sale" listing did NOT have that info. In a couple cases I rejected coaches because I discovered important info that was not in the sales writeup. And those listings were not subsequently updated/corrected after I spoke w/ them. Is that fair game to report "discovered info as reported by seller"? That way, the prospective buyer would not be expressing their own opinion. I think as long as the seller reveals something under questioning, it would be fair game for prospective buyers to report that information BUT stating that it was REPORTED BY SELLER, maybe even give date of the conversation too. Comment could be, for example, seller reports engine switched but did not document odometer reading at switch. Or . . . speedo replaced w/ new one, but seller does not have documented record from certified mechanic showing mileage when switched. Or . . . seller reports ceiling is wavy near two roof vents. Or . . . seller reports that he painted the coach himself with a roller, and "it looks pretty good". I've found these things in my search for an RV. Fortunately all of them were not on Barthmobile.

One has to remember that 100% of the coaches sold on this website are "AS IS" No warranty and the newest coach is going to be a 1998. If anyone buys a 1970's anything, RV, bicycle, or tennis racket, it is going to be in really tough condition. When was the last time you saw a 1970's car on the road.

I'll tell you one thing for sure. If you get the check list like the one in the previous post and you use it on any RV more than 10 years old you will never find one that will pass.

Here's my idea. Don't ever buy a coach on this website, unless you have an extra $10K in the bank that you won't worry about spending in the first year of ownership. Now if you buy an early '80's diesel then make that $15K. Now obviously if you are like Dennis and Bill and a few others, where if your engine blows you just pop a rebuild in over the weekend then just make sure you have $7K set aside for the gas and $12K for the pusher since you will only save the labor.

If I sound negative here, it's because I mean to be. If these older coaches were anything other than Barths they would be junk junk junk... You ever seen a 1982 Bluebird, is that a mess or what?

So I would say to all to show great caution when buying any of these "very" old coaches.

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I think most buyers realize that any used purchase is "as-is-where-is," whether it is a motorhome or a lawn mower, whether posted on Barthmobile or on the grocery store bulletin board. My intention in having a checklist is to discover as much as possible about the motorhome BEFORE driving or flying on an inspection/purchase trip. This applies to ANY motorhome of ANY vintage, from 1970's thru 1990's. (I have seen vehicles in the late '90s w/ blown engines too.) The checklist is NOT intended as a "pass/fail" test, but an inventory of the items in the coach and the condition of stuff. Knowing the condition beforehand, the buyer can evaluate the purchase and the asking price before making the trip. For example, let's suppose the roof air and refrig are original. And the seller reveals that neither works. (Listing only said coach had roof air and a refrig.) We could assume repair could exceed $1000 and replacement could exceed $3,000. Therefore, the cost for those two appliances needs to be reflected in the price. If the asking price is on the high side and the seller will not adjust for malfunctioning appliances, I would like to know that from a prior phone call to avoid an uncomfortable or impossible situation in the seller's driveway. For example, within the last month, I made an 800 mile roundtrip to buy a $13,000, 1979, low odometer, Avion M22 motorhome that was reported to be excellent. Pics looked great. The drive test was scary. Steering was very sloppy, shift into 3rd was erratic, oil from engine and trans leaked everywhere from every seal/gasket and exhaust. The owner refused to let me have it inspected by local garage and refused to budge on price. He said that he routinely adds fluids and that serves him for the 1,000 or so miles he puts on a year. So, I promptly left for home. Cost me couple tanks of gas, motel, meals, and entire two day weekend. Since $13,000 was on the high side for that coach, had the seller agreed to price concessions, I think that I would have bought it and had it towed back home. Solution would have been to ask the seller BEFORE my trip if he would be willing to adjust price if the condition was not as described or if a mechanic's inspection showed serious repair problems that could exceed $1,000. If the seller revealed prior to my trip that he would not allow inspection and would not adjust price for faulty items discovered, I would not have wasted a weekend.
Any motorhome, regardless of vintage will have some problem. Selling price should reflect vintage, condition, odometer, etc. A checklist would make that assessment of all items easier and more convenient for seller and buyer.

Hi Guys. Maybe we should just post here that we have looked at a certain Barth, then if anyone else is interested they could contact us thru the email. Just want to keep peace with both buyer and seller.

Ralph Glover

I agree Ralph, I think it is too much to ask the buyer to list all of the negatives, no would then provide their coach for sale. I told Robert in an email once that when you are talking about the older coaches one should assume that there are a bunch of negatives. With the exception of course of the basic Barth manufacturing techniques.



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This discussion is getting too complicated and involved for me. For clarification, I'm not looking for negatives. As an eager buyer, I'm looking for positives, otherwise I would not be spending this much effort to buy a used motorhome. To be clear: I want to buy one. Mainly, I wanted information. What's in the coach and if the stuff works or not. Hopefully, that would result primarily in positives that will lead to my purchase. I think that some people interpreted that asking detailed questions is looking for fault. A buyer should never ignore problem areas. We're talking thou$and$ here. That's why I thought a fact-finding checklist could set aside those fears. Depersonalize it. I already see that several people are uncomfortable with asking specific questions of sellers, so let's drop the checklist idea, at least drop it as a forum discussion. 10-4, over/out on this one for me.