New Member on The Hunt

[Doug1199]

Hello we are Doug and Carol and we have never owned an RV. We appreciate good eguipment and have decided to purchase a prevost. I have a few questios to get started on our journey. Slides vs Non slides ,New body style vs rivet panels,bus air vs roof air.I have many more questions and any and all suggestions and comments are valued.

[Mark3101]

Hello we are Doug and Carol and we have never owned an RV. We appreciate good eguipment and have decided to purchase a prevost. I have a few questios to get started on our journey. Slides vs Non slides ,New body style vs rivet panels,bus air vs roof air.I have many more questions and any and all suggestions and comments are valued.

My wife and I bought our first Prevost in October 2009. We bought a new 2008 Legendary XL-2 with slides. The slides are great for the extra room they provide. There can be issues with them as with anything else, but the factory slides are pretty good in the vintage I bought. (2006 chassis, 2008 conversion year) We also have roof airs. There are a limited number of converters who use OTR air, roof air seems to be used by more. I have had good luck with the roof airs and can run 2 of them on the inverters, or all four when running the generator or on shore power.

I had to get some warranty work done on panels last summer that had started to separate at the edges. It was covered by Prevost warranty, but would have been costly if not covered. I think a non-rivet construction looks nicer, but that is a personal opinion, some may like rivets better. I am sure you will get many replies to your post. We really enjoy our Prevost, and I am sure you would too.

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

Welcome aboard doug1199. You are in for the ride of your life, in a Prevost.

To start with, have you looked through the last couple of years of postings on POG. The reason I say this, is because we have answered many of the questions you have asked and rather than just reiterate what has already been said ( reinvent the wheel so to speak ) if you look through the postings, your search for the perfect bus, may get easier.

Now having said that, if you have a specific question or two about things you are considering, the answers will start flowing, ( Some may be even right answers )

Good luck. Buy from a known dealer or POG sponsor, you won't be sorry by doing so.

Gary S.

[Kuhlsport]

Doug

I know where you are at. I just purchased a Prevost and have no prior RV experience. Happy to discuss with you any questions. I didn't know what I didn't know so my learning seemed to come in waves. Send me your number in a PM if you would like to talk offline. I learned a ton just by reading through all the posts on this site.

[michaeldterry]

Welcome to POG, Doug & Carol! You've made an excellent decision to find and purchase a Prevost! Owning/driving/traveling in a Prevost is the most fun you can have with your clothes on! Now, if you decide to drive sans clothes, that's your business and we won't judge. (Frankly, I detest having to wear clothes, so I'd probably be right there with you!) LOL!

But seriously, Mark's suggestion to look through the archives of posts is a good one to get some answers and probably be prompted for some important questions you haven't even thought of yet. When you do have specific questions though, don't be shy about asking! We love to halp people spend their money! You will find an unbelievable amount of knowledge and experience here among the membership (not to mention our incredible sponsors) - take advantage of it at every opportunity!

I'm a stainless/rivets kind of guy, but you'll find just as many others who will extoll the beauty of the smooth sides look of the H3. As for air conditioning, the same applies. Some are convinced that it's not a proper bus without OTR (Over the Road or "bus air"), while just as many are quite satisfied with their roof airs or CruisAirs (I'm a CruisAir guy). Bottom line, find what suits you and Carol and the way you'll use the bus and go for it! Slides are a personal preference feature, as well. We prefer non-slide. With just the two if us (and our three Shih Tzu's), we don't feel the need for the alledged extra space and I'm convinced that slides actually compress the available space when retracted (in travel mode) - plus, I don't want the added complexity/potential problems that the additional moving parts represent. I'm sure that slide proponents will argue/dispute that, but it's only my opinion anyway. Your mileage may vary...

I've been a "busnut" for over 30 years, having literally grown up on entertainer coaches as a touring drummer for 23 years and having owned an Eagle entertainer as my first bus. When I upgraded to my Prevost XLV, "Evangeline" a couple of years ago, I fell in love all over again! In fact - Vita, my wife, calls Evangeline my "other woman"! I can't even deny it!

Take your time, have fun in the search, ask alot of questions, look at alot of buses, and don't be afraid to negotiate when you find "the one"! There has never been a better buyers market for these magnificent machines (much to the chagrin and bewilderment of many of us current owners)!

When you get a moment, tell us a little about yourselves and add a signature line or two that will appear with your posts - maybe telling us where "home" is, what you're shopping for, and anything else you think we should know (bank balance, account number, felony convictions, etc). Hopefully, you've picked up on the fact that we don't take ourselves too seriously around here and love to poke good natured fun at each other. Give as good as you get and you'll get along just fine here! It helps to have a warped sense of humor and a thick skin!

Good luck and let us know how we can help!

[jack14r]

Welcome,My first was a 2001 Marathon without slides,I loved it.My next was a 2 slide 2005 Liberty,I loved it.My current one is a 2 slide 2008 Liberty,I love it.As Kasey said it is hard to know what to ask when we have never used a coach.I think that a lot of your answers are related to how much you can spend,there are a lot of great values out there with or without slides.The search for knowledge and the right coach are a lot of fun.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Doug,

Welcome to the asylum. Ypur questions are hot buttons because these are questions that have been debated over the years.

For you to get answers in the context of what you are looking for requires some information from you. How much are you planning to spend? Do you keep your stuff for a long period or do you trade frequently? How do you plan to use the bus, such as a lot of dry camping? How many people will typically be on board and sleep in the coach?

Apart from being nosy, the information helps give you very good information relative to your answers. No sense telling you about the difference between an 8V92 versus a Series 60 if you plan on buying something in the mid 6 figures for your budgeted price.

One thing you will realize is that there is no substitute for seeing coaches so at some point plan on actually seeing coaches so the photos on the internet become more meaningful.

[CAPT MOGUL & Sandy]

A BIG Welcome, Doug & Carol, to the GREAT POG Family!
Ed & I have truly enjoyed this organization and have made most of it's members our 2nd family. We have learned so much and met so many wonderful people. Hope that you can do the same. What you put in is worth all you get out of it plus much more. Look forward to meeting you soon.

We have just lowered the price 2 days ago on our first bus, "97 Royale" which is listed with Ken Robertson at Luxury Coach Brokers. The bus is great and not one problem with her. Ed just wished one day for an XLII and his wish came true before we were ready. The '97 Royale is Stock #122 under Luxury Coach Brokers. Look at slideshow and "Details".
Now let the show begin...good luck with shopping!!

[TerryM]

Welcome Doug and Carol,

We started our RV and Prevost experience in January so we are still crawling. We hope to move up to walking this summer. I can give you some of the quick reasons we bought what we bought.

We bought a 1999 Vantare H3-45 with no slides. It has OTR (over the road air), an RVAC and 2 CruisAirs.

We live in Florida most of year so OTR was a big deal for us. We like to travel and want to be cool running down the road. While there are lots of ways to stay cool on the road, OTR is good and efficient.

We decided on no slide for a couple reasons. First, no slides are less expensive then slides. Since we are new to motor homes we wanted to get started less expensively until we see if we like it (early voting - we love it.) Second, we like to travel and move around so slides we less important to us. Third, we are boaters too and comfortable in confined spaces so the room offered in a no slide coach didn't feel small to us.

H3 vs Rivets - We looked at both and liked both. We like the floor plan, colors, finish, etc. in the H3 so we bought it. If we would have found a rivet bus we liked better we would have bought it. From what I understand about the H3 some people don't like the steps up from driver/passenger area to the living area. It does limit how you can utilize the front seats when not traveling. Since I'm new to this, there are probably hundreds of other pros and cons to each. We are still crawling and learning so...

Converter - we looked a several converters - Liberty, Marathon, Vantare, Royale, Country Coach. Without starting a religious war here, there are some differences in fit/finish, some differences in equipment and differences in systems. We found all the coaches we looked at were of high quality and great when compared to traditional class A motor homes.

I would be embarrassed to tally the number of hours I have on this site reading everything I can. The learning curve is steep but the amount of information available and the generosity of POG members to help with advice makes getting started much easier.

Ken Robertson at Luxury Coach Brokers (727) 748-2248 was so patient and helpful. He made the buying process fun. I'd definitely recommend working with Ken.

The coach we purchased had been serviced for two years by CoachWorx in Tampa. Mike, Rick, Ben and all the staff are great. The know Prevosts from top to bottom. It is nice to be able to call with questions and be able to have someone walk you through how to reset your inverter when the breaker trips and everything is dark. (thanks Ben). Knowing we could turn to CoachWorx for help gave us the confidence to buy when we had no idea what we were doing.

Last, happy to answer any questions via email or phone if you'd like. I don't have many answers since I'm not far ahead of you in the process but I'd be happy to share what I've learned.

Terry

[Gary Carmichael]

Welcome aboard Doug and Carol

Your journey is just starting, take your time and relish all the great coaches out there! Pick one you both get that good feeling about, check for service records and enjoy the ride!