Of late, I have found this issue becoming more and more something if interest so lets help.
Sorry guys, I’m trying to do too much in one day. The story here will be finished tomorrow… what it’s about is we’ve been thrust into the buy/sell of coaches…. Still we’re staying that “oiano player” in the process but we now have nice coaches, checked out, clean and fair buys right here at the shop. The “Co-op For Sale” program will roll out slower than I want and folks pushing us hard to get buyers and sellers together. Please give us a little time… I will tell you more about this tomorrow but let me just show you a coach that has sold and will hit the road running like it needs with repairs and updates too for between $30 and $35,000
Here are some pics of the exterior, let me comment after them
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As you can see, it’s a pretty good looker…. We painted the coach base/ clear 4 or 5 years ago. The color is a crème Brunet or something like that with a light metallic taupe/ gold stripe. Keeping an original conservative look the striping is horizontal. He needs a spare tire cover or actually he could loose the spare tire in that he has the quad bag rear suspension system 
You can also see he has Alcoa rims with tires having @ 1 year more wear before I would replace them. 2 Roof AC units and an original Onan that used to run, I need to check it out but my bet is the generator runs with maybe a carb kit and points.
So the outside could use a body mold kit and some loving care but hey, the exterior is nice. This is something to hope to find when seeking one of these coaches.
The interior had been well kept by Lou and brought up to a comfortable state for what they wanted. The dash is original but in great shape, being a 78, it has the type 3 dash AC system that actually can have blowing air come out all the vents! That’s a good thing, ask a 73 coach owner… 
To me, the 2 things that come to mind is clean and unmolested. There isn’t a pile of switches, gauges and wires scabbed in that you really don’t know what they do, how they were connected and how safe is the installation. We usually rip all of that out when a coach changes hands. Hey, the PO didn’t mean it but he may have put in some doodad, rigged up the wiring to see if it would work… it did so he left the rig in. Hey, it happens much like that… well Lou was fastidious on his neatness and stuff like that just isn’t here… Nice….
Let me show of the interior pics and I’ll talk about them..
OK, this is a twin bed rear bath Coachmen Royale floorplan. Rge upholstery was refinished by Lou’s wife and has hardly been used. .
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The forward galley has an LP stove and oven plus space for a microwave, Lou never used one. The original dinette is clean and reupholstered again, hardly used from it’s refinishing.
Lou put down textured plank laminate slatboard to be in the original wood family… a very nice job
A rear bath, Lou never used the tub, the avocado was popular in 1977 but with the rest of the rear bathroom refinished I would think a new owner would want to recolor the tub but hey, the rest of it is nice and done
An older but still newer 2 way Norcold frig too
As far as interior and exterior features go, this is what you want to look for. Some quality updating at the least. Hey it’s nice to maybe be original but do you wanna sit and lay down on original cloth material? I mean WHERE has that stuff been! Just my opinion, if you do have original upholstery, get an appointment with Stanley Steamer!
Now you know though you must check the MECHANICALS before you ever consider this stuff! Sorry but a good looking coach that can’t go anywhere … well just isn’t useable!
Lou’s coach is a late year 403 motor… that’s no big deal, the 403 was a really good motor, yes @ 20% less in torque but still plenty and changing your diff to a 370 that 403 can become thrilling. A complete mechanical workup would need to be done…. for the prospective buyer to gave a clear mechanical picture of what the coach represents mechanically. From there a punch list of issues can be made and costs assessed to that work if any needing to be done. Now there will be things that need to be done, at the least a dump of fluids for a baseline on that, the 5 page mechanical evaluation we do goes through the running geatrgiving an A…B….C evaluation on engine compression, brakes, bearings, fuel system, etc. Takes us @ 2 hours ($180) to do this report and from there the update budget can be set. 
So this is the news for those of you interested in buying and selling a coach. Give us a call. I feel it’s a service to bring coaches together for you guys to see, understand and maybe get into this community.
NO motorhome is “cheap”. No one forced you to buy this thing but if you like this travelling and living style brother, a GMC is a great way to do it. I call them “the cheapest toy in the box” still you will spend money constantly to keep one of theses maintained and in good repair. A good friend, retired economics guy figured over a 20 year period he spent an average of $2000 a year after the coach was repaired and ready to maintain. No that DOES NOT include what you need to do to get into a serviceable condition. Sorry, we want all sorts of things but there is no reliability in any 40 year old machine and it has to be “trust but verify” on everything!. As a good friend of mine Mac the Fire Guy McCoy said. Fire danger? IT’S 40 YEARS OLD!!!!!! I mean WHAT could go wrong!!
So THIS is what you should look for when wanting to pick up a GMC to actually use. They can be a great object of someones frustration… I mean if you want to work on something a GMC motorhome is a worthy challenge. It offers great satisfaction when you accomplish something that makes you happy and you can use so if something to do is what you seek.. here’s a pic of Jim Greer who added too and loved his GMC. He and his wife went many places with their coach 
and this is the day he turned the keys over to me and my coach JayGee came to be 
You may have seen Janie and me at the recent Dothan GMCMI convention with JayGee our family member our home 
. Hey, JayGee isn’t perfect but it makes us happy. As our new bumper sticker says 
Those of you out there interested in getting one of these ….. DO IT! Lavish your baby with everything you want and get out there and have some big fun! If you wanna travel in a breadbox, go for that too but get out there in something….. remember putting together a GMC to do that IS The cheapest toy in the box”. I mean WHAT do you get at the RV dealer for $50,000 or even $100,000? I rest my case.
I hope this helps you making a decision on a coach for yourself. We will have coaches for you here, you can come…. learn more about the GMC right here, pick one out and have it remodeled… repaired or have whatever it needs done right here with us. Give me a call if you are interested and BTW, the coach I showed you above is available for $20,000. My guess it needs $10,000 in maintenance, cosmetic and infrastructure upgrades and it will be really nice and good to go. Remember, you MUST not think you can buy one of these things and simply drive off. It doesn’t happen that way with a 40 year old anything! Let us help you get a coach and get out on the road. I think the most you can hope for is someone to help… we can do that.
Good hunting, let me know if I can help….
Sure. How?
” let me just show you a coach that has sold and will hit the road running like it needs with repairs and updates too for between $30 and $35,000. ”
That’s a pretty broad estimate range there…
Yes it is, working on a 40 year old machine it needs to be and you would want everything attended to before you go on the road. Anyone that gives you a hard “quote” basically uses the formula….. how much do you think it might cost…. double that and add 30% more….. Thats a bid. We only charge for things we do that’s needed. We break down our labor in 15 minute segments and itemize in labor time and materials each thing that is done. The invoice is actual documentation so it’s not a question of what will it cost rather what will it need. Depending is you want a new mattress, toilet seat maybe, carpet, tires and the list goes on specifically on your project. We watch it as it goes but it will go where it needs to and you can follow it all the way to the final cost. There’s really not much “leeway” in the project. That’s the point I was trying to make…. if the coach were green and you hate grean… sounds like a paint job would be in order… Thanks for the question, hope it helps others understand… a 40 year old machine is what it is
Will be paying a visit this summer…….
Having recently purchased a coach in the last year, and having the Co-op do their 3 page evaluation, was the best $180 I spent on the coach (other than the pirate spare tire cover, lol). They found a few issues that I had missed in my inspection prior to purchase that while not show stoppers, did require immediate attention as they were unsafe for road use (fairly rotted frame rail that needed to be fixed and not visible until the rig was up on a lift).
Sure my initial visit went over budget due to this unforeseen issues, but I drive her now with the confidence that mechanically, she is checked out and road worthy.
This is wonderfully helpful, and yes, we want to go with thee Creme Brulee color as a base… everything you said makes sense to me, and I am glad you are going to take care of our coach and us.
Also, just a thought, but when I look everyday for the daily blog post, I never look at past dates. I wonder if you are missing a lot of people with this new great information by not starting a new post altogether… this is stuff that I think everyone who has or is considering a GMC should consider.