Pdi--- Exactly What Is It?

Looking at 1999 Marathon having sold my 93. What is a PDI, I assume a Prevost Detailed Inspection. How much should it cost? Thanks

Pre Delivery Inspection.

It's what you make it. For some folks it means to see how much fuel is in the bus. For others it is literally an inspection of the all of the systems and repairs as necessary prior to acceptance.

As an experienced owner you know what you want to inspect and verify before you accept your new coach.

PDI: You have asked a sincere, simple question that has a very complicated answer.

It depends upon where and from whom you are buying a coach. If a coach is being purchased from a converter, Jon's answer is completely correct, and the cost of the PDI should be incorporated into the purchase price. All systems are inspected, both chassis and conversion sides of the coach and should operate at factory specifications. Most converters do not address cosmetic issues, such as paint, laminate chips or cracked tiles without paying additional money. But the coach should operate as new in every way, water, electricity, air systems, no cracked windshields, air conditioning and so on.

The issue becomes much more complicated when purchasing from a private party or through some kind of brokerage service. These sellers do not have service capabilities, therefore the coach is being sold, "As-Is." It's tough to put a price tag on what that kind of a PDI would cost as one is dealing with the unknown. A set of tires alone on a coach is about $5,000, house batteries and chassis batteries (likely for a 99 coach) is another several thousand dollars. It isn't out of the question that on a cash basis that with parts and labor that an out of pocket PDI could cost $10-20K, if the coach has a lot of work to be done on it, in addition to tires and batteries.

Most converters build the cost of the PDI into their sales price. They are figuring that their labor cost is out of pocket, at a much lower price than the 'retail' hourly rate and they are buying parts at wholesale, so their true cost is less than what one of us might pay, driving in a service facility, so their cost overall is somewhat less.

If purchasing through someone other than a converter, the PDI can become a rather contentious issue; some coach sellers may not be aware of items that need attention, "It worked for me." Or, "Everything works." Well, maybe and maybe not. The simplest scheme is to either buy the coach, As-Is, knowing that there will be some thousands of dollars of work to be performed, you can count on it, or perhaps that the seller will trust that the converter or service shop of your choice will do the PDI and the seller will pick up the tab for the work.

The 'inspection' part of the PDI is simply to determine what needs to be done; the actual accomplishment of the work to be done is much higher. That varies by coach, the condition of the coach, the organization doing the work and so on.

Years ago, one dealer used to offer The White House PDI.

"After you drive past the first white house, you're on your own."

So, a PDI, is both an inspection and repair to factory specs, in my book.

Hopefully this response doesn't create more confusion than you may have had before you posed this question.

Danss,
Not much more to add, Jeff and Jon covered it well. I just bought my Marathon in February and wen't through the same process. I bought through a broker, but was able to talk to the previous owners and had a pretty good understanding of the previous maintenance as well as any pending issues. I had a PDI done in Dallas at Prevost and they had 3 different levels of PDI, depending on how much money you want to spend. I chose the 2nd level for about 350.00 and that included all the main items such as chassis, brakes, tires, batteries, all systems and a plug in to the computer for any codes and to verify mileage. The rest I did myself and the few items needed were taken care of prior to the sale. Do your homework on the previous maitenance and talk to the owner if it's through a dealer or broker. Any previous owner should be more than willing to share information with you unless something is wrong. Marathon is in San Antonio, FL as well as Prevost in Jacksonville.

Good luck, you came to the right place to find info... POG:D

Dan,

I would also add that where lots of folks are way mental on having a PDI, I did buy a coach with only a cursory inspection to verify the major points. But I bought the coach from an individual for considerably less than the going rate, so I knew going in I had some work to do and money to spend.

But now I have most of the consumable items changed out and I can control how they are used or treated. Batteries are the major expense. My only point is, don't be afraid to buy one from an individual with an inspection that shows you need some work done.

If I were to replace my airplane today, I would want one with a run out engine and everything else is good shape. I would put a reman engine in it and fly the crap out of it knowing the previous owner didn't do something stupid to it that didn't show up in the inspection.

I added that last part for Lew. You can't miss him on this board. Big, ham fisted typer who spends LewBucks at an alarming pace:D

Welcome to the POG board.

I just bought my first coach and got a PDI because I purchased it through Liberty. I'm very glad that I had the PDI... if you don't get one, then you really don't know how much you're paying for your coach since you don't really know what will need fixing.

Liberty had been great to me. They spent about $20K getting the coach ready... changed the batteries, tires, fluids and made sure everything was in working order. Then they've been paying for everything that has had to be fixed since I left their lot. I've had the engine temp sensor replaced at DD, had Prevost spend hours looking for an air leak, had another DD place replace the rear tranny seal and replace an oil line to the compressor, I also complained about a loud air conditioner and Liberty replaced it without complaining. The only thing I've paid for so far is changing the oil in the Generator!

Buying from Liberty or directly from another convertor makes it a bit special since they might stand behind their PDI. If you get it from someone else, then you never know what's going to pop up in the first few months of owning a coach. Just make sure you max out your budget on the coach, so you have some bucks set aside for future repairs.

Thank you for advice on PDI. Will probaly pay Prevost somewhere to take a look at this one. I know the obvious things having owned one, but never sure about hidden problems. Thanks again to everyone. Dan:D

Dan,

If you can participate with Prevost when they do the inspection it will be helpful. You will learn a lot about your coach and they will understand you care.

Downloading active codes and the history for both the engine and transmission will help you immensely. if they show for example the coach never exceeded limits such as temperature you can have confidence in the the engine. That is THE big deal. As has been mentioned, tires, batteries and other date sensitive items contribute to what you really pay. Even if the tires are full tread depth, if they are 5 or 6 years old they are in need of replacement.

Ditto for batteries. I get concerned about regular care, so when poking around under the coach look carefully at fluid levels, including power steering, differential and front and tag axle hubs, all items often overlooked, but which tell a huge story about the type of care the chassis has gotten.

Pull and inspect the AC filters. These are another item that tell if the previous owners were meticulous in their maintenance. If you can, verify the coolant condition. Poorly maintaned coolant will plug your radiator or eat away at your cylinder liners.

Ask Prevost to pull the history on the coach because it is likely they will have one. Obviously you need to personally work every system and component so you will know they all work.

Like Jerry, I did my own PDI (I have my own pit and do my own service work) and my focus was on the big stuff because the routine maintenance stuff I considered to be ongoing and I wanted to do all of that myself to get to know the coach and to have a starting point for my maintenance schedule.