[Archived]

Hey Tom!

Well, now you have me wondering. Here are the clues so you can sort it out:

When I rode with him, he was driving a steady 62mph. He had the Best of Lawrence Welk playing on the satellite. And in the morning he had us bring him prune juice.

Does that sound like Jon?

[Bob]

Brady & Trish,

Welcome to PC and thanks for posting about your Liberty experience. Let us know what you have, it’s easy to add the bus to your signature and it helps with information sharing. When you leave Liberty after a PDI, there’s nothing left to do except enjoy the ride and have fun.

[Archived]

I didn’t intend this to be so long, so here are the bullet
points:

1. I full-timed in a fiberglass coach and it gave me nearly
zero insights to bus ownership

2. I did a ton of research and found knowledgeable people to
help me.

3. My wife and I identified our budget and “must haves.”

4. We purchased from a private owner under the guidance of a
professional.

5. We purchased a conversion company who was still in
business and nearby.

6. We negotiated a price that reflected known issues and
fixes.

7. We negotiated a PDI.

8. We were realistic buying a previously owned bus.

9. We have arranged a PDI from the converter.

10. We love our bus!

Here’s the narrative:

I full-timed in a fiberglass coach (03 Dutchstar 3 slide)
and never imaged how different they were until I started digging in to what a
bus is and can do.

Deb and I started with on-line research,
identified our purchase and operating budget, “must haves”, (separate head,
OTR, neutral paint/colors), and started researching converters. Once we had a
clear idea on what we wanted, we headed out
to look.

We eventually found a bus from a private
owner and then contracted a knowledgeable person to help us with the deal. We actually never met the owner in person.

Before we purchased we spent as much time as we could with
the bus and negotiated a price that reflected the repairs we needed fixed or
addressed by the owner before we could consider buying it. We also negotiated a
two-day PDI and a chance to drive and stay in the coach to identify any leaks,
leans, mechanical issues, weird noises and to use every system and appliance to
identify smaller issues that would be taken care of by the owner or further
negotiated off the price.

We felt good. The bus had an incredible documented
maintenance history, included every available manual, binders of receipts, the
converter was within a 15 hour drive, and a Marathon employee knew and looked
at the bus and gave it a thumbs up. A price was agreed that reflected our
concerns and known issues, and being realistic that this was a 15 year-old
coach and that we would most likely find other issues out on the road, we were
confident and made the purchase.

I agree with above posts, a wholesaler or dealer may not
know the bus you’re looking at. Even an owner has the ability to miss things or
not fully understand the functionality or health of the bus
they’re trying to sell to you.

After a few months of ownership and a couple thousand miles
on the road we found a few more issues and began to realize we needed our
conversion company’s help. The bus is a big deal and beyond our scope of
knowledge, so for our first big trip we included a stop at Marathon for a full inspection, needed
service and an all-inclusive PDI. In fact, our bus is on
the rack now for a two or three day evaluation.

We met with the Marathon service guy and
took a tour of the factory and are so happy to have them close by. I cannot
emphasize enough what a resource it is to be serviced and trained by the people
who built the bus. It is more money, but for this initial introduction and maintenance
set-up, I am sure it’s money well spent.

With proper technical support, experience and continued education
I continue to put myself in a position for the mechanical and financial success
of our family and Marathon.

By seeking out information and insights in places like this
on-line community, I’m sure you will too. Good luck!

[Archived]

Excelent post Kevin, I think you did everything right!

[Bob]

Tom do you ship house batteries to Calif ? I’m due for new house batteries in my Marathon H3 would you email me the info and the cost deliverd to Beaumont,Ca

Thanks

sidtuls@yahoo.com

[Darrell]

Hey Tom!

Well, now you have me wondering. Here are the clues so you can sort it out:

When I rode with him, he was driving a steady 62mph. He had the Best of Lawrence Welk playing on the satellite. And in the morning he had us bring him prune juice.

Does that sound like Jon?

It was orange juice…………….

[Archived]

OK Rod, I guess that was him and he most likely was in bed at 7:50pm. He never told me anything about the mail order Resetta Stone Technical Manual for flip phones he must have bought, sneaky guy. With his new toad, the 50 dicemobile, a bag phone may be in the future.