mwsjr

Considering 2004 h3 with less than 100k miles, looks great and in top condition all the way around and will be my first Prevost. Wondering if I should look for a newer model year or does age make that much difference?::confused:

I recently purchased a 2001 H345 83000 miles well maintained great coach Danny Marathon conversion

As a general rule, "Condition" is more important than Age.

A 2004 is usually a 2003 Prevost chassis,there is a real difference in a 2004 chassis verses a 2003 chassis.In 2004 the front axle was increased to 18,000 pounds and the front tires were increased to 365s from 315s.Another area that is very important is that in 2004 the structure in the bays for the slides was increased and also the slides were updated some call these slides version 3 and they are considered almost bulletproof.I would really want 1 year newer if I cold find it at a similar price.You can identify the chassis year by looking in the drivers windshield at the Prevost serial plate,count from the rear 8 letters or numbers and that will be the chassis year.

Its all somewhat subjective. Purchasing a Prevost is already a huge step up. Owners with older coaches are quite happy with their coaches.
Price point is as relevant as anything.

Buy what you like, that meets your finicial target, and that has been well maintained. One thing that is for certain is that these are very complex systems that differ by converter. If I was buying again, especially at the price you're looking at, I'd probably hire someone to perform a detailed inspection. I know there are folks like Rick May at Coach Worx that will travel to perform a PDI and suspect the converters may offer a similiar field service. I would also cponsider having the coach inspected by Prevost. Of course, the challenge there is they may be too far away. There are many other chassis focused shops that have Prevost experience that put the coach on a lift and chrck it out. You can otherwise estimate the cost of what you haven't discovered on your own. Having gone down this last path myself I can tell you my estimate was too low.

The coach is 10 years old and has 100K miles. The tires may be over 7 years old; an age requiring routine inspections or consideration for replacement. How old are the batteries, even if newer, make sure the house batteries are what you expect. Some may have replaced AGM or gels with wet cells when the placed they're located isn't suitable for wet cells. Some replace the house batteries with smaller batteries, i.e. 4D when the battery supports are designed for 8Ds. Some may have put fewer batteries in the bank. Depending on your use, this may be a problem. If the coach was stored outside, rubber components may be nearing the end of their useful life, like air bags and belts.

If you like the floor plan and colors used inside an out, you're in the right place. If you sense the systems are all functional, you're still in the right place. If you can get a PDI done or want to accept some hidden cost, you're still in the right place.

Gil, 4D's in 8D slots and wet cells where AGM's used to be. I wonder where you might have seen such a thing?

I agree with Gil here. A good set of house batteries can run as much or more than a complete set of tires. Our coach "originally" had eight group 8D AGM's.

Hi,

We purchased a 1999 Vantare with 145,000 miles 2 years ago. The coach was maintained by Coach Worx and I had them go through everything with me before we closed. We've had small issues in the last 2 years, but from what I can tell reading on this site and others, they are normal issues for both new and old coaches.

We looked at both newer and older coaches during our search. We settled on an older model that had many systems already updated and was well maintained. I've learned to think of our coach more like a house and less like a car. With a house you fix and remodel things you don't like because the infrastructure is built to support the changes. In our case, when our car gets "tired" we trade it. We are taking the "house" approach to our coach. We are changing the things we want to change and maintaining it for the long-term.

We have also found the information and support on this site and from the industry makes owning a complicated, motorized, rolling house fairly painless and easy.

Good luck!

Prevost is Like a fine Wine gets better with age,
at 7 years I agree the tires should be new I only run them 5 to 7 years depending on what position there in,
If its never had Batteries they are about the same closer to five probably if they are not there but close make them give you an allowance, its a buyer market thats for sure !!! They would probably put a gold steering wheel on there if you said you had cash .)
All my Dog bone bushings were gone, not just bad after I bought my coach I kept hearing a clanking noise on bumps the old one were rubber and were rotted completely out, I went to the two piece Neoprene or some kind of plastic that won't rot out,
Good Luck

To a naive neophyte like me, all of the information in this thread and in many of the posts is like seeing fire and discovering the power of electricity all in the same afternoon. Is there a timeline listing of the Prevost chassis evolution that would provide a buyer with more insight into year over year changes? Is there a pre-purchase checklist document that someone has put together that a prospective buyer could use as a basis for reviewing a coach?

Keep the information coming! Thanks for the time everyone puts into this web site.

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

The Featherlite Vantare H3-45's have never been Prevost-Factory slides. Also, around 2002 model vehicles, Featherlite Vantare went away from the HWH hydraulic mechanisms to twin electric motors driving the I-beams and controlled by their own PLC setup. The locks went to linear actuators rather than the hydraulic lock pins as well. The seal setup is the same as Diane's double-D seal, compressed when both fully out and fully in (i.e. no aircraft inflating seal).
If the shell is a pre-2004, the other big advantage is that you have a "non-egr" Series 60 engine, the best years as I am told, being 1996-2002 engine year. Best fuel efficiency, best reliability, most power, etc. All these are based on the years of customer feedback and driving them to shows across the country myself. Feel free to jump in with comments anyone lol. From customer feedback, it seems that Detroit Diesel had issues with turbos, etc on the EGR engines in the 2004-2007 Prevost shells (actually 03-06 engine dates, as Prevost always bought engines up a year in advance to allow for EPA changes/engineering time to implement the changes).