New Member needing info on Marathon Coaches1990-2002

[Matt_in_AZ]

Hello Rita,

Our coach had a washer and dryer in it when the original owner purchased it; however, one of the post-purchase/pre-delivery requests was to remove it. At first I found this to be a surprise. I know mine is pre-plumbed with hot/cold water, electricity, and vent making it an easy item to add. My wife and I have put 12,000 miles on our coach in just the first few months of ownership and are still undecided about the need for a washer/dryer. I know several owners who have said they don't use their washer/dryer for the reasons below:

1) Very small size of load requiring 4-5 small loads to equate to a normal washer/dryer capacity
2) Uses a great deal of water
3) Uses a great deal of time/electricity to dry
4) The combination units are neither a good washer or good dryer (too many compromises)

I know someone who managed one of the largest service centers for motor coaches in the western states and he told that his team pulled them out of coaches far more than he installed new ones.

If you are at an RV park with full hook-ups you probably don't mind the water and/or electrical use, but the value of your time is worth consideration.

In our trips thus far staying at RV parks we have taken all of our laundry for the week to the laundry room when none of the washers/dryers were in use and did all of our laundry in one wash and dry cycle (two hours maximum).

On the other hand my kids were soaked and sand covered from a stop at a beach one afternoon and we would have liked the opportunity to toss swimming suits in the washer/dryer just for the convenience of not having wet/sandy clothes floating around the coach (sand gets everywhere).

There is better than a 30% probability that I will add one in the spot designated for a washer/dryer because of the ease of installation, but it will be for those times when a small load of laundry must be done rather than relying on it for bulk laundry.

Slides are polarizing. Some feel they are must haves. Others wouldn't want them for any amount of money. My price point didn't include slides so it wasn't an option. My local motor coach service center had one in the shop in June with the slide removed. It was a non-Prevost slide. It had been in the shop for 6 months being repaired ($$$). They told me that in the best cases slides are a convenience worthy of the purchase for many owners' missions but require routine maintenance. In the worst cases they can be the source of expensive repairs. At the end of the conversation I was told that only the Prevost factory slides or the Valid brand of third party slides should be considered as they have the best track record. As you will learn, several third party vendors were adding slides of varying levels of quality. The popularity of slides led Prevost to eventually introduce factory slides but they took time to integrate them into the design of the coaches to optimize functionality and reliability.

Parked long-term in any location the slides make the interior much larger. If you travel across land more than you stop like we do the slides aren't really a factor in our enjoyment. Make sure you see a coach with the slides retracted to see how much room is available to move about the coach when driving down the highway. Some require a degree of gymnastics ability to move around while traveling. Just food for thought.