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I checked out this bus, then I walked away
I have been anxious to tell this story, which is true.
Query: Were my instincts correct?
I don’t want to embarrass anyone, or interfere with anyone’s efforts to sell a coach, so therefore the seller and the coach in my story shall remain anonymous.
A couple of weeks ago, I travelled about 90 miles to look at a coach , priced well in excess of $400K. It was kept in an enclosed garage, and represented to be “pristine.”
The coach was really dirty, inside and out, at least by my standards. The seller remarked that he had had a dark colored coach prior to this one, and it had required frequent washings. This one, he said, “hid the dirt better.”
Even with my untrained eye and lack of knowledge, I discovered damage on the bottom of a basement door, caused by an impact with some type of object, like a curb. The seller did not tell me about it.
Then, during a discussion about tires, the seller complained about the cost of recently replacing the steer tires. I asked about the other tires, which had a date code of 2006, and he said “Prevost Jax said they were fine.”
The seller then volunteered that when he travelled, he never stayed in a campground. The reason: “Campgrounds charge you $45.00 just to hook up to 50 amp.”
The seller said that all awnings had wind sensors on them, but that none of the sensors worked, because they had been “torn off by tree branches.”
And finally: The seller volunteered that the holding tanks could be dumped from the driver’s console. AND, that when he travelled, he didn’t dump at a dump station, because…..?????
Correct. You have to pay to use a dump station.
So, the remote dump valves came in handy, because according to the seller, ” I just pull off the highway and dump the tanks.” In response to my question: “Oh no, I dump the black tank, too.”
In fairness to the seller, I wouldn’t have bought the coach if it had been clean, pristine, and without the seller’s sales pitch.
Needless to say, I am still looking.
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12 Replies
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I wish your experience was not unlike some we have all had. I will not say it is typical, but anyone looking at coaches can run into owners who are not afraid to spend serious money to buy a coach, and then won’t spend a penny to do what is right, including maintenance.
If the tires have a 2006 date on them because some Prevost mechanic said they are OK you can also bet a lot of other items on the maintenance list have been ignored or deferred. If the guy is too cheap to pay to dump you can imagine all the maintenance that has not been done.
Keep looking. Even if the price was fair, and even if the coach was sparkling clean, that coach has so many warning flags waving it represents a risk.
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I feel your pain Double K, here’s a couple of my favorites:
New Tires – Sure, 2007/2008
New Batteries – Yep in 2010
Meticulous Maintenance – I looked up meticulous in the dictionary just to be sure!
I better stop now…
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Same here…we were supposed to get new house batteries installed prior to us getting the bus…NOT… Original ones Legendary installed were still in it when I had time to dig into it after we got home. I asked for the receipts and they said they “lost” them and could not get copies. And that was from a dealer.
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Double K, Here’s my weekend adventure about the same.
Airline ticket KC to Ontario CA. Sunday, car rental, Holiday Inn. Getting a phone call can’t meet me
till 10:30. The brother in-law will be showing me the coach. First hint of pending disaster, I knew getting on the bus in
less then 30 minutes I have been suckered . This bus has been totally mis-represented, dirty inside with left as-is
from the last party. House batteries dead. It was plugged in but not long enough to recover from sitting unplugged in
storage. I find out from the locals bus sat for 2 years. The 10:30 shown time was actually a wash job.
I was told it needed tires with my response on phone, think they would make it to KC ? Oh sure. Found cracks
on the outside
edge of drives were wide enough I could put my finger nail in it. Code; 1506. I was told batteries and tires were
09. Looking at filters where most techs write the date of service these were 2009.
A waste of time and money ? But this is what we must do before we buy.
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It’s all in what you pay for these heaps! If they give them to you, it’s a deal.
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There are still a couple of coaches on the market that I looked at almost 2 years ago. They had problems that were going to cost someone some money to repair, yet the sellers would not move a dime on price. I see the coaches still listed, I’m willing to bet the problems still exist, and despite the fact the coaches are depreciating the prices asked haven’t changed. I wonder how many viewings those coaches had, and how many folks spent money to go look at them?
Before spending a lot of money to see a coach potential buyers should consider having someone who lives near the coach take a look at it to screen out those with obvious problems. The buyers have to understand they have to share information with their “stand-in” such as price and if they want total privacy they have to be prepared to spend money with the potential they wasted it looking at a dog.
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Geez Al that was a tough experience… sorry you went through that…better ones to come I am sure!!
Diane
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Never understood the price it high and hold method. When i get tired of something and ready to sell, i’m a selling. Looks (appearance) isn’t always the best judge on these coaches by a long shot. Looking back, bought my one owner Prevost 4 years ago (2011) that has sit in climate controlled barn and it looked perfect, inside and out. That’s where the fun/money drain started.. It has been an experience.
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In my wasted week end I called 2 guy’s who are in the Calif. area .. Both were out of town in another state.
As the bus was recently listed I was trying to get a jump on it. I asked a lot of questions, enlarged the pictures, went over a check list I had put together. It all get’s down to sticking your nose inside the bus, with your own eyes.
The water tank was empty which I questioned in my own mind as a little odd. The seller say’s we probably just ran out ? Connected the hose to fill water tank … heard water going into the system (this was a Marathon) all seemed ok. Checked the tech link and showed 20%. Systems came up so that seemed OK. Turned off hose seeing a small stream of water running out water bay floor onto street.
Checked manual fresh water dump valve which was closed. Water continued to run until the 20% tank was empty.
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So, technically, the seller was telling the truth!
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I won’t say some sellers lie, but I have heard the phrase “serviced by Prevost” so often I just now treat that comment as background noise.
Serviced by Prevost could mean the last time the seller needed a cheap or free spot to park with power he stopped at a Prevost service center and he had one of the guys put some air in his tires as he was leaving in the morning.
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That’s why I keep all Prevost service tickets filed. So when I get run over by a truck and the wife gives mine to somebody , they will know all repairs. They are the only ones that run service and anything drivetrain related as far as fluids and grease. Now the rest of the coach issues are up for grabs.
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