What to do?

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

My wife and I are planning on retiring to full timing in a coach. Are there any opinions out there on the subject? What to buy an XL or an H3. A 40' or 45'.
It took a while to read all the posts but I am glad I did I learned and laughed a lot.
What would be a good state to establish residence in?
I thought the bus engines were on a sub frame that pulled out the back and not serviced from the bedroom.
Has anyone formed a Montana corp. to save on tax?
Disc brakes or drum? Synthetic oil? Insulated and or heated water and storage compartments? 20KW or 17KW generator? Aluminum wheels or SS covers? Who sells the coaches for people that smoked and had pets? The adds never admit to it!!

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Jim,

I hate to tell you this, but you used your annual allotment of questions with that one post.

There are going to be as many answers as there are folks on this forum. The XL vs H3 is a personal choice. The H3 has more bay storage space and in my wife's opinion (as designated loader) the extra steps with the turn half way up make going in an out of the coach with a load of groceries or clothes a pain. As a coach for full timing I don't see that as an issue because you load it once and then it is just bringing in groceries once in a while.

I like the stainless, some like the painted finish.

The engines are on a sub frame, but unless you have a really serious need for engine removal the engine will be accessed through the rear doors and from above either under the bed or behind bedroom cabinetry. An in-frame overhaul will not involve removal.

Some here on this forum have formed a Montana corp, but if you full time it you don't need to do that. Just establish your residency wherever it suits your needs. If you want to call Montana your home that entitles you to the tax advantages. I suspect you will need to do a lot of research because each state has advantages and disadvantages. What you save on sales tax you may end up paying in income tax or on license plates.

Disk brakes or drum? Your wallet decides that. You get whatever comes on the coach that fits in your budget. Bay heaters? I can't speak about other converters, but our Liberty has multiple ways to heat the bays and in our previous coach we travelled when it was 26 below and had no issues.

Synthetic oil? There are some on this forum who consider me anal (you know who you are) so I change oil every 5000 miles. That negates the need for synthetics. I can't bring myself to run long periods between changes because our rather infrequent use I consider to be severe duty, hence the frequent changes.

Either size generator has more output than you will ever use.

Aluminum vs Stainless: Highly polished aluminum wheels in my opinion are unmatched for quality of appearance. But if you don't like to work on your coach they will take on a dull appearance. It is no big deal to polish them occasionally, but if you don't feel like doing that stainless is a good alternative. The reality is that you will get what comes on the bus unless you order it new.

Pets and smokers? A good reason to not buy a bus on ebay. There is no substitute for seeing a coach in person and driving it before you buy it. At that point your nose and eyes will tell you if somebody was breeding dogs or smoking Cuban cigars in your coach.

Just remember, this bunch is not to be trusted. If we don't know the answers we are not afraid to make them up.

Welcome to POG.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Forgot to answer the length question. 45foot.

Especially if you are full timing.

As you get into your search you will find even more questions to ask, such as dirver's air or full bus over the road (OTR) air? Series 60 or 8V92? Independent front suspension or solid axle? Which converter? Slides or no slides?

If you never owned a Prevost, and if you are just beginning to look the place to begin is to establish a budget. That will sure focus your search. As a general rule you will pay more for a Liberty or a Marathon of a given age than you will for other converter's coaches. You will have to also decide if you want a very sophisticated (complex) coach, or one with simpler systems.

I'll bet we hear a lot of questions as you go on your search.

[Jerry Winchester]

Jim,

Since the Master has already opined, I can only say welcome to the forum and I hope it serves you as well as it did me when we were looking for a coach. Plenty of opinions here and a little fun, but all in all a good place to exchange ideas and solve problems.

The only other thing you need to know;

Evil Dark Side Guys
Jon
MangoMike
Ken

Good Happy Guys
Tom
Jerry
Ben
Jeff (one of them at least)
Kevin
Roger

Grumpy Anal Wannabe Guys
Lew

Guys Still in the Closet
Robert
Chuck
Alan
Mike jr.

[MangoMike]

Welcome Jim,

As is always the case, Jon has hogged all the good guestions leaving the rest of us just to babble.

However, I just bought a bus last June and you're starting right by asking a lot of the right questions (and joining Pog - best $100 you'll ever spend on your bus). I took me about 9 months to find the right bus (between looking and just trying to figure out what I really needed - I was scared to death to buy wrong - especially with the dollars involved and being my first motorhome purchase). I would start searching the web like a mad dog, viewing every possible Prevost for sale in North America. (Prevost-stuff.com, and Philcooper.com to mention two). This will help you get a handle on the budget vs bus formula. During your search I won't be too concerned with high mileage, but more concerned with a bus that's been sitting around a lot - they seem to work better when run a lot.

I would go back to Prevost-stuff.com and read as many old posts as you can (I read them all before buying) as it's a fountain of information and patterns will start to develop of things to look for and check out when purchasing.

Keep the questions coming, no matter what the rest of these characters say - they love to blab about their busses.

Good Luck,

Mike

[truk4u]

Hot damn, I made the good happy guys list!

Welcome Jim, you found the right place to help with your bus search. I'm a newbie here and just went through all the things your getting ready to go through. Not much more I can add at the moment, except set your goals and budget and read everything you can, especially all the archives from the other site. Tons of good stuff there and I'm really glad you joined POG, you won't regret it.

Lots of help at this site, hope you have a sense of humor, you'll need it here.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Thanks guys for the welcome. Right now one of the most difficult things is figuring out how this forum works.
I have wanted one of these coaches for some 25 years but always thought it would take winning the lottery to get one.
Life has become soo complicated and disorganized the last few years I finally convinced the wife we should liquidate everything and full time it. This might take a couple years I see though that I will be having to buy a few acres, put up a Morton bldg. and buy new tools.
What do the clasifications: member, junior member, senior member have to do with anything?
Jim

[mike kerley]

Jim, I'd try it by renting before committing my self completely. Its a great way of life, but not for everyone.

Find a nice park close to your home, rent a bus for a month and give it a try.

If you like it, great! If not, you've spent a lot less than you'll loose trying to get our of a coach you've just purchased and the wife (or you) cant stand.

We now have a 93 XL by Country Coach and having owned two fiberglass coaches (Beaver Marquis and Thunder) we love the Prevost and now call it our home. But, it has required some adjustments in life style. Wife has gone from 150 pair of shoes to "about" 50 pair. Much smaller wardrobe assortments for both of us and I have fewer toys in our basement. We like the XL over the H3 because of increased living area (and I like stainless). We don't have slides because of maintenance $'s involved with even the best of them plus we get along just fine without.

Lots of choices and chances but whats life without some risk.

One great side benefit. When the kids want to visit, they get a motel room. I like that.

Good luck with your quest!

[MangoMike]

Senior members are the better looking ones.

[Jerry Winchester]

With one exeception...........