Millennium has gotten my Attention!

[MangoMike]

Gary,

Congratulations. How about some pixs so the rest of us can drool.

MM

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I think it is a coincidence if Gary has the coach I think it is. His coach was parked at the end of my hangar line while we were doing an annual on the plane. It was being transported from Chicago to Stuart and the driver has a place near the airport so he parked the coach on the airport while he overnighted.

[kmuller]

I spent two months working on a deal with Liberty on a 1999. Great coach, difficult sales process. It was definitely a classic case of who was going to wear out first....them or me. For a number of reasons(which I will tell you about later), we really wanted that particular coach, so we just kept grinding away, piece-by-piece, till we got to where we needed to be. There were also a couple of things that Liberty should have disclosed, but didn't. In our yacht business, we always sleep better at night when we operate on a basis of full diclosure. Now the fun begins! We also had an ok experience at Featherlite, NC. It seems like the sales side of the business has not matured as quickly as the product side has. kmuller

[Coloradobus]

I had a long chit chat with Brian Griffit of Buddy Gregg last week. Seems they are selling Country Coach busses hand over fist esspecially the 2007's. Even pre-selling coaches before they are off the line. I was told hey have committed to another 18 new rigs above what they have currently on order.
Seems CC is not letting the parent company problems bother them much. However, the new plastic coach CC is coming out with, the $1.1 million plastic 4 slide Rhapsody, may be getting the short end of the development $$$$ stick.
Busses are doing a rosy business for Buddy Gregg, Inc.

[Sting]

I talked to Chad Dupuis at Buddy's who sold me my Affinity and he says the 2007s are moving well. I am flying out this week to Millennium and will have a much clearer picture in my mind when I get back what direction I will head. I have to admit National's problems are a concern that I have especially in light of the fact that (1) Country Coach has tryed to get out of the bus operations before, (2) Building the Rhapsody sends me mixed vibes as to what message that sends to the bus buying public. I certainly dont want to own an orphan if they decide to get out of buses. Buying a Country Coach off the lot may get me a good deal but when ordering there seems to be not a lot of room for movement on price and not a lot of interest in customizing to what the customer wants. To me a true converter caters to the wants of the client and not what THEY drew on paper. I have not ruled Country Coach out as I have always been treated first class by Buddy and his staff in Lewisville, TX but Country Coach's status as it relates to National needs to become clearer for customers. When I designed my Affinity I flew to Oregon and made friends with some folks up there and I have recently talked to some in the last few weeks who are no longer there or who have went to work for Marathon. All give the same response that they loved their jobs at CC but are concerned not only for the company but also for the ones that are still there. Oh well, I am off to see what Millennium has to offer and will let you know.

[dreadnought]

Sting, I wish you would give Liberty one more shot. I had problems with their sales people too, mostly because personalities just did not click. Lets face it, if you're going to go into debt for a million or so, you durn well want to feel good about the person on the other end of the deal. I got back from Stuart yesterday morning and I'm now deep in debt, but there's a drop dead gorgeous bus in my barn and I have no concern whatsoever that the people I bought it from will not be in business next year.., Or that they will not stand behind their product.., Or that the resale value will not be there when it's time to trade or dispose of it. I paid more for a used coach from Liberty than other converters sell new ones for because of the reasons listed above. ALSO, Liberty gave me a 6 month warranty on the components of the coach, paid the fee to transfer Detroit's driveline warranty to me, AND gave me the same LIFETIME workmanship warranty that they give an original owner. I don't have a dog in this fight, but before you give up, Call & ask for Dave Wall, the store manager, and tell him Bill sent you.

[Sting]

Thanks Bill. Check your private message box. Thanks for you help in advance.

[Just Plain Jeff]

Sting:

If you get the famed 'Nelson treatment' that we all received at POG I, you will be demonstrating the famed Secret POG Handshake at Sanford.

You can bet on it.

Good luck with yer new coach!

[merle&louise]

Sting,

I am one of your southern neighbors, my name is Tuga Gaidry and I live in Houma.

In September 2005, my wife and I drove to Stuart to look at Libertys, we met with a salesman whose name I can't recall at this moment. He was courteous and helpful; we met for about 3 hours and he answered all of my questions from a prepared list. We had called ahead and made an appointment with him. He showed us about 8 Libertys, but they were very expensive and not what we were looking for.

I don't know why you received the cold shoulder, I agree with Gary - call Liberty in Chicago and let them know what happened. They need to understand that EVERYONE is a potential buyer and that no one should be treated the way you were.

[Sting]

Hello my Cajun neighbor I flew to Sanford and visited Millennium and that is all it took for me. Their interiors are something special in my eyes. It was a real down home environment and you have an owner who is in my opinion a step ahead of the rest and my salesperson Meg is creative in her own right. She has great ideas floating around in her head and has a tablet that she let me flip through that had some of her ideas drawn out. I am using a couple of her ideas in my coach that is being built. To me having a quality built bus means more than a company claiming to be the best, you really need owners and support people to back that up. Honestly, I think all the converters out there build a good bus and deserve to be looked at but you just know when you have found the right one for yourself. Nelson, Evelyn, and especially Meg made that decision for me easy when I went to Millennium last week.