The Used RV Inspection Checklist We Run on Every Unit

A camper can shine under the LED lights on the lot and still hide five figures of damage. Water gets in through one tired roof seal, sits behind a wall panel for a season, and by the time the carpet feels soft the repair is a full gut job. That is why every unit we take in gets walked roof-to-tires before anyone writes a price on it — and why we hand you the report whether it helps us or not.

This is the actual list we run. Use it yourself, on our lot or anyone else's.

Start on the roof, because that is where 80% of damage starts

Get up there with a flashlight. Run your hand along every seam, around every vent, the air conditioner gasket and the antenna mount.

• Sealant condition. Dicor and putty tape crack and pull away after a few Michigan winters. Cracked sealant is a $200 fix today and a delaminated sidewall in three years.
• Soft spots. Walk the membrane. Any give underfoot means the decking underneath is rotting.
• Stains or streaks running down from vents or the AC — that is a leak that already happened.

Then check the same spots from inside: ceiling panels around vents, the backs of overhead cabinets, and under the kitchen and bath sinks.

Water intrusion inside

Water damage hides better than anything else on a used camper.

1. 1.Pull back the window valances and feel the wall. Soft or crumbly means rot.
2. 2.Check the floor around the toilet, entry door and fridge. Spongy flooring is the number-one tell.
3. 3.Look for delamination — bubbles or waves in the fiberglass sidewall. Stand at the back corner of the unit and sight along the wall in low light.
4. 4.Smell for must. Not the stale-damp smell of a camper that has been closed up — a sour, earthy smell means mold.
5. 5.Run every faucet for a full minute, including the outside shower, and watch the drains. Slow drain or a drip under the cabinet both count against the unit.

Slide-outs and awnings

Hit the slide buttons and stand back. A slide that shudders, runs at different speeds, or stops before fully extending is telling you the gears, tracks or seals need work. Around the slide, inspect the wiper seals for tears — a torn seal dumps water into the wall every time it rains on the road. Same check on the awning: look for mildew stains, frayed fabric and a roller tube that bends.

Tires, brakes and the frame

• DOT date codes. Tires age out even with tread. We replace anything over six years old — see our tire date code guide for how to read them.
• Sidewall cracking and flat spots from sitting.
• Brake adjusters on trailers, and rotor condition on motorhomes.
• Frame rust. Michigan road salt eats trailer frames. Look at the tongue, the leaf spring hangers and where the axle meets the frame — surface rust is normal, flaking metal is not.
• Bearing caps. Grease weeping past the cap means a repack is overdue.

Propane, electrical and appliances

Light every burner on the range, the furnace and the water heater. Run the A/C for ten minutes and check that it actually cools. Test the fridge on both propane and electric — absorption fridges that sit unused lose their charge and are expensive to revive. Turn on every interior light and every outlet with a tester. Check the house battery: a battery that will not hold a charge after an overnight shore hookup is due for replacement.

Propane is the one thing you should not eyeball — if you smell gas, or the fittings look oxidized, walk away until a certified tech leaks-checks the system.

The paperwork

Ask for the VIN and run it. Confirm the title is clean and matches the seller's ID. Request service records — roof reseals, bearing repacks, winterization receipts. If it is a flood-state unit or has a rebuilt title, no price is low enough.

What we do differently on Michigan Ave

Every camper we sell passes a 120-point inspection built on this checklist plus the parts that bite in our climate: underbody salt damage, battery health after storage, and a full run of every system on shore power. You get the written report before you pay anything — including the items we repaired and the ones we chose not to hide.

Bring your own inspector too. We would rather spend an afternoon proving the unit is clean than spend a year hearing about it.