Made my first stop last night at Marathon's Grand Prairie, Texas facility. It exceeded my expectations.
First, it is just a few exits down 360 from Prevost Fort Worth, so that is a plus. And like Prevost, they have multiple 50 amp parking spaces that have water and there is a dump station as you pull in by the gate that already had a sewer hose hooked to it and a water hose rigged up to flush. The keypad gate gives you 24 hour access.
I could not belive all the coaches there. They have some new and used Marathons, but there were almost as many Libertys there. I spoke to Chad Duplantis (he attended the Kerrville and Branson rallies) and he said they had sold quite a few new coaches and taken most of the Libertys on trade. The other Libertys had come in for service and one came in right after we did last night. I also think Marathon has the right strategy in having service centers in California, Texas and Florida.
They have a nice place, but I think their workload has outgrown their shop space. Plenty of parking, but not many bays. I also had to laugh at their lift system; some crude ramps made of plywood. Very effective and light weight. I may have to rig up a couple as they would be way easy to store and move around.
The service manager was also a surprise. Les Evenson is a veteran Marathon guy who transferred from the Marathon plant in Oregon after spending time on the manufacturing line there. He for sure knows these coaches and it was good to talk to someone who is smarter than the Trukman for a change.
And the guy gives you his card with his cell phone number on it.......
I will take some pics when I go back up there and will report back on the quality of work vs the price. I doubt it will be cheap, but if they do a good job I will consider it worth the price.