Buying used montana

[jschwisow]

I am relatively new to this site (lurking for a while) and new to RVing. I am looking to purchase a used RV and I would appreciate some guidance from the wisdom of you seasoned travelers. We will only use the RV for one or two couple week trips a year, so it is hard for me to justify spending more than 25-30K. So I am looking at model years 2004 to 2007. Are there any years or models to be avoided? We like the floor plans of the 3400RL and 3475RL.

Reading through the Maintenance Check List page and some of the problems people have with there RVs makes me pretty nervous about buying used. Since I'm new to RVing, I could sure use some help on what to be looking for or to avoid. From reading here, I realize I need to go through and see that everything works, but how can I avoid buying a major structural repair problem?

I have looked at two local units, a 2005 and a 2007. My terminology won't be correct here, but when looking at the closed underbelly of both units, the covering was gaping down between frame screws and I could see what appeared to be a thin layer of insulation. Actually the 07 had what looked to be great stuff foam insulation sprayed into the gaps to seal them up. Is this a common problem and how should it be correctly repaired.

Also the roof of the 07 is covered with some kind of greenish dried algae, lichen type stuff. How could this be cleaned up and would it affect the roof integrity? Is this a unit to not even consider?

How can I determine what option package was included with the RV and what that package included for a specific year and model?

Thanks for your help, Jim