[Dale]

Something like the “Angie’s List for Prevost”. Allow customers to post reviews and experiences.

[Davy]

UK Guy, where in the states will you be based out when using the bus ?

[Archived]

That’s a hard topic to satisfy. I think over time owners develop their own list of those they can count on for support when at home or on the road.

But a list that works very well for me may be inappropriate for someone located on the west coast or that has a different conversion.

Then to confuse the issue even more, things change, and in some cases they change too rapidly to keep up with. Those changes could be personell changes, changes of ownership, and changes in the quality of services provided. Todays well respected service provider may be tomorrow’s nightmare.

Even though UK guy is new, I’m guessing he already has formed opinions about who will be on his list of folks to call when he needs help. I suspect he also has a list that includes who he will never call. The gray area in the middle includes all the good service providers that nobody has taken the time to name along with those who aren’t so good, but nobody has posted their poor experience.

I think Tom will agree that it is easy to add another category that we will be able to create individual threads with the names of any body or any company that has ever worked on a Prevost, and then allow members to post remarks. But that becomes a slippery slope because there is no control over who posts or how accurate the posts are. We have no way of knowing if a seemingly accurate post is a self serving post by an advertiser or any service provider, and likewise we have no way of knowing if a trashing of a company’s reputation is valid or from a disgruntled competitor.

I can say Tom and I have listed advertisers based on our experience or feedback that has been provided to us by others. We are comfortable with those listed on our site. Yet we are not Consumer Reports so the best we can hope for is if a company lists on our site that they will serve our members properly. We have some who do serve the Prevost conversion market that we decided to not invite, and there are a couple we just are not ever going to allow. But we are not always right so I think the best advice for selecting folks to turn to for help is to do a search and read all the comments, good and bad and make your own decisions.

You will almost never go wrong with the converters or with Prevost. We are very comfortable with the dealers and brokers listed because our members have very few if any negative comments about them.

You all have seen positive comments about some service work done by Jeff, Ben C and Rick M, and we have recommended Donny Meyers for Vantare owners (even though he is not an advertiser). Our own members have experessed their thoughts about insurers, RV parks, paint shops such as Xtreme, etc. I just don’t think Tom or I have a desire to create a specific section that could be abused.

[Andy]

Corey,

No definate plans, but Dallas/FW are looking favourable so we can go east or west without too much trouble with various routes available to choose from. Planning 3-6 month trips so getting as far as WA or MN or even just ‘local’ should be relatively relaxing with the time to enjoy everything along the way and not just the most distant destination. – Hence my thoughts on recommended service locations beyond Jeff in TN and the boys at Parliament. I don’t mind travelling for non-urgent upgrade work, but for simple things like oil changes, or emergency repairs, I’d like to have done regardless of where we happen to be, ‘home base’ or further afield.

[Andy]

If you travel spur of the moment arranging service might not be possible, but if you tend to do a little trip planning you should have no issues because a post on the forum or a little time with Google will enable you to schedule needed routine maintenance along your route with little problem.

You already know you can get service at any Prevost facility, at the repair stations you mentioned, but you also can add charter companies with Prevost fleets to your list, especially those members already use.

With a little training and copious notes you can even take your coach to any of the shops that offer lubes and oil changes as long as you are willing to throw on a pair of coveralls and follow the guy into the pit to show him the grease fittings, the air tank drains, and other items you expect to be part of a routine service. I’ve done that when on the road and the guy with me in the pit was happy I was willing to help him.

But for breakdowns the place to contact first is Prevost, or if it is house related, the converter.

Keep a list of contacts from the forum that have your specific conversion and don’t hesitate to call them for advice or help.

Learn the tricks we all pick up over time that are ways to address common problems. Bus won’t start? Go back and cycle that rear selector switch that can get cranky once in a while. Bus won’t come up to driving height? Swap the solenoid coils from the 1,2,4 or 5 position with the 3 position solenoid coil. You get the idea.

The object will be to address problems before they are problems. By reading the posts it does not take long to figure out that pneumatic problems are common, especially with coaches that have not been maintained. Inverter problems are right near the top of the list and often they can be resolved with cleaning the terminals. Most of our problems send a message a long time before the problem results in a failure. Pay attention to the clues. But don’t overthink the issue of problems. Don’t dwell on the thought that when you buy your coach you need a support network because it is going to break. Just because a lot of posts talk about problems, try to realize there is a very large number of coaches that just don’t have problems. And of those that do have a problem most of the time with the way our coaches are built those situations often can be resolved with alternate methods. After all we have the ability to get power from multiple sources, we can carry spares, and we can do preventive maintenance.

[Archived]

Thanks for the feedback/comment. I was thinking more along the line of someone posting their experience of a particular specialist and what they had done – along the lines of the recent posts regarding Jeff @ East Tennessee. other owners would then be able to add their experiences (hopefully positive) thus coroborating the first users post. As we have all seen in the Excaliber thread that is currently running, issues can occur, but a good company will right those issues not just walk away. No list will ever be perfect, but a ‘consensus-led’ list will be at least a place to start rather than the phone book. We can make our own decisions on whether we need to ask for further opinion or run a thread search before engaging with a particular company.

Am I making sense?

[Paul]

Jon, good advice & suggestions as always. Still kean to build a list of ‘go-to guys’ though. Maybe need to be a little more proactive around the time of purchase when the likely bus converter will be a known quantity. Also more than happy to get down & dirty with a grease monkey to show them where to point their grease gun! Thanks for reminding me about Prevost coach operators as well. Will add them to my mental list together with Detroit shops.

[Corey]

Over the course of 24 years of coach ownership I have heard of a handful of shops or technicians that are to be avoided at all costs. I have heard of mistakes made, but with rare exception the owner was made whole.

I have never seen any Prevost service provider until this week that has screwed up horribly bad and then left the owner hanging.

[Dale]

UK Guy: Leave the coach with Jeff Rowe. Fly in and out of Knoxville (or Nashville) when you want to go on trips. He’ll have it prepped and ready to go when you arrive. Live him a list of things to do when you’re done. Simple, reliable solution.

[Archived]

Andy,

Not much I can add, Jon covered it well. All I can suggest is once you get to the states and get the ball rolling, a post on this forum will usually get you the answers you need from members with experience. Where to have work done will be provided just by asking the group.

[Larry]

Dick,

That is certainly something to consider and I will definitely be dropping in for a chat with Jeff when I start my search ‘on the ground’ so to speak.

After reading your sig I was just about to comment, ‘his and hers’ coaches, how flash. Then I realised, one is the chassis and the other the coach itself. Doh!

Thanks for the suggestion.

[Archived]

I think Dick has a good idea and before UKguy buys his coach I think he needs to address certain issues.

As described the coach will be used for several months, and then will be stored for a long period until it is used again. That period of unuse is a starting point for unknown issues that can plague a trip.

If I were to put myself in Andy’s position my first concern would be suitable housing for the coach. I would seek a climate controlled shelter so I would not have concerns about the interior having to be air conditioned or heated. I would want the coach located where someone could monitor the coach. I would want power to it at all times, or a way to periodically recharge house and chassis batteries. Those conditions describe a fairly tall order. But for the safety of the coach and systems I think meeting those conditions is important and where that storage facility is might dictate other courses of action.

Jeff or somebody should be employed to set the coach up for storage, and then to “wake it up” when it will be used again. To protect the tires it should be supported on chassis support stands and if possible raise the tires so they do not touch the ground. I would either shut off all power to the coach at the house and chassis master switches or maintain the charge at all times with the inverters. The danger there is in a power outage inverters will draw power and can deplete the batteries.

The importance of keeping the coach inside protected from the elements and temperature extremes cannot be overstated. If it is out in the weather it needs to be powered up to maintain pressures on the slide seals. That alone introduces a wide range of concerns because of the potential for moisture in the pneumatic system as well as potential water leaks into the coach. Any moisture from rain for example can be the start of mold and mildew and that destroys a coach.

There are a lot of concerns and some tough decisions have to be made.

[Archived]

Jon, if I don’t know better, I’d think you were trying to talk me out of buying a Prevost, but know you have my best interests in your thinking. Storage and suitable storage conditions were in my thoughts, though not for the specifics around the air system etc. you mention. As you say, some tough decisions to be made and certainly a lot of planning ahead. As for long periods of absense, up to six months, I’m sure there are a lot of snow birds who have their coaches standing around for months at a time who manage, so with some care and attention (and a good ‘coach-sitter’) this side of things should be OK.

All part of the learning curve. Glad to be learning ahead of time though rather than on-the-job!

[Archived]

Anything said here applies equally to any coach of a similar nature. They all suffer damage from heat or freezing. None of them age well when they just sit.

But our coach rarely turns a wheel from April to late August. It is unaffected by the lack of use because it is out of the sun, the garage rarely ever exceeds 80 degrees, I typically have it on stands and the suspension air dumped so the weight is off the tires to a great extent, and most of all I am in the garage around the coach almost every day so I can quickly and easily monitor it. Not that I expect problems, but I keep it powered up so I listen to the normal noises and know all is well.

With the exception of the fact a lot of owners are actually living in the coach for months at a time they are doing the same thing I do, except theirs is likely outside in an RV resort and in lieu of covered storage they are keeping the coach heated or cooled.

My point was to make you aware that with some planning your coach will be safe and in good working order. But without provisions made to keep it safe and working properly you are exposed to some risks.