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Even More Questions…Again
Assuming a coach in the 2001 to 2003
year range and maintained well.Beside the obvious (50,000 miles), what
is the difference between two coaches, one with 90,000 miles and the
other with 140,000 miles if both were maintained well.Different fuel mileage, more or less
power, more or less likely to need major repairs on the engine,
transmission, differential, or what?Is the difference minimal or is there a
significant advantage to the purchase of the lower mileage coach?Thanks!
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7 Replies
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My way of looking at this:
Both coaches, “being well maintained” could serve you well. The question is how much wear and tear do you have on the “housing” structure, the a/c’s, the steering mechanisms, furnishings, televisions, electronics, etc., etc. that come with an additional 1000 hours of use? How do you quantify that? How do you identify that? Were the 90M miles HARD miles and 140M miles more gentle on the coach under consideration?
When you consider the hours on the engines, the 140M mile coach has 150% of the use of the lesser mileaged coach. Using 50MPH and 140M miles equals 2,800 hours versus 1800 hours on the lesser mileaged coach.
The question is what has been “maintained” on the 140M miled coach? By this point, there are certainly some steering isssues even though probably moderate as steering rods, bushings, upper and lower control arms… and boots all have greater wear and tear… the radiator has been used more extensively and the entire coach has had greater exposure to the environment of driving, etc. during this time period.
Your example assumes “well maintained”… that implies that a lot more has been spent on the higher mileage coach so the analysis becomes crucial when examined….
I feel that a theoretical examination of coaches with a closer mileage relationship makes a better discussion… If you take a 2003 coach with 140M miles versus a 2001 coach with 90M miles.. it is different than a 2001 coach with 140M miles and the 2003 coach with 90M miles… ..
It’s Friday afternoon and I have probably been at the computer too long… this is giving me a head ache…
Look forward to others and their comments…
Pres
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depends on which engine. I prefer pre egr engines and think they are a better preforming and better fuel mileage. In the end depends on which one you like the best!!
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I look at it from this perspective….no matter the yr….too low miles or too low gen hrs for the yr are a non-starter. Geo.
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I agree with George on this topic. Low mileage means coach not exercised, rubber gets hard, fluids start to gum up etc., etc., etc. Give me a coach with appropriate miles and a detailed service history anytime. To me an ad with low mileage or low time on genny is like an advertisement with a photo showing the rubber tread left on the tire. Or as Jon so aptly says, lots of tire dressing. Just my dime (2 cents after inflation)
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I am not scared of mileage in the least. My 2011 Liberty will have 100,000 miles on it soon. About 50,000 of those have been put on by me in the past two summers. I do oil changes at 5000 mile intervals. That is more than needed, but oil is cheaper than engines, and always has been. I do many other things way before they are needed because I don’t want any issues while we are using the coach.
The chassis is a million mile plus piece of equipment. I doubt anyone with a motorhome will wear one out.
Now if there are no records, and no way to verfy that the coach has been taken care of, that could be another story. There are owners out there who don’t even know what they have, so how can they maintain it correctly? Records, and an inspection are the only way to know what you are getting when buying used.
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doesnt matter if it has 10,000 miles or 500,000 miles. I would bring it to prevost and get them to do a detailed mechanical inspection on the chassis as part of a pre-inspection. Let them tell you what their findings/recommendations are for their part. 50,000 miles difference on the DDS60 is nothing and on the chassis it’s nothing.
But let a detailed inspection tell you what the mechanical status is.
As for the house side? Everything could work just fine today and in a couple months, it could all be failing. It’s the nature of the beast…
Main thing is how it was maintained over it’s life. If it hasn’t been maintained or the inspection shows it’s been neglected, walk away. Otherwise it all depends on if the actual coach works for your needs. 90% of the coaches for sale out there will need some level of maintenance, repairs, zeroing out. Some more then others. It all comes down to what you want to deal with and what you are willing to spend.
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There hasn’t been a coach sold since the beginning of time that has not been represented as being well maintained.
So step one is to get the records that prove the maintenance history and compare them, coach to coach. If there are none, neither coach has been maintained (unless you believe in Santa Claus).
As a buyer trust your gut and your eyes. The subtle signs of wear and tear tell a huge story if you are willing to pick up on them. The devil is in the details. You don’t even need to be a mechanic to get a strong sense of a coach in general. As an example, turn the wheels in the front all the way in one direction and look at the linkage for the steering and front suspension. If the grease fittings are dry or grease and dirt covered, if the rubber dust boots are cracked or missing on tie rod ends, and if you can see things like signs of age on air bags it is a safe bet the coach could have used better care.
At the age of the coaches you should see receipts or evidence the items that age out because of the rubber parts have been replaced. That includes items like air bags or valves or brake chambers. If not it might be a sign the owners wait for stuff to break before they decide to take care of things. Look at the date code on tires. Look for the date code on batteries. Inside the coach are their signs the owner was very careful about scratching the counter tops or getting soil on the fabrics? How does the coach smell? How was the coach used? Some coaches are driven so there will be miles on them, and that is a good thing, especially if the coach really was maintained to a schedule. But some coaches are second homes and spend a lot of time parked on a resort in the weather and doing things like running an aux compressor to keep the seals on slides inflated without dealing with moisture can end up with a low mileage coach with a ton of moisture in the pneumatic systems. Dig deep and ask hard questions to get a sense of what the owner knows, how he uses it, and what things you should be concerned about.
Don’t trust a single seller to tell the truth unless you verify stuff youself. Apologies to the honest sellers, but in my experience I have heard more lies than I can count. As a buyer if the asnwer to a question is “I don’t know” the odds are very great that the seller would rather tell you that than give an honest answer that might concern you. Cynical? You bet. Buying a coach is a big deal and it takes a lot of time to sort out a coach’s actual condition and you as a potential buyer have 100% of the responsibility to do that.
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