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Dilemma Assistance Needed – Buy New Class A or Used Prevost
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Jeff, where are you located ?
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Prevost is great. We came from a 2003 40ft triple slide newmar dutchstar pusher that we purchased new, to our 98 XLV no slide Marathon we bought previously owned two years ago and will never go back. It’s not even a consideration.
However, when buying previously owned, I would have 25 – 50k on hand in the first year to zero it out and fix or replace all the stuff even the most reputable dealers/owners with or without documentation didn’t know about, forgot to mention and for parts that just decided to break while you were on the way from here to there.
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We came to our 95 XL from a 2004 Newmar Kountry Star 2 bedroom, 2 full bath, double slide 5th wheel. We bought that 5th wheel new after wearing out two used 5th wheels. We were pulling 30,000 miles per year then and I could not imagine how upside down I would be putting 120,000 miles on a motorhome in 4 years.
We bought the 95 XL in early 2008 and some friends of ours bought a nice new Winnebego Journey diesel pusher about the same time. They were making their living doing the exact thing we are doing. They paid about the same as we did. They got brand spanking new and we got a 13 year old bus with 178,000 miles.
They had the peace of mind to travel with a warranty for 3 years. Plus they had new carpet, new furniture, new appliances, new tires, new engine, new transmission, new air bags and all the rest.
We drove a 13 year bus off the lot with 178,000 miles and I knew in my heart if it broke down 20 miles from the dealer there would be NO use to call them and ask for help. It took me 6 years to zero out all the things that were mentioned above while I was criss crossing the country working.
I thought I would go nuts for about 2 years even though I had no major problems at all. When everything got quiet at night I wondered if my friend had made the better decision. He was sleeping great with all new components and a warranty.
We compared notes as his warranty was ending and it was obvious by looking at his coach with 3 years of full time use and about 60,000 miles that the interior and exterior was worse for wear. After 6 1/2 years it is very clear in my mind that I made the correct decision for us. The market tanked about the time I bought this but I could still probably sell it for what I owe on it or close. My friends motorhome “might” bring 1/3 of that price. Honestly my bus looks better now that it did in 2008 and I have not spent major $$ on cosmetic upgrades.
I learned a long time ago to never say never so I will not say it now. I could be making a very different decision in 6 months. But all things being equal I would make the same decision now that I made then.
Davy
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Jeff,
This question has been asked time and time again. If you want the absolute best,then you want a prevost. You are better to buy an older prevost than a new fiberglass coach. I have a 2006 Prevost Country Coach 45′ xlii that I have for sale, and when this is sold I will buy another prevost. Let me know if you may have interest in mine.
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Jeff, Brandon Blyth at Legacy is a great place to start looking reasonably close to you. Once he knows what you like he can keep an eye on the market and frequently knows about coaches soon to be for sale. The members on here will do all they can to help you spend your money 🙂 and get you in a good coach.
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THANK YOU ALL for sharing your wisdom. Each of your experience-based perspectives has truly enlightened me. I now have peace of mind and can clearly see which path my wife and I will pursue – there will be no “plastic” down it. Thank you Prevost Community!
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Jeff, your path will be lined with ‘Kevlar’…… the smoothest, shiniest painted surface you will ever find.
Mark
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I’m guessing your results of the survey would be a whole lot different if you asked the same question on a Monaco site, a Newell site, etc.
But there would be one difference. On this site there are a whole lot of owners that have some other brand (we call those other brands SOBs) and now have a Prevost and will not go back. There will be very few on the other sites that have had a Prevost and switched over to the other coaches.
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Hello Jeff!
We happen to be working in Conroe right now. If you would like to get together, we would be happy to tell you about our search, purchase and now 15 months of living full time in our Prevost.
We own a ’97 Liberty and you could compare it to your ’97.
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Spent a couple of hours this afternoon with Rod and Nancy today touring their beautiful coach! As many of you likely already know, they are really great peope and were so nice to allow Sandy and I into their home! THANK YOU AGAIN Rod & Nancy!
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Jeff….
I’m so glad you visited with Rod and Nancy… they are true Prevost owners and it was just a couple of years ago that they came to the OKC Rally in search of the coach of their dreams… they toured many coaches while there and quizzed the owners seeking info to help them with their decision on what would serve them best for their needs.
Look at as many coaches as you can and only then will you get a feel for what you really want. We started out with a 1998 H3-45 and after being in Jon & Di’s Liberty I knew what I wanted… it just felt “right” you will get that feeling when you go in the right one. Then our search was for a Liberty… but an H3-45 and without a realistic dream of one showing up anytime soon that was everything we wanted… there it was for sale everything we wanted and then some….made the deal in a couple of hours…. that’s when we became members of the TBC (two bus club) for the second time in 4 years which I don’t recommend…. however we did sell the Vantare and left the TBC !! And have since had numerous serious enquiries about the Vantare… probably now it’s gone could sell it several more times…. our location was a big drawback too.
Take your time and find the one that feels right when you walk in…remembering too that the important things are in good shape, rather than cosmetic things that can easily be changed.
Cheers, Diane
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Hi Diane,
Well, today we will become new ‘exclusive’ executive members of the TBC being nominated since you and Larry have completed your term. LOL!
I see that you purchased a new Suburban. Did the battery cut-off issue get resolved? Those sure are nice looking vehicles!
Take care,
Mark
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Mark…
We are loving the Suburban… got the 4WD LTZ retractable running boards the whole works… very very nice !!
The issue is not resolved thru GM yet… they say they are working on it however the GM guru here in town has installed a marine grade battery cutoff switch under the hood which is as simple as it gets then to save the radio settings etc we plug in a battery memory saver to the cigarette lighter which has a 9 Volt battery plugged into it and all the settings are saved but the steering stays unlocked… a very simple proceedure and the battery lasts a long time… so far tested it for 15 straight hours and was still working.
I turned the battery off with the cut off switch and left the memory saver in the cigarette lighter and it worked fine and the steering didn’t lock up when we tried to make it do so… so it is looking good to us at this point. We are going either this Friday or next Tuesday to get the M&G brake system installed which is manufactured just 100 miles from here in Athens, TX… then we will be looking for somewhere to go.
I HATE to welcome you to the TBC so hopefully you will move your Monaco quickly, you will be in a better area for selling coaches than we are….so many people don’t want to take off into the “Boonies” to look at a bus.
I know you are elated with your new Liberty, hope it all goes well for you both…. quite a learning curve ahead of you compared to the Monaco. Enjoy that bus !!
By the way this year the new Escalade is also available in a 4WD… and it is sweet !! We almost bought one but they didn’t have an ESV anywhere that had the options we wanted and we have to have the long one.
Should you have an interest in a 2015 GM then I can email you pics of what we did.
Cheers, Diane
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Diane would share that info with me also ?
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George & Becky,
I just sent you an email but the address I clicked on here had spaces and wouldn’t send so I took the spaces out and it went but just hope it was correct you might want to check that out.
Let me know if you don’t get it.
Cheers, Diane
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