Its ben a long time coming!

[garyde]

Well, I am happy to say after 15 plus months , my Country Coach Lexa is sold.
I have graduated from the two Coach Club. Obviously, I am elated. I have to give a HUGE Shout Out to Steve at California Coach. Steve never wavered in his commitment to me.
I hope all of you deuc Coach owners Health and Happiness and I wish you a speedy Sale.

Final Note; One of many lessons learned in this Journey; No matter what I believed my Coach to be worth, the rest of the world felt otherwise.

[truk4u]

Gary you snake in the grass, we thought the Lexa was long gone! So all this time you have been at the top of the TBC and hiding in the weeds..

Congratulations and Kudo's to Steve...

[MangoMike]

Gary,

Congrats. Although the Club won't be the same without you.


mm

[rmboies]

Well, I am happy to say after 15 plus months , my
I hope all of you deuc Coach owners Health and Happiness and I wish you a speedy Sale.
Final Note; One of many lessons learned in this Journey; No matter what I believed my Coach to be worth, the rest of the world felt otherwise.

Gary, the TBC won't be the same without you!! Congrats on the sale and it would be nice if the TBC would come to a timely end, right Mango???

[merle&louise]

Final Note; One of many lessons learned in this Journey; No matter what I believed my Coach to be worth, the rest of the world felt otherwise.[/QUOTE]

Gary,

No truer words were ever spoken. My grandfather used to always tell me when I was selling something: ANY TIME ANYONE WANTS TO GIVE YOU MONEY - TAKE IT!

I sat around for months turning down offers on my 93 Newell only to sell it for about the same amount that was orginally offered.

You made the right decision; sell that baby and move on!

[jonnie]

Tuga,

I think we have all learned this lesson the hard way-" Your first offer is usually your best one". Or " One the hand is worth two in the bush".

John

[Just Plain Jeff]

Congratulations!

There's a tough market out there for non-Prevost luxury coaches.

We've been working a lot of deals for POG members in the last several months. It's a tough nut out there for dealers and individuals with the non-Prevost coaches.

For those who may not be aware of such things, most dealers have what is called a 'floor plan.' This is a floating line of credit based on the wholesale price of the coach. At a certain point, depending upon the dealer's financial and sales record, coaches go into 'curtailment.' When that happens, the dealer begins to actually make payments into the equity of the coach, thereby significantly reducing margins and making it even more difficult to slash a price to make a deal.

This is happening nationwide from what we are seeing in the fiberglass marketplace. There are many 'new' 06 and 07 coaches in inventory and there is going to be a price to pay for those dealers who can't get rid of them, like yesterday.

The preowned Prevost marketplace is not moving quite this way. In fact, we're seeing more people trying to bridge into a properly priced coach and the season for selling same is just coming along. It is likely that the TBC will be diminishing very soon as inventories are low. What we are also seeing is as noted, often times the first offer is the best one. Since there aren't all that many coaches around, buyers get to know specific coaches and when they see one which seems to be fresh on the market, they often jump on them. This makes no sense at all, but that seems to be how the market is working.

It's pretty hard to put a long of 'rational' sense to owning any kind of a movable home, but trends do emerge and over the long term it would appear that the Prevost conversion is the best buy. Note that I did not say the best, 'investment.' That's the business of the guys who wear suits to work every day.

So if you love going down the road with a durable, commercial-grade coach, the Prevost does have the name recognition, the look and feel of something quite special and a lasting apparent value to many.

This upcoming winter season will be interesting to see if the trend continues. For the TBC members who really want to sell their coaches, the indicators seem strong that they will. For those who are pretending to sell their coaches but secretly planning a fleet, well, you may have to turn down some pretty strong offers.

BTW: It is important here to note that with lower interest rates, the lenders, for those who wish to finance a coach, are eager to write a check on your behalf to a seller. This may be one of those times when it is prime to buy the coach that you have been thinking about. Also, many of the older Prevost owners are going off the road and are looking for buyers. Keep yer eyes open and/or stay in touch if we can help out.

[garyde]

Jeff, I have been asked several times if I wanted to sale my Liberty. If I did i would purchase a 06 more than likely. Are you saying the Prevost market is strong for both buyers and sellers?

[MangoMike]

BTW: It is important here to note that with lower interest rates, the lenders, for those who wish to finance a coach, are eager to write a check on your behalf to a seller. This may be one of those times when it is prime to buy the coach that you have been thinking about. Also, many of the older Prevost owners are going off the road and are looking for buyers. Keep yer eyes open and/or stay in touch if we can help out.

Jim, Gary and Trukman take note:

[Just Plain Jeff]

Jeff, I have been asked several times if I wanted to sale my Liberty. If I did i would purchase a 06 more than likely. Are you saying the Prevost market is strong for both buyers and sellers?

That's an interesting question.

I haven't seen your coach, so here's a general comment. For some reason, some coaches are 'grabbers,' and they have immediate appeal. If you have people who want to buy your coach at a price you want to sell it for, ah...it's a strong market! Because there are so relatively few Prevost coaches, as compared to the mass market, and seemingly no two alike...and the Used Prevost Factory doesn't exist, you may well have a very marketable coach. If that's the case and you want to sell it, git 'er done.

As to an 06, the trajectory of value and potential depreciation is much higher than say, and 02 or 03, so you'll be experiencing a higher devaluation in the first couple of years. If that doesn't matter to you, then get what you want.

The puzzling thing about the Prevost market is that the first few years from new reveals new coach buyers really taking it up the pipe. (Technical term). After that period, values seem to stabilize and there is remarkable agreement between most people in the biz as to the value of the coach.

Here's an example: Less than two years ago, a guy we know bought a new H3. Then, just about a year later, traded for another new one. Recently, they decided to get off the road and sold the second H3. Since this seemed to be a pretty dramatic example of helping the rest of us Po' Folk out with depreciation, I sat down and figured out that he took about $1 million in depreciation for all of us, kind man that he may be. That comes out to about $1345 a day, forgetting (if we can) the interest that could have been earned, costs of operation, campgrounds, etc.

Albeit this is a pretty dramatic example, it does demonstrate that the peak depreciation years are upfront. For most people, buying a new coach, from where I sit, should be a long-term commitment as it's going to be an expensive proposition. Down the food chain where I live, we've done pretty well buying and selling making a little here and there, grabbing one that is on a lot at the end of the season, using it until the peak of the next season, and so on. Nothing that is going to make us live at Trump Towers, but more than covering the cost of ownership, repairs and the hassles in general in making the deals.

From what I know of the TBC coaches in POG, there are some very attractive candidates ready to roll down the road for a new owner. Of course the buyers will say they are too much money and the sellers are going to claim they are getting taken to the cleaners, but welcome to America! The good thing about buying a POG TBC coach is that you know where the sellers live.

Of course, none of the above has anything to do with the mechanical conditions, PDI, upgrades, financing, insurance, service intervals of specific coaches, perceived value of one conversion or another in the market or the host of other factors which seem to affect the valuation of any specific coach.

Think of it this way, you are out to dinner with your honey and she says, "Gosh I'd like to have lobster tonight." Your eyes gaze at the price and it says, "Market." You probably don't have any bills in your pocket that say, "Market," so you know you are going to be at a premium level. Kinda like buying a preowned Prevost conversion.

But you can resell the bus if you don't like it and it's illegal to sell your wife in the U.S.

If you catch my drift.