[Peter]

On a private sale, the only thing that makes sense is an As-Is sale. That would include a giant period at the end.

The buyer MUST do all the necessary due diligence and make the most informed decision possible. That certainly should include an independant evaluation by a professional be that Prevost or someone else. Once the money exchanges hands the seller should not expect the buyer to request anything the seller other than possibly information on the operations they were not able to figure out. To do anything else could leave the seller open to nearly unlimited liability.

Dealer sales are very different and despite the fact that I bought my coach from Buddy Gregg with As-Is clearly marked (now you know it was long ago) they stood behind the needed repairs we discovered in the first few days of ownership. After that, we never contacted them again and I would not have expected anything more of them.

[Archived]

Bill you are right on the money. Could not have said it better.

[Lee]

Are dealer sales really different than a private sale?

If I say I am selling a coach in which everything is working, and an inspection prior to money changing hands finds everything is not working I as the seller am expected to correct the problem, adjust the price or return a deposit.

After money changes hands it means as a buyer I am accepting the coach.

If I buy from a dealer and the dealer promises to inspect the coach and make sure everything works then I have the same expectations. The dealer either fixes it, adjusts the price or gives me back my deposit.

Once I hand over my money I really have no further expectations, but if something shows up on the return trip home I will let the dealer know and see if he will stand behind the cost. In most cases dealers as an expression of good will eat the cost of a needed repair. I think it will get a little contentious if on the return home the engine blows up unless there was a warranty or guarantee.

The gray area however is what are my expectations during an inspection? Does an oil stain on a 10 year old coach around the oil pan make me expect a repair, regardless of how minor it is? What about cracked dust boots on the steering linkage? If the coach is 10 years old am I to expect the dealer to replace all air bags and shocks even if they were never specifically mentioned during negotiations? What about replacing batteries and or tires even if they are 3 or 4 years old and were not part of the negotiations.

I think it is the gray area such as those I described above that sellers and buyers have to address.

[Jim/Chris]

Why wouldn’t you identify yourself? Do you expect people to just contact you without knowing who you are. Jon or Tom this might be a scam

[Robert]

This is not a flea market topic, but since pre-purchase inspections are very important I have no objection to letting this thread remain, but from my perspective this thread should be closed unless much more information is provided.

I am probably OK without suggesting an ad be taken out as long as the information provided is comprehensive and our members are not responding to some scam.

Please provide some listing of experience to support the claim of expertise. Did you work for Prevost, a converter, or a bus conversion repair shop? That is information you should be proud to share.

You indicate you are willing to travel. Where is your home base so potential buyers can at least get a clue about some travel times or cost. What are your typical charges.

Electrical systems are mentioned. Chassis? Conversion, Proprietary systems like a converter’s code which they refuse to share?

What about an undercarriage inspection? Putting the gauges on A/C systems, How about a detailed review of the service history and suggestions and conclusions about needed things like filters, fluid changes, air bags, brakes (linings, pads and chambers), a review of historical codes for the engine and transmission, etc. A detailed list of minimum inspection tasks, along with additional suggested inspections would be helpful.

Are you insured so if a vital inspection is wrong or missed and the new owner suffers physical or financial injury he is covered?

Do you own a converted bus and if so what brand and who was the converter?

I am sure you will be happy to share this information because if you possess the needed skills, tools and expertise all potential buyers could use your service. I would suggest you post your email and web site. Not all members are aware of how to get yours.

[Jon]

Sorry about that. I’m new here and wasn’t sure what the rules were on posting something like this so tried to keep it short and the flee market seemed to be the lest intrusive as far as “spam” or advertising.

My name is Glenn Berden, I worked for Royale Motor Coach in 1987 until they were bought by Monaco and the name changed to Royale Coach by Monaco. I stayed with Royale Coach until they closed Dec 2005. I had worked my way up through the ranks and I was their Electrical Engineer when they closed. I then started a repair center named Royale Phoenix Inc in 2006 and ran that with a business partner until last year. My wife and I decided to move to Rapid City, MI. She is originally from Elk Rapids MI.

For some reason I can’t get my signature to work in my profile, and I thought clicking the screen name would bring up email, I don’t like posting emails and phone numbers in forums because Bots can pull those out and spam the email address. I usually post contact information in my signatures as images so Bots don’t recognize them. but every time I upload an image doesn’t show, even after reducing it to 100×100.

Now I am on my own and started Yellow Jacket Concepts LLC and I have been doing a lot of free lance work from designing Electrical systems, CAD design and CNC work. I also design and build a Tank monitor system currently sold by Firfly Integrations. I do a lot of work in the 3D printer arena as well.

For now, inspections would be primaraliy the conversion side of things. I am not insured as of yet, and also I would have no way of lifting the coach, so Engine, Tranny, suspension would be visual inspection only along with any service records the owner or Prevost could provide. I know Prevost usually keeps pretty good service records.

I have been doing a lot of inspections for insurance companies lately and figured this might be something buyer/seller might be interested in as well.

Hope that answers some of your questions and I am still learning how to navigate these forums. I just realized the thread I am replying to isn’t visible while I am replying so I can’t remember all what was mentioned. (guess my math was a little off, 33 years in the biz)

If these types of post are not allowed, just drop me a note and delete the post, no issues with that.

Thanks

[Archived]

Glenn,

That helps a bunch, now folks can see you certainly do have experience with Provosts. Your email address is clickable and works fine. Send what you want to use a a signature and I’ll add it for you. FWIW, in almost 11 years we’ve never had a compromise of any of our member data. Jon personally approves every new member and is the gate keeper.

Your inspection service for the conversion side and background in electronics is needed for new and current owners. I visited your website and assume it’s under construction, many of the buttons didn’t work. To succeed in what your doing, contact information such as phone, website, text and email address address will have to be known, so if you’re reluctant to put that information out on the internet, folks won’t find you.

Welcome aboard.

[Sterling]

Ditto. Welcome to PC. You sound like a real benefit to our members because what you do can supplement a pre-purchase inspection by Prevost. As we all know Prevost limits their inspection to the chassis leaving a need for a comprehensive inspection of the house or conversion part of the coach.

Tom and I will discuss your expertise and I think we can share some of our thinking in an email to you.

[Deleted User]

Welcome to PC, Glenn. IF you need web site development/creation contact my son at info@stevenabolin.com. He does great work.

Ron

[Glenn]

Welcome to PC, Glenn. IF you need web site development/creation contact my son at info@stevenabolin.com. He does great work.

Ron

[Jim/Chris]

Thanks everyone,

Yes, my web site is still in development. I’ll be working on that this week as well as a comprehensive list of what to expect in a inspection.

[Archived]

Web site up and running, Still needs some tweeking but It will evolve over time.

http://www.yellowjacketconcepts.com

Would appreciate any input, thanks

Note: the pictures of the coach on the front page is a Prevost I converted with a couple other people. I did all the electrical, plumbing, and anything mechanical. About the only things I didn’t do is the cabinetry and decor.

[Jon]

I am curious that in one bay is top of the line fresh water pump system, way more money than a 12 vdc system. Right next door is a baby AHE 450D Aqua Hot that has an engine preheat loop, but the loop is not installed.

The big Aqua Hot only adds $2000 and that is at retail, has 3 heating loops, not only 2, engine preheat loop and a coolant tank that stores 3 times as much heat as the baby heater. It heats the interior and hot water at the same time. The baby one does one or the other but not both at the same time.

Using the baby 400D, no preheat loop and no stir pump, or the 450D is the choice of the plastic, box on rails, bling, cost cutting folks.

Anyway, just wondering.

[Chad]

@Rudy – The picture is prior completion so the engine heat loop wasn’t yet connected. It’s also a system the customer already had and didn’t want to purchase another. I too questioned the motive and tried to get the customer to reconsider.

---

1984 96" with 8V92TA

(remodeled Liberty Coach)

Greenwood, MO

[Archived]

What ever the customer wants is fine with me. The vast majority of buyer do not know what they do not know.

AND, please know I very much admire your ability to install these systems in a Prevost or any rv. Way above my pay grade. Bravo to you Sir.