New member searching for Prevost

[Trendycat]

Hello everyone. We joined POG about a month ago and have been voraciously reading posts and absorbing info. We've been researching a lifestyle change to full time travel for the past 18 months and although we have never traveled by RV are preparing to jump in the deep end within the next 30-60 days.

Based on information garnered from this lurking on these forums, I contacted Steve Bennett at California Coach yesterday with an inquiry and found him to be extremely knowledgeable, open and helpful. I'm considering the following '91 Angola coach (even though I have some concerns about the Espar heat)

http://www.californiacoachcompany.com/inventorydetail.asp?id=135

While doing some additional research overnight, I also came across the following coaches at Panterra:

'92 Marathon http://panterracoach.com/sales/details.php?v_id=56

'92 Country Coach http://panterracoach.com/sales/details.php?v_id=55

I also saw listings on line for a '93 Liberty and a '93 Country Coach at Desert West Coach.

We were originally planning on newer coaches, but given the current volatile state of coach prices I've decided it makes more sense to begin with a well maintained coach of slightly older vintage and move up later.

Any feedback, opinions, etc. on the above units and dealers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help.

Bruce

BTW - If you are interested in a great primary or second home in a beautiful resort community in the Finger Lakes region of NY state, feel free to check out our home at www.knapprd.com

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Welcome aboard Bruce and happy hunting. Get ahold of Mango Mike he has a 97 45XL Liberty and he is out your way in Alaxandria.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Welcome to the asylum. It is really refreshing to see a new member to this group start out as crazy as the more senior members. You pass the crazy test on so many levels that you may just take over this group.

Jumping into full timing with both feet puts you at the head of the class.

Unless you are a mechanic adept at doing or managing repairs on a complex vehicle you need to be very cautious about purchasing a coach in the age range you are considering. Clearly given the economic times you will be buying more value for the dollar, but you will also get a coach that has the potential to need air bags, brake chambers, hoses, leveling valves, etc.

You also have the potential to buy a coach for which there is no support from the converter, that has been boogered up by people who have "upgraded" the coach from its original configuration and have not documented the wiring or other systems that have been modified.

Be very careful in your efforts to find the right coach. You should be willing to pay for a coach that has been shown to be well maintained, professionally modified if it has upgrades, and it has the documentation to prove its continuing maintenance history.

Good luck. Make sure you have set yourself up on this site to receive emails or PMs because you may find what you are looking for here, or you may find folks here that know the coaches you are looking at and they are reluctant to state their opinions of them publicly.

[truk4u]

Bruce,

Welcome aboard, you found the right place to cure MPD (Mad Prevost Disease). Great looking house, we're from Brockport and lived in Victor awhile, lot's of good times at Canandaigua Lake.

You can't go wrong with Steve or Panterra. All the buses your looking at in that vintage have the same basic Prevost shell, so you just have to zero in on the one that most fits your needs and lifestyle.

If you ask this bunch about the differences between Liberty, Marathon, Angola, Country Coach, etc., your head will probably explode.:p Be leary of Jon, he tends to make stuff up.

Once you narrow down your search, ask lots of questions and you will get plenty of help and support.

[shookie]

hello bruce...just make sure when you decide on a coach, it has an adequate-sized area for coctails...cheers...shookie

[phorner]

Welcome to the group.... sometimes feels more like a group home :eek:

Anyway, as an aside from selecting the right bus, I'll comment on the full-timing aspect. We retired, sold the house and went full-timing all in the same month, figuring we would travel a bit to see where we wanted to buy or build our retirement home.

That was more than 6 years ago. So far, even though the smart move would probably be to snatch up a house now, we know that the day we take possession that the full-timing lifestyle would end, and we are enjoying ourselves way too much to give it up just yet. We figure that there will always be a house to buy somewhere, but now's the time to enjoy exploring our country and the freedom of travel.

Yep, there's been a couple of challenges. But the rewards have far outweighed them.

Good luck with your shopping. Think dependability and storage. What works for the occasional user may not for someone living in the bus full time.

If you have any questions specific to full-timing that I can help you with, please don't hesitate to drop me a line. I'm sure I can think up something ;)

Most importantly, have fun!

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

Hi Bruce and welcome aboard. You have picked some very nice looking rigs. We bought our bus from Panterra coach and have been very pleased with their support after the sale.

Be sure and look at the rigs available from several of the members of POG too, they are sure to be a great buy and serviced properly, cause we all know who they are and where they have been !!! :)

Good Luck in your search and stay in touch.

Gary S.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Hi Bruce, welcome to the group. Take your time and you will find your dream.
Nice house you have for sale, but the market is bad.
Lew likes it up in that region, maybe he would trade you the house for his bus. ;) :D

[dalej]

This one might be worth checking into...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1993-Prevost-Angola-Coach-40-Garage-Kept-Motorhome_W0QQitemZ300263565699QQcmdZViewItem?hash =item300263565699&_trkparms=72%3A727%7C39%3A1%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1308&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245

[garyde]

Hi Bruce. Welcome to our world. If you have not had experience with Rv's and/or Prevosts in the past, this I definately the place for you. Don't let Jon scare you too much, he means well. There are probably many good Coaches out there, you just need to know the questions to ask. You will get that info and more than you want here. If you find something you like, don't hesitate in passing it by the POG.

[adamdegraff]

I'm no expert, but one thing that was a must for us was the Detroit Diesel Series 60. Better fuel economy, longevity, and performance. You can find them in coaches as old as 1994 (somebody correct me if I'm wrong.) But to get one with the 6 speed Allison transmission you need to move up to the 1995. I have heard a few first hand accounts of the DD60 and the Allison 5 speed tranny not working well together and causing some problems. So I guess I might prefer the 8V92 to the DD60 and Allison 5 speed. But the DD60 and Allison 6 speed is awesome!

Also, having purchased my coach only 8 months ago, and having looked at dozens and dozens of busses... I really noticed a difference between the converters. Sometimes on the outside, they looked the same, but the guts were quite different. After seeing all those coaches I decided for myself to go with a Marathon. And I'm glad that I did.

If you are still looking in 8 months, give me a call. I'm thinking I might want to trade for a coach with a queen bed and two bunk beds in it. We have another national tour scheduled for 2010-11 and our current situation won't be ideal. So if anybody knows of a Marathon (I'm hooked) with a queen and two bunks WITHOUT slides, let me know!

Good luck!

Adam

[Trendycat]

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcomes and feedback/suggestions we've received both here and through PM over the past 24 hours. We're looking forward to becoming active members of this unique group.

We'll be heading to FL next week to work on establishing domicile for our move to full time travel and will be visiting some of the seemingly many dealers or brokers in FL offering Prevost.

We've made contact with Parliament Coach and are planning on trying to make appointments with some of the other sponsors of this forum. Does anyone have recommendations/suggestions (PM or email is fine if you don't want to make a public posting)?

Thanks,
Bruce

[rickdesilva]

BruceYou will quickly find out that the $100 investment you made in POG is one of the best investments you could make especially when your looking for a coach.* The support from the members is unbelievable. Lots of luck on your search......Don't let the warm welcome fool you. There is a dark side........they are equal opportunity offenders.

[phorner]

There are some advantages to Florida residency. Check out the State of Florida web site and you can find a lot of information regarding this matter.

They do have a certificate of domicile that is available at county offices as well as tax offices.

Good luck!

[dale farley]

Bruce,

One of the down sides to Florida residency is that you will pay between 6% and 7% sales tax when you buy a bus. Dale (Pensacola, FL)

[Trendycat]

Bruce,

One of the down sides to Florida residency is that you will pay between 6% and 7% sales tax when you buy a bus. Dale (Pensacola, FL)
Dale,

That's true, however it's still less than the 8.5% sales tax rate in my area of NY state. At least FL still doesn't have an income tax.

[MangoMike]

HipCat,

Welcome to POG.

If you're interested in stepping up to a fuel efficient Series 60, I have a great Bill Bailout Deal on a 97 Liberty.

Looking forward to meeting you down the road at bus get together.

Mike

[adamdegraff]

We've made contact with Parliament Coach and are planning on trying to make appointments with some of the other sponsors of this forum. Does anyone have recommendations/suggestions (PM or email is fine if you don't want to make a public posting)?




OK, I have some opinions on this that I am sure others will disagree with. I found that the coaches for sale by owner were both in better shape AND less expensive. I've never seen Mango's liberty, in fact I've never even met him, but I do know how obsessed he is with taking care of his bus. So, if I were looking for a coach, I would be looking at once like his. You "might" find one in as good of shape at a major dealer, but you will pay WAY more. Now, why would you want to do that? (OK there are reasons, but IMO, they are far offset by the money you will save.)

Good luck,

Adam

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Bruce,

As you see more and more coaches you will begin to form opinions on what is important to you. Where you use your coach, how you use your coach, and how much you intend to spend for your coach all come into play.

If you flip your things (like cars) it is less important to make the right choice because in a few years you get to seek a replacement, but if you consider a coach to be a long term purchase you really need to make the right choice. Remodeling and upgrading is expensive and it costs the same to remodel a new $1,000,000 dollar coach as it does to remodel a $100,000 dollar coach, and neither remodeling or upgrade wil add anything of consequence to the value of the coach.

Since this is a buyer's market take your time, read the posts here on this forum where members have debated and discussed the merits of certain features like roof airs, cruise airs, over the road air, slides, layouts, webasto, aquahot, espar, and various converters.

When you have questions post them, or if you do not want the questions or responses public send emails or do a PM, but as Rick says, take advantage of the collected wisdom here. Every single one of us has gone through the purchase process and the choices a new owner has to make are daunting. Remember this....every salesman you talk to will steer you toward the product they have on hand. They have a vested interest in telling you what you want to hear. On the other hand, these same guys that want access to your wallet also know these coaches and can and should be able to provide you with close up and personal knowledge of the systems and various features you have to consider.

But when push comes to shove the group here will give you its opinions freely and usually very accurately reflect the opinions from the owner's point of view. Also, consider the coaches available from POG members and that are posted on the Prevost Stuff sites. Usually you are going to get a very good product as Adam points out because you and the seller are likely to be parked side by side at the next rally making it very hard for a seller to take advantage of you.

[jelmore]

Bruce, related to your state of residency . . . Bennett law firm in Montana helped explain things like why register in Montana (huge tax savings) and reciprocal agreements with other states with regard to how those states handle residency and taxes on your coach. We found it best to keep our residency in Oklahoma via a private mail box at a physical address. Even though we still pay Oklahoma income tax, it's far better than what our health insurance would have ballooned to had we "moved" to a state with no income tax. And our bus insurance is based on Oklahoma residency. Just a few more things to consider if you're going to travel full time.

Also consider what you gain with each newer year that you look at. Improvements were made every year by both the converters and Prevost. Of course I'm partial to Liberty (not the glitz ... the systems) but we carefully considered a Marathon and a couple of Vantares. The stability of the converter was a big influence. That said, they all started out good. It's a great ride.

[jimshoen]

Bruce,
I've had the Prevost disease for about two years now. It was by complete accident that I ended up with the coach I own now. However, here is my opinionated recommendation:
Year: 1997 - 2000
Model: XL45 (Rivets)
Converter: Liberty or Marathon
Happy Shopping