First Motorhome: 2007 Winnebago View 23H

[SteveM13]

I just bought a 2007 Winnebago View 23H from my neighbor.
He was the second owner.
Original owner put a lot of highway miles on it running from Minnesota to California.
62,000 miles, new tires, new batteries, very clean.
He liked it so much, he bought another one to replace it, just with a different floor plan, as with back and knee problems, he wanted one with a rear queen bed.
This is my first motorhome. About 15-20 years ago, we had a popup camper.
It runs great, everything appears to be working with the exception of a broken wire to one of the tank heaters.
Has the rattles you would expect from a 20-year old vehicle, so I'm going to go over it and fix as much of that as I can.
Already have five pages of notes of what to do to it and what to get.
Wife drive it and was comfortable with it, which was tops on the priority list.
We were looking at class Bs, but need it to be able to sleep at more than two, so not a lot available.
Didn't like the full class C as they are very wide. This one is more like the class B+.
We weren't expecting to get a motorhome for a couple of years, but when this popped up, we had to grab it.
Been working on detailing the exterior.
Have to look at installing some ham radio gear.

Steve

 

[Eagle5]

Hi Steve,
I bet many of us went looking for a motorhome, found not what we were looking for, but rather found exactly what we needed. Sounds like you have a great neighbor! Looks like a great rig for you and yours. Many View Owners here.
Welcome to the forum.
Eagle5

 

[Morich]

Looks somewhat like I might go for at some point. Congrats on a new experience!
But also may I add a word of warning?
One of the most disappointing things when we move to an RV over other ofrms of camping is how little info we get on what to expect!
Watching the batteries seems like such a simple thing but it often catches folks who are not getting some basics that are far diffferent than expected!
Mt fuirst big advise is whatch both chassis and coach batteries closer than ever as they are both easily ruined if we treat them like we do our cars. Use is far different as we tend to drive our cars every few days and that keeps the simgle battery charged. Not so when we ony get the RV out occasionally!
The dirty little secret is there are small drains on both the chasis and the coach batteries and if we ignore that long enough to totally drain one, it costs us a new battery! OUCH!
When and how to keep them charged is as varied as there are poeple using them, but a few points may help you avoid that big ouch on the first year!
Chassi/start battery is not normally charged in any way, if we don't make some provision to change that. It is also not common for that battery to charge when we plug the RV in!
Then the coach batteries have a very simple but very confusing setup as well. Way more difficult to get in mind for several confuing reasons!
When we leave the RV plugged in and the battery disconnect switch on, those batteries should get charged from the power converter onboard! But if we decide to save some money on power when we are not using the RV, we may unplug the RV. That leaves things like propane detectors and safety item still connected to the batteries , no matter which way we leave the disconnect switch! So we may disconnect the cord and charging but the batteries go dead because the battery disconnect switch doesn't remove ALL the drains.
Watch and check them often until you fully get some of the tricks in mind!
Enjoy the new adventure but it is lots more fun if we don't have to cough up a couple hundred for new batteries in the spring!

 

[Jinny Anderson]

Be sure to get the trans fluid changed bought ours with 79000 miles and were told it has lifetime fluid so don’t worry about it. The trans failed at about 90000 close to 4000 to replace it

 

[SteveM13]

>were told it has lifetime fluid
It did. Lifetime was 90,000 miles.

The prior owner had the transmission fluid changed at the last service.

Good suggestion, though.

What I have heard from multiple sources is that if you've never changed the fluid on a high-mileage car - don't.

If you are starting from new, change it on a schedule.

Steve