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ANNUAL COSTS
Here it is tax time again so this is when I do all my year end summaries and analysis.
For my coach and its operation I have some insight again. This year if I divide my miles of travel into the dollars spent exclusively on the coach it cost me $1.43 per mile. There were some larger expenses this year such as the replacement of all brake chambers and I had two expensive services due this year (coolant change and transmission fluid change) but despite those expenses 2017 is going to be very expensive because this year I will be replacing tires, air bags and Norgrens. Those will conclude my cycling through all the ongoing preventive maintenance needs which will leave me driving for less dollars in 2018 and 2019.
It should be noted I do all my own work so none of my maintenance costs reflect labor.
Insurance is heading towards being a major problem and expense. Long time participants in our market are leaving or demanding high premiums. Some insurance companies that profess to insure RVs are now smart enough to know what a Prevost is, and to not even consider writing a policy. Geico won’t, and a former Prevost insurer, Blue Sky is out of the market. Insurance is going to be a large percentage of operating expense.
Fuel this year was $.35 per mile. Not bad considering some years it was a lot higher.
The numbers aren’t accurate because I really should be prorating some expenses, but my cost per mile this year, excluding fixed costs is $.88.
None of my costs however reflect the single greatest cost of ownership which is depreciation. We all can complain about the cost of fuel, tires, maintenance, etc. but my total dollars spent this year aren’t anything compared to how much depreciation my coach had. And in today’s financial environment depreciation appears well contained because people are buying coaches. Like every year for the last 27 I reflect on the costs of ownership and use of the coach and the one constant is regardless of the direct and indirect costs of ownership we are far better off to use our coaches as much as possible because the dollars per mile are an insignificant component of what it really is costing us. It is not until coaches get to be 20 years old or more that actual operating costs exceed depreciation and owners of new coaches don’t even want to know how much depreciation they have.
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30 Replies
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With cost per mile comes enjoyment of a hobby I like being a part of owning my own transportation. I’ll point out ..No one needs there own Prevost bus. Of course if your in the people transport business you do need a bus.
Cost per mile as an operating expense is great to read but we really accept this expense if we choose to participate in this hobby. I did boats for over 30 years and probably spent a ton of cash on them. I loved the adventure of being on the rivers and seas. At some point in the late 90’s I sold my dream boat and actually made money on it. Taking a rest for about 6 months and probably lost interest in any hobby. I remembered seeing these Prevost buses at our marina on the week ends. The rest of the story is “why not” so the Buddy Gregg dealer talked me into Country Coach Affinity. Next came Prevost and now on # 3 Prevost.
I understand cost of owning a Prevost is not for the weak heart penny pincher. This is the best hobby going for me and plan to continue it until I’am unable to handle this monster on the road. The idea that if I decide to go on a road trip, sleep in my own bed, and stay on the road for any length of time is priceless.
Oh…BTW I’am not the only nut case to enjoy seeing money disappear out the exhaust pipe.
AL
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According to Tom and Geo, if you use snake oil you won’t see anything coming out of the tailpipe.
Who would have thought we could burn money and the government wouldn’t require some kind of emissions equipment?
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As a traveling contractor most of my life. I lived out of a suit case and cheaper motels in the early days to save money. Later years my wife was able to travel and work with me. And she would shop and seek out the cleanest motels for the money. Hamptons , Holiday inn express and the like. But She would still inspect a room throughly before unloading our luggage cart. And has made her trip back to the office to get another room more than once. So for us being able to travel now for leisure and know that Our sheets are clean, and the toilet has been sanitized is worth a lot. Also being able to keep groceries and cook is a big plus. Gosh , even with the newer motels you never know. Have you ever seen those documentaries where they use a black light ? EEK !
Safe travels,
Rocky -
Hi guys,I’m curious about something? Has anyone run numbers comparing a 15 year old Prevost vs something like an American Eagle or Newmar Essex maintenance cost? I know that many of you have owned other coaches before your Provest and may have a feel for this. I’d appreciate your comments?
If I’ve posted this in the wrong place please let me know? I know my question is not in the context of the OP!
Thanks guys,
HJ
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My annual maintenance cost for my 2009 Nimbus Foretravel over the five years I own it were $9,200 per year including tires.
Roy
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HJ,
If you are comparing comparable coaches (size, number of tires, similar engine size, air brakes, air suspension) the difference is going to be minimal.
The engine, transmission, chassis, etc all are going to need oil, fluid or filter changes, coolant changes, and the cost should be similar. Tires, batteries, air bags, etc are all going to age in a similar manner so replacement intervals are going to be the same. Depending on weights fuel burn should be the same.
But keep in mind if you are starting to do a financial analysis the real cost is depreciation. A few thousand dollars more or less for fuel and maintenance is somewhat meaningless when you consider depreciation.
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HJ, had lots of plastic and 2 prevos(XL,H).Maintainance about equal. Depreciation, catastrophic from new on both. However,, on plastic when the depreciation becomes reasonable it’s junk and the Prevo has many yrs. left. Geo.
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That makes perfect sense and cents to me! I’d expect labor to be more for a Prevost, don’t know that for sure, but the other maintenance items for a DP are the same!I remember reading a post on another forum where someone said he’d not consider having a diesel without $20,000 in your savings account! I thought at the time that’s outrageous but may well be very good advice!
HJ
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Exactly what George describes is one of the factors that I used to in making a decision to buy a Prevost and spend the kind of money that I spent for a then 15 year old coach. (I did have people who weren’t knowledgeable about Prevosts who thought I was NUTS to buy a 15 year old motorhome … being ignorant on the subject, if they knew what I spent on a 15 year old “motorhome” they probably would have initiated a competency hearing for me in family court.)
HJ, by now you’ve probably seen Forum members with coaches from the very early 90’s and even late 80’s posting about their coaches. These coaches, some nearing 30 years old are being regularly used as they should be. They are not up on blocks or sitting behind a barn or shop or house waiting for someone to make the tough decision to call the salvage yard to have it towed away.
I plan on owning, driving, and using our 1999 coach until I can’t or shouldn’t. Presuming that we keep it reasonably maintained and the various age limited items are kept up to date I expect to get a material portion of our original purchase price out of the coach when we sell it. While it would be nice to get something in the low six figures, I’m expecting higher five figures. Had we spent a similar amount of money on a newer high end plastic coach, given it similar maintenance, and owned it the same amount of time … I would expect to have lost a substantial portion of our investment to depreciation by the time it would be sold 10 to 15 years down the road. Much more than I’m expecting with our Prevost.
I hope I’m not telling anything out of school … George has described to me over the years the money he’s spent on plastic motorhomes and coaches before he saw the light about Prevost. If I had the money he spent on plastic depreciation, I’d probably give my money to Jon and Tom for running the Prevost Community.
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HJ,
You can calculate what it is going to cost to own a Prevost easily.
Decide how much you are going to spend to buy one. From that you can estimate depreciation reasonably well. Then determine how you want to maintain it. We all have different programs for maintenance so you have to figure out how yours will be set up. I am of the school that says replace stuff to a schedule based on a presumed life of the component and not to wait for a failure. So I replace things like brake chambers, air bags, tires, batteries, etc. to a schedule I made up for my peace of mind. I change oil, filters and lube the chassis plus do a detailed inspection every 5000 miles. Others make that an annual event.
My point is the basic information you need to do the estimates is available in the articles section or from the Prevost Car web site. You can call Prevost parts, tire dealers and Tom for prices of parts, batteries and tires.
Fuel usage varies with the wintage coach. A mid to late 90’s XL for example is a 7.5 MPG coach, but a mid 2000 might be a 5.5, or an early 90’s with the 8V92 might also be a 5.5 MPG coach.
Insurance is easily quoted by agents for budget purposes.
Don’t forget the cost of housing it, and when you buy it factor in what you need to do to make it the way you want it.
I have spent a little over $12,000 to $26,000 per year on my coach depending on what service or components are due. That is based on roughly 12,000 miles. The numbers do not reflect depreciation.
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HJ wrote”: I’d expect labor to be more for a Prevost”
From my limited experience I have NOT found that to be the case. I’ve used ETLC, Prevost JAX, Liberty in North Chicago (fixing some stainless road rash), and a local RV dealer (replace the refrigerator). I’ve round ETLC, Prevost, and Liberty to very fairly priced. An advantage of having a shop with Prevost experience working on your coach is that you don’t have to pay for someone’s learning curve.
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Not only is it no more expensive(actually sometimes less), but we can actually get them worked on ia a timely fashion. Geo.
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Jon, you’re average of $19,000 a year seems like a pot full of money to me! Are you including fuel, park fees etc in that number? And you have an 05 and I’m looking at a 1995 – 2000 that I’d guess would cost even more? Is that really the amount one should look at for annual maintenance? It just seems incredibly high to me!
I’m obviously not questioning your numbers Jon, I just didn’t expect it! Is that the average for most Prevost owners? I’ve got a couple bucks tucked away, but I don’t think I’d like looking at that kind of number on a yearly basis.
HJ
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I’m including fuel, insurance all fluids and filters, tires when needed, batteries, air bags, Norgren valves, any updates like refrigerator replacement, reupholstery, etc. etc.
Just fuel and insurance are half that average. The $26,000 is way off the chart, so it is not realistic, but did occur when I had everything seem to hit all in one year. The $12,000 is also unrealistic because that is little more than fuel and insurance and I think was the year after the big buck year. This year I spent $16,700 which is probably more realistic and typical.
I do not include campground fees although I should.
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Of course you could factor in days away from home. Hotel costs verses rv park fees. And how much boondocking you might do in travels. Rest areas for the night traveling , etc.
Safe travels,
Rocky
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