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Anyone know this bus?
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When we sold our Vantare a few weeks back, we wavered a little on the price but not much as during the 3.5 years we owned it we were constantly updating it, we replaced EVERYTHING that was needed on a 15 year old coach some things we thought should have been done at 10 years old or less, it was a great learning experience for us and an expensive one, but with that being said we ended up with a great bus and the new owners are thrilled with it.
So if one is looking at 10 year old coach there is a lot to look at from a maintenance standpoint… we had NO clue what we were getting into at the time.
It took a little longer to sell than we had hoped but our location isn’t good and financing on an older coach was tough for some possible buyers, but we stuck to our guns and as I said the new owners are thrilled with their new ride… and other than normal maintenance they shouldn’t have to spend money replacing things like we did.
Diane
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Andy,
I believe prices are stated at the high end regardless of if the coach is 100% up to date or not. Obviously almost every seller lists a coach at a price that reflects wishful thinking, and expects some negotiating. I believe dealers might overstate their price to reflect that they might have to take a trade. If you state no trade most dealer prices get more realistic very fast.
But some dealers, especially the converter, are willing to do the heavy lifting. They will sell the coach with new tires, batteries, fluids, filters, and may even do air bags, brake chambers, etc. It is all negotiable. The buyer who has not done his homework and fails to understand the cost of zeroing out a coach without records is not likely to have the seller say “since this coach has no proof of repairs or service I will drop the price by $20,000 or $30,000”. But an informed buyer will recognize without proof of service he has to assume it has to be done, and the seller is then backed into a corner either dropping the price or waiting for an uninformed buyer.
All of us that are long term owners know there is regular maintenance such as listed in the Prevost documentation (available on line), and then there is maintenance that is required, but the schedules are silent on when it has to be done, such as air bags for the suspension, or air bags to tighten belts, or brake chambers, etc. It is up to the buyer however to place a value on not only the availability of documentation, or to decide if changing old air bags (for example) is important. The question then comes down to valuing or deducting the service. Unless the buyer and seller agree the coach is to be completely zeroed out and both agree on the price then the burden for valuing it on a coach that is sold as-is will fall to the buyer. As a buyer who does his own work I am willing to buy a coach and my only cost is parts. Therefore I am likely to be able to pay more for a given coach than someone that intends to zero one out, but to have Prevost do the work. We are talking tens of thousands of dollars different. From my perspective a buyer should negotiate a fair as-is price meaning he compensates for the cost to zero the coach out as his respoonsibility. But the seller in no way in my opinion should feel compelled to eat the full cost. It would be fair to both to use the best cost quotes to define what it will take to buy the parts and do the work, and then cut it at least in half.
By cutting it in half the buyer and seller are then agreeing on a price that reflects a coach with good documentation and having all the work previously done. In Peter’s case for example he did not complete all the work on the day of the sale. The work was done over time and therefore the buyer is not expecting to get full life out of batteries or tires, or fluids.
Does all that make sense?
One thing I would bet on is that a coach that has been maintained cosmetically, but poorly maintained mechanically is going to be listed at the high end, and most buyers will pay at the high end. An astute buyer however is going to appreciate the cosmetics, but will recognize the potential costs to bring stuff up to date mechanically.
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Thanks Jon and Diane, very helpful as always. The point about building some trade-in slack makes sense. Giving someone an extra $50k say on their trade-in but adding it to the advertised price makes no diference to the overall cost but helps psychologically making the buyer think their trade-in is worth more than it actually is. Assuming the dealer doesn’t keep both bites at the cherry from an unsuspecting buyer.
Definately starting to get a feel for what to ask for as part of a deal and where to start & what to expect.
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Well, It looks like I am a member of the club!! Will pick her up next week and get her in the warm barn. Where to begin…….. Thanks again for all your input.
Steve
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Woo Hoo, congratulations Steve & Shari, the adventure now begins..
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Awesome! Congratulations. Post pictures when you can.
Davy
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Now that’s sweet news , good luck but these guys are tough on guys, hope you enjoy your new coach , the road goes on for ever but the party never ends, with air leaks!!!!!
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Congratulations on a fine purchase !!
Pictures please when you get a chance!!
Enjoy your new ride… Like Peter says “the road goes on forever” !!
Have fun and be safe !!
Cheers, Diane
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Peter, Who said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery ?
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Congrats Steve…
Forget the warm barn. Set the AC to 70 and drive south till it turns on. Find a parking spot and enjoy your new adventure 🙂
We couldnt deal with the cold in North Georgia anymore so packed up and headed south for Thanksgiving. Will see if we decide to go back after Thanksgiving or see how long we can wait out the cold.
Of course tomorrow I get to do some work on the plumbing. Plus it seems I need to dig into another leak I just noticed this afternoon while parking (hoping it’s not the water heater?). This seems to be the life of Prevost ownership. Small things all the time, constant upkeep. But it’s worth it. They drive so nice 🙂
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Corey it was a song I heard on a CD
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Welcome to the Prevost club. Now the fun begins. Learning your new coach will be exciting.
Don’t hesitate to ask questions. Trust me, no matter how astute we all may appear every single one of us was a newbie, we learned stuff the hard way, and we know exactly how overwhelming that coach is going to initially appear. So ask questions. We will provide answers, and on certain rare occasions we might even throw in a correct answer.
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Well, it appears I pulled the trigger also. 2004 Marathon H. What an experience I have had, and I learned a couple of costly lessons as I searched for a coach. If there is ever going to be a next time, I will be much more experienced.
Thanks again to George, Dick, Gil, and Jon for being so helpful. I tried very hard to buy a Liberty XLII fully equipped with almost no basement storage, unreliable Zip Dee awnings, and cruise airs, but I guess it was not meant to me. I tried Jon, I really tried.
I met a lot of interesting people along the way, and I had contact with several dealers. Some of the dealers were amazingly helpful, and others made we wonder how they stayed in business. All in all, it has been a time consuming, expensive, and at times frustrating buying experience that lasted about 10 months, but I sure enjoyed it!
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Congratulations. You are going to really enjoy your coach. And yes, sometimes it is time consuming and difficult to find and buy a coach, but in the end it always seems to work out.
One thing for sure, with the H you will not lack bay storage space.
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Peter, I know….It’s a Steve Earle song….I was refering to the fact that we have used that as a tag line to our signature for a few years on PC and POG.
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