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1980’s-1990’s Finding an Entry Level Prevost
First Post – New Member
Hello All
I’m here because of quality, durability, and safety.
Looking to purchase a coach in the under 100K market.
The unit is for my wife and I, occasional east coast trips in our retirement.
The questions are to focus my general direction – what to do and look for as I view ads.
- Coach completion companies – is there a preference for coaches completed during this era?
- Fleet improvements – corrective upgrades, safety issues, things it really should have?
- What are the major items you’d look for – estimated life limits of big items?
My final question (on this post) is really a second step – inspection.
If I identify a promising coach, I will want an individual who is intimately familiar with Prevost based units of this era. Who are the current go to people?
Feel free to point me to/away from any current ad listings.
I thank you in advance,
Gary
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10 Replies
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lot of changes in early 90″s the establishment of pre egr 60 detroit was a good change. (parts available everywhere) Mechanics that work on the older 8_V- 92 2cycle are getting few and far between. so basic 96 thru 2000. Tires when you purchase no more than 4 yrs old (this can be 4-to 6,000 replacement. Good service records! Just my opinion! Bob
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Good general advice can be given and you likely will get it from posts on this thread, but for that advice to be more appropriate you have to do some homework and provide information to those willing to offer advice.
The first part is you have to more clearly define your needs. Some folks are really concerned with colors, decor, and appearance so they concentrate on coaches that satisfy their aesthetics. Others have special concerns like low mileage. Other needs can be floor plans, types of air conditioning, size, or a design to favor things like pole to pole use or dry camping. If some of those things seem confusing or difficult to define spend as much time as possible looking at coaches for sale, in person and on the internet sites where they are listed, such as this one. You need to see a few in person to get a sense of scale because internet pictures will mean a whole lot more if you can accurately put the photos in perspective.
You have to be honest with yourself and think it through. Do you have pockets deep enough to spend $20,000 (a made up number but close) every year to store, use, maintain and insure the coach?
Do you have mechanical skills? A bus is not difficult to work on, but requires tools, a place to do the work, and some skills. Working on your own coach can save you a ton of money, and help you get through the learning curve very fast, but is not for everyone.
Read as many posts as possible. They will give you a good insight into ownership. Keep in mind a lot of problems are posted and it might seem a Prevost conversion is a maintenance nightmare. It could be, but if it has been well maintained it will prove reliable. Reading the posts will give you a strong sense of what you will get into, and will educate you on how to find the one you want and how to inspect it before purchasing it.
You will find strong opinions expressed in the posts, especially as relates to such wide topics as insurance, how a coach is equipped, who to buy from, how to do a pre-purchase inspection and issues to be aware of.
Learn how to use the PC site. If you want to communicate directly with a member you likely can contact them via email by clicking on their user name. Ask questions, but be prepared to get opposing answers because a lot of coach ownership details are personal, like if you plan to do a lot of your own cooking or if you eat out mostly.
Good luck.
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Great responses and appreciated.
Refining our needs – reliability/durability/safety are my major desires. Cosmetics are secondary. I’m comfortable with maintenance costs at those levels. I will do light repairs and expect to have anything beyond handled by a reputable facility.
Travel – we expect to attend a few auto races during a year along with east coast museum/town sightseeing. We’re not the folk who will be in state parks or remote camping.
Expectation – I’m suspecting coaches in this range to have some issues that will take money to bring to a good operating level. You can see my interest to identify these as we learn to shop.
Great responses as I mentioned, please keep them coming!
Gary
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You are helping to clarify your needs.
Start by creating your budget. You will have a lot of options at the $100,000 range for example, but a pristine well maintained coach will (or should) take less of the budget to put in a condition satisfactory to you. It is not unreasonable to find yourself spending $30,000 to put a coach in good condition, or a few thousand it it is up to date on everything.
Every seller will lie and tell you the coach has been well maintained. Demand proof. Maintenance logs and receipts can be extensive, confusing, detailed and will require scrutiny to make sure all that needed to be done was done. Be responsible for this yourself.
Based on your described use it appears dry camping is going to be a big part of the coach use. You have to decide if you are OK running the generator hard and often or if you want to use batteries to the maximum extent. Our generators are grossly underused and their life if maintained is likely 30,000 to 40,000 hours. Don’t be afraid of a bus with miles on the bus and hours on the generator as long as you have proof of maintenance.
After you see several coaches you are going to have a better sense of what might best suit your needs. Redefine your wants and needs so you can sharpen your focus. As you learn the market, the asking prices, what to look for, and how to evaluate what it might need you can get very well educated on how to determine if the coach is for you.
On distant coaches there are a lot of PC members all over the country and a lot of members will gladly do a preliminary look at a coach so you do not have to waste a couple of days and a lot of money to see a dog.
I urge all buyers to do the following. First, have a Detroit Allison dealer or a shop equipped properly to read the codes stored in the bus control modules. That will reveal real miles, faults, and a lot of information regarding the history of two expensive parts of the coach. If the coach is an XLII get Prevost to do a skin delamination inspection. or demand proof it was inspected and or repaired.
Log books should reveal the age of brake chambers, air bags, coolant, transmission fluids, etc. There are date codes on tires and batteries.
The final inspection apart from a drive in which temps, pressures, noises, shimmys and other operating characteristics come know, is a 100% check of every switch, knob and dial. Start somewhere, and systematically operate everything. That is your best inspection and also becomes your training. If something is not right in your mind during this process, do not accept the comment by the seller “they all do that”. If in doubt ask questions on the forum, or perhaps phone or email folks you have been talking to.
If you want to use an inspector make certain he does not do inspections for brokers or dealers. That is a huge conflict of interest and you might as well save your money.
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Jon
Thank you for your response. I’ll attempt a connection between you and Jon from the detailed articles on this site?
One hopes when responding to a post like mine, is this guy comprehending the big picture. Quick brief on me: spent my life as an aircraft technician/manager in the private sector. A lot of similarity between your recommendations and aviation. Aviation maintenance programs are developed to achieve a continued airworthiness status. The manufacturers program should be considered as the bare minimum to be legal. Best practice takes and builds on this so it’s more accurate for the user and the environment.
One of my limitations is mobility (I hear this happens as you age). A key player will be a good set of eyes and mind for on-site inspection. One of my questions was to see if a list exists. As you cited, no coach is error free. I look at this as opportunity to renew worn components and have a better end product. I’ll need this person so I can weigh renew/repair price against purchase price.
Looking for more good thought from you and others – it’s greatly appreciated.Gary
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Do the inspection yourself. An owner of a good coach will welcome a buyer to look at his coach because he is likely proud of how well he maintained it.
Except for running the codes on the engine and transmission the rest you can do because you are not using tools, taking anything apart or getting dirty. All you are doing is demonstrating everything works and doing that you are also getting training.
There are some issues you need to be aware of so you can be extra cautious like the ZipDee awning with arms that comes out by pushing a button, or failed A/C compressors on some converter added chassis A/C systems, so you do need to investigate some conversion specific issues.
Use a PC member who lives near a coach for sale to give it a once over, but if you rely on anyone to do the pre-purchase inspection you give up the responsibility of satisfying yourself personally that everything works.
The cost of repairs varies wildly depending on a lot of factors so you have to provide information about what repair is needed and how you prefer the repair to be made.
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Gary,
Turn on your contact notification in your profile so that eMails may be sent directly to you.
Ron
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Hello Ron
Email should now be on.
Thx Gary
2005 XL Thompson Coach
Rarely tow anything behind us.
Sold: 1993 Liberty that we loved for 12 years. -
Hello Gary…Welcome to Prevost Community! As you have seen in a short period of time the knowledge here is invaluable. I bought my first coach nearly 10 years ago and I used this site in the making of my decision.
My second coach, that I full-time in is the exact vintage and price range that you are looking for. It is a 1993 Liberty with the last of the 8V-92. Honestly, Jon has done such great job of laying out some basic guidelines at this point that I am not sure what I can add. However, as you work through the process please continue to ask questions. I will follow the thread and add what I can from owning and using the type of coach that you are talking about. I am also mechanically inclined and do a lot of the maintenance and light repairs on my own. I do however, know my limitations and have no issue turning it over to the professionals at times. Finding those close to you that have the proper knowledge and will work for a fair price is part of the game. Again, PC is a great resource for these contacts.
You are in a very fun and rewarding part of the process. Take your time, learn what you can and enjoy.
What type of racing are you into? I road raced and hill climbed for years.
Bill III
Jon thank you so much as always!
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Bill
Thank you for the nice welcome. Several years back my wife and I decided to attend a drag race. We thought we knew what to expect, but that was grossly under estimated. They captured us hook, line and sinker.
Key element – the people. Both participants and patrons are “down to earth”.Yes, the task of finding a coach will be enjoyable. Our preference is flexible. The unit will open a new door to our lives – who couldn’t be happy with that.
Thanks for your message,
Gary
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