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Coach Reliability
I get a lot of emails from people who are considering the prurchase of a Prevost conversion, or have already decided they will buy one, but are afraid of the reliability. Those concerns to a great extent are created because often a potential buyer reads the posts on the forum and a lot of the discussions relate to mechanical or electronic issues.
There is no way anyone can predict what a Prevost owner’s experience regarding reliability is going to be. There are factors that directly relate to the reliability of the coach and they include the preventive maintenance program, the complexity of the coach and its systems, and luck. It seems a coach that gets little or no care is likely at some point to turn into a maintenance nightmare. Conversely it would seem a coach that has a comprehensive preventive maintenance program that includes the replacement of parts based solely on age or miles or condition may be a very reliable coach with few surprises. But we have no way of proving either case because there is no place we can look at data.
I have a theory, but it is unprovable because the numbers I would use to support it are nothing more than guesses. We are now approaching 2700 registered members. We have no idea how many of our members own a Prevost conversion, but if we guess it is 2000 it does not seem unreasonable. We know from information that has been discussed on many forums and RV publications that the average coach will be driven somewhere around 8000 to 12000 miles per year we could suggest our collective annual mileage will be about 20 million miles. Even if we cut that number in half and say it is more reasonable to assume all PC members combined drive Prevost conversions a total of 10 million miles annually it seems to suggest we have pretty good reliability.
A lot of the problems we discuss are not much more than annoyances that will not impact a trip. They could be air leaks, or issues with a toilet or poor quality dash lighting, or any of a number of things we want to fix. We almost never read of an engine or transmission failure. Yes that happens, but rarely. We do report on some serious problems, but to an extent some or most of them are not Prevost specific. A blowout that does a lot of damage can happen no matter what motor home or conversion a person has. A dragging brake or a hub seal leak is going to be a potential issue on any RV, and when the total group miles is compared to the number of those events they are rare.
Does anyone else have thoughts on this? Are our coaches maintenance hogs or is their reliability not an issue?
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13 Replies
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I know with my old coach the chassis part has never failed but the other goodies that make it fun is always something. On the chassis part, I always have a level 3 done everytime I change oil at Prevost. 8500 to 10,000 miles. They are the ones that found a hub seal and a couple other minor issues over the years. Level 3’s are a Cheap insurance but doesn’t mean it’s a catch all.
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I drive mine every week from the March 1 until the end of November and move every week very Rare that anything goes wrong or stops you from moving maybe some little things like a light bulb goes out , or a brake caliper sticks but nothing that stops you if you do the pre maintenance it should all be good, or maybe a failed starter but I replace mine with the up dated one and never a problem, just make sure not to be cheap on getting the coach up to date and zero it all out and zero some of the things nobody talks about much
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I have owned 3 prevost’s (since 1996) including the one I currently have. And I certainly do not consider them a maintaince hog.
Just my 2 cents worth..
Bill S.
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This is my first Prevost. I am still amazed how advaced it is and it is 17yrs old….I have had to do work on it to bring it close to zero out……I am allmost there……I have never felt safer or prouder as I would drive this coach anywhere confidently…Call me crazy but on long drives this coach just wants to run and is saying thank you
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
The more you drive it the more it costs, for more service Trans oil , rear end oil and motor oil , tires etc !!!!!
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The forum for the most part allows owners to share or ask for information/advice and generally pertains to mechanical, electrical, air, and house system issues. This may scare off those who are on the sidelines. But when I was looking at the Prevost market I was amazed at this resource and the availability of facilities capable of performing repairs and maintenance. Are Prevost money hogs…..no, but you require a budget, and or ability to do many of the normal maintenance and or repairs yourself. Let’s be honest any vehicle, boat, plane, or any other toy requires money to keep them going. Owning a Prevost is no different. But this forum is where exceptional value is to be had……free advice and the occasional ribbing.
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There is no ribbing or kidding allowed on this forum. Anybody that has done so has seen their dues double.
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My dues are 50x what they started at. Geo.
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George, mine have escalated to the point that I had to sell my house and become full time, I don’t know how much longer I can aford to retain my membership.
But back to the thread, other than preventive maintenance, I have had a $650 Bendix brake relay valve go out and a pully on my 50 DN alternator go out.
I have driven about 136,000 miles in the 10 years I have owned it.
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I hope the potential buyers are reading this forum because it is likely a more accurate picture of ownership.
Having said that, potential buyers can greatly impact whether the coach they buy is reliable or a maintenance nightmare. And a coach that is a money pit when it comes to maintenance is often one that has had a lot of deferred or no maintanance and the money spent is trying to catch up with what should have been done.
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it seems logical to me that if both a Prevost and another conventional motorhome are both properly maintained and have say 150,000 miles, the Prevost shell will be more reliable going forward because it is a commercial vehicle meant to go many more miles. I don’t know how many miles conventional motorhomes are meant to go, but I doubt it is anywhere near what the bus is supposed to go. Engines should be comparable, if they are not the same.
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we have owned several brands in addition to our 6 Prevost’s. They all have issues sooner or later. They are complex vehicles with multiple systems, which bounce up and down constantly trying to shake something loose.
It it does not matter how much or how little you invest in a coach. There are going to be some unexpected problems. But Prevost is at the top of the ladder in serviceability, style and dependability.
Enjoy your coach. We are all getting older. As I approach my 80th, I cherish every opportunity left to me to get in my bus and GO!
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I am far from an expert on motor homes. But a while back I was in an RV park next to a very expensive large RV often compared to a Prevost. The owner had an issue because his brakes were locked and would not release. He turned the front wheels so he could see what he thought he needed to see, so being nosy I looked also. What amazed me was his motor home was as big as ours, had the same size tires as ours (suggesting the weights were similar), but everything I could see under it was very tiny and built less robustly than a Prevost.
BTW, he wasn’t building air and that was the problem. Why he did not look at his gauges and listen to the buzzing sound and seeing the lights I don’t know why, but he was sure the problem was at his front brakes.
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