--- title: "In Shop Pre Purchase RV Inspection, $400 to $1,200" description: "Every system operated, roof metered on a grid, undercarriage checked on the lift. Buyer inspections by size and systems count at the Yorba Linda facility." focus_keyword: "in shop pre purchase rv inspection rancho santa margarita" canonical: https://ocrv.me/services/inspection-and-estimating/pre-purchase-rv-inspection/ kind: subService updated: 2026-07-29 source: OCRV Center --- # In Shop Pre Purchase RV Inspection for Used Unit Buyers > A buyer inspection runs **$400 to $1,200** by size and systems count. Every system is operated rather than looked at, and it happens **in shop only**, never at a seller's lot. ## What does an in shop pre purchase RV inspection include? An in shop pre purchase RV inspection operates every system, meters the roof and floor, and checks structure on the lift. OCRV Center performs it at the Yorba Linda facility for buyers from Rancho Santa Margarita at $400 to $1,200, depending on unit size and systems count. - We do not inspect at a seller's driveway, a storage row or a dealer lot - Roof and floor moisture is metered on a grid and recorded by location - The generator runs on a stepped load bank, not at idle - Findings are sorted into now, within a year, and never ### Key facts | Item | Value | | --- | --- | | Inspection fee | $400 to $1,200 (By unit length and how many systems it carries) | | Where it happens | In shop at 23281 La Palma Ave, Yorba Linda (Lift, load bank, water test rig and meters are all on site) | | Time on the floor | Most of a working day on a large coach (3 to 6 hours of instrument and operating time) | | Report delivery | 1 to 2 business days (Written to be read by somebody who was not present) | | What the buyer supplies | Seller permission to operate and lift, propane in the cylinders, fuel in the tank | We do not perform mobile inspections and there is no roadside option: the unit comes to the Yorba Linda facility, because most of what decides whether a used RV is worth buying is underneath it. Frame welds, spring hangers, tank supports, the underside of a slide room and the state of a floor cavity are all invisible from the ground, and a report written from what can be seen while standing in a storage row is worth roughly what it costs to produce. A used recreational vehicle is a house, a truck and eight appliances bolted together, and it has been stored outdoors for years by somebody who is not obliged to tell you what it did. This inspection exists to replace a seller's description with measurements. Every system gets operated. The roof and floor get metered on a grid. The generator gets loaded. Then you get a document that sorts the findings by urgency and puts a price against each one. ## Why this cannot be done where the unit is parked We do not offer mobile inspection and there is no version of this that comes to a seller's address, because the findings that matter most are all underneath. A four post lift and mobile column lifts let somebody stand under a frame and look at welds, cross members, spring hangers and tank supports with a light and a mirror. A controlled water test rig proves or disproves a suspected leak rather than leaving it as a maybe. A stepped load bank puts real amps through a generator. None of that arrives in a van. The objection we hear is that a seller will not agree to move the unit. In practice they usually do, and a refusal is itself information worth having. The drive from most of Orange County is short, and buyers from Rancho Santa Margarita take the 241 to the 91 rather than the surface streets through Anaheim Hills, which is the sensible route for anything over thirty feet. If the unit genuinely cannot be driven or towed, say so at the counter and we will talk about transport instead of pretending an inspection can travel. > **note:** Bring the seller's written permission for us to operate and lift the unit, propane in the cylinders, and at least a quarter tank of fuel. Without those, appliances and the generator cannot be tested, which removes a large part of what you are paying for. ## Metering the roof and floor on a grid, not at three spots Water is the thing that destroys recreational vehicles and it does its work out of sight. A meter reading taken at three convenient places tells a buyer almost nothing, because the pattern is what carries the information. So the deck is read on a grid, systematically, and every reading is written down against its location. The same happens along floor perimeters, at cabinet bases, around every slide opening and at the wet bay. What comes out is a map. Elevated readings clustered around a single vent or skylight is a repair with a known price. Elevated readings following the front cap seam is a different and larger repair. Elevated readings across a third or more of the deck means the decking itself has gone, and at that point the membrane on top of it is the cheapest part of the job. A buyer holding a grid of numbers can have a specific conversation with a seller. A buyer holding an impression cannot. 1. Read the deck systematically rather than at convenient spots 2. Record every reading against its position on a sketch 3. Repeat along floor perimeters, cabinet bases and slide openings 4. Interpret the pattern rather than the highest single number 5. Attach a repair price to each cluster of elevated readings ## The findings that live underneath The lift is where purchases end. On a towable we are looking at frame rails and their welds, cross members, spring hangers and shackles, wet bolt condition, axle alignment, and whether anybody has fitted a Correct Track kit to cure something they never explained. Tank supports get inspected with the tanks part full where possible, because a stretched strap and a cracked mounting boss both hide when a tank is empty. On a motorhome the list shifts to chassis rails, steering and suspension components, exhaust and hangers, the underside of every slide room, and the generator compartment and its mounts. Slide undersides deserve particular attention on any coach that has lived under a leaking roof seam, since water tracks along a room floor and surfaces nowhere useful. Every one of these becomes a photograph in the report with a location, because a finding nobody can point to later does not help you negotiate. ## Operating a system is not the same as looking at it A component that looks perfect and does not work is the entire reason this takes most of a day. Slides are cycled repeatedly and measured at both top corners through travel, because a room running out of square by more than a quarter inch is already chewing its seals. Awnings come all the way out and all the way in. Every appliance is fired on each source it has, which regularly reveals that a water heater or refrigerator has had a dead gas side for a year while shore power quietly covered for it. The water system is pressurized and held on a gauge, tanks are filled and dumped with the outlet watched, and levelling is run through a complete sequence rather than nudged. The generator goes on a stepped load bank and is taken toward rated output with voltage and frequency watched, which is a different test entirely from the start and idle a seller will happily demonstrate. Hour meters are read and recorded for both the chassis and the set. - Slides cycled and measured at both corners through full travel - Appliances fired on propane and on shore power, separately - Water system held on a decay gauge, tanks filled and dumped - Generator taken toward rated output on a stepped load bank - Levelling run through a complete cycle, hour meters recorded ## Age matters more than mileage on a used RV A coach with nine thousand miles and eleven years is usually in worse condition than one with sixty thousand miles and six years, and buyers consistently get this backwards. Rubber ages by date rather than by distance. We read the DOT date code on every tire including the spare, and a set with deep tread and a nine year old code is a set that needs replacing before the unit is used, which is a real number to put in front of a seller. The same logic runs through the rest of the vehicle. Brake components on a trailer that has sat corrode rather than wear. Wheel bearings that have not turned in three years have grease that has separated. Propane cylinders carry a recertification date. Roof and window sealants harden on a calendar, not an odometer. A unit stored in Southern California sun for four seasons has aged its exterior sealant far more than one that spent those seasons being driven. ## Which findings should actually end a purchase Most findings are prices. A few are answers. The ones that end purchases in this building are structural or systemic: a frame crack propagating from a spring hanger or a pin box mount, delamination running the length of a laminated sidewall rather than bubbling locally, a roof deck metering wet across a third or more of its area, and on older units a floor cavity damp long enough to have lost its adhesive bond across whole bays. Everything else is arithmetic. A dead refrigerator cooling unit, a slide that needs a rail set, four tires, a generator that will not hold above sixty percent load, a water heater with a consumed anode and a corroding tank: those are all numbers, and a report that prices them gives a buyer something to negotiate with. The distinction we are careful to draw is between what costs money and what costs money forever, because those two categories deserve very different reactions. ## Which vehicles we inspect for buyers Vintage units first, because there the question is less about condition and more about whether parts still exist, and a buyer needs that answered before signing anything. Gas coaches and travel trailers make up the bulk by volume. Bunkhouse fifth wheels bring the heaviest slide rooms and the largest tanks, which is where structure and running gear findings concentrate. Bus conversions need somebody who can assess a commercial chassis and an amateur build in the same afternoon, and slide in campers need the truck they will ride on considered alongside them. ## Cost $400 to $1,200, based on 3 to 6 labor hours at $285 per hour. Written repair estimate is $150, credited in full against an authorized repair. All work is performed in shop. ## Questions and answers ### Which findings should actually stop somebody buying a used RV? Structural and systemic ones. A frame crack propagating from a spring hanger or pin box mount, delamination running the length of a sidewall, and a roof deck metering wet across a third or more of its area. Nearly everything else is a price, and a report that puts numbers against those prices is a negotiating tool. ### Why do you need propane in the cylinders and fuel in the tank? Because appliances and generators cannot be tested without them. A refrigerator, water heater, furnace and cooktop each need firing on gas, and a generator needs fuel to reach rated output on the load bank. A unit arriving empty loses a large share of what the inspection is worth. ### Do you road test the chassis as part of a buyer inspection? On a motorised unit we run it, check brakes, steering response, charging and gauges, and read the chassis modules. It is a functional check on local roads rather than a long drive. On a towable the equivalent is axle, brake, bearing and hitch inspection on the lift, plus wheel and tire condition. ### Is the roof checked by walking it or by metering it? Both, and the metering is what matters. A deck can carry weight and still be saturated. Readings are taken on a grid and recorded against locations, which produces a map of any wet area. Where the pattern follows a seam or covers a large share of the deck, the membrane is the least of the problem. ### How do buyers actually use the report to negotiate a price? By handing over specifics. Sellers argue with impressions and concede to numbers, so a line saying four tires are nine years old by date code, with a replacement figure attached, moves a price. The report separates must do now from budget within a year, and the first category is where negotiation happens. ### Does the inspection cover the tow vehicle or the hitch as well? The hitch, pin box, coupler and their mounting are inspected as part of a towable inspection, since that is where towing loads concentrate and where cracking shows. A separate tow vehicle is its own job, and we will tell you whether the truck you intend to use is rated for the unit you are buying. --- Source: [OCRV Center](https://ocrv.me/services/inspection-and-estimating/pre-purchase-rv-inspection/). Last verified 2026-07-29.