1997 Marathon - Purchase Jitters

[truk4u]

Hi Gang,
I'm about to schedule a PDI in Dallas and jump on a plane to purchase a Marathon and wondered if anyone can shed any light on this coach. It's being sold by Mr Olivers and also listed on e-bay. The site for Mr Olivers
is: http://www.mrolivers.com/website_slot_09_1desc

I see the same Coach on Phil Coopers site, dos-97, with a sold notice, but this may be a real old Ad. Mileage then was 66K and now 88K.

Got the new buyers jitters and looking for info.

[ken&ellen]

Good luck. I hope it is all you wished for. Ken & Ellen

[Jon Wehrenberg]

That is a nice looking coach, and Marathon makes good conversions.

You can tell a lot about the care the coach has had even if the service records are not available. Some of the places I have learned people ignore are as follows:

Two year coolant changes. (look for evidence the coolant conditioning filter has been changed at the very least)

Oil level in hubs. (It should be at the line on the plastic cover. You may need to pull the rubber plug to actually see the level)

Differential oil level. (This and the previous one are serious as was seen by Lew's axle problems.)

AC filters. (An owner that is detailed in his maintenance will routinely clean the AC filters. If not, it is a fair question about what else was ignored.)

Check to make sure the odometer is recording. If it has a Detroit Diesel Pro Driver compare miles. That vintage odometer was notorious for failures. The Pro Driver is accurate.

Don't let high mileage worry you, however. Even if the actual mileage is higher it will have to be very high before it adversely impacts the coach. I would rather see high mileage indicating routine use than low mileage indicating the coach has been parked. That is what usually affects seals.

Good luck.

[reelentless]

Hello, I was wondering if you purchased the coach from paul @ Mr. Olivers, and if so what did you think about the experience. I am going out to purchase a 1997 liberty that needs some tlc but i am in the truck repair buss. and it will not be a problem for me, just wondering about the people i am buying from

[truk4u]

Relentless,

My experience with Mr. Oliver was good, no complaints. I only met Paul when I was leaving, Dan handled everything with me and did a really good job, (he's a Prevost owner). They had already fixed some minor things themselves and agreed to put 2 new steer tires on before I got there. They took the Bus to Prevost in Dallas for my PDI and I really didn't have any surprises. The Bus was pretty much as they described when I got there. Any issues that I had were attended to.

The most important thing, I was able to talk to all the previous owners before I flew to Dallas and had a real good understanding of the bus history. Mr. Oliver only had my bus for about 2 weeks, so I pretty much knew what was needed. I also do my own work, but the PDI at Prevost was worth the money. It really helped to have an independent source checking all the systems.

Hopefully Jon will jump in here, he has a 97 Liberty and can really help you look for the things that will eat your lunch. Keep us posted of your progress and welcome to the cure for MPD.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

reelentless,

Good luck on your purchase. While you may think that your truck experience will serve you well on this purchase (it will be a major help) there are things that will be best dealt with before you buy the coach.

I would urge you to operate every single device and system in the coach, and take the time to run them long enough to insure they do work as required. Start with the AC units. Make certain they blow cold and continue to blow cold. If one is low on gas it will blow cold, but it also may ice up quickly. You can see the freon level in the sight glasses. Spend the time to look at each one. The SMX control pads for the cruise airs may not work right, but they can be easily and quickly calibrated and I would make sure they reflect the correct temperatures because that determines your set points. All the books should be available to you and if not you need to get them.

Verify the inverters are working, and refer to the manuals for those as well. They also can be set for your preferences and you will need the manuals to do that. If you do not have experience with them, take the time to insure they both function properly.

You do not say if the coach is a "classic" or "Elegant lady", a 12 volt or 24 volt respectively. A 24 volt coach will have more features and more complexity. No amount of truck repair experience will relate to the 24 volt coach, so make sure every switch and device controlled by the switch functions properly. If not the problem is likely a small relay issue, but regardless, make certain everything works before accepting the coach.

Operate all of the stuff in the entertainment systems. That includes the radios, CD players, the regular antenna (which is a pain because it is of questionable reliability), the satellite antenna (ditto if it is a KVH), the VCRs and the DVD players, etc. You will notice these devices are bult in, and you don't want to have to start repairing or finding replacements.

Make sure the refrigerator works, the microwave works, and then fire up the generator and make sure it works. While it is running, check the stove and if equipped the outside Jenn Air. If you can verify the generator "watch dog" works.

Operate the Webasto while the engine is cold. Make sure it fires up, burns cleanly and heats up the engine and you run it until its heating cycle is complete. As long as it is on the pump will run, but the burner unit will cycle through all of its tasks. The control for a Webasto is expensive and repairs to the pump, nozzles and igniters are not something you want to deal with as a new owner. Make sure you have the Webasto manuals.

You should have the Liberty owner's manuals. A really good way to inspect your coach is with the manual in hand and operating everything.

Check the date on tires and batteries. Tires are not worth running if they are six years old, and batteries have a useful life of five years. I also check the AC filters, both the house and bus air. Dirty filters are a good indication previous owners were sloppy in maintenance.

After you have inspected the house, start on the coach. I will assume you will not get under it until you get it to Prevost. Verify the bus AC works. Let it run on high idle and make sure the gauges read where they need to as far as oil pressure, voltage on the house and bus circuits, air, etc. Then do the standard ICC air systems and brake checks. Pull the tag and steer hub caps ad verify the oil levels for the hubs are OK. This is another area of sloppy maintenance and if they are down it is another clue.

Check the lights, and then start opening things up. The various bays and compartments should be clean and orderly on that vintage of coach. Shut the bus down, and listen. You should not hear any air escaping. If you hear air, with the parking brake on it is coming from your aux. system, most likely. That is a nightmare so you really want that system right. If not you will end up with a coach that does not maintain level and that will drive you nuts to trouble shoot.

When you drive the bus, as a trucker you know what to look for. I don't need to go into that. When Prevost checks it ,make sure they get it up in the air. Again, listen for leaks, look for wet spots, and look for fluid levels being where they belong. Download the engine and transmission computers and look at the history. You will be able to tell how hard and fast it has been run. You will know if there are any codes that will require attention.

I did what I am suggesting when I bought my coach. It has proven to be a no surprise trouble free coach. One thing you can count on is Liberty will be there to help you should you have any questions or problems. Be prepared to call them as you do the inspection because they know the coach and can tell you whatever you need to know.

Don't hesitate to ask questions here because there are at least three 1997 Liberty owners on this forum and we've all been through the process.

[reelentless]

Thank you so much for the very detailed message. It's a '97 Liberty Classic, 24 volt. I went out and looked at it this past week, I found the bus air low on freon, the cruise air working well, the general maintanance on the coach was up to date, but that's about where it ends. I am not familiar with the specialty systems like the "watch dog" inverters and water systems. With my mechanical background I have checked the bus over and found a few small items that need attention, but nothing major. The coach needs some paint work, tag axle tires and several body panels from curb damage. My wife thinks we should buy a diesel pusher and trade up to a bus conversion later. I feel we can buy this coach $100,000 under current market, put some sweat equity into it and be ahead. You can see this coach at MR Olivers.com Once again thanks. David

[Jerry Winchester]

I think you have a workable plan. We did nearly the same thing. Bought the coach considerable under the market values and then started the fix up / rebuild / clean up campaign. I would add that this work has caused us to become more knowledgable with respect to the various parts of the coach (AquaHot, inverters, batteries, awnings, air system, water system) and I think this knowledge will serve us well in the future.

Even though we had rented lots of coaches, the only coach we have ever owned is the Prevost, so we went swimming in the deep end of the pool straight away and have not regretted our decision.

And the '97 Liberty is a first class coach. I have been in both Jon and MangoMike's coaches (same year and converter) and the systems are very solid.

[Just Plain Jeff]

If you think that you are paying that much below 'market,' and the condition is as you believe that it is, you have a lot of room to bring it up to snuff.

My concern is that coaches have enough miles on them, rather than too many.

If you can, get to a DD dealer and get a readout on the computer; that's where you get the good stuff.

[MangoMike]

Relentless,

I'm very excited for you. Liberty is one of many great converters. If the bus is a Classic, which mine is, it's probably 12v (house systems) the Elegant Lady, which my rich friend Jon has, is 24v and has the fancy light controller system and just a hair more Bling than the Classic.

Please feel free to post any questions you may have.

If you're having any Webasto problems - there is a great primer here.
www.prevoman.com.

Good luck

Mike