Diesel Mechanic Near Dallas

[JIM KELLER]

Don't know how this fits into Diesel Mechanic Near Dallas. Sorry .

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I agree that we should support our advertisers, especially since they are first class operations. What this has to do with a diesel mechanic near Dallas is simple. Ted would have no need whatsoever to even start this thread if the folks who built his engine were to work on his engine.

I don't think our problems in getting service now are converter related.

[JIM KELLER]

Jon, My Post " Dont know how this fits into Diesel Mechanic Near Dallas " was referring to the post to Mango Mike. I put it in the wrong Thread location. Sorry for the confusion.

[garyde]

I don't have any horror stories, yet, regarding Prevost or anyone else, but I really want to start doing some of my own work. That's why I bought the stands Jon offered, thanks again Jon. I have a Detroit/Allison Shop 30 miles from me and they are very good and fair. Unfortunately, they say no one is interested in keeping the facility open after the principals retire so they may close.
I have similar problems in my industry finding and keeping young people who want to learn a trade. One of the reasons is the State and the school systems do not encourage Trade crafts in school. Infact , they focus fully on pointing kids toward college and buisness schools. It's a real problem in this country.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

OK, I will ask a question that goes to the heart of this issue. This has been discussed by folks from both sides of the country so it is not based on an isolated incident.

If someone familiar with our coaches, and who has the mechanical skills to work on our coaches opened a facility for maintenance and limited repairs would those who do not do their own work support this facility? Let's presume this facility is in FL and southern CA.

The facility would do all preventive maintenance such as oil and filter changes and lubes on the bus and generator. But it would also do common repairs such as air springs, brakes, fixing the leans, replacing hub seals and bearings, etc.

Ideally if enough owners were to use the facility it could be a once a year comprehensive IRAN (inspect and replace as necessary), with routine oil changes in between annual services. I would surmise the annual IRAN would cost about $3000 plus parts, would take a week, but when you rolled out of the lot the bus would be as perfect as humanly possible. Subsequent visits would use the first IRAN as a baseline and would be much less expensive.

In other words, except for complex repairs, body work, or converter specific problems the facility would care for your coach using detailed and comprehensive checklists designed to prevent problems at a cost that is very reasonable compared to costs we are now hearing about.

Comments? Suggestions? Ideas?

[phorner]

Jon,

I, for one, would certainly support such a maintenance facility. I am very fortunate to be so close to Liberty Coach for maintenance, but competition usually encourages reasonable prices for quality work.

My biggest concern always is finding someone that I can TRUST to do the job right. I don't necessarily look for the lowest cost, but I do appreciate quality in the repairs/maintenance performed.

You can often tell a lot about the place simply by the condition of the facility. If the supervisors and technicians appear to care about their workplace by keeping a clean and orderly shop, there's a good chance that they will care about the quality of the work performed for the customer.

So far, Liberty Coach has not disappointed me. There is also a DD shop very close to me in Fort Pierce that will perform all of the engine and transmission maintenance and repairs, but I have no personal experience with them.

[truk4u]

I would absolutely support the facility Jon and hopefully it's near Knoxville!

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Paul,

There is no doubt in my mind that there are places like Liberty that are doing a great job at prices that are fair. But this discussion would never take place if that was the case across the board.

POG members have seen posts from other members in which poor quality work for basic repairs was experienced or outrageous prices were charged for work that was previously priced fairly.

Not everybody has access to a Liberty Coach facility and not all service facilities such as DD dealers want to change air springs. So it just seems a service company set up to handle the routine maintenance and common repairs would benefit all but the companies that choose to gouge Prevost owners.

Truk,

Knoxville would be a great location but from a business point of view it would not be anywhere near as ideal as a FL location. Look at Dale's map to see where POG members are located and it almost mandates that for any company to reach our market they need to be in FL or southern CA.

[JIM KELLER]

Jon, I would support a facility like this. Just look at the post from Brian this morning ref his cooling system issue at a Prevost facility. Its all in the technicians doing the work. Of course management is of the utmost importance !

[phorner]

One potential problem that I see is that if the quality of service is indeed exceptional, and offered at a reasonable price, that the demand will ultimately be so great that appointments would have to be made several months in advance.

Although this is a small "price" to pay for quality service that you can trust, it may turn some folks off.

And, I'd be all for a Florida location