Let me preface this with a disclosure that I have strong opinions on the subject based on a ton of years of RV'ing and having owned a string of them. I am also a diehard DIY'r, not employing anyone to do any work on my vehicles unless it's warranty or major reconstruction. Some will disagree...too bad...they're wrong.
Here's my take...
Warranty? No. Absolute joke.
Price? High. The 35K is probably more realistic. Maybe even less. You don't need to make friends here, from the dealer nor the seller. Negotiate from an educated position and a tough stance - IT'S YOUR MONEY! They really don't care about you personally - AT ALL. The dealer wants his cut, and the owner wants as much money as he can get. YOU DON'T OWE THEM ANYTHING. I'm not saying you don't have to be polite, but puleeeze.."dont' want to offend them"? Really? It's a business transaction - too bad if they get offended. Move on, find another one - the market is ripe with RV's for sale - people can't afford to run them anymore with $4 to $5 gasoline.
I can't tell you for sure, but somewhere in that vintage is when the chassis went 'wide track', or a wider wheel stance. Make sure you get the updated version - it drives and handles much better, has a sharper turning cut, better shocks and swaybars. The updated chassis also doesn't look like the wheels are sucked in under the body - those are funky looking units!
I would venture to say the Adventurer model is the most widely sold motorhome ever made. You can go into virtually any RV park across the country and you'll see one.
Winnebago makes a decent product, they manufacturer a lot of their own components that other manufacturers buy, like windows and doors, furniture, etc.
Probably the biggest maintenance expense items you've covered, like chassis maint- trans fluid change(s), tires, etc. I'm also not sure about that vintage for the bosche caliper recall but check on that too. Lots of really experienced owners on the workhorse chassis owners section of the forum.
If the exterior finish is faded or peeling it can be fairly expensive to restore. I have seen dealers do a cheap clear-coat spray over everything to make it look nice but that goes south in a very short time and you are left with a mess. Look for glossy gelcoat and graphics that are not peeling - by now unless it was stored indoors it will need them replaced.
Have the fridge turned on and make sure it works on both shorepower as well as LPG. The cooling units in the rv fridges are a known failure item and are expensive to replace - like probably five or six hundred dollars. Mine went out under warranty at about 3 years, been good since. But they are a known failure point.
In fact, you'll want to test ALL systems, furnace - make sure it runs quietly and actually produces heat. How many hours on the generator? Service records for that? Run it and test it. Water system - water flow and proper heater unit operation - again both shore and lpg. Same for roof air - test out for quiet and cold operation.
Operate all the windows and doors, and slides.
Get up on the roof and make sure the fiberglass cap is all there, still shiny and in good condition.
Unless you're on a really tight budget I would encourage you to look at 3-5 years newer. There were a lot of improvements and updates made over the years. Unit pricing might run about ten thousand more but you'll get a lot more up to date unit.
The workhorse chassis is better than the F53 - it's more heavy duty, better designed, the V8 is a better motor - more power and quieter (I've had both) and the allison trans is also way better than the ford. So you're on the right track there.
Oh, and comparable models are the Sunrise (itasca. Yeah, I have that) or Voyage (winnebago) as well as the Suncruiser (itasca). They are virtually the same units, the Adventurer/Suncruiser the next model up the line from Voyage/Sunrise. The differences are very slight, just a few more luxo details on the former. So that will open up your search potential for other comparable units.
Winnebago also builds a better coach than Fleetwood, although those owners would argue otherwise. But seriously, construction and features, the Winnie is a better unit. Forget all the rest of them in this vintage - if you go new or newer there are other choices. And really, Holiday Rambler/Monaco built a pretty nice coach on the same chassis and they are pretty decent as well.
Good luck and let us know what you decide.
EDIT: I just did a quick search and it looks like the wide track chassis was introduced in year models 2000. Track went from 69" to 82", among other improvements - it's a great chassis. Good write up here:
http://giantrv.addr.com/chassis/workhorse3.htm
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