Hello everyone, my wife and I just joined the forum a couple of days ago. We are 50 years old, and probably about 8-10 years away from retirement. My name is Sam, and she is Kim. Our 13 year old dog is named "Bear", hence my forum name of "Beardog".

We bought a 2003 Holiday Rambler Navigator about 4 years ago, as our first RV. For the ensuing 3 years and 11 months, we have wished that we had known about bus conversions!

We have looked at Prevosts off and on, but are seriously looking now. We listed the Navigator for sale today (http://www.rvt.com/rvshdetail4971461.htm?hm=top), and plan to look at the possibility of trading, as well. No matter what, we will take a big hit on the Navigator, but everytime we see a Prevost on the road, we look at each other and sigh, so the quest begins in earnest!

We are so used to the Aqua Hot system, stacked washer/dryer, automatic Girard patio awning, etc., that it is hard to imagine a Prevost without those features (the wife could get by without a Girard awning, but a stacked, residential washer/dryer set is a must for her). We are not familiar with the Webasto system, or whether it is a move up, down or sideways from the Aqua Hot. Also, we are used to having 2 slides, but we think that perhaps a no-slide bus would be OK. We gravitate toward the apperance of the XL/XLII's, but are not adverse to an H3 body style. Also, we don't have a set opinion on 40 vs. 45 ft. length yet. The wife probably will push for 45, if we buy a no slide bus.

I am having a hard time determining which conversion companies are still in business, and which ones are no longer with us. Since we are in central Arkansas, and live nowhere close to a conversion company, I am not sure how much that matters, however. My wife seems to prefer the Liberty Coach interiors, followed by Millennium, Country Coach, and Marathon, not in any particular order.

We camp frequently in open fields and grassy parks, so the heat/exhaust out the roof appeals to me on the Millennium coaches. I have always been a little concerned about all that heat from the generator and Aqua Hot blasting down on dry grass and leaves under the edge of our Navigator (although I don't know if it has ever been a problem).

I think that financially, we need to be looking at buses in the 1995-2002 range, as I don't want to mortgage our life away on a bus. We paid cash for our Navigator, but man, do I wish I had all of that money back to go toward a Prevost now! I know that we will need to borrow some money over whatever we get out of our Navigator, either by direct sale, or trade.

From what we know at this point, we think that we definitely want OTR, but have no definite feelings about Cruse air vs. top mounted A/C units. We do notice how noisy the roof units on our Navigator are, however.

I don't know the turning radius on our 41 ft. Navigator, but we have no problem with it. My wife drives it as much, perhaps more than I do. So, I don't know if we would really appreciate the better turning radius of a Prevost with IFS, or not. It sounds like maintenance and repair costs are lower for the straight axle buses.

We hope to get out of town to look at and drive a few Prevosts in a couple of weeks. It looks like we may need to drive 6-12 hours, or fly to Florida or California to look at a good selection of buses all in one place.

We are used to the maintenance and repair costs of a large motor home, so the $2.5-$5K per year average costs don't scare us, but we sure hope to find a bus that doesn't surprise us with thousands of dollars of unplanned repairs in the first year.

Any suggestions and all advice is a appreciated. We have spent about 12-15 hours perusing the forums here already!

Best Regards,

Sam & Kim Vallery
Hot Springs, Arkansas