Misc. Questions

Well, my house is finally under contract, which means that I get to purchase a Prevost to live on full-time :D

A few random questions related to Prevosts I'm considering:
1) How important are awnings to you. I've found a few H3's that don't have them and want to get an idea of how bad I would miss them and therefore if I should add the cost of awnings to the price of a coach when comparing it to other Prevosts.

2) What are my options for a PreDelivery Inspection (PDI)? With the exception of Marathon and Liberty, who else usually does PDI's that really make you feel confident that they would catch most issues? Buddy Gregg? ?

3) For those who have trash compactors... do you really like that feature, or would you not miss it if your next coach didn't have it (I've never had one in my house or anywhere else).

4) When comparing an H3 to an XL, are there many difference, other than the following:
• Larger basement bays
• Inside higher off the ground
• No stainless to keep clean
• Driver/Co-pilot down from main living area
• Taller coach, so you have to be more careful with what you put on the roof and how low campground trees are, etc.

Does it handle that much differently?
Power/MPG difference?
Seating height difference?

Ben, Go with the awnings and lose the compactor. I wrote a long and detailed reply, but for some reason only known to the computor gods it was not allowed. Ken

Ken/Ellen

It's not a matter of picking between two coaches. I have 150 coaches to choose between and am trying to figure out how important certain features are. So, the question is more of would you rate the importance of a trash compactor to be zero, or some positive amount (or negative even)... same with awnings and other features. Having never used a trash compactor or awnings... I need your advice to educate me so it's easier for me to see if I should think of a particular coach as having a price premium due to those features being available or not.

-Ben

Ben,

First off congratulations on the impending sale of your home. I know you've been waiting a long time to be in this buying position.

Not having owned an H-3 I can't make any comparisons, however a couple of observations.

In the heat of the summer awnings will help keep the coach a lot cooler, I've never seen a Prevo w/o them, but I guess they're out there.

My impression of the lowered driver seating it seems to diminish the perceived living area. However, I have kids and during our month long trip out West it would've been nice to be away from the family for a while - down in my removed cockpit area.

As much as Lew might whine :) keeping the stainless is not a big chore and seeing it shine in the late afternoon sun always makes me smile.

Good luck on your quest and keep us posted.

Mike

Ben

Mango hurried his answer because he had to do the dishes in one of his "Joints"

Awnings are an absolute necessity, but never use them going down the highway. No, seriously, they are a very important item. Don't purchase a coach without pulling them out yourself.

As for the raggin on Lew, the stainless is an asset if you want to turn heads. I trully enjoy maintaining my coach. We have some people who claim they polish their coach all of the time, but I turlly believe he really spends too much time looking at a rag for hours trying to figure which side to use. He thinks tags on washcloths are the directions.

As for the compactor, they are as useless an item that one could own. Garbage should be removed daily from the moving hallway. In a home, garbage was once a week so people had to make the bags last as long as they could. I turned my compactor space into a slideout to store 3 cases of spring water. Real neat. Mango, I'll show it to you and be magnanimous and give you a free bottle of water if you want at the POG rally. ( I know the webmaster will get some time playing with the "mag" word.)

You are in the best position you'll ever be in purchasing your firts Prevost. I expect you'll have not trade, huh?

The thing I dislike is that full timing, the coach depreciates and the house that I owned, appreciated. Oh well, I am still in love with my coach. Wax on, wax off.:)

As for PDI. When Liberty, Parliament, or Marathon(aqnd some others) PDI a coach, plan on waiting about a week if they are conscientious and honest. If you purchase from an individual, plan on doing a lot yourself as it turns up.

There are a lot of guys out there able to give a lot more in detail, but they have job during the week (menial as they are) and can't get to the POG .

Good luck, I'm excited for you.:)

I think awnings are very important. You'll spend more time outside living in a Motorhome and the awnings are important. Plus, they help keep the inside cool and aid in privacy. The electric (automatic) ones are nice, but i've never had a problem with the manual Zip Dee on our bus. The electric unit on our Beaver did require some care and maintenance and would retract with the first good wind gust.

Compactors are neat gadgets but for me, not important on a motorhome. i dont care for the seperate ice makers either. One inside the freezer is plenty for us.

I like the stainless finish of the XL over the H3 fiberglass. I think its stronger and looks better than the fiberglass.

I just went through this in November and am currently waiting to take delivery on my SECOND H3 in ten weeks!!!Here's my two cents...
1) Be open to the best conditioned coach you can find and definately have an "expert" vet the coach for you...Tom Murray @ Phil Cooper provides this service and I wish I had used him on my first purchase
2)Be clear about how you are going to use the coach...My sweetheart and I are having such a goodtime that we have decided to extend our trip from 12 to 24 months...Hence the new double slide...
3) If you can get a warranty,even 90 days,take it!! Every used coach needs work,some $10-20k,and it can be discouraging doing ALL that work in the first 60 days of ownership...
4)Use the combined genious of the POG ...These guys KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT!!
5)Theres alot more ...if you want to talk give me a call...908.303.8117...Best of luck...

Congratulations on almost selling your house!

Here are responses to your point:

1. Any coach without a full complement of awnings raises questions about the coach. Awnings keep coaches cooler and create more private spaces (patio) for hanging out with others. Upon resale, the dreaded impossible topic at this point, a coach without full awnings will raise significant questions.

2. Pretty conservative on the PDI issue. Have the coach, any coach, PDI'd by the original converter. On the more complex coaches, only the original converter knows the ins and outs of a particular coach and they have the parts on the bench. I have done some 'PDI' inspections and assessments for others by realized it is a reckless way of trying to help others. First, because there are many things which need to be tested by a real mechanic and secondly, if a paid assessor or surveyor misses something, you have no recourse. They're gone. Better to have an informed friend or acquaintance who knows that particuarly conversion take a look at a coach, who has NO vested interest in the coach in question. This is the moment of blunt truth. Once you've done the signing thing, you own it.

If you have any questiond about a specific coach, go to Detroit Diesel and dump the logs from the software program. The data will provide more history about a coach than you can find anywhere else.

3. If someone wants a trash compactor, get it.

4. The XLII is considered the finest riding coach that has ever hit the highways. The XLI in the mid to late 90s is the most field tested coach on the road. It is an evolutionary, step-improved chassis over the course of many years. Every year Prevost improved the coach little by little, sometimes coach by coach. The reason the company went to the XLII is that the XLI was getting too expensive to build. I'm not afraid to live off someone else's large investment when new and be a bottom feeder.

Finally, for us, stainless is what a Prevost is all about.

Ultimately, we have to find the coach that makes our hearts go pitter-patter. Buying a coach ultimately is an emotional decision as it is nuts to spend the kind of money we do on a camper anyway. Buy what you love and you will be happier in the long run.

Jeff

You mentioned a while ago about perhaps taking a trip to Quebec and visit Prevost. Have you thought any more on that subject? We will need passports.

I love the look of stainless and am primarily looking at XL's, but just wanted to be educated about H3's just in case one caught my eye. XLII's make me drool, but are too expensive for my pocketbook.

I've seen an ok number of Vantare H3's with a single awning on the passenger side and no awnings for the bedroom windows or drivers side and was simply wondering how big of a deal that was.

It will be nice buying a Prevost without having anything to trade... I better buy a good one because I'm not looking forward to the second Prevost and dealing with the trade.

I'll be at the Liberty rally Friday and Sunday... look for the blonde guy wondering around with the POG shirt on and no coach to call home.

Thanks for all the advice... you guys are great!