mwsjr

I think of our Prevost as more than even a house. It is a house with several utility companies. There are so many systems to be aware of that go beyond a house. You have a power company, water company, and a waste management company in addition to your living space. Add the transportation company to the mix and I start to get an idea of what I purchased. I cannot imagine buying a non-Prevost RV at this point. It would be like buying a depreciating asset expecting some return on your investment. Now, I too look at the Prevost as a long term investment worth regular upgrades. I may not make money on the investment but at least I will not be throwing money down a hole.

At first(I am completely new to the whole RV world) I began to think I was nuts in buying the vehicle. Now,after 10 months of ownership I am barely getting a hang of it and I am starting to understand bits of the lingo. For a non-mechanical, non-electrical person like me I am even starting to like some of the challenges of Prevost ownership. Now, if I could only understand this inverter lingo.......

Otto

Dick,

We are currently working on a pre-purchase checklist and hope to have it posted under "Articles" within the next few days. It will be a comprehensive list, not a perfect list, but one that will greatly assist the potential buyer of any Prevost.

I think sometimes having the coaches sit with very low miles on it can be worse than a coach that has an extra hundred thousand miles on it, allot of things tend to dry out and dry rot sitting more? So milage I think is a double edged sword.
I think taking it to a good prevost place would be the best for a novice, and then I would suggest if you were to purchase one to stay in it for around two weeks at its location just to use everything and make sure it all works and you are familiar with it, thats what we did,and found several things that had to be fixed,
Have a Blessed Christmas Everyone !!!!!!!

When looking to purchase a Prevost, its best to look around a while and become familiar with Prevosts and the market.
There are a lot of Coaches available and not all are in great shape. If you were to purchase from a Converter , it will have been Inspected,
repaired, and given some kind of limited warrenty most likely. If you purchase from a Reputable dealer, you can expect a similar experience.
Purchasing from an individual and /or a small dealer who may not have any background in Prevosts is where you need support and a closer
inspection by authorized mechanics and shops who are familiar with Prevost Conversions.
The Pre purchase check list may be daunting. Some people don't want to go to do all of the work involved. But it will give you a great
overview of what's involved in these coaches and what may be important to resolve before plunking down the cash.

Thanks for the info, the 2004 Featherlite I bought has 365s but could have been updated to those. Also it has 3 slides. Just wondering if I am lucky enough to have the bulletproof slides you mentioned. Looking for encouragement, I guess.. Think this was one of the first few triple slides built by Featherlite.

Featherlite developed their own slides. So, yours may not be Prevost slides. As I understand the history, Featherlite started engineering slides early before Prevost began. If it is 2004 Conversion then its a 2003 Prevost. I do not think Prevost was doing 3 slides at that time.
Prevosts are a motor driven , air pins, inflatable seal, cog driven system. They are also a raised floor as opposed to a flat floor slide.
Other Converters have used hydraulic , chain, screw drive, and so on.

HWH Corp.: http://www.hwh.com/abovefloor3.html

Valid Co. : http://www.validmanufacturing.com/index.php?pid=2

Gary,I was told that Featherlite used a compression seal and not a inflatable seal.I don't know if that person really knew just looking for someone who knows.

I myself don't think there is anything wrong with wiper seals,
The inflatable bladders can be very expensive when the need replaced, I have a 2000 with a 17 ft HWH hydraulic slide and its seals up so good if I didn't open the door every time to put the slide in or out it would probably blow my windows out.
Gary is right research I looked and drove them for 4 yrs before jumping in, and to this day If I call the dealer they will help me with any problem on the phone or even look up parts, thats a big plus when you pull into somewhere and you don't have any power and its just a stupid little thing that you forgot to do,
good Luck

Our H3-45 has 2 slides.. produced by HWH...it is one of the early ones done in an H3-45... I believe HWH were used in all the H3s by Vantare.... I see them up through 2004 models exactly the same as ours. I have heard very few complaints about them... they work great and I LOVE the level floor and the non inflatable seals. The higher end plastic coaches use mostly HWH slides... we also have an 2005 45' Navigator with 4 slides and the slides are identical to our Vantare... I am sure the mechanics of them have somewhat changed and been improved over the years, but they look identical physically and the seals are still the same so that's a good sign. The XL slides are different to the H3-45 slides... at least back then they were.

Enjoy your new coach !!

Diane

I have noticed with my Hydraulic slide if it gets really cold out (Kinda like a backhoe or construction equipment) the slide don't always want to lock bringing it in for travel the first time sometimes I have to work it in and out once or twice,
Once that hydrolic fluid warms up a little she locks right up tight, If you ever operated anything hydraulic in cold weather that is normal a little fluid exorsize .)
happy trails