[Jerry]

Paul, We have friends who own Coach 634 who travelled several years ago with Marathon Coach 635, (blue and tan) they spent summer in Alaska. This coach is not in Dallas. Coach 534 is there now. On a similar note Steve Bennett at California Coach has a 2000 Marathon H3-45 #586′ tan and copper and yellow.

[Jim]

We bought a H from Panterra earlier this year. Havent had the bus on a trip yet. Pre-Inspection, Purchase, very pleasent experience. Randy, Joyce and Rex are all good to work with and keep their word.

[Dale]

We purchased from Panterra last year and they were great to deal with.

[DON]

I’m having my coach interior modifications done at Panterra…great group of people! While there I looked at 3 coaches while the wife was picking out fabric and they all looked nice..don’t remember if one of them was the coach you are looking at or one at the showroom in Michigan.

[Archived]

Paul,

As you are finding buying a coach can be hard. With a used coach this is especially true because it is far more than just picking fabrics and colors.

Regardless of any feedback you get from PC members it is important you view the coaches in person. And the more you look at coaches, the more precise your gut feel will be on whether a coach is for you or not. And once you have that “eureka” moment and you just know that coach is the one you want (that’s the emotional part of the process) just be sure you make any purchase contingent upon a detailed inspection. At least you will begin ownership knowing exactly what you are buying.

[David]

One piece of GREAT advice I got from Jon when I was looking 8 months ago was to make sure I left room in my budget to “zero out” the coach. For us it meant new tires, new air bags all around, new norgren valves, all new belts, new batteries (chassis, coach, generator and house), complete service on aqua hot or webasto, generator, jun aire, water filters and a complete chassis inspection and service done at Prevost, and a few other items I probably forgot. Anyway, we ended up putting almost $30K in the zero out process. The result was a trouble free first 4 months in the coach when we spent the winter in Florida.

Since I didn’t get what I considered to be complete maintenance records at least I knew leaving that we did the best we could to get the coach in pristine condition. Of course we found a few other things we wanted done while traveling but nothing major.

[glen]

Paul, don’t know what your needs (other than you don’t want or need slides), wants or wishes are, but the Vantare has Prevo OTR whereas the Marathon won’t. Randy and the guys at Pantera are honest and straight up folks. We will be at Pantera 3rd wk of May if you want us to take a close look. Also, Parliament has a non-slide Vantare that I can get the straight scoop on. George 941 779 5018

[Archived]

I heard back from Gregg and he informed me that the coach is located at marathon in San Antonio. We prefer the color scheme and bedroom layout of the 2000 and also the updated exterior. The items that concern me are the multiple locations of listing and prices and the lack of confidence I get when looking into this coach, I was hoping someone on this forum might have knowledge of the 2000.

I will probably have time on Friday and I am going to make contact with Panterra then. I have confidence in dealing with Panterra, I spoke with them in January while at the POG show,

With being the novice we are to this I think our best bet is to deal with a dealer that we get straight forward dealings as part of our must have list. I will also have to have a detailed inspection done by a qualified third party on any coach. Based on the location of Panterra, what would be the options for third party inspection.

OK, John, I see that Matathon listed the 2000 coach on here today, based on the integrity of this site I get a much better feeling that Marathon does have this coach. Being new to this I am not sure that is normal, but I am not comfortable looking into making a purchase of something that someone represents for sale that they don’t have. This coach has been on other sites by multiple sellers. I am not sure if this is normal, but it creates a big red flag for me. Seeing it on here just helped.

[Paul]

Paul,

The 2000 Marathon is at San Antonio, Fl and you should call Preston Green. It does have 365’s , updated front cap and lots of goodies.

[Archived]

Thanks Tom, that’s the call I will be making Friday morning unless I get a chance tomorrow.

[AL]

Paul,

I looked at the 02 Vantare that Panterra has and drove it just a few weeks ago. It’s a low mileage one owner bus with OTR and has 365’s on the steer and tag. Call Rex and he’ll give you the straight poop. We chose another bus because of interior layout, but you should check this one out.

Tell Rex and Randy your a PC guy….

[Jim]

Paul,

If you have concerns about a coach the worst purchase will be through a private sale. You have no recourse unless you somehow can be assured the seller will stand behind the coach. Easier said than done.

Buying from the converter or a well established dealer is clearly your best bet if you want a coach that has had a comprehensive inspection, needed repairs, and some form of support and warranty. That is all negotiable of course, but with professionals they are in the best position to address any concerns.

I am not sugesting you can feel so comfortable you can buy a coach without any inspection, so you still need to make yourself comfortable with the condition of the coach. I have used comments gathered from various forums as a guide to things I need to look at along with doing all the things I would do on a typical routine inspection. I am sure both Marathon and Pantera will work with you to help with your inspection and will address any concerns you might have.

The burden on you is to make sure before you drive away that you are satisfied with the coach and its condition, that you have been trained on the coach and its operation, and that you and the seller have a clear understanding of who is responsible for any problems or issues that might arise as you are leaving.

Both Marathon and Pantera are well respected.

[Archived]

Paul,

Don’t rule out private sellers some, maybe even most, are trustworthy. I’ll suggest many are at least as trustworthy as consignment sellers. Of course, most private sellers aren’t going to make good on minor repair needs or anything else after the sale is done. This should come as no surprise as they shouldn’t be building these reserves in their price.

Buying from reputable dealers should be a pleasure. Randy at Panterra and Brandon at Legacy are straight up guys, as I’m sure many others are.

Yes, factor in routine maintenance items that have scheduled maintenance interval. Some things people replace may last forever but they replace them anyway. Two such examples are Norgren valves and air bags. With a dry air system and regular use Norgrens will last decades. When they show signs of replacement they generally do so in such a wasy they don’t leave you stranded.

Most converters and some dealers will conduct their own PDI to determine what needs repaired/replaced to establish their own purchase/trade value. Private sellers aren’t generally going to hire someone, so they have to depend on what has been done under their maintenance or their own knowledge.

[Archived]

Paul,

Don’t be discouraged over buying from a private owner, expecially if they’re active members of PC. You do have to do your homework, but the rewards are there. I’m on my 6th bus, 5 were from private owners and one from Liberty. If you’re not a mechanical guy, then you have to rely on a 3rd party to handle the PDI.

Even if you buy from a dealer/broker, chances are there will be limitations to what will be helped with after the sale. Most of those transactions are “As Is” and buyer bewhere. Some have a warranty period after the sale, but many do not. You would want to address that right up front.

Whoever you buy from, drive it and operate every single component on the bus.

[Archived]

Gil is right about some private sellers being honest. However while some are honest they may not know what they don’t know so a coach they believe to be excellent can be a disaster because they never knew you had to service the pneumatic system for example. And sadly, a new buyer would be so overwhelmed with all the coach systems the buyer might never realize a coach has a serious problem until too late.

I looked at two coaches with a PC couple not too long ago, both coaches were represented as being pristine and perfect. If I wasn’t cynical before them, after looking at the two coaches I was a cynic. The first had one AC not working, the OTR wasn’t working, the batteries for the house were so bad he had to run the generator to keep the lights on in the house, and the owner had a towel on the driver’s seat covering a large gash in the leather. The generator was spewing so much oil or fuel it was dripping from the generator compartment.

The second coach we presumed was going to be much better because the owner said it was his baby and it needed nothing. He boasted it had brand new tires and everything worked. The reality was it also had house batteries so weak the generator was pulling a lot of amps just to charge the batteries. The “new” tires had so much tire dressing the date codes were hard to read but when they were finally readable it appeared the tires were 10 years old. And one AC did not work. Both coaches were cosmetically OK considering their age, but both were going to involve some serious money to correct the defects and neither owner was even willing to acknowledge the seriousness of the problems.

My point is maybe the sellers were being truthful because they believed their coaches were in the condition they said they were. But regardless a buyer is more likely to get an accurate description of the coach being sold from a dealer or the converter because those folks have more experience with coaches and know what’s right and what is not. Reputable dealers also are well aware the Prevost owners are part of a small group of enthusiasts who can and will use forums such as this one to report on their dealings and it doesn’t take long for disreputable dealers to rapidly gain a bad reputation. Fortunately we rarely see negative posts.