Florida Bus Shopping - Follow up...

[GDeen]

We had a whirlwind trip and learned quite a lot in our 3 days in FL. First afternoon began with a stop at Parliament and an extensive tour of the manufacturing plant and inventory with Mark Cascio. Mark is a great guy and he was extremely helpful in our search. We both got a lot of insight into the work that goes into a shell conversion, and Jennifer really learned a lot from our tour. Also met Ken Robertson who did indeed offer the Tuga discount on any Newell on the lot:D Really enjoyed visiting with the Parliament folks.

Next day was spent at Marathon FL and we went through a number of buses there. Couple of good prospects we have in mind so we will see how that works out. That evening drove down to the W. Palm area and looked at an 02 Elegant Lady - gorgeous bus in pristine condition as they say. Private seller who was a very nice guy.

Final day was spent at the Liberty facility looking at a handful of coaches. Made a hard run at Shookie's old coach - 2000 model #669b. When all was said and done, Liberty gets to keep 669b in their growing museum of coaches priced at levels of times gone by. Beautiful bus though.

I really appreciate the help of several of you from the previous thread and then some others who answered email enquiries. Ray Davis has been exceptionally generous with answering questions - thanks Ray!

Also learned how much POG is known through the industry. At Parliament, those guys know many of you obviously and I felt like it helped make us welcome. Also was a mention of some kind of covert action at the upcoming OKC rally? I am a newby and thus have no clue about all that.:cool:

Liberty was pro-active in addressing some of Jon W.'s buyers guide recommendations even though I hadn't mentioned POG to them at all. Jon's influence has spread far and wide beyond his commitment to the canine community.

Bottom line is we have an offer in on a coach right now and will see if that pans out. Otherwise there are a couple of others that are very interesting, and we are learning of more all the time.
We are looking forward to finding the right bus for us and have taken a great step forward in the process. Will keep you posted.

Edited to add - Steve Bennett of California Coach has also been a remarkable resource of information. We really appreciate all the time he has given us in our search.

[fixrim]

Yeah isn't that the truth of many of these dealers pricing coaches "in times gone by"!

I found that exact same scenario when I went looking. I kept wondering if they think that the market will "come back" so to speak.

I have owned many assets with wheels, and with the exception of a vintage Italian car, they have all depreciated, in spite of my wishes that they would not.

[garyde]

Liberty is doing about the same as Marathon in terms of pricing. They are not allowing the bottom to fall out on their product. Other Convertors have been forced to to licquidate their inventory because of poor buisness plans and too much inventory.
I would also argue that there is a difference between depreciation and deflation.
A quality convertor is much the same as any quality company. They're not going to cut prices and ruin their brand.
There are deals to be had, but Liberty and Marathon are not going to compete to see who gets to the bottom first. Others have already done that.

[rfoster]

Well stated Gary. You are right there are others who have already won that race.

Finally someone making news with positive slant on the lifestyle we all enjoy:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/26/greene.madden.bus/index.html

[GDeen]

Gary, the unfortunate truth for high end luxury items for which there has been relatively easy, cheap money, deflation is going to be a fact of life when the credit markets disappear. You have a normally heavily depreciating product which now is also faced with the specter of limited buyers and heavily restricted access to capital. That in fact essentially defines classic deflation.

I would also argue that Marathon has adjusted to the market - clearly evident in our pricing of the coaches. Liberty has made some adjustment, but they aren't even close to there yet. In this case, we are talking specifically about a coach that has been on their floor now for approaching a year; yet the hard negotiated price is still 25% higher than the comparable Marathon product (yes with OTR air). We can argue about systems, copper lines, stainless tanks, etc, etc, but 25% is too high. I am guessing if it wasn’t too high, the coach would be gone by now. They certainly don’t demand a 25% premium over an equivalent Marathon when new.

Liberty makes a very impressive product and in spite of my tacky museum comment, I enjoyed looking them over and would enjoy the opportunity to own one some day. Dave Wishnoff is a good guy and we had a lot in common as it turned out. For me and my hard earned money, I just couldn’t get to the price level they are still maintaining they need, and my main point was their ideology seems a little suspect in today’s market. No matter how good your business plans, this time it is different, in fact unprecedented and you ultimately have to move your products to remain viable.

I recognize the sensitive nature of the topic here guys. Folks have a lot of money tied up in these buses and would like to keep the values as high as possible. Completely understand.