Quote Originally Posted by jack14r View Post
I think that there are some important chassis features that you should consider,the 2004 shells have 365 tires on the steering and tag axles,the steering axle is rated at 18,000 Lbs instead of 17,200 lbs. also the gross is 54,500 verses 51,500 lbs.It is also important to know how to read the year code in the serial number,(any salesman can show you where it is) count 8 digits from the end of the serial and that is the year of the shell.If that number is a 4 then the shell was manufactured as a 2004 and the conversion should be a 2005,do not let a salesman sell you a coach that is more than 1 year different from the shell unless it is priced accordingly.Also Prevost has constantly updated their slides and the 2004 shells have the next to last update,the 2007 have the "no pin slides"and are still the latest series.
Excellent, jack14r! Sooooooo, now I need an explanation of what a 365 tire is and how it compares to whatever else there is. I understand the value of an increase in gross, though I still wonder if I will need it. I guess it depends on how crazy the converter got with the granite and glass!

Then you mentioned "priced accordingly". I am still looking for advice on how to know this other than seeing what people are asking and going from there. Speaking with a lender yesterday, they decided that they couldn't use NADA and would instead just try to find 3 others with similar prices to verify value for the loan. Sounds a lot like real estate, except that real estate sales are available for comparison instead of just listing values.