[Ronald]

Well, I have to say when the owner of the company is there to explain why they do something one way or the other really does make a difference. But, the owner also has to be a people person which Frank is 100%. What a treat to meet the person who is in charge of the engineering and can explain everything.

I still have more investigating to do and all of your opinions do not go un-noticed.

Thanks,

Mark

[Archived]

We test drove the new Liberty Elegant Lady today. Nice 60 mile drive climbing the same hill as in the Marathon.

I have to correct something that I stated earlier, Allison set the transmission that when the red light is on, it’s NOT in economy mode (stated by the Liberty Coach salesman). Our Allison trans works the opposite and the salesman said Monaco changed that feature.

I climbed Chiriaco Summit at about the same speed as the other Prevost. It drove easy and was very quiet on the inside.

Liberty Coach uses a retarder vs. a Jake Brake. It is a lever on the right side of the steering wheel that has six settings, seemed to work well.

I like the sewer set-up better on the Liberty Coach which is slightly more manual vs. the Marathon which has an automatic hose the jumps out really fast. I would be concerned that the Marathon sewer hose would hit the ground causing a shorter life of the hose itself as they are just plastic around a slinky.

Anyway, I asked Liberty Coach to spec me out a brand new coach to check on price with the many options that we discussed.

MM.

[Peter]

Finally, we have committed to ordering a new 2015 Liberty Coach Elegant Lady, 4 slide, 1.5 baths. Arrival should be Oct/Nov 2014.

Now the excitement really begins as many, many choices will need to be made.

I’ve been looking at paint schemes on everything listed on the Liberty Coach site. We generally like warm exterior colors that would include…. cream, rust, amber, different shades of brown, deep orange, or maybe a cranberry stripe as accent colors with the base being a very dark brown. I don’t want the exterior to have any blue, green or bright white.

I’m sure the paint specialist will put us in the right direction.

I want the cabinets to be a rich dark wood, all leather furniture in a somewhat brownish color with cream padding (ceiling, door inserts, etc.). There is a lot to think about.

Mark

[Ron]

Congratulations Mr. Mark!

You are going to love your Liberty!

[Sid]

Mark:

Congratulations! You’ve made a great decision.

We’ve all traveled the long road with you on the PC forum and are pleased to hear you’re excited.

[Harry]

I drove a used Newell before buying my first Prevost. It drove good, looked like an operating room inside, I opened a bay door and saw wood structure inside.. End of decision. I’m on my second Prevost and if I could live long enough I would buy a third Prevost. Congratulations on your new found wisdom and enjoy many years of happy traveling.

Harry

[Greg]

Congratulations …MM on your purchased of a new out of the box Liberty H 4/s.

I have to admit with your many postings on PC there was some gray area about if you were the real deal or just someone on the internet yanking our chain about buying a New-New bus.

I hope you post the build process and as one of the regular PC members here we’ll give you advice. Just kidding, you can handle it all by yourself.

PC members have opinions, we also enjoy helping other members spend money.

AL

[Archived]

Thank you everybody for the kind words.

Al, I know, I didn’t realize until well into this thread that people thought I was pulling their chain/chains.

We’re real, I just didn’t want to make the wrong decision and didn’t want to leave a stone unturned. Spending the bucks takes some serious thought.

I have to tell you, after all the discussion about different coaches, when Jon said that everything is a ‘compromise’, it just made total sense to me and I felt like the world had been lifted from my shoulders. I emailed to let him know that he and Tom were instrumental in our decision.

I’m surprised that no one who has bought a brand new coach chimed in. Everyone’s coach was sold new at some point.

Safe travels to all!

Mark

[Bernie]

MM,

It is not that people who buy new coaches aren’t on the forum, but more likely they, like a lot of people, do not want to be in the public eye.

The forum is open for all to see. The only two reasons to even register as members is so you can post and so you have access to the discount programs.

One of the flaws of our web site is we do not make it easy for members to communicate in private, such as with PMs or access to email addresses. We made a decision to protect our members’s privacy and from previous experience on another site we found access to member profiles, PMs, or email addresses was an opportunity for loss of privacy and game playing. So if a member chooses not to reveal themselves and post on the forum they are likely just protecting their privacy.

Another example of a compromise, unfortunately.

[Jim]

Mark: I suspect it my be too late to consider this engine option for the coach that Liberty is building for you, but think about it for your next coach. Its a 77.6L, V-18 Cummins with 6 turbochargers that makes 10,157lb-ft of torque! That should make a fully loaded 45′ Prevost jump over the hills and mountains out west!

[Glenn]

There is no substitute for cubic inches. Period. End of discussion.

I’m thinking that engine may have to be mounted amidships so the coach will not have the handling assocated with an engine heavy enough to lift the front wheels off the ground. Imagine the burnout you could do with that engine.

From my point of view it pains me to throw away tires because they aged out. If I had that engine I would pull into the tire dealer’s parking lot and do a burnout that would make Jeff Gordon proud so I would feel better getting rid of tires with no tread left.

[Glenn]

Hi Mark Just for your information when Prevost went to the Volvo engine They did do a gear change in the rearend to make the coach more responsive.In my experince with climbing hills I just pick my spot an stay there. Iam always more concerned about going down the hill then going up. It is a brake thing.

[Larry & Diane]

Dick,

Wow, I can only imagine how much fuel that engine will use but I’m sure it would be worth it! LOL! And, you know that engine would not fit in the back of a Prevost unless you don’t want the use of the last four feet of your coach! The sound of a V-18 engine must be amazing, I would love to hear it!

After driving two new Prevost’s (2014 Marathon, 2015 Liberty Coach), the Volvo 500 hp with 1,750 lb. ft. of torque was very acceptable.

When I think about the time I started this post, I really had no idea which way I was going to go. I think we totally went in the right direction with Liberty Coach. There is no comparison when the owner of the company is there to explain everything as Frank was there along with the salesman.

There is so much to consider when building a coach. The engine is just number 3 in the list of 1,000. Liberty Coach has made the process so easy and every question has been answered explaining the reasoning behind it. Makes total sense to me and I appreciate their expertise.

MM.

[tom]

I asked Prevost in Quebec about the D 16,and was told the engine compartment would have to be totally reconfigured as the D16 Block was quite bigger than the D13. They were concerned it would take up more of the precious rear interior space already at a premium (bathroom or closet.} 1750 ft lbs.of torque is plenty,horsepower is only bragging rights. I think the new Allison 10 speed would work well with the D13,rather than the ZP. Lacey

[glen]

Well said.