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Coach listing question
For those of you who have listed/sold your coach did you allow the prospective buyer to drive your coach prior to achieving a sale (before cash and title has exchanged hands). Just so you know I am very reluctant to allow anyone to drive my coach.
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17 Replies
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Allan, would you buy a coach the seller will not allow you to drive?
I am well aware there is a risk involved, but for someone to really appreciate how good a coach is there is nothing like a drive to convince them. I would set ground rules and never ever allow anyone to drive it unless I was sitting next to them.
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I guess that depends. If you have not driven a coach before or have an air brake class drivers licence then I would not grant a request to test drive my coach. Now if it were you or someone of your driving caliber then I would probably agree. Guess I answered my own question.
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I was lucky. Mine was stored in a hanger at a flying club. The owner gave us both driving lessons on the runways and taxiways.
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🙂
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He had me abort and pull the emergency brake well before V1.
He was an FAA check pilot so we got a thorough lesson.
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I’ve always let the buyer drive it after I got the bus out to a good road to lesson the chance of a mistake. You want them to drive it, that’s what puts them over the fence when coming from a plastic coach.
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When Jeff Rowe joined us to inspect the coach we ultimately bought (it was stored 18 miles from his stop), the seller told us the coach couldn’t be driven because he didn’t have insurance on it. Jeff said he had insurance for any coach he drives, seller still said no.
After a month or six weeks of wrangling the seller and I agreed on a price subject to a “$5,000 hold back for unexpected stuff” and more importantly an up in the air inspection at Jeff’s shop. The first time I drove the coach was after I paid for it, after Jeff had it for a month, and after I paid Jeff $30,000 for tires, batteries, and zero out stuff. It was certainly a unique situation, but in the end its working for us.
If I was selling our coach and a prospect (and the accompanying significant other) expressed enough interest in our coach I would suggest they take a test ride (me driving) and then a test drive with him/her/they driving. We’d have a discussion of what they’ve driven in the past, explain the air brake system, and get them to an open area that’s easy to drive on with a known end point.
When we bought the coach I had only driven a Prevost on a four day race trip (pulling a 24′ enclosed trailer) to lower Michigan after 20 minutes of familiarization. I’d driven big U-Hauls and had lots of miles with the Suburban and 24′ trailer … but nothing like the Prevost.
If I were buying a coach and the seller wouldn’t let me drive the coach before a written offer and money changing hands (without some kind of mitigating circumstance) … I would probably walk from the deal.
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Hi Allen,
I bought my bus through Ebay and was very happy with the process. I made an offer through Craig’s list and it wasn’t long after the owner called. After many questions and answers we agreed on a price and I sent him $1,0000 to bind the deal subject to my inspection.
A few days later I flew to Austin, TX and had an excellent interior and exterior walk through by the owner, looked over all the bus history and took a test drive. He drove first showing me things as we went and drove us out to a country road with little traffic where he turned the bus over to me.
First thing he had me stop three of four times to get the feel of the air brakes. I’d driven a few plastic coach diesel pushers before and had an idea of the feel. Between there and the interstate I drove I’d guess 40 miles. We stopped and filled it with fuel and then back to his place where I transferred the remainder of the agreed upon amount. I then drove it home 1100 miles to North Carolina.
I found the process worked well for both buyer and seller. I’d not consider having someone drive my bus without an agreed upon amount and earnest money. As they say, No Ticky No Laundry!
Harry
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Hey Harry…how was your ride home?
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Hi Jimmy, Hit some terrible weather and saw a tornado not far off. But the bus was terrific and handled the wind and rain without missing a beat.
Harry
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That’s not exactly how I remember it Harry.
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Hi Tom, Not sure what you mean? That I couldn’t go over 55 due to a computer glitch? I was thinking more of your earlier statement of “You want them to drive it, that’s what puts them over the fence when coming from a plastic coach.” And the 55 didn’t effect the driving impression, it was fantastic!
Harry
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When I bought my first Prevost, I went to inspect and test drive and met the owner. I wanted to test drive so the owner quizzed me about my experience…no class A. He then told me he had a secret he’d let me in on and I’ve found it helpful to this day. DO EVERYTHING SLOWLY. Don’t let other traffic intimidate you into rushing. Say to yourself “F–k em, I’m in a Prevost!” Works every time.
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That piece of information is so valuable that Joel gets next year’s dues for free.
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Joel that is good advice as indicated by a year free of dues. I remind myself of that by keeping my speed at 63. I actually learned that on my trip home with the bus. I was limited to 55 and found out real quick that I was the only one going that speed. I for the most part had the road to myself and found it a most enjoyable way to travel.
My reaction is if I need to get there in a hurry I leave a day earlier… No it makes no sense but I think we all get the idea.
Harry
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