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Hidy Ya’ll!
Hi Ya’ll!
We’re brand new newbies, NO bus yet, but just starting to look. State of Texas is evicting us from our house because they are going to put a new highway right thru our living room and we don’t have a choice. Wife and I are 1 birthday away from our 60’s and my Retha is disabled from a stroke 2 yrs ago. Not sure exactly when this “move” will take place as we have been warned for 12 years now. But, officially notified 2 weeks ago that we MUST attend a construction schedule meeting in 5 days (oct 23). We EXPECT that it possibly “could” happen within the next 6 months to a year. I’m semi-retired (still do machine shop work in my home shop for some of the oil field companys.) so that I can take care of the wife easily. Raised 2 kids & a set of grand kids so now, it’s just us.
It hasn’t taken me too long to see plainly that we want a Prevost and nothing else.
I am very confident in my mechanical abilitys and have years of experience in machining, appliance repair (home type), plumbing, electrical, a/c-central’s & furnaces (home stuff) and some other stuff, but have NOT a clue on diesel or generators. I can build a wood box as long as you don’t care how square it is, just not much of a wood worker yet. So, I expect that I will be able to take care of some things pretty well.
I have been reading till my eyes blur but have already settled on this kind. Many many dream machines out there but pretty sure we’ll be looking in the 150k or so.
l have my eye on a 2000 country coach lxv for about that. Beautiful, in fact it is so nice that it is hard to believe that WE could ever deserve something that pretty. It is a dealer. Don’t want to pay full tilt boogie, but don’t want to insult them either. Any suggestions? If it is taken care of properly do you think it has about hit bottom on the value at this price?
Wife is from and has family in Washington state so will be tripping there one of the first trips of course. Could use some help in what do I need to watch out for, being so new. It’s reassuring that these have such a good following and we are really looking forward to getting in the “groove” with some of ya’ll.
We dont’ even know what questions to ask so ANY newbie info ya’ll can give us will be treasured. I know we want the over the road air, but aqua-heat? Wabtabo?? (probably wrong)
What do you think would be too many hours on a 20kw generator? The unit in question has 166K miles & 1650hrs on generator. Reckon what the life is on that?
Suspect at first will be road hogging but later figure to have a “lot” at each end, Texas & Washington. We did do alot of traveling for about 3 years in a job, but was always motels. Got tired of eating out all the time and a good old plate of beans and cornbread just cannot be bought in a resturant or cafe. So, this seems perfect.
Not too interested in a brix & stix home anymore, don’t want the maint, don’t want the taxes, or the other headaches of home ownership any more.
thank ya’ll for letting us join in here and we look forward to learning and maybe even meeting some of ya’ll…..
thanks again!
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4 Replies
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The Gen is good for 30,000 to 50,000 hours its not even broke in yet
I added this after post the motor is good for 60000 before a rebuild maybe 500,000 miles then or maybe not have to do a in frame there will be things you will have to do because of age, when they say its a million mile motor I dont think any body has kept one that long to see , any time I have done about 600,000 miles I have always had to do the top end of the motor , most big trucks are for sale at about 500,000 then they get new ones or spend money to rebuild the old one, all my Peterbuilt’s have got about 475,000 before much work was done on motor . The down fall of the coaches is not a lot of miles on them . I would buy one with 250,000 miles before I bought one with 70,000 miles on it because it rolled down the road sitting is not good on them , miles is and hours on gen is good
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We recently bought a coach from Legacy Coach in Rockwall, TX. Brandon, James, and Hannah are first class people and really helped us through the buying process. We intended to buy a Prevost but bought an 04 Monaco Signature instead. James and Brandon set it up so that we spent a weekend going through our top pick Prevost and the Monaco and it was a tuff choice. We’re full-timing and the additional room of 4 slides was the tipping point for us.
Good luck in your search.
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Really!??? that’s great. Thanks!
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We are clearly biased towards a Prevost, but anyone considering full timing has to start by defining wants and needs.
There are so many things to consider the starting point has to be your budget. Keep in mind in the vintage coach your are considering that the purchase price is a large part of what you will spend, but not all. Around 8 to 15 years of age most coaches are ready for air bags, valves, brake chambers, etc. Maybe the coach will need tires and batteries. The point being no matter what your buy, a conventional motor home or a Prevost you are faced with age related expenses. If the coach has good records that show the coach has been maintained, including the items that age out then you do not have to face that expense.
Once your budget is defined you need to consider how you use the coach. If you plan on spending a lot of time traveling as opposed to staying in one spot for extended periods you may opt to not get slides. Slides are an expense, have maintenance costs associated with them, and add weight while reducing storage. But if you spend a lot of time in one spot that extra room can be very important.
You need to consider if the XL chassis is what you want or if the H3 is better for your needs. Each has its advantages. An XL is easier to get in and out of beceause of fewer steps, but the H3 has more bay space. The driver in an XL is part of the conversation if the family comes along, whereas the driver in an H3 sits well below the living room and might not be able to participate in conversations. If it is just two of you, either works.
Do you want an open or private toilet? Do you want a table, booth or J-shaped dinette? Should the living room have two sofas, a sofa and one or two chairs and should the sofas fold out into a bed?
If you will dry camp a lot, you need a lot of battery power. If you go from power pole to power pole the amount of battery power is less important. The same considerations need to be given to water and holding tank capacities.
You have to consider service and maintenance. Will you do your own, or will you take the coach somewhere for service? Do you feel comfortable with complex systems to control the coach and the conveniences those systems provide, or is a simple coach with less convenience features more important?
Notice I haven’t said anything about decor, flooring, or colors. Yes you have to like your coach and how it looks, but in the long run those items can be changed, but it is not so easy to change floor plans or systems.
Pricing of coaches is one of the deepest, darkest secrets known to man. You can find two coaches that you find to be almost identical as far as converter, features, age, etc, but prices to be far apart. And almost nobody can pinpoint what prices should be because buyers are reluctant to tell you what they paid unless they stole the coach, and sellers are reluctant to reveal what they got unless it was a whole lot. You have to use the internet to zero in on the price range for the coaches that meet your list of wants and needs. It is my opinion you are further ahead by far to buy a well used and maintained coach with records to prove a good continuing maintenance program than a cheap coach with no evidence it got more than an occasional oil change.
As to a conventional motor home, let us all know how a 200,000 mile Prevost compares to a 200,000 mile conventional motor home. Keep in mind that with occasional interior refreshing it is not unusual to find entertainer conversions with well over 500,000 still running down the interstates day after day.
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