There used to be a saying, Never buy a car that's spent its life by the seaside, I think the same should apply to motorhomes as well.
Why? I live 200yds from the beach never had any problems last Motorhome was 6 years old when I sold it in perfect nick, my wife's car is 15 years old we have had it for 12 years, passes it's MOT every year, no rust, parked outside on the drive, only gets washed once a year & polished once every 5 years if it's lucky. Modern vehicles are much better these days and don't rust like they used to, Fiat's are galvanized. Perhaps you should say Never buy a vehicle for the Midlands or North of UK where they regularly spread salt on the roads. This does far more damage as it gets forced up into all the nooks and crannies as you drive.
Agree about salt, I clean underside as best I can when travelling in winter. When talking to my MOT tester (who is also a motorhomer) his opinion is that van's stored on grass tend to rust the most. Vans stored on tarmac are noticeably better apparently...
Oh dear! All those snowbirds in Spain and Portugal are, no doubt, sipping their wine, on the seaside, while their motorhomes rot away around them. Shame.
There was a local trawlerman with a Mk1 Escort in red. Red paint on one side, red rust on the other. While at sea it was parked on the pier, same way round and same parking space.
Years ago I noticed that white cars tended to rust more quickly than darker colours. My theory was that the white bodywork reflected most of the sun’s heat and so the body panels never warmed up as much as they did on darker coloured cars. Consequently wet mud etc., trapped in the wheel arches, stayed damp for much longer. Well that’s my theory.
