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Any advice on purchasing this bus
we are interested in possibly purchasing this bus. This is our first coach. I am hoping that someone on here might be familiar with this coach and or dealer. It was last serviced on 3/15. They have all the service records, tires have a date code of 16/11, not sure what that means exactly. They were installed in early 2012. They say all the belts look good and it has spares. 2.283 hours on the generator. They do a full PDI? Prior to delivery. Being newbies I tried to think of all questions to ask, but may have missed some important items. I did ask about air bags but that question wasn’t answered. Any help or advice from you seasoned pros would be of great assistance. Thank you
TJ
http://www.rvt.com/Prevost-Country-Coach-XLV-1995-Gilbert-AZ-ID7081014-UX180402
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17 Replies
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I have been watching and researching Coaches for a long time as a non-owner newbie and this is the best looking Coach I have seen in a long time. I only wish I was in a position (family issues not money) to seriously view this Coach first hand and see if it is for me. I have visited this dealer and was impressed with their pre-sales effort but do not know anything more. Good Luck this looks like a gem. Michael
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Unless I am mistaken, this is a 1993 chassis… that isn’t bad, just confirm what you are buying so there are no suprises.
Pres
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TJ, have you had a chance to personally walk through the coach? The reason I ask is because if it’s sitting at Auto Boss RV in Mesa, I’m sitting 1 mile from it and can take a look for you.
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Hi Dan,
No we haven’t seen it in person yet. We are in Florida. If you have the time and it’s not too much of an inconvenience, I would love it, if you wouldn’t mind taking a look. My biggest concern is the high miles, but then again, it means it was kept moving I suppose. It says it’s in Gilbert AZ,
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thanks Pres, I’ll find out the year of the Chassis. Didn’t think to ask about that.
TJ
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It is at Premium Coach Group in Gilbert AZ, from what I see on the web site. Michael
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Looks like it’s only 20 minutes from me, I have to do a little running around, while I’m out I’ll stop and take a look. I have a couple of years of ownership of a CC under my belt so I “should” be able to spot stuff.
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Thank you Dan. I appreciate it so much.
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TJ, Nice but, I suggest you read this article from the article section here on PC. Also, in addition to what the article says, it appears it needs the TVs, inverters, etc updated.
The “R” in the VIN indicates it’s a 94 chassis
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TJ,
The tire code contains the week number, first two digits, and year (second two digits) of manufacture. So 1611 would be the 16th week of the year 2011. It does not matter the tires were not installed until “early 2012.” The fact is the tires remain over five years of age. Also, sitting still on a concrete surface is not good for the tires, even if kept inside. Old RV tires always have good looking tread left and thus they tend to be run after their “freshness” date has passed. New tires will be part of the zero’ing out process for this coach. There are other rubber based items to be concerned with such as the air bags. They can and will develop cracks in places that can’t be seen and slowly or worse, dramatically, lose the ability to support the load. Start the generator and let it run with as much load as can be found. Check the gauges to make certain the genny has the right oil pressure, it is not running hot, oh and it is in fact generating sufficient electricity to power the coach. Batteries are another example of things that age on a bus, especially one that has set still for awhile without shore power or on board charging units that work while connected to shore power. Batteries also have install date stickers. If the bus does not have that feature then an aftermarket charger from Guest may well be in your future, three stages please. How do I know this, well the “Classic” bus I bought January 1, 2007 had a set of chassis batteries with date stickers from November 2006. First trip out in 2007 was planned for April but it did not happen. One of the four batteries had failed and there was not enough power in the bank to get a grunt from the starter. So it could be a good idea to get the batteries load tested before purchase. Check to make certain there are no signs of past leaks in the underbay tanks. The would include fresh water, grey water, black water, and even the fuel tank(s). If someone involved in the sales effort says, “Trust me” about anything, don’t do it – trust them that is. Always request they prove you can trust them by being that old guy saying “Show me.”
An old adage may well apply here, “Beauty is only skin deep.” It is your responsibility to go deeper into the bus, check all the systems, lights, plumbing, electrical panels, control mechanisms, slide functions and their air bladder seals. I think there is a PDI checklist posted in the articles section of PC that should be very helpful in your quest for answers on a specific bus.
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Wow,
A Lot of Great info in that article , Thanks for the Link Lonestarace ! And Thanks to Jon , Tom and Jeff for writing it. Our Coach has been on the Back Burner for a while. With College Tuition and expenses of Our Youngest who graduated in December of this year Debt Free . with a 4 Yr RN degree. And My Wife and I having a Lot of very expensive Dental work done also. We can finally start to get Our Coach headed towards the ZERO Mark ? Now I will walk in Circles for a while after reading it , Wondering how many Zeroes it will take Me to get to ” ZERO ” Yikes ??? Time to sell the Harleys and Maybe a Boat and a few Guns and or some extra work trucks sitting around, And bring the ole Girl back to life !
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Crazy, don’t sell the guns.You can trade them to Jeff for parts and labor.While his going exchange rate is 10 cents on
the dollar, it is still better than a gun dealer. -
TJ, give me a call at your convenience. 402 658 9437 , Dan
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Guns…bring them in….
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That coach is on the PC site and listed by our Advertiser, Premium Coach.
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