Guys I can't thank you enough for being willing to share your experience and knowledge.

I saw this coach for the first time a few days ago when I stopped into the dealership on the way back to Virginia. The coach is in a building and the Dealer brought in the single slide, and we took the coach on a 20 minute test drive. When we got back he couldn't get the slide to go back out. We noticed the second yellow light on the wall to the right of the control panel, that had been on during the test ride. The second yellow light is identical to the first yellow light on the control panel, but the second yellow light is mounted on the wall about seven inches to the right of the control panel that has the key, rocker switch, red, and first yellow light. Also during the test ride I noticed the rubber bladder hadn't inflated because I could see an inch of light by both upper corners of the slide, and less light down each side of the slide. When he couldn't get the slide in, the dealer called the owner and the owner said the dealer should have kept the rocker switch depressed until all the lights were off, including the second yellow light. That didn't happen and the second yellow light was on the whole time and didn't turn off even when we got back. I also saw a light on the coach dash that might have said "low air" I can't remember exactly, so I might be wrong about the exact wording. The owner said that indicated the slide wasn't properly deployed. We struck our deal on Friday and I told him I was coming back out to look at things more carefully. I drove back to Ohio last night to beat the snow that came in this morning, and will be at the dealership tomorrow (Monday) at 10 when they open. I'll then be able to give any updates you guys need.

The Dealer and his helper worked for over an hour trying to get the slide back in after the test ride. They tried turning off the key to the slide control panel to reset it, tried turning off the coach, then restarting it to reset it. The owner said that he always did everything to do with taking the slide out or in with the coach motor running. The dealers helper checked fluid level and solenoids and said everything was fine and power was going to the solenoids. The dealer tried running the slide out and also back in. When he did that the big pump next to the coach engine did run, but the slide never moved at all once we got back from the test ride. Also I noticed the bottom corner of the slide closest to the front of the bus was further out from the coach sidewall skin than the bottom corner closest to the back of the bus. The rear corner was slightly inset from the outside skin of the coach and the front corner was slightly out from the skin of the coach, I'd estimate the difference between the two corners at a half inch or a little more.

The Dealer has a theory that when he brought the slide in prior to the test ride that maybe the throws toward the back of the bus went into their holes but that maybe the front throws didn't go in their holes, but I know he certainly didn't inflate the bladder. He thinks the slide may be in a bind, since the slide is slightly crooked as described. The Dealers helper also fiddled with wires in the ceiling area of the basement bay in the center of the slide, where's there's a large somewhat flat junction box mounted on the ceiling with lots of wires coming out. The owner was on the phone trying to guide the helper and the owner was concerned maybe the ground wire was bad. I'm wondering if what I'm really buying is a non-slide coach with the upside that maybe it can be fixed and used. Of course you can't know, but I'm wondering if it would damage the engaged throws if I brought the coach back the 10 hour drive to Virginia to fix the slide back in Virginia? I don't know if one side of throws is engaged, and if other side isn't, could the vibration of the ride home bend the locking pins?

Then there's the issue of sealing around the slide on the way home. I was wondering if we pushed foam insulation into the crack around the slide, if that would keep water from coming in around the slide if it rained.

I negotiated the coach price to (150k) to buy the coach "as is" but subject to inspection. I can walk from the deal if things are too bad. From looking at everything for sale for the last couple of months, it appears to me the least expensive slide H3 units are around 230k, maybe you can correct if I'm wrong on that. The current owner has gotten hurt pretty bad on this slide and has spent 28k on it, and yet after all that money, here he is selling the unit, and the slide fails again on the test ride. I think he just wants to stop the bleeding and get out, so he took my offer.

If I proceed with this purchase, I'm taking a pretty big gamble, but then again, didn't all of us when we decided to adopt one of these huge complicated beasts. The tires are good and it's had the 365 tire upgrade to the front and tag axle. The bags could be bad, the shocks could be bad, the bushings in the front end could be bad, the spindles and bearings could be bad, and the brakes could be bad and that's just what comes to mind. As we all know every one of those items are 5k and north.

I know a strong argument can be made that a coach that is well maintained, even at 230k, could be less expensive than this coach if I hit the lottery and win all those problems, and that's assuming the mechanic can really tell if the engine and transmission are sound and are not going to fail in the foreseeable future. My thought process here is I definitely want an H3, that's just my preference. I like the layout and the way this coach looks, and I don't think any other coach brand has the panoramic wall of glass views Prevost coaches do, which is what drives me to Prevost. I love the drive through the Keys, any coastal area really and this thing is a glass observation tower. I'm hoping the zeroing out of things that need to be fixed (like the slide) will be less than 80k and I can do critical items that affect safety now and work non-critical items in over a year or two. The more I think about it, I should have the shop do a wheels-off inspection and check the shocks, brakes, spindles, and bearings to see what I'm up against in all those areas. I'm going to need to know if any of those systems need replacement now, especially since I've also got to have the AquaHot and generator working to keep the coach from freezing.

Here's the details of the terrible story this slide has been for the current owner. He's only owned the coach two years, and a year and a half ago the slide stopped working. He took it to a shop to fix it. They told him they "rebuilt" his slide and charged him $28,726, of which, $20,625 is labor (125 hours @ $165 per hour) for the slide and $3,300 in labor to fix the HWH air level system for leveling at campsites, which it seems they think kept the slide from working. The parts were three HWH cylinders for $2,428, two Equilizers (not sure those are) for $1,378 and misc parts at $500. The owner said he was told and sent pictures of the steel locking pins having shattered into hundreds of pieces laying in the bottom of the slide. I don't know, maybe it shattered or maybe it just rubbed off shavings, I can't say. The floor is wood and the flat floor panel that rises up jiggles a little when you try to move it with your foot. In my mind rebuilding a slide is taking it all apart and reinforcing or replacing structural elements, but it doesn't "look" like they did that to me in the field. I starting to think "rebuilding" meant going after the locking pin mechanisms, not tearing apart the slide, although maybe you have to tear the slide apart to get to the locking pin cylinders? I have not idea, maybe y'all got a better picture in your head of that than me. I'm thinking if the pins were bad, maybe they had to go after them and I'm wondering if the cylinders are for the locking pins or to move the slide in and out. Maybe $28,000 is reasonable for that? What do ya'll think? I usually figure in most jobs (I manage commercial real estate) the parts or materials are usually half the cost, and the other half is usually labor. It's not a rule, but I see it all the time in my work, so less than $5,000 in parts and $24,000 in labor seems off to me.

When I buy the old buildings I'm trying to bring back to life, I usually see opportunity when there's a condition that makes things unclear. Usually, not always, more risk, equals more opportunity. I"m thinking if things aren't too bad, I'm in a slide coach I like for as little as 180k (there's got to be at least 30k in repairs needed would be my guess). I have no idea if it's even a thing, but I'm even wondering if I went completely analog and made each step of the slide process separate, like a switch to inflate or deflate the bladder, a switch to engage or disengage the locking pins, and a switch to take the slide in or out, that this slide problem could be beaten. There's no question in my mind that just like you guys, to beat this problem, I'm going to have know all there is to know about this system. This is the reason I'm kind of glad the coach only has one slide because I've got to have it at least the saloon slide because I have six kids and they may be bunking in the living room. I could see how just a couple might go with no slide. This slide is an achilles heel of this coach, the only way to feel like you could count on. this coach is to completely understand the slide mechanism and how to fix it.

I can do simple things like assemble systems and I have a 20 year old son who is somewhat mechanical that works for me, and I can shop for good tradespeople and usually tell if what they say they want to do makes some kind of sense. I can follow directions and understand how a system works, so it makes me think with some help from knowledgeable people like on here, that we could figure out what's wrong and either do it ourselves or at least have cluesl for the mechanic so he doesn't have to start from scratch. I've got a funny feeling the present owner paid for a very expensive education of the techs that were supposed to know already how to fix his slide.

Sorry for this long post, I'm stuck in this hotel room waiting to go to the coach tomorrow and I've had too much coffee, not enough sleep, and have been obsessing over the inspection steps I should engage in to try not to walk into an ambush. To keep from going crazy, in the end, you just have to tell yourself that no matter happens, the world isn't going to stop spinning. If I get too in the weeds I have to step back and appreciate that.

I worry about the engine and transmission the most. Do you guys have much faith in a good shop being able to tell if those systems are sound?

Thanks again for y'all being willing to help! l'll owe y'all a favor big time!