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View Full Version : Marathon, Coburg, quite impressive



adamdegraff
10-10-2008, 01:42 AM
Today I had a chance to get to know the Marathon mother ship in Coburg, OR. I'm not usually one for dealers or their high prices, but I have to say that I was very impressed.

I stopped by because, as you may remember, Marathon TX bashed one of my engine compartment doors... and then didn't really step up to the plate to have it fixed properly and conveniently. One call to Pat Sprenger (at the suggestion of fellow POGers) and he got the ball rolling. Today, it was expertly installed and is now as good as new. Of course, since I was here I had a few other things done as well. BOY OH BOY does that $110/hr labor rate add up fast! :eek:

Nevertheless, I did manage to get onto the build floor. All the coaches being built seemed to be H's and all seemed to be quad slides. Saw all the little substations: electrical, plumbing, carpentry, etc. Really impressive. SO organized, clean, and probably the most important thing of all, HAPPY. I'm not kidding, everybody I met at Marathon seemed delighted to be here. I'm not talking about sales people. I'm talking about the folks that make the stuff and put it together. Genuinely nice, happy people. You wouldn't believe it if you saw it in an advertisement. My guess is that it is one of the reasons for the quality of the final product.

Spent a bit of time in their newest creation. Coach # 1166 I think? Quad slide, H, and quite spectacular. I was amazed at how much room there was. The quad slides really make it feel like a decent sized apartment. Really hard to snap pictures to do it justice, but here are a few from today just for fun. Jim Purcell was showing me around and insisted I pretend for a moment in the new quad H. I'll admit, it was fun. Anybody want to lend me $2 million for it? I have really good credit:-)

Take care,

Adam

SORRY, FOR SOME REASON, I AM UNABLE TO UPLOAD PHOTOS AT THIS TIME. NOT SURE IF IT IS ME OR THE SERVER, BUT I'LL TRY AGAIN LATER.

0533
10-10-2008, 09:02 AM
Good morning Adam,

If you have not settled your account yet, go in and see Sandy?? and ask to sign up and pay for your Marathon Club membership $100, and you will pick up a $10 P/H discount on all labor hours, it could even be $15?? I forget. The folks at Marathon sometimes forget to offer this thinking you may already be a member.

adamdegraff
10-10-2008, 11:46 AM
Funny, I was just thinking... I'm already a member, but they didn't give me my discount! I'm sure they'll credit me.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Adam

gmcbuffalo
10-11-2008, 02:00 AM
BusNusa rally this year toured the Marathon factory and I got the same impresssion about how happy the line workers are. You ask them a question and they are more than happy to talk to you and supervisors the same. Althought they wouldn't work on other buses I too was impressed with the company.
GregM

tdelorme
10-11-2008, 07:35 AM
I bet they would be happier if you bought a new bus, Adam. ;)