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Decisions, decisions, decisions
Well I have been looking for a couple years. I have been asking every question I could think of. I have read everything I could find and now we finally find a bus we both like, that I feel is a sound bus and I am scared to pull the trigger. Maybe scared aint the correct word, but it is close enough. What am I afraid of, I am not real sure Except…..I know my current coach like the back of my hand, I 100% trust it and to a degree have built it to suit our every need.
I have always wanted a bus and I have always wanted one with no slides as I didn’t want the hassle or headache of slides or slide failure/repair. But now all of a sudden I am reluctent to loose the big living area of the four slides we have. My wife and I both love our current floor plan and it just works great for us. I know we would be fine in a bus with no slides, but the unknown is worrisome.
I have chased a dream for years, now the dream is right in front of me and we even have a purchase agreement in hand (not signed yet) and now I am worried..lol
This is huge for us as I am disabled and on a fixed income (we can afford it, so that isn’t the issue) and this may be the one shot at grabbing the dream. BUT, and there is always a but, we are happy with our Eagle also and it is a good rig. I don’t know, I hate this. On one hand I am super excited, on the other I am afraid to be excited. I know a bus is more robust, I know the safety aspect, I know the ride is better I get all that. But our ole girl aint a slouch either..lol
Not really looking for advice, I know there are many on here that have moved form fiberglass to stainless, so I guess I am just tlaking to you guys as man talk.
Thanks for listening, I guess the answer will come to me in a dream…lol
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15 Replies
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Brett…
I am not a man but we went through the same vibes a few years back…. we went from 4 slides to 2 and had no problems at all and had we not wanted slides that wouldn’t have been a problem either. I guess what I am really trying to say is the difference is just unbelievable.. when Larry got behind the wheel of our ’98 H he was in heaven… then when I drove it I was like “wow”… just so very different from any other coach…. I don’t think you will be disappointed.
Only you can make the “final” call …. good luck to you with that.
Cheers, Diane
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Brett,
When the right coach for you comes along you are going to have that “eureka” moment. It cannot be explained but all of us that have had it knew we found the right bus before we got past the top step.
You cannot apply logic to the decision. We know that. Buying and owning a coach makes no sense except to those that do own a coach. We spend far too much money to acquire one, and then far too much money maintaining one, and we never use them enough to even begin to justify ownership. So if you are having these moments when you seek clarity maybe you need to step back and realize you are allowed, and actually better off in this instance in going with what your gut tells you. Your decision does not have to make sense, and for sure it cannot be justified by measuring anything related to cost.
Do nothing, or get what you really want. Do not look back. Do not feel guilty no matter what the decision.
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Brett,
We “love” our bus and have been fulltiming for the past 15 months, no slides.
This may be heresy on a Prevost forum, but here’s my opinion. I “love” driving our bus. I tested others motorhomes and, like Diane said, there’s simply no comparison. We drove over 15,000 last year, and we anticipate that for the following two years. The HVAC, Electical, Plumbing are second to none. But it does come with additional mainteance cost. However, I have a good friend with a Tiffin who spent $15k last year on his ’07, so, as you know, you can plunk down good money on a plastic coach for maintenance items as well.
You stated you don’t drive much, but love all the space with four slides. Here’s the heresy statement: If I was planted in one place most of the year, and didn’t want to go back into a S&B, I’d buy a 5th wheel. Way more bang-for-the buck in living space and you can buy one for way under $100k. I know, it’s a trailer. But from my opinion, these buses are made to roll down the road. They are “all” depreciating assets. Hopefully an ’01 has been depreciated to the point that even if you do buy it, you won’t get hurt on the back end.
This is also a financial decision for everyone. Some have the budget that using their bus a couple times a year is not a big deal. Others have a smaller budget and really have to consider the trade-offs.
How many miles do you plan to drive each year?
I, by no means, am trying to talk you out of buying a Bus. As I stated, everyone has their own reasons of owning a Prevost, but it does come at a price.
If I had to do it all over again, I would definitely buy my Prevost again. Others who I’ve met on the road, would not be happy with living in a Prevost that rarely hit the road … that’s the fun part, IMHO.
1999 XLV X-6872, liberty #440 -
My opinion: don’t sign. See my reply post to you in the HVAC section.
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Brett, we feel your pain. We’ve had far too may coaches of various sizes over the past 20 years. One year ago we upgraded from our 2012, 4 slide, rock-solid, stellar-reputationed, “we’re perfectly happy with it” Foretravel.
We knew we’re gonna’ be dead for a long time so we took the Prevost leap.
We studied this forum’s advice for two years before buying and have most service records back to 2005. Jeff at ETLC has been a big help and we’ve zeroed out ‘Big Red’.
We should have started with a Prevost years ago.There is no comparison.
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Thanks all, I really do appreciate taking the few minutes to reply.
As for driving, we run about 10-12K per year maybe a little more, maybe a little less. We fulltime, so we don’t really have a set schedule. We don’t sit still in one place for certain. So driving absolutely plays into it.I posted on theAC forum and have gotten some good answers and I appreciate those as well.
Yes, for the money I have spent over the years on our fiberglass rigs I should have bought a bus years ago, but woulda, shoulda, coulda, didn’t….lol
I will allow my gut to adivse me, Which translates to how hard momma punches me in it…..lol
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If you’re driving that much, I’d go for a Prevost … maybe not the one you’re looking at with the 3 A/C’s, but there is that the “right” Bus in your future!
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I would imagine that 10-12 thousand miles a year puts you in the top 25% on this forum. A few drive way more but most that mention their milage drive less. I would buy the bus for that many miles, IF you can live without slides.
Davy
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I am pretty sure non slides won’t be an issue. We live pretty small now and the space we have is floor. We both really like the bus, we like the floor plan and the big closet. It does have a combo W/D that I don’t care for, but I don’t do the laundry. Wife says she aint that worried about that. Her domain, not mine.
We shall see how it all plays out I guess. We had it down to two we really liked this Marathon and an 01 Liberty. The Liberty we just could not nail down with an acceptable price.
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I just drove our Liberty to fuel up. Came back and drove the Bluebird to top off the tank for next buyer. Why I didn’t buy a Prevost sooner? Glad we did. Coach has some issues- don’t they all?
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Did ya sell your Bird Ernie?
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Brett,
Becky and I are in north Texas and I’m closer to Jon in my temperature preferences than Tom. My XLII has always been very easy to cool. My limited experience with a XL with cruise airs is that it is much more difficult. The pluses for my coach for cooling are XLII body , 3 roof airs, no slides, 40′ length and the CC version of bus air. It is in no way in the category of Prevost bus air but I can make the make the widows sweat and have Becky under a blanket on the hottest Texas days. All that being said a 45′ coach with 3 roof airs and slides would not work for me. No slides helps but could still be challenging to make sure you avoid the coach heating up in our state. I prefer roof airs for the simplicity and cost of repair/maintenance, but many would disagree. My last convential coach was a Foretravel, a great coach, but as everyone says Prevost really is simply a different class. I probably just gave you more information to add to the confusion, but good luck on your search and decision process. There is definitely a Prevost out there that will fit your criteria whatever that is. -
Brett,
Here is my personal experience with slides. When we stay in one spot for a while, several days or more, the slides open up the coach and make it easier for us to move around inside. Compared to our two previous non-slide coaches that is the nice part about slides.
The trade off however is huge. Our 45 foot Liberty XL had substantial amounts of storage space. When we went to transfer all we carried in that coach to our 45 foot coach with 2 slides there was no way we could put it all back in. Not even close. Each slide takes up several inches per side for trim that covers the mechanisms and when we add up all those inches we end up with the loss of space for a closet, or a stacked washer and dryer or maybe a pantry. That may not seem line a big deal but when space is limited it has to come from somewhere and in our case it was from upstairs closet and storage space.
In the bays the loss of space is worse. The slides have a structure that intrudes from the top of the bay opening and I lost the ability to carry our two bikes and two lawn chairs. Also the structure affects access for service so we lost space plus found it harder to get at stuff we need to service. Just the simple act of replacing the coolant in the generator radiator became a pain.
But wait, there is more……..Slides add weight. Slides add complexity. Slides have very expensive seals.
My point is if you don’t feel you need the larger space inside that you get from slides you do have advantages. In our case we like the extra space and are willing to compromise. But we do not full time.
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Jon,
My Wife an I were invited into a XLII with Slides to Look at the Coach and visit for a Spell. It was a Gorgeous Coach with lots of room to move around. But the Wife of the couple that owned it told Us. That when they were traveling and She was sitting on the couch. The front Slide wall blocked Her view of Her Husband and the road. Unlike their previous Non Slide Coach’s. Just an observation of a Slide in Transit.Question ; Can You gain entry to the Bays below a slide when it is Out ??? We are totally happy with Our Non Slide , Was just curious ?
Safe Travels,
Rocky -
There is no problem gaining access to bays with the slide in our out. Unless you consider a big bump on the head from banging into the slide a problem.
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