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Hello group! (from a new member)
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I think most of us are younger than Tom and Jon….. 😉
We are mid 40s, I’m Retired, she supports me, at least for a couple more years. And yes, she drives. I handle take offs and landings, but she will do the stuff in between.
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In the $150 price range I would aim for the absolute best coach on the market that could be bought for $125. I would look at every single coach on the market that met my requirements (my must haves are OTR air and a private toilet, followed by things we really want, but would give up if the right coach came along). I would narrow it down to a specific converter, model of Prevost, size, etc. and when I stepped in the right coach I would have that eureka moment when I knew this was te coach (subect to a good inspection).
I would hold the $25 in reserve to make sure whatever was required to make it perfect. Any money left over would be for additional work if any showed up after I started using the coach. If you are not insisting on a 2 slide 45 foot coach with new tires, batteries, air bags and a recently updated interior you will find a lot of good coaches to consider in that price range. I can assure you if you are a little flexible and willing to consider everything that is out there you will find a coach that needs almost nothing, and that might run 5 years before you need to spend serious money beside fuel and oil changes.
But if you are going to walk away from coaches becausde you don’t like the color or because it doesn’t have a 42″ smart TV in the LR your search will get seriously difficult in that price range. In that range you are going to get an older coach really well cared for, or a newer coach that needs a lot of maintenance to make it right.
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Jon is absolutely correct. The best Prevost value at this time for under 200K total are 97-00 XLV rivet busses. You get a bank vault with IFS and a Series 60 and a whole lot of life left. See Jon…I am under control ! Geo.
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Geo,
Glad to hear you are back on track. Not the track, but the right track. Take care of the questions for a while. Tom and I have work to do today (for a change).
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OSBMXR,
I read the older posts as you have before we bought our coach. My wife and I are in our mid-40’s so probably younger than the average profile here and our kids are young. We owned 5 RV’s before jumping up to Prevost. Best decision we ever made.
- If all I knew were what I read here I would think that owning a Prevost is a constant battle and something breaks everytime I use it.
- Everyone on this site was a new Prevost owner at some point in thier career but how often do you see them becoming an ex-Prevost owner?
- It is a very rare occurance indeed.
- They are complex and it does take a certain type of personality profile to own and maintain one.
- My guess is that most of the owners on this site are tinkerers by nature anyway and love the effort to keeping these things in tip-top shape.
- It does take effort but the value in return out weighs the efforts.
Get one, you won’t regret it. -
So Geo,
As of today, you would rather take a ’97-’00 XL vs. your ’99 H-3 Vantare? Why or why not?
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T&C, the short answer is no. We loved our ’00 CC (’99 shell year) and our H is also a ’99 shell year. We simply wanted an H and slides because the way we used the bus changed somewhat. The rivet CC was absolutely the perfect first Prevost for us. Fairly straightforward systems and a marvel of simplicity. The Vantare is a more complex conversion with a lot more bells and whistles and we were ready for that. As we get a bit older it really is a lot easier to push buttons as long as you are willing to pay the price of maintaining the complexity that goes with it. I,m happy with the present bus, but glad it wasn’t our first bus. Geo.
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G&C,
Since you have two slides (which I’m looking at) I’m assuming you have the HWH slides vs. the later Prevost slides which came out after ’01. Any issues with your slides?
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Chris, it sounds like we are similar in many ways. Yes, my primary concern is that it’s a constant battle with something breaking every time I go to use it. Thanks to the comments like yours above, I am getting past that.
I see you’re in Tulsa. One of our longest runs would be to Tulsa every year for the BMX Grand Nationals on Thanksgiving week end at Expo Square. Not trying to dis Tulsa, but ammentities near the Expo aren’t that great. I’ve stayed in hotels and also RV’d in the parking lot, and I liked RV’ing there better. Restaurant options are even worse. Last year we did Hard Rock for the Thanksgiving buffet and it was nice, but decent restaurant options are few and far away. 2 years ago we crashed The Chalkboard with the kids in their BMX gear because we didn’t know it was that nice and were starving and out of options. I guess I am lucky to live in an area that has one of the highest per capita concentrations of restaurants, and people of all income ranges here like to eat out so options are unlimited.
Curious to know how you configured your two bunks. Are they upfront behind the passenger seat? Is it something you custom-made, to be easily removed/replaced with something more traditional later on perhaps?
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Our coach was originally custom made for a guy whose daughters did horse shows. They made a true bunk room in the middle of the coach with a side hallway design. Really cool setup. The bunkroom has three bunks, a hanging closet, TV, and an air door to close the bunkroom. Great design. Hard to find coaches with the bunks that aren’t entertainer coaches with 900,000 miles on them.
I have zeroed out most items on the coach and it gives us very few problems. I have an issue here or there but overall it is a great asset to the family.
This forum helps me out a ton. I chime in on items I have experience with but I try to read and learn as much as possible. As I said before, the other RV’s we owned were OK but this truly has become our secondary home and we love it. Before buying the bus we were considering a vacation home somewhere. Since buying the bus, that conversation has ended.
As for Tulsa, we have tons of great local restaruants you just have to know where to look. Next time you are here let me know and I’ll point you in the right direction.
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Welcome to the family!
My wife and I bought a 98 Liberty conversion last fall. This is our first coach after years of waiting. 20+ years ago, I was a supplier to Mitchel Coach (Vogue Motorhomes). The also converted Prevosts and that’s where I fell in love.
We found a coach that had less than 100k on it and have enjoyed it.
I’m converting it to LED marker lights along with upgrading the TV’s.
Stay with the Series 60, they are good for a million miles. The 8v92 will eat you up with costs.
Look at the major builders, Liberty, Marathon, etc.
Liberty has treated us like family from the time we called them to check the history on our coach.
This forum and POG are great places to find answers.
Enjoy!
Jackson & Jessica Whitacre
Broken Arrow, OK
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T&C, we have only a salon slide. When we were looking for our present bus, I couldn’t find a 2s Vantare that was accepetable to us. Then this bus kinda fell in our lap and even though it didn’t have the bed slide, we knew it was the right bus for us. We have had no trouble with the slide (HWH) and I like the fact that it has a simple D seal, about 20% of the cost to reseal compared to a Prevost slide. Geo.
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OSBMIXER…
I am a “wife” driver !!!
Infact I can even do it all… wouldn’t hesitate to take a trip without Larry if need be. He actually admits he wouldn’t take a trip without me because he likes everything working LOL !! He doesn’t want to mess with learning the systems… he just wants it to work.
For the many years that Larry had undiagnosed sleep apnea I was the primary driver… nothing worse than flying down the highway at 80 and looking over at the driver and he’s asleep… his driving career ended that day until he got a c-pap machine which was a few years…. he’s ok now thank goodness !!
I enjoy driving and am very comfortable with it… I think the fear of the size of the bus is natural but also easily overcome if they enjoy driving a car etc…. just need to drive out on the freeway without having OSto make any sharp turns for a few times and you will get used to the size… it really isn’t hard at all. ( The folks that don’t like driving shouldn’t !!)
It would be really nice if the wives/girlfriends learned the basics of hooking up unhooking doing the sewer etc. and some driving incase your better half gets sick… it has happened to us a couple of times and I was able to handle it all and get us home without a problem.
Just for the record we are “older” than Tom or Jon !!
Cheers, Diane
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You Go Girl!
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How about leading a class on those topics next seminar Diane ? I will provide your first student but don’t be surprised if she shows up in a hazmat suit and gas mask for sewer class. Kidding aside I think that would be very beneficial.
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