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Trawick Luxury Coaches
Does anyone have experience with Trawick Luxury Coaches near Ft Worth? If we buy a coacch from them, should we trust their check-out of the coach, or get an independent check-out? And if so, should it be done by a Prevost center or Marathon (most likely converter)?
Per Korslund
Still debating XL vs. H3
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18 Replies
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No offense to any dealer or converter. Our answer is yes to both, especially since your near a Grand Prairie
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As a Marathon owner (XLII) I would for sure send it to Prevost and to Marathon for a check out.
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If anyone selling a coach says it has been completely inspected they will not mind if you verify that yourself.
While I cannot quarrel with having Prevost or a converter do an inspection (at your expense, including the cost to move the coach) the only strong advice I can offer is if you are new to the conversion or new to a Prevost coach you need to be trained. This is not the average car and there is a lot6 of systems and features on both the house and chassis that you need to know and understand. If you take a couple of days and combine a training session with an inspection you get that training, plus you are verifying coach condition.
If your response is that it is too overwhelming for you to do your own inspection perhaps you will understand if you don’t take the time to learn the coach, when are you planning to do it? After you get in trouble?
I recommend you pick a starting point such as the driver’s seat and you operate every knob, switch and control and know what it is supposed to do and verify it does in fact work. Don’t jump around, but be methodical in going through the coach so you don’t miss a thing. A good seller is going to understand clearly your need for training and should not mind helping you understand the coach.
If the coach meets your expectations about everything working then take it to Prevost, or the converter or someone for additional inspection. My preference would be to a Detroit or Volvo dealer to have them run the codes on the engine and transmission and to review the history,
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I bought my coach from Chris Trawick. I will try to tell you about my experience.
When I was talking to Chris about the coach, he assured me he was very familiar with this coach. When I mentioned an inspection, he discouraged me, saying he was confident about the coach in every respect and persuaded me an inspection was a total waste of money….duh!!!! If I had done the inspection, it would have saved me several thousand dollars. The single worse offense was the coach batteries which were totally shot….$3600. I also spent a considerable amount on bushings and other items under the coach as well as wheel seals, etc. The bedroom a/c was inop. The outdoor TV did not function.
I won’t bore you with all the details, but I’ll bet you’re beginning to get the picture.
Let me be quick to assume some of the responsibility for this. I had been around many many motorhomes in times past…but none of the Prevost conversions. What I have come to realize after a couple of years or learning about them, they are an entirely different animal and if you are not conversant with the myriad systems and idiosycrasies of these coaches….get someone who is to go over the coach for you. I didn’t and I’m sorry I didn’t.
I will say, in all fairness, that I’m crazy about my coach now that I’m more familiar with it and have gotten things in better shape. Once a friend of mine (who sells a brand Jon adores) told me that when you buy a used Prevost motorhome you might as well figure you’re gonna spend 10 grand or more…it’s easy to do, I assure you.
I’m not saying I’d never buy from Chris again…but as someone once put it…”Trust, but Verify!”.
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there must be a reason he no longer sells for Marathon
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Our plan, once we are in negotiating range, are to spend a lot of time in the coach. I like to use the manuals to find my way, and plan to turn on everything that can be turned on (safely). The wife is very good at looking at details inside. Things like awnings, toilet, transmission, Jake brake, parking brake are identical to the ones that came on our coach (we are looking at 2000-2001 models), so no problem there. I have also picked up a few hints here on this board. Where we will fall short is inspection of the chassis where I will need expertise from Prevost/Marathon. Even so, I was pretty much planning on $10-20k in expenses post buy.
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“If you take a couple of days and combine a training session with an inspection you get that training, plus you are verifying coach condition.”
Jon,
Where do you go to get “training” when you don’t own a coach yet?
“I’m not saying I’d never buy from Chris again…but as someone once put it…”Trust, but Verify!”
I would have a hard time purchasing again from a sales person who furnished poor/deceptive advice. I value honesty when spending this kind of money and would think those selling these machines would want their cliente to trust them for future sales or referrals.
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Let me clarify….What I mean is that if Chris Trawick had a coach I liked…liked the floor plan… liked the general appearance…I may well consider it. However, given my history with him, I would certainly approach with much more caution…Get an inspection, etc. To go into a deal when you are in a totally guarded mind-state is much better than going in totallly unaware…just saying!!!!
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Ok BTom, you must be refering to Country Coach as the brand Jon adores, right.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He loves my coach, I have caught him adoring it many times. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ask Tom
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Regardless of Trawick’s record , Prevost Fort Worth, Marathon and Detroit Diesel are just too close to not take advantage of their expertise. My experience with Fort Worth Prevost and Marathon has found them very helpful and ready to address your needs and your questions. They are in very close proximity and work with each other regularly for the customer’s convenience. New buses sure are fun. -
Well, the bus will be new to us! I called Marathon in Grand Prairie and got a quote of $1380 to check out a 2000 Marathon. Any idea what Prevost might charge? Either way it should be $$ well spent. If we run into major issues, it will be re-negotiation time.
We looked at and test drove a coach at Marathon in Oregon–super nice ride and quiet AC–very important! A little surprised at the same problem plaguing late model Country Coaches; fogged windows.
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P&M,
I’ll be in the same boat as you in a few months, looking to purchase an ’00-’02 H-3, so please keep us updated on your final selection and experiences with selecting your coach.
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Tim,
You are not going to get training until you own the coach.
There are enough differences between Prevost models, model years, converters, and converter model years that it would be a waste of time getting trained. Generic training isn’t going to work because as everyone here will tell you it is not the obvious stuff you need to know, it is the small details that are going to be the most important.
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When I was shopping for a bus, I spoke to Mr. Trawick about a Marathon XLII he had in inventory. I was quite interested in the coach, and I had a few questions. Mr. Trawick agreed to call me “Monday” with the answers.
“Monday” never came, and that was enough for me to move on with my search.
I went through an inspection of a Liberty XLII I was considering. Liberty did the “house” inspection. It was thorough, costly ($1100), and resulted in a list of 98 items that needed attention for a coach in allegedly “perfect” condition. Some of the items were minor, many were major, and the estimate to correct the items was $30K to $40K. The inspection killed the deal, for which i remain thankful.
I also had the same coach inspected at Detroit Diesel/Allison. Here’s a tip:Get the engine and tranny inspected first, as any major problem likely is going to be a “deal killer.” The inspection should cost about $450, and you should request a full inspection of the engine/tranny, not just a default code dump. DD will pressure test the CAC and perform other testing beyond just scanning the computers. You can learn a lot about how the coach has been driven (idle time, intervals at various rpm’s, quick stops, etc.) which might provide some insight as to the care it has received.
Before I spent $1300+ on an inspection by Marathon, I would get some commitment from the dealer, who is representing the coach as he has, to pay, via a price reduction, the cost to get the items corrected. I did not do that on that Liberty, and the seller initially was unwilling to reduce the asking price accordingly. The seller ultimately significantly reduced his price in an effort to get the coach sold, but by that time, I owned a Marathon H3.
As a newbie Prevost owner, I have also learned that just because a system in a coach is operating, that doesn’t mean that the system is operating correctly. While your wife might be capable of operating every feature of the coach to test it, she may not be able to determine if the feature is operating correctly. Here, the converter’s inspection could be very valuable. I took my Marathon to Marathon East and learned that someone had “monkeyed” with a couple of systems to get them to operate without performing the repairs necessary to correct the problem. Another costly education.
Good luck with the search.
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Per,
The place to go for the chassis inspection is Prevost. You could then dial with Marathon if you’re having issues with the house systems.
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