[Archived]

recommending Rick May at Parliament in Clearwater.

[Larry]

Ditto…call Rick May. He’s only 25 miles or so away.

[Gerald]

The chances of getting Rick from Parliament to go to Lazy Days is zero.

[Archived]

What Tom means is Rick would probably love to help you out and there is no one better to deal with, But what he did not say is your going to be dealing with Steve Mitchell at Lazy days and it’s like Oil and Water they don’t mix, sorry

[Jim]

I’m not sure all is lost. First, you are buying from a dealer and the dealer should be willing to assure you the coach is as represented. By that I mean you as a buyer should determine if the dealer is selling the coach “as-is” with no assurance everything is correct, or if you are buying a coach the dealer is willing to stand behind, with possible exceptions.

Obviously no money changes hands until you are satisfied the coach is as represented. That might mean you have it taken to the Detroit Allison dealer for a check and then you spend the time necessary in the Lazy Days campground with the dealer operating the coach and all its systems while that also serves as the training you need.

Buying a coach is not like buying a car. There are so many appliances, devices and systems you need to learn and understand that while you are going through all of those with the dealer you are both learning and inspecting. Don’t hesitate to use the articles on this site to help you through the inspection / learning process.

If you do find someone to do an inspection on your behalf you miss out on the hands on experience. And if Steve is the salesman he has a vast knowledge of Prevost conversions and should be able to answer all your questions. Remember one very important thing however. You need to prepare for the inspection because there are so many details you will not know what you don’t know unless you have used something to prepare you for all the questions you should ask and to know what to look for.

http://prevostcommunity.com/articleDetail.asp?ID=16

[Archived]

A knowledgeable salesman should give you a good feel for what he knows or doesn’t. The Detroit/Alllison shop is vefry near LDs, but they use a different shop that’s even closer and I understand they are very good. The process at LDs is to spend a few days in the sales campground to refine the fix list and to have the necessary fixes completed. You shouldn’t leave before having the repairs completed. If you agree to a ureducedrice for repairs, you need to be comfortable with the dollar amount allocated. You have repair facilities in both Clearwater and Sanford, both very close.

If you like the coach but feel uncomfortable you will have to decide whether to walk or overcome your discomfort. I’m about 75 north of Seffner and will be home next Thursday. I have a pretty fair understanding of our coaches but zero experience with Angola conversions. Private message me if you have questions you want to talk through. I’m sure others on this board will do the same, hopefully someone with the same model of Angola conversion.

[AL]

Jim, 13,000 miles? Is that true? If true, I would run and not look back. If you really love that particular coach, insist on PDI at Prevost Jacksonville and subtract the estimate from there(and it will be large) and at least half that again and you might be close. I would be more comfortable with that coach if it had 300,000 mi. on it.

[Archived]

Ditto on what George and Corey said, you’re not all that far from Prevost Jax and that shouldn’t be a deal killer.

[Mike]

Moe,

I am going to stop those two guys from raining on your parade. First, they are right. Make no mistake about it, a coach that age with that number of miles has the potential to be a serious problem because exercise is the best thing for our coaches. They were designed to run and the more often they run the fewer problems they tend to exhibit as a result of non use or limited use.

But the concerns are out of context. For any of us to advise for or against a coach we really need the price to be a part of the equation. You do need to realize while low miles may seem to be a plus, it is potentially a serious problem. The coach needs to be fully evaluated with emphasis on examining the parts whose age is going to signal potential problems. For example I would really give items like air bags, spool valves, brake chambers and the like a serious look because the rubber in those could have aged and could be a potential failure. We can assume tires and batteries were junk and should be brand new.

But the bottom line is if the price allows for the inspection and repairs foiund necessary you could be enjoyng a 16 year old new coach.

But keep in mind unlike a regularly used well maintained coach, even with high miles, this coach could possess mechanical problems hidden until you get to use the coach. Or not.

[Jim]

I really appreciate all the input from everyone. Yes, it only has 13,000 miles and that has been our concern since we do not know how long it has been since anything was done if at all. It has been looked at by a Detroit Service Center and they did find an oil leak that needed to be repaired but nothing serious. It could be an indication of things to come or not. One of the mechanics thinks its’ a buy with the low mileage but as always there is a 50 50 chance, perhaps one could get lucky for a change or not.

Anyway, I remain confused but will continue to look and perhaps fall back one more year to a 1996 Country Coach with 85K miles.

Once again, thanks to all and if there is anything else anyone can do to help the light come on, let me know.

[Archived]

Jon,

Tried to open the link you sent but could not get it to work.

Thanks for the help I see if I can open it again latter.

[jack]

Moe,

I went to the link above and it opened perfectly. What browser and device are you using?

[Archived]

Explorer 10. What are you using?

[needtocamp]

you could contact Jim Marsh at 407-756-3500 he is independent lives in Orlando was quality control and Pdi specialist with Featherlite for many years

[AL]

Windows 7, my browser is Chrome on an HP laptop.

Anyone else having issues and if so what are you using?