--- In toyota-campers@y..., r_hayden@e... wrote:
Hi all. Many thanks to all who responded to my questions-- I
appreciate the information, cautionary words, and encouragement very
much.
More details re. the Odyssey: It has a 22RE engine with EFI, AT
w/OD, and it's a 22 ft. rig. It has a ladder, roof rack, awning,
lots of storage space, 4 cyl. generator, AC in cab and in back,
microwave--- overall it seems like a really nice MH. I don't know
about the transmission cooler but we'll look into that. Sounds like
they were factory installed in the '88 models, though.
I spoke with the sellers today and they say that there's no tow
hitch
and they don't think it's never towed a vehicle. They said that
they
simply let the transmission fluid get too low, didn't check it
before
a trip and while they were driving, "white smoke came pouring out
all
of a sudden." They had to get the transmission replaced in Oregon
City and have all the paperwork, which we're going to check out
before purchasing (and see if the warrantee is transferrable). It
sounds like the motorhome wasn't abused, just neglected one trip,
which cost them $1000 to fix. Doh! I asked the owner how it does
when fully loaded driving down the highway and she said it goes 65
on
the open road, maybe 40 on steep inclines, she wasn't sure since she
never drove. (Doesn't sound too different from the 4 cyl. Toyota
pickups I've owned!)
We're going to get it checked before purchasing (we're having the
compression, axle, bearings, transmission, etc. tested by a Toyota-
certified shop tomorrow), and if everything looks okay, we hope to
purchase it. The couple seem very honest, and the whole vehicle
looks very well-maintained, more so than the others I've seen. The
engine looks clean, no obvious leaks, and the fluids looked clear,
not dirty, and the interior is just about spotless. The brother of
the woman who owns it is apparently mechanically inclined and he
said
that the engine is in terrific shape, and that aside from the
transmission glitch, they've maintained it very well. It looks it,
at least from a surface inspection.
My husband looked at a '91 Dolphin today and he said it wasn't as
nice, though it did have a V6 (w/61K mi). We considered purchasing
this one, but the dealer, who told me on Saturday that it was
selling
for $12,500, informed us today that the selling price is actually
$15,500. I'm not sure what happened over the weekend, but we can't
afford the current price, and the interior was, in my husband's
opinion, much more worn/stained than the Odyssey and didn't have as
nice a layout. We've had 3 Toyota trucks (no automatics, though)
and always were served well by them, and I'm hoping the same will be
true for the one we eventually buy.
We're travelling to the east coast in July with our two children,
and
hope to find the right rig to get us there and back safely and
comfortably. The Odyssey might be it, we'll know sooner or later,
and should have some good info tomorrow after the inspection. I
noticed another list member had asked about car seats and using the
couch seatbelts--does anyone know for sure whether the couch can be
used with a toddler carseat? Our 4 year-old would do fine with the
regular seatbelts, I'm mostly concerned about our younger child.
Any
information/references appreciated. I'll look into this myself and
let folks know if I come up with any definite information.
best,
Rosannah
IMHO you are about to make a very bad buy. A blown tranmission
cannot be repaired correctly for $1000, nor do transmissions
use up fluid, it had to of leaked out. Look out!
Read the Archives of this list. See trans problems and costs.
There are over 100 Toyota based MHos for sale on RV trader.
Jack A2
