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Welcome to Donny and Sheila!

Talk to Incredible Bank. They are one of the PC Forums advertisers and focus on lending on luxury motorhomes with a special interest in Prevost motorcoaches. They might open a door for you that will allow you more flexibility in acquiring a coach.

I’m sure you’ll get lots of really informative responses to your request for background and information. On behalf of all of us already on the PC Forum, we look forward to helping you spend your money! We’re all sure you’ll enjoy it as much as those of us who have gone before you!

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Welcome Donny!

I was in your shoes two years ago, when I began my questions and search for my first Prevost, which took around six-months.

First, if your budget is $124k, does that include repairs/zeroing out the coach? If not, you need to lower your Prevost purchase price by $30k.

However, if you have the extra $30k for repairs, etc., then $124K is going to get you a coach that’s 1995-1999, depending on if it’s a dealer of private individuals.

I looked at “all” conversions, did the Featherlite factory tour, looked closely at a Liberty in Dallas, but purchased a Marathon in Oklahoma. Many on this forum also have a Country Coach or Royale, both excellent coaches, although they no longer manufacture coaches.

To answer your question on service, there are seven Prevost service centers across the U.S., plus several other service centers, like ETLC, Trawick, Parliment, Donnie Meyers who will work on your Prevost.

As for the house, Marathon, Liberty and Featherlite all work on other convertes, although they may upcharge you if it’s not their converter. ETLC, Trawick, Tradewinds, Parliment, Donnie Meyers work on all coaches.

Continue your quest …

[Gary]

I hope everyone recognizes what happens when members take advantage of the expertise that is possessed by our members. It was not that long ago that Tim was brand new to this forum and he asked questions. Today he has shifted to where he is answering questions, and from my perspective his answer is right on target. Nobody is better qualified to address questions such as the one that started this thread than an owner that has recently gone through the process of identifying and buying their coach.

Good job Tim.

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jon , as usual has hit it on the head.

My purchase / search took about 7 months. – and I just bought my bus last December. I had two previous plastic coaches. One with 3 slides, and one with 4. Each was much better than what I upgraded from. (5th wheel 5 to 39′ Meridian to 40′ allegro bus). I can tell you without a doubt you are in for the quietest, smoothest, easiest driving experience – one that allows me to put 600 miles days on without feeling totally worn out at the end of the day or maybe more importantly the NEXT day.

My personal experience was the price range you mentioned didn’t get me into a bus I particularly liked.

I personally started with a budget of 150 and was looking for a XL with a series 60 engine and a private toilet. Once I started weeding through (and educating myself here with all of the amazing shared information) and looking at buses in real life it became evident to me that my quest would require me to expand my budget for items like OTR, and a master bed with the bed running length wise in the bus (head board on the rear wall)

i found the space of a no slide bus (slides in the coach didn’t fit my budget) was quite adequate for me and my family based on how we use the bus. Be aware there are many floor plans and the right one for you will be different for potentially anyone else. I particularly don’t “feel” the limited space with my closets being in the bathroom and thus not having to walk around the bed to get out clothes , etc.

also I prefer my head to not be under the window.

I was fortunate to find a bus that had all new air bags and much of the zero out effort started. – but I paid a premium for this. I also used incredible bank. Give them a call if you feel you need to expand the budget. If I recall I had the option to finance in some upgrades when I bought.

Good luck. There is no comparison in the ride quality, drivability and overall safety of a well maintained Prevost bus.

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Welcome to the forum Buzz, we’ll do our best to help you spend your money and likely make up stuff as we go.:)

[Dick]

From one who recently purchased my first Prevost, my best advice is to enjoy the shopping adventure. Don’t rush as it takes time to find the coach that best suits your needs and budget.

[Dick]

Also , The purchase price is just the beginning. Search for the thread ” Annual Costs ” And another good article in the article section is ” Zero out a Coach ” or something like that. Prevost’s are wonderful , Safe and very comfortable.But expensive to repair.

Good luck with Your search !

Safe travels,

Rocky

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Welcome Donny!

You will not find a better place or better people to help you with everything concerning owning a Prevost.

Good luck in your search!

[Doug]

Talk to Incredible Bank as you mentioned your 401-K which might have some advantage in raising your bus budget.

When you get some time enter your name and profile so it appears on your posts. We all welcome you here with many ideas on how to spend money.

[Dick]

Thanks for all the great information. I am hope to be able to pay for a coach in full and not have to finance so I can have the extra funds for maintenance and repairs if needed. I have seen some coaches on here that may work if a deal can be made to lower the price some if possible. One question I have is-What is the difference between the Country Coach and Vough which is priced the lowest from the Marathon and Liberty? Has anyone ever dealt with Tradewinds Coach and Marine from Deland, FL.? I am thinking of taking a look at some of their Coaches.

[Ernest]

Be sure to talk to Tradewinds, they do excellent work and if you’ve read the other post we just did, they are expanding with their sales and service facility.

[Michael]

This is dangerous territory trying to explain why some conversions have a lower price than others, but I think a great deal of the difference is how the market perceives the value and how much the market is willing to pay for a specific conversion.

All cnversions are built to a high standard. All conversions have features highly valued by their owners and all conversions have some not so good features. The examples you gave also share a factor that influences their cost and that is with Marathon and Liberty their converters remain in business, and with Vogue and Country Coach their converters are no longer in business. Buyers apparently perceive that as there being support or no support for the coach. In reality all 4 mentioned are being supported, if not by the converter, but by qualified technicians at various locations.

There are some differences the market uses to impact values. One easy example that can be considered to add value is Liberty almost always builds its coaches with Prevost whole coach heat and AC. That is an expensive feature and some buyers seek out a Liberty because of that. On the other end of the spectrum Country Coach has an array printed circuit boards that some buyers see along with the lack of factory support as a negative despite the fact there are ways available to service and support them.

Just keep in mind no matter what coach you choose it is going to be on a Prevost chassis so regardless of converter you will still have the best chassis on the planet along with all the quality and reliability that is built into it.

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Early in my Prevost career I purchased two brand new Prevost Liberty conversions. The first coach was a 1987 which I upgraded to the new “Signature” line in 1988. The next 3 coaches were all Angola conversions. Our present old “Classis” is a Linden conversion.

This is is my observation after 30 years of Prevost ownership. Like Jon says, they are all on the best chassis known to man. Other than that my advise is KISS “keep it simple stupid”. On an older coach sometime less is better than much. The “bells and whistles” are nice until they get old and start screwing up.

[Donny]

I was a Bluebird Wanderlodge owner for many years. Sold our last and 4th Wanderlodge a couple months ago.

Before the new owner of my Bluebird arrived, I went to fill it up for the. This happened after I just filled up my new to us Liberty. The ride and quiet was hands down superior to the Wanderlodge. Me and another guy created the original wanderlodge forum 20 + years ago

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Great advice. It’s nice to pick your brains and learn from those who have gone before me to learn from. In my search I have seen seen two different engines 8v92, and Detroit s60. I have read that the Detroit s60 is a very good engine and easy to find service for over the 8v92. For those of you who have the 8v92, what has been your experience. Would you suggest to stay away from this engine or don’t be to concerned about it if I find a coach I like and it has this engine in it and I can pay for it in full? Thanks.