Buying a Pre-Owned Prevost
Hello to all,
I just joined POG because my wife and I are interested in buying a pre-owned motor coach and have interest in a Prevost. Needless to say it is confusing to select what one believes to be a quality coach and one that will provide reliable service at a reasonable cost. With regard to a Prevost, I have the following questions that I hope POG members might answer and provide some much needed, appreciated help.
I have found several coaches with rebuilt engines - some with as few miles as 88,000. Is this common for a DD engine and what is the average life (in miles) of a DD engine assuming it has been properly maintained?
How much importance should be placed on mileage when considering a coach?
Where does one find "book values" for the Prevost? NADA does not provide such.
Aside from price, what are the most important factors to consider in evaluating and buying a pre-owned coach? Should one insist on a PDI? Most common problems occurring on a Prevost?
I know ownership costs can vary widely, but on average what can one expect annual maintenance costs to be?
Since I have never driven a motor coach but have towed travel trailers for some 40 years, where can one find help to learn to drive a behemoth safely? Must dealers have offered helping us out the gate!
Which is best, dealing with a dealer or individual?
Many thanks for all the help provided.
Woodscrapper
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walk softly and carry a big inspection while shopping for a prevost
Welcome to the POG,
I was in your very shoes about six months ago. I wanted a prevost in the worst way after owning several glass coaches. We looked long and hard and found just what we were looking for at a price we could afford. The thing is I checked this Prevost front to back and still ended up getting a bus that needed a major repair. The bus drove perfect and every mechanic that looked at it said they couldn't believe how nice it was kept. after a couple of days of crawling all over it and even spending a night dry camping in it, The only items I found in my prepurchase inspection was the front sway bar busihings, the transmission was leaking from the front seal nad the autofill was not working. The maintenance records were all there, so I thought and all looked very good. Five months after buying it, I took it to Nashville Prevost to have the swaybar busings and tranny leak fixed and ended up replacing the transmission! From what I can tell someone had removed the tranny and didn't assemble it right so it was filled with metal fillings. A tranny fluid analysis would have caught the problem so I would suggest fluid ananlysis before purchase. Moral to the story, buying used is always a crap shoot.
I can tell you the coach I left is a 2008 HR Navigator 45 foot quadslide completely customized inside and out for fulltiming. It is out at Steve Bennet's showrooms and he will tell you it's the cleanest used coach he ever had. It's for sale at the wholesale price! If you give up on prevost and I'm not suggesting you do in any way, make sure to go see my Navigator, it's the cleanest and nicest we could find in the glass coach industry.