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XLII Buyers Beware
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Chuck,
There are so many different potential leak points on your XLII that you would have to reseal everything from clearance lights to upper windshield gasket to air horn related penetrations to the joint between the front cap and the roof, and maybe even less likely entry points such as the satellite dish base to the spotlight.
But since you have OTR, remove or open the baffle to allow fresh air into the OTR evaporator (driver side, third bay), and then using a tall ladder and a spray bottle with soapy water start looking for leaks. Run the bus on high idle, turn on the OTR, and start spraying the soapy water at all points in the right front roof area that might be the leak point.
The OTR with the outside air vent open will pressurize the coach and where ever your leak is you will see soapy bubbles when you spray that spot. The OTR system with the vent open creates so much pressure it will be hard to close the door so where ever that leak is, and all other leaks as well they will show up.
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I would be suspect of the clearance light as well as that upper window. After time the Sikaflex will dry up and let water come in. I just had mine done on both sides since the Sikaflex was in the same state and I could tell I was getting moisture coming in the driver side.
One thing to make sure you do is clean the old sealant out real well before you apply the new sealant otherwise water could still find its way inside. The actual glass does not need to be removed.
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Just completed leak repair on drivers side small upper window. Window gasket was leaking although externally no signs of dry rot, etc. Found it by using inspection camera, then removingmotorized blind and all the insulation. Repaired on outside by taping off and using 3M window sealant caulk. So far so good.
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It’s too early to tell if we proceed. We found a single slide XLII. It has obvious “delam”. From anyone’s experience, would Prevost step in and help with delam repair with this age of coach. We would take of paint
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I had similar leak. I recaulked with black caulk the drip rail that is located a few inches above the door. Caulk the top edge of the drip rail. This worked for me and leak stopped.
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No Prevost will give no help on a coach of that age…their time could be down to 5 years old…
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Prevost really stepped up and offered incredible support for coach owners with delam issues and they went through several variations of the repair process before developing the repair that uses a top “zee” strip behind the upper coach perimeter band and the vertical trim strips that hide the panel end rivet lines.
The repair was very labor intensive and expensive, but when completed the issue was permanently resolved.
Some owners failed to take advantage of their willingness to pick up the cost of the repair because Prevost would not pay for the needed paint work and in a lot of cases the paint work approached $10,000.
There are likely still some XLII coaches with delam issues and because of their age there is no chance Prevost will do the repair at their expense. That puts buyers and sellers in a difficult position because just the Prevost part of the repair could easily reach up to $50,000.
I would still advise anyone contemplating an XLII purchase to have Prevost (and only Prevost) do an inspection to determine if the coach has an issue and what the estimated cost for repairs will be. Then it becomes a simple matter of negotiating with a seller to determine the purchase price of the coach.
It is important to understand that only Prevost can do a proper repair using the procedure they developed. It is extensive in that once accomplished there will never again be loose panels or water penetration behind the panels.
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I agree with Jeff, you’ll get no help.
The good news is you guys are educated and understand the risk of a an XLII with delam. I watch all these XLII purchases happening on the various sites and Fakebook and the buyers haven’t a clue that they could easily be facing 40K in repairs.
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I agree…
Prevost delam repair is on a case by case basis.
If you meet the basic qualifications your case must also travel to Canada headquarters and either approved or rejected.
There is no appeal.
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Is this a problem that exists on every XLII built in every year? It may end my search for an XLII.
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I don’t know if anyone other than Prevost has the statistics but it does not apply to every XLII.
We do not have access to how many were repaired, how many were built or even if there is a pattern such as an age range or coach location or even why there was delamination.
Not every XLII had the problem. The issue appears resolved on production units from the last half dozen years or so, and I was told second hand that if an older coach did not have a problem up to this point it likely never will.
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Ours is an example of one not having the problem, but it is not at the end of it’s life either, so we remain at risk. And since the fix is labor intensive, we would first choose to go to Saint Nicolas for the affect of the currency exchange rate. When I was there in 2016, the labor rate in US dollars was eighty-four.
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I recently called an owner about his double slide coach for sale, my first question was about had it been checked for delamination. I was told it had been looked at by Prevost Nashville, saying it didn’t need to be fixed and would never need it.
Big red flag ran up the pole, so I call the body shop manager at Prevost Ft Worth, and was told that just because it didn’t need it when it was checked, doesn’t mean it won’t need it 6 months later.
I was also told that the current cost to fix correctly, which is putting more sealant in as well as rivets and the vertical stainless steel strip like Jon spoke about is running closer to 50 thousand.
If you buy a coach that hasn’t been fixed, you might be on the hook for a very expensive fix, buyer beware.
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Mira Loma quoted me today, just the rivet kit with patch panel alone installed was $27,000. This just repair, no paint. The coach we are looking at has no paint on stainless. If all the panels need replacing, we are checking into a whole matte finish on the bus.
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Sounds to me like rivets weren’t a bad thing on the old ones. I love my rivets.
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