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Buses??
Does anyone know anything about Marathon 665 or 675?
Thanks,
Brett
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16 Replies
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665 was parked next to us in 2004 at Barrett Jackson. Noticed the bus colored zipdee arms
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I don’t know anything about either coach specifically but before I bought either one I would verify the skin repair was done, or I would have Prevost in Nashville inspect it for potential skin delamination.
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Jon, would there still be potential for delam after this many years if they had not been checked, or had not already delamed?
Just wondering.
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Yes. We owned Marathon 740, a single slide 2002 XLII and in 2003 we had “delam” before it was in vogue. Have any XLII checked. Last year here in our Indio resort was a brand spanking new displayed X3 with loose panels. Needless to say, dealer seller wasn’t too happy we were going around tapping and pushing on the panels. Looked at current display coach yesterday and it’s tight. It’s not a question of “if” but “when”.
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Brett, Here is how you can evaluate your risk. Ask the dealer to have the coach inspected at your expense. It will cost you a few bucks. If there is no problem you buy the coach. You both win.
If the dealer does not want you to get the coach inspected ask the dealer if he stands behind it and the cost of repairs if you buy the coach and then get it inspected. If he agrees, again you win, but he has the risk. If he will not agree you assume the risk, and you can be sure if it has an issue the cost will be staggering.
Are you a risk taker?
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Jon, my question really wasn’t about assumption of risk. It was more along the lines of is there a time in the life of an XLII that you can safely say it is not going to delam?
I ask that because just like a vehicle inspection in a state the requires them, that inspection only says that on that particular date all looked good.
So taking an XLII in and having an inspection by Prevost only says that on that day and all days previous the panels were good. DOES IT say they will always be good from that day forward? And if so, then I revert back to the question, is there a time in an XLII’s life that one can safely say the panels will give you no issues?
As the example above, a brand new one had delam. I have seen reports of 10 year old XLII’s with delam. What happens if a person buys one, has it inspected and it is good at say five years and then five years later it becomes one with issues?
Not being controversial, just tring to learn.
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Don’t buy one unless the panel repair and strips have bin done that way you will never have to worry, if not there is no guarantee that two days after or five years later that it will not happen and then you pay , but you pay either way because if it’s done the coach is worth more than if it has not had the panel repair done
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Peter, and that is what I was trying to figure out. I keep hearing to take it in and have Prevost inspect it…..Ok, got that. But all that inspection says is on that day it is fine. I just don’t har anyone say “inspect AND make prevost do xxx to keep it from hapening”.
so if you take an XLII in to Prevost and it is fine, do they automatically make it to where there will be no issue, or does the owner have that financial burden, or in the case of a dealer, does the dealer own that financial piece?
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If it’s 10 years old or newer prevost pays after that its up to dealer or buyer or you to pay when it gets done
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Brett,
The only XLII that will not have delam issues is as Peter describes with the strips at the joints and all all panels riveted with the rivets hidden by the strips.
However I am driving a coach without the riveted repairs and no issues. Mine had issues but was repaired before the rivet repair was developed.I know of other coaches without the repairs and there have been no delam issues.
But life and buying coaches is not perfect. Any coach purchase is a risk unless it it brand new, and in that case you trade the cost of depreciation for the risk to be assumed by others. If you buy a coach how do you know the tires have never been run at 80% or less than the required pressure essentially converting them to trash. How do you know the engine is OK because coolnt was changed to the schedule required? Were the proper coolants used? How old are the air bags or brake chambers? None of the above can be determined in an inspection if the seller chooses to cover up the lack of care.
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Brett,
Among its other attributes, the XLII is the best looking bus on the market today. You shouldn’t be deterred from considering owning one simply because some have experienced panel delamination.
No one knows if the age of a coach has any bearing on the possibility of panel delamination. I do not subscribe to the notion that ” it’s not if but when” this will happen. But everyone has a right to their own opinion and I respect that.
Although I have no data to back it up, I suspect that most instances of delamination are happening within a few years or sooner following the date the bus was built. However, the delamination may not have been found until the coach was much older and way out of warranty. The repair is fully warranted for the first 3 years by Prevost and the cost is shared by Prevost commensurate with the age of the bus up to 10 years. After that, the owners of older busses are responsible for the repair which can be substantial depending on the extent of the delamination. So, having the panels checked by Prevost on those coaches that you are interested in is a must before you consider buying either one.
Not to iinfluence you in any way on your decision making, I will tell you that I bought my XLII two years ago, when it was 13 years old. I had it pressure tested twice by Prevost and it was found to have “tight” panels. Its panels have never been repaired. My wife and I really liked this particular coach and we were willing to take the risk. So far, the panels have remained tight which supports my theory that if it hasn’t happened by now, the probability of it happening in the future is pretty slim.
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Keep in mind, Prevost has in the past only stepped up on the 10 year deal if you’re the original owner. The decision on what support may or may not be provided comes from Corporate after the inspection is done at one of Prevosts shops. I don’t think there is any particular rule, it’s done on a case by case basis and there can be a wide range of variables.
So, I don’t think any recommendations on this forum have any bearing at all, it’s a Prevost decision. I had the rivet process done, so I know a little about the subject, but won’t suggest any course of action except to deal direct with Prevost.
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If you like a particular coach the only reason to know if there are skin issues is to determine if the price you will pay is reasonable. If you pay fair market price for a coach with no issues that is good, but if you pay that price for a coach you find has skin issues the cost to someone could be $50,000 or more for the repairs. If you as a buyer have to absorb that cost your purchase price ends up being significantly higher than it should be.
Having said that I think the risk of a coach having issues is slight because Prevost did the right thing and stood behind a lot of repairs. It is likely those that have not been repaired for the most part do not need repairs and may be OK for the life of the coach.
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I have a riveted coach but I’m always surprised by the thermal expansion of the stainless steel panels when the sun hits them first time in the morning. There is a lot of popping going on. The panels are working every day the coach is exposed to sun. The popping is due to the rivets not allowing any lateral expansion of the panel.
Do the glued coach panels pop in the morning or is the glue joint allowing panel expansion? Either way it would seem the glue joint is under a lot of thermal expansion stress over the years.
Gerald
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my 2008 never popped until it was repaired and then it started to make noises.
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