A friend wants to buy a diesel pusher motorhome. She can't afford anything close to new; wants to spend at most $60k. So I've been researching what's available in that price range, and there's no shortage of decently-priced rigs out there.

Thing is, a lot of these rigs have the 330 hp CAT engine. I did some Googling on it, and it seems that motor (which I think is the C7) has a terrible reputation for reliability... pump failures, injector failures, etc, etc.

Then, most of the rigs I find with a Cummins have the (IMO too small for an RV) 5.9 and are the 275-300 hp version. The 8.3 or the ISL would be ideal but then we're getting into the $80-100k rigs.

One of the problems is that she wants a trailer that can carry her Jeep Wrangler Unlimited and two ATVs. So I'm figuring it'll be towing around 10k.

All that being said... I'm wondering if anybody has had experiences with CAT-powered motorhomes of the late 90's to mid 2000's vintage, and if it was good or bad. I'm also wondering about the possibility of converting a CAT-powered motorhome to a Cummins (8.3 or ISL) in the event the CAT motor fails. Since used ISLs are going for $6000-7000 from what I've seen, that's still cheaper than repair cost on the CAT.

Thanks.

Rob

 

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