[AL]

jeff,

we went to the taa show last year. was amazed at the number of coaches in one location as well as the number of resources available at the show (dealers, vendors and convertors as well as prevost).

to add to it, there are a number of dealers in the area that have additional inventory they may not have at the show near by. and then you can also find a number of for sale by owner coaches in florida. all in all, plenty of coaches to look at in a short distance from the show. allows you to make the most of a short time and see a good selection of options out there on the market.

even though we had just bought our used coach prior to the show, it was well worth the trip for us.

[Archived]

Jeff, that’s really about it. As Charles said “bang for buck”. The Tampa show combined with Parliament’s rally immediately beforehand plus the central location to so many outlets makes South-Central Florida in January the place to look for a coach. Geo.

[Archived]

Hey George and Corey,

We’re make travel arrangements for Lynn as we speak. I hope she gets to meet some of you when she is there.

Thank you so much, this is getting kind of exciting!

Jeff and Lynn

[Jane]

Hey Charles,

Thank you so much for your input. We are making travel arrangments for Lynn.

Jeff and Lynn

[Bob]

Jeff & Lynn, Parliament’s rally is Jan 5-9 show in Tampa(20 min)10 & 11th. If you’re in a coach call Karen at Parliament, if not just come to the rally. You’ll meet a lot of wonderful and knowledgeable people plus you will see a large service/repair facility in action that is also gearing up to do conversions again. I can almost guarantee that you will learn more in a couple of days than you would on line and going all over the country looking at individual busses. Geo.

[AL]

Everything George and Charles say about the Tampa All Prevost show is true. George is an expert on rallys and if he says the Parliament rally is a good one, then its a good one.

We were there two years ago and found a significant number of Prevosts for sale in Craigslist within an easy drive of Tampa.

[Archived]

One strong point I would like to make to new potential Prevost buyers is to use a show or a rally or any large concentration of Prevost coaches as an opportunity to look at a wide variety of coaches, from XL to H3 and from all converters.

Seeing the coaches and the various conversions in person will give you a sense of scale which is difficult to get from internet photos. Once you become familiar with the floor plans and how various converters set up their coaches the photos you see on line will make a lot more sense.

Seeing coaches at a show however should not be a buyer’s only way of evaluating them. The real information will come from owners who are not selling their coach. This is especially true of owners who have had multiple conversions. Each owner is inclined to “sell” his brand of conversion. It’s human nature. The most accurate information will come from someone who has experienced multiple brands and who is willing to discuss the plusses and minuses of each.

One more caveat: Make sure you put the information you learn in the context of how you intend to use your coach. If your primary use is as a second home mostly parked in an RV resort but used occasionally your needs will be completely different than the needs of someone who does a lot of travel and is rarely in the same place each night. There is a world of difference between a coach set up and ideal for dry camping, than one best suited for power pole to power pole type of use. You have to decide how to filter the information you gather through your own set of wants and needs.

[Archived]

Jon (as usual) makes very good points. We started our Prevost search after having been in three or four Libertys a friend had back in the 90’s and early 2000’s and a Marathon for sale we stumbled onto along the I-94 near Racine, WI.

I wanted a 40 foot coach because we pull a 24′ race trailer and “thought” I needed the short wheelbase for manuverability. But after going to the Tampa show, talking to various owners, dealers, and brokers, and looking at bunch of FISBO coaches in Florida I realized what we really wanted and needed was a 45′, IFS, private commode, Liberty with OTR.

If the All Prevost Show in Tampa is able to assemble a diverse collection of coaches, this will be a great oppurtunity to compare and contrast what one converter does vs another. Hopefully besides the higher volume conversion (Liberty, Marathon , Country Coach, Vantare, etc.) you’ll be able to see coaches from the lower volume converters as well (Royale, American, Angola, Parliament, etc.).

[Fred F.]

Jon, Dick, Charles and George,

Thank you for all the great perspective! This step is essential for us right now! We also enter this phase with only limited criteria. The main criteria is to get Lynn to see as many different rigs as she can. It will be obvious to her exactly which way to go. Her plans are made and the best we could do is get her there on the 7th. We are very sure that we will miss some great opportunities but that is the way it goes. We are on the right track, thanks very much to all of you!!!!!!

Jeff

[AL]

Jeff………..make sure for your initial in depth look at coaches you both ignore the decor and colors. In the real world you have to like the way your coach looks, but when trying to formulate plans regarding what will work best for your needs the colors, interior theme, and appearance items are relatively meaningless.

What is important though are the systems for how you will use the coach, the floor plans or layout, and features that will make the use of the coach more enjoyable.

[Archived]

Jeff, she’ll be fine getting there on the 7th…..plenty of time to stop at Parliament go to the used bus show and even some side trips as others are located within a reasonable distance. Everybody will take good care of her. Geo.

[Dick]

Jeff,

Connect up with the PC folks who will be or who are in the area. Not only to get help getting to different venues but to sit down over a lunch and discuss how people use their coaches and what features are important for their use of the coach.

When we were contemplating the purchase of our first coach in 1990 there were relatively few owned privately as motor homes. But we were fortunate in meeting the late Don Hoffman who arranged for us to join him, his wife Margaret and a couple that owned a conversion. If we had any doubts they were erased. We got great insight into how buses could be used and what to look for in a coach. We got tips about things to avoid. We got information about who built coaches and who sold them. And we were able to get Don who did conversions (his sons and daughter continue doing conversions) to agree to inspect our coach when we bought it.

Bottom line….we have a site full of very helpful people and if anyone needs in depth information it would be silly to pass up the opportunity to take advantage of our members skills and knowledge.

[Archived]

Jon and George,

Thanks!!!!!

Education in whatever form it takes is always fantastic. In this case and in this search, there is always so much to learn. Our future kind of looks like part time fulltimers so our axion is to keep functional so that we have plenty of time to enjoy the things we like to enjoy. Second and to your point, Jon, we have arrived at Prevost due to the commercial durability of the equipment while at the same time taking care of what got us there. The custom side of the the market seems to create a much smaller field to draw from, So, Jon, I really think I agree with you. We know how we live and we know whats important and that will help in our search. Lynn will see things that she really likes and some of it just will not work for other reasons out but it does really help to see her enthusiasm for a particular coach. This thins the herd a bit for us!

Geo, I will contact some of exhibitors and let them know she is coming and basically where our search is taking us.

Thank you both for all the help, it’s hot, sunny and nice down here

Jeff

[Jane]

George and Corey can provide a wealth of information because they make extensive use of the coach they have. They also have bought and sold coaches so their advice in regards to that should be very helpful.