Misc. Questions

[Ben]

Well, my house is finally under contract, which means that I get to purchase a Prevost to live on full-time

A few random questions related to Prevosts I'm considering:
1) How important are awnings to you. I've found a few H3's that don't have them and want to get an idea of how bad I would miss them and therefore if I should add the cost of awnings to the price of a coach when comparing it to other Prevosts.

2) What are my options for a PreDelivery Inspection (PDI)? With the exception of Marathon and Liberty, who else usually does PDI's that really make you feel confident that they would catch most issues? Buddy Gregg? ?

3) For those who have trash compactors... do you really like that feature, or would you not miss it if your next coach didn't have it (I've never had one in my house or anywhere else).

4) When comparing an H3 to an XL, are there many difference, other than the following:
• Larger basement bays
• Inside higher off the ground
• No stainless to keep clean
• Driver/Co-pilot down from main living area
• Taller coach, so you have to be more careful with what you put on the roof and how low campground trees are, etc.

Does it handle that much differently?
Power/MPG difference?
Seating height difference?

[ken&ellen]

Ben, Go with the awnings and lose the compactor. I wrote a long and detailed reply, but for some reason only known to the computor gods it was not allowed. Ken

[Ben]

Ken/Ellen

It's not a matter of picking between two coaches. I have 150 coaches to choose between and am trying to figure out how important certain features are. So, the question is more of would you rate the importance of a trash compactor to be zero, or some positive amount (or negative even)... same with awnings and other features. Having never used a trash compactor or awnings... I need your advice to educate me so it's easier for me to see if I should think of a particular coach as having a price premium due to those features being available or not.

-Ben

[MangoMike]

Ben,

First off congratulations on the impending sale of your home. I know you've been waiting a long time to be in this buying position.

Not having owned an H-3 I can't make any comparisons, however a couple of observations.

In the heat of the summer awnings will help keep the coach a lot cooler, I've never seen a Prevo w/o them, but I guess they're out there.

My impression of the lowered driver seating it seems to diminish the perceived living area. However, I have kids and during our month long trip out West it would've been nice to be away from the family for a while - down in my removed cockpit area.

As much as Lew might whine keeping the stainless is not a big chore and seeing it shine in the late afternoon sun always makes me smile.

Good luck on your quest and keep us posted.

Mike

[lewpopp]

Ben

Mango hurried his answer because he had to do the dishes in one of his "Joints"

Awnings are an absolute necessity, but never use them going down the highway. No, seriously, they are a very important item. Don't purchase a coach without pulling them out yourself.

As for the raggin on Lew, the stainless is an asset if you want to turn heads. I trully enjoy maintaining my coach. We have some people who claim they polish their coach all of the time, but I turlly believe he really spends too much time looking at a rag for hours trying to figure which side to use. He thinks tags on washcloths are the directions.

As for the compactor, they are as useless an item that one could own. Garbage should be removed daily from the moving hallway. In a home, garbage was once a week so people had to make the bags last as long as they could. I turned my compactor space into a slideout to store 3 cases of spring water. Real neat. Mango, I'll show it to you and be magnanimous and give you a free bottle of water if you want at the POG rally. ( I know the webmaster will get some time playing with the "mag" word.)

You are in the best position you'll ever be in purchasing your firts Prevost. I expect you'll have not trade, huh?

The thing I dislike is that full timing, the coach depreciates and the house that I owned, appreciated. Oh well, I am still in love with my coach. Wax on, wax off.

As for PDI. When Liberty, Parliament, or Marathon(aqnd some others) PDI a coach, plan on waiting about a week if they are conscientious and honest. If you purchase from an individual, plan on doing a lot yourself as it turns up.

There are a lot of guys out there able to give a lot more in detail, but they have job during the week (menial as they are) and can't get to the POG .

Good luck, I'm excited for you.

[mike kerley]

I think awnings are very important. You'll spend more time outside living in a Motorhome and the awnings are important. Plus, they help keep the inside cool and aid in privacy. The electric (automatic) ones are nice, but i've never had a problem with the manual Zip Dee on our bus. The electric unit on our Beaver did require some care and maintenance and would retract with the first good wind gust.

Compactors are neat gadgets but for me, not important on a motorhome. i dont care for the seperate ice makers either. One inside the freezer is plenty for us.

I like the stainless finish of the XL over the H3 fiberglass. I think its stronger and looks better than the fiberglass.