[Daniel]

Having owned both, I see no real difference in ownership or maintainance costs. Some differences would include slightly more expensive tires because of size, more batteries, and possibly higher replacement cost in the house because of higher end materials. Depending what you are comparing the bus could have a more complex air system, but if that is maintained properly is not a huge expense. There is some redundancy of systems, but many are the same as high end stick and staple RV’s. The labor rate for techs is the same as far as I can tell, 85/110/hr, but the dedicated Prevost shops are far more knowledgeable and honest. Just read the forum here and then read RV.net or the FMCA forum and you will see what I mean. After years of sticks and staples we finally got smart and consider everything else we had to be a huge waste of many 100,000’s of dollars, probably in excess of the current cost of a new Liberty. I am not a spreadsheet kinda guy, so I’m going by a general feeling, but I don’t feel that I spend any more money per mile than I used to and I have the enjoyment of using something that is a world above anything else. Geo.

[Ronald]

I have never owned a coach other than a Prevost so my opinion is at best a guess.

For background I do all my own work, but all of the work I do can be translated into dollars and cents based on hours and material cost.

It is my opinion if you are going to measure comparable coaches you are going to find comparable costs of maintenance and repairs. Engines need oil and coolant changes, filters, belts, and hoses. If a Monaco engine throws a code, that is no different than a Prevost engine throwing a code. It is a needed repair or at least diagnosis.

Comparable coaches have air brakes and air accessories. The braking systems should be virtually identical with a dryer, wet tank, primary and secondary tanks and an accessory tank. They all should have similar if not the same protection valves, check valves, relay valves, etc. They likely all have ABS and those associated sensors and modulator valves. The accessory system is going to be simple or complex depending on how the suspension is set up. I assume all high end coaches have air bags and the associated ride height valves. Prevost uses a system that adds or deletes air from the air bags for leveling, and the comparable conventional motor home has something similar or a hydraulic leveling system. It probably can be assumed whatever the systems they age similarly and need service and maintenance in a similar amount.

Air may be used for other purposes, such as belt tensioning, generator air bags, dump valves, door lock, etc.

So the bottom line is the chassis on a large motor home and a Prevost will both require similar amounts of maintenance and repairs. I can say with conviction the Prevost chassis is very stout, its components are durable and highly tested in millions, if not billions of miles of commercial service so the word “cheap” cannot ever be used when describing the construction of a Prevost chassis. Prevost cannot cut corners when a coach is expected to run 100,000 miles a year and be in continuous service for a decade or more. The chassis on a 10 year old Prevost is as rattle free and strong as when it left the factory because it is a fully welded structure and unlike most motot homes the walls and upper structure are an integral part of the weldment, unlike motor homes in which the walls are just screwed or bolted to the floor.

The house portion of all Prevost conversions are robust. No corners have been cut. The converters are building coaches for a demanding market and the components, and devices are well suited for the application. There is very little of a Prevost conversion available at Camping World. It is not uncommon to find components used for industrial, military or marine applications where reliability is critical.

The question was a good one, but did not go far enough. Perhaps a more revealing question would be how many years and miles can be expected of a Prevost compared to a conventional motor home. It is not uncommon for us to see coaches with a lot of miles, and people lined up to buy them, but it seems rare when a conventional motor home is seen with 100,000 miles.

[Archived]

I’ve owned several coaches none a sticks and staples and all, of course, don’t maintain themselves. I don’t see the costs a serious issue compared to anything else. I haven’t seen anyone that I can think of going back to the other side due to excessive or unreasonable upkeep costs.

[Bill]

We have about 174,000 miles on our coach and have averaged somewhere around $5,500 per year in maintenance and repair. While I have no doubt our coach would last us as long as we will be able to travel, I will have more confidence in the ability to get a Prevost fixed than our current coach–even for a 12-15-year old unit that we are considering. I can, and have done, a lot of repair myself, and plan on doing the same to our Prevost as long as I’m able, but I frankly don’t expect the annual maintenance costs to be significantly higher once we have zeroed out our new to us Prevost.

[Jim/Chris]

Nobody ever talks about it, but a significant cost of ownnership is depreciation. A Prevost is not exempt from depreciation, but if we are to do a side by side comparison of equal value coaches a Prevost is going to win that battle hands down. When new its depreciation is breathtaking, somewhere around $1000 PER DAY.

But if we are talking about equivalency we should compare an older Prevost with a value of about $750,000 to a similar value conventional motor home. Before any one cries foul, consider this. That $750,000 Prevost is likely to be sold in the used market by the converter. The converter will sell that coach restored to new condition and it will be almost impossible for anyone to determine it is used. So starting out both have an equal value, and both are going to be supported as if they were new.

Both are going to depreciate. But in today’s market a coach that sold for $750,000 (the Prevost) five years ago has held its value very well and likely retains a value in the $500,000 range. I don’t know the market value of a conventional motor home that sold new 5 years ago for $750,000 but my guess is it is worth less than half the original value retail.

If I were to consider the purchase of a coach and was open to include motor homes as well as a Prevost conversion it would be worth my while to look hard at 5 to 10 year old examples of each to see how they age. The older motor homes I have seen look spectacular when new, but they do not seem to age well. Just my opinion.

[Archived]

They don’t….see ten year rule. Geo.

[Archived]

All great replies and great topics.I couldn’t see in my mind where a Prevost would have a MUCH higher ownership and operation cost than any other high end coach as the myth seems to be from the fiberglass side. My coach has 8 315 tires, 8 batteries,valid air and hydraulic leveling, 500 HP engine, AquaHot, residential amennities….etc so I couldn’t see it being that much more. As a depreciation, there is no doubt a bus based coach holds value much better than fiberglass coaches. BUT I don’t think anyone buys either type as an investment. My concern was that AFTER buying a bus, if I can ever find one I can afford, was not the time to find owner/operator cost doubled/tripled from current.

[Per]

Great homework question Brett, but sounds like you have your answer. Jump on in the water is fine.

Bill S.

[Davy]

I do not have specific numbers on ownership costs but this is a real life comparison.

When I bought our bus it was 13 years old. I have two friends that do the exact same thing we do for a living. One was traveling in an older motorhome and the other was in a truck and fifth wheel like me. They both purchased new diesel pusher motorhomes the same year I bought the bus. They paid $15-30k more for their new sticks and staples than I did for our pre-owned bus.

We had lots of conversations among us three about the best way to go, new S&S or old bus. We discussed it as friends for months before the purchases and many times since. The consensus opinion of my friends was that I was off my rocker and a few fries short of a happy meal. I was buying an old bus with no warranty and unknown past. They were buying new, new, new with a warranty with very few unknowns. There was no question that I was insane in their minds.

I must admit there were times in the first few years that I thought they might be right. I replaced tires and more tires and batteries and more batteries. By the time Jeff changed the air bags, norgrens and brake chambers last year I still had not spent a bunch of mony but not enough to equal their purchase price difference. They were doing oil changes and regular maintenance like me so we were equal there.

Fast forward nearly 8 years and their coaches have been out of warranty at least 5 years. They now have way over 100,000 miles on their motorhomes. The diesel motors and transmissions are in good shape but their motorhomes are not made to live in and travel every week of the year. Both have been trying to sell for at least two years but they owe at least twice the market value.

My bus is now nearly 21 years old. It could quit tomorrow. I understand that but it could have quit in 2008 just as easily. The value of it may be in the tank too, I do not really know. But the difference is that it is still in great shape compared to my friends’ motorhomes. The bus had 184,000 miles on it when theirs had zero. Mine now has 296,000 and although it is far from perfect, it looks way better than theirs inside and out. I plan to drive it 3,000 miles in the next two weeks without any hesitation.

My point is that the costs of ownership are probably pretty close equal but the consensus among my friends now is that maybe I was not quite as loony as they thought! IF bus costs are a little more, it is probably worth it in the long run.

One additional thought. I take no credit that this old bus is still going down the road. I give that credit to God, the good guys and gals of PC, Jeff and Prevost.

Davy

[Archived]

If I were to consider the purchase of a coach and was open to include motor homes as well as a Prevost conversion it would be worth my while to look hard at 5 to 10 year old examples of each to see how they age. The older motor homes I have seen look spectacular when new, but they do not seem to age well.

I agree with Jon as Donald and I did just that a year ago on Black Friday and felt the same way comparing new Class A motorhomes with their older models. It just confirmed our decision to go with a Prevost. Cost of operation and ownership is relative to how you take care of your motorhome or coach. An ounce of prevention costs a whole lot less than a pound of cure!

June

[Tim]

I have had my 99 XL 40 footer for 9 years and put 130,000 miles on it.

When I first got it every thing was in pretty good shape so after the first year of traveling I started zeroing everything out.

Every thing I did would be the same thing done to any class A of similar construction.

In 9 years I have replaced:

No one thing CC Digital Dash with a SilverLeaf Glass Dash ($10,0000), Air bags, Brake chambers, Norgren valves, Batteeries (both chasis and house), DN 50 alternator (house), Delco 75 amp 24 volt (chassis),3 sets of tires (all 8), All 3 roof airs, 2 OTR A/C compressors, Fuel tank sending unit, Changed out all exterior and interior lighting to LED, Polished Stainless, Fan clutch (twice), Transmission shaft seal, One axel seal, Several front end parts (due to rubber boots deteriorating), Several 3 axel wheel alignments,

Serviced evrything at least three times (engine coolant, transmission fluid and rear differential), Several windshields ( they love rocks), All rubber hoses in engine compartment,A few Webasto parts and 1 controll box ($4000),New muffler and hangers, 3 hub seals, All shocks (twice), A SmarTire tire pressure monitor and now a Pressure Pro system, Air dryer assembly, New engine air compressor, Recovered both front seats, All four brake realy valves (very important), Vanner monitor (updated to the new D version), Vanner equalizer, Also replaced six wheels with chrome wheels, New satellite system and a couple of house water pumps and removal of a bug shiled from the front of my coach (was shamed into that by some want be named) and a set of Centramatics.

This figure also includes all regular engine oil serviceing.

$88,5000 in round numbers. So $78,5000 if you take out the dash.

All of this would have to be done by any other coach in the same class.

[Alan]

Good post Buddy, that shows folks real numbers for a 9 year one owner period.

[AL]

I don’t work on my coach to save money, but because I like to do my own vehicle maintenance. If you do your own work the actual cost of maintenance drops significantly because you not only don’t have the labor cost, you also save the cost of travel to a service center.

As a bonus you really get to know your coach and your confidence level as you drive it goes way up.

[Tim]

You forgot one reason for working on your own coach…its FUN. At least it it for me. I enjoy wrenching and trouble shooting and coming up with new and innovative ideas. Maybe that is just the engineer in me, but I enjoy it.

3-F

[TERRY]

I agree with Triple Foxtrot. Similar to the race car. Bought the race car in 2005 and have been learning ever since. What I do find frustrating is the learning curve and figuring out how to do things “the first time”. Trouble is that many things I will only do “once” and won’t experience the euphoria of doing those things a second or third time quickly and with confidence. I’m expecting that over time, I will increase my trouble shooting and figuring out how to do things skills. And has been said so many times … thanks to the Prevost Community and Jeff Rowe, things are going well.