I’ve owned motor homes for the better part of 20 years and wouldn’t be without one. The only thing I was sorry about when I bought my first one was that I didn’t do it 10 years earlier.
A few things…
Like anything else, if you don’t use it, it ain’t worth owning. Calculate the cost of the unit, maintenance, insurance, storage, etc then guess how many times a year you would use it. It may be cheaper to rent one if you will only use it a couple of times a year. We use the crap out of ours (average 9,000 miles a year) and have had many great trips and vacations that would not have been possible without an RV.
Motor homes are not cheap to get down the road. In spite of what the guy selling it says, you will get somewhere around 7-10 miles to the gallon which will cost you around 35-50 cents a mile.
We presently have a 28’ class C motor home with an 18’ heavy fiberglass boat. I have no issues with towing other than, for some unknown reason, when you strap 4,000 pounds behind you your gas mileage seems to go down. In all honesty, I’d rather back my trailer with my motor home than my pickup. However, I’ve had to uncouple the trailer a few times to get turned around… you have to be a little more careful when you head into some of the launches, especially at lake ramps. And you can’t park 50’ of coach and trailer just anywhere.
As stated, look for signs of leaks, especially on the siding; if it’s bubbled (delaminated) it leaks. Make sure the generator makes power and will handle a load. Fire up the water heater and furnace, pressurize the water system to check for leaks and if equipped with A/C check it out including running it off of the generator. Make sure to test drive it on the freeway.
And as I remind myself when I fill it up... there's more to life than gas mileage.