Marathon vs Vantare

[Jon Wehrenberg]

This is strictly an opinion not based on fact or personal knowledge.

I would opt for the Marathon. I believe they are going to be one of the long term survivors, they have a proven product and they support that product.

If I were pressed to make the decision between two apparent equals I would be asking each converter to explain in detail how the systems work and what happens in the failure mode. All coaches are great when everything is working properly, but some system failures on some coaches leave you in a world of hurt. The devil will be in the details.

Also, I would sure as hell weight each coach, each axle, and side to side with full fuel and full water. In my opinion neither are lightweights and front axle overloading would be pretty high on my list of concerns.

[phorner]

Once again, this is simply a personal opinion, and not based on any facts.

I would choose the Marathon. I have met many Marathon owners who are very happy not only with their busses but also the service that they have received by the company after the purchase.

Speaking from personal experience, we are currently at Marathon Coach picking up our 2000 Liberty. I cannot speak highly enough of the skills of the technicians addressing all the little issues that have surfaced. They have performed the nearly impossible in making any changes or adjustments that we have requested.

Even though we eventually decided to purchase a Liberty, we are very impressed with the Marathon staff.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

One element that should be considered is what kind of an owner will you be. If you hang on to a coach forever then the economics of the purchase matter little, but if you contemplate trading coaches periodically then the depreciation of the coach is a factor that cannot be ignored.

In that regard the marketplace has spoken clearly as to what coach will be the best.

[garylstevens]

I too vote for Marathon over Featherlite, but find it difficult to believe that the price for both models are the same?

Marathons are almost always priced much more than a Featherlite, But that is just from what I have seen on the web sites and from looking at all of the busses.

Gary S.

[jack14r]

I sold a Marathon this year and a Vantari employee told me what the value would be if it was a Vantari,his estimation was almost 20% less than I sold it for.Everyone who has responded is basically telling us that the Marathon will retain a larger percentage when it comes time to trade or resale,my Marathon experience confirms this also.

[dale farley]

I have been impressed with the quality of my Marathon, but even more than the coach itself, the customer service has been outstanding. They have never failed to answer any questions I've had, and in some cases, have spent an hour or more on the phone helping me troubleshoot a specific problem. Most of the problems were due to my ignorance or inexperience with the operation of the systems.

The only negtive that I have about my coach is that they placed the 20k generator in the front bay on one side of the coach and all six house batteries in the front bay on the other side. This configuration causes the weight of the front axle to be very close to being maxed out. I would hope they have changed the location of one or both these components since mine was made in 93. I would definitely buy a Marathon again.