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XLII Buyers Beware
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I’m assuming the more recent vintage coach’s are not susceptible ?
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If newer models have the issue nobody has said a word.
Having said that, Prevost’s policy has always been to absorb the cost of the repair, and in some instances they paid for everything including paint if the coach was relatively new. On slightly older coaches, like 5 years and up they usually did not pay for paint.
Prevost required an inspection at one of their service centers. The findings of the inspection would be sent to Prevost in Canada and the amount of participation Prevost would provide was determined up there.That decision usually was final, although in some instances with the help of the converter or a case of a long term loyal multiple coach buyer Prevost might have reconsidered their participation.
It is my understanding they were very liberal in providing support, but if the coach had a sketchy history or was beyond a certain age they would not provide any good will. I only know of one that they would not repair at their expense.
But age is a huge factor in their decision. The newer the coach the more Prevost will do at their expense, the older the coach the less likely they will do the work for free. I do not know the cut off age.
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Also, the key to getting repairs was being the original owner.
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so what locations are doing the repair? And which ones does anyone have experience with?
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Greg
its done at Prevost only. I know Dallas does. Mira Loma does it. Quebec service center does it. I’m assuming the other service centers do it too. Who has the most experience. Don’t know that answer
1999 XLV X-6872, liberty #440 -
I believe Jacksonville has the most expertise in delam repairs. They were the lead service center in the development of the process that is in use and have done a substantial number of the repairs. A lot of PC members had their repairs done in Jacksonville.
I’m not saying that is where it should be taken, but I believe they have led the way.
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I agree with Jon, Jacksonville was the first and must have the most experience. Dallas did mine and I was at the time and have continued to be very satisfied. Plus James Stallings does their paint.
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Well in a few years this won’t be news. All the buses out there with loose panels will be fixed or the buses junked.
The day’s of the stainless bus are over. The new X3 is a composte side panel chassis.
Def will be a thing of the past.
Later
bv
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I was under the impression that the X3 motorhome was still stainless while the seated X3 was not.
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Mine has stainless , unless you mean above the stainless?
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Gran, I am only aware of one motorhome conversion that had some delamination above the belt line. I am also unaware of any delam issues reported on later model motorhome conversions in the last half dozen years or so.
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I know Prevost is the only place for delam inspection. But…..for those of you who live near a Service Center that’s a great advantage. There are only a couple of Prevost Service Centers west of the Rockies. There lies the problem. It’s very unlikely a seller private/dealer is going to allow their coach to be driven 100’s of miles for a official Prevost delam inspection
Having said that, one can do their own inspection. In our case this week, we inspected an XLII. First we did a Carfax on this bus to see where it lived. Second, we visited this coach in person. We tapped the panel joints to watch any in and out movement and to hear the “tap thwack” sound a loose makes instead of getting tight thumping sound and watch for panel separation at edge. Then we could see the belt line below the side windows and over the bay doors was “bowed” out which upon pushing inward show obvious movemenT that was another issue
Calling Mira Loma I checked what the “rivet kit” involved with cost less paint. We then, made an offer with personally covering cost for delam repair. Panel delam issue we were told by seller they thought it was a scam. Our offer was rejected, our search continues
Panel delamination inspection is not rocket science one can do their own inspection but Prevost is the only one to determine the process and extent of repair on the particular coach we were looking at, we knew the risk of prevost not helping out on delam repair but would not receive a hard answer unless we were owners. So that’s why our offer included deductions for delam repair. As I said above seller poo pooed delam as a scam.
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This is a classic example of an educated buyer understanding the pitfalls of the delam issue as opposed to a seller that has his head in the sand or just wants to pass his problem off to some unsuspecting buyer.
This subject is usually avoided on other social media and you hear very few buyers asking the delam question, only to learn later they have a 40K problem. The best way is for the seller and buyer to work through the problem if it exits and mutually agree to a solution. Sounds like C’bus tried hard, but it didn’t work out.
Well done guys…..
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The advantage of Prevost doing the inspection cannot be under estimated. While tapping and thunking on the panels is an excellent way of identifying gross delamination issues, it is not as thorough as the Prevost inspection process nor will it result in an accurate estimate of the cost of repairs. Prevost repairs have involved some panel resealing, the Zee strip and the vertical rivets and trim, but they also have involved replacing every panel. There is a big difference in cost.
This instance with an owner who refuses to acknowledge the problem is going to have a very bad outcome for an uneducated buyer. I hope nobody buys the coach without knowing exactly what he is getting into.
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Yes Jon, you’re correct. Only Prevost can determine extent of “delam”. In the case of the coach we looked at, the on hands “tapping” gave us knowledge. I checked with Prevost, and got the worst case scenario of every panel being replaced. $40K. It may be much, we were preparing for the worst with our offer. The only way to know the extent of delamination is to drive the bus to Mira Loma. That’s a 620 mile round trip.
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