[Tim]

I have a 12 & 20 ton jacks that I found at http://www.usjack.com. They are made in the USA. We have some of the cheaper ones around the shop, and you can see the difference between them. They were more expensive, but not by much. I never support the coach with the jacks either. Block it and leave the jack using the screw up as a safety.

[Tim]

Jack, Tracy and Jenna,

BEE-U-TEE-FUL!!!!!

I know that you folks will enjoy it thoroughly! You should try to attend the No Rally Rally in Foley, AL, in two weeks! I would love to see it in person!

Safe travels,

Mark

[Tim]

I want to support what Jon has to say.

I doubt I will ever own or drive a coach that has all these late model safety features. If I had them on my coach, I would probably leave them activated to back me up. But I would never rely on them.

I liken all these great features to four wheel drive on a car or truck. Growing up in NE Wisconsin (lots of snow and ice) my Dad always had a Willys Jeep, International Scout, or Chevy Blazer with 4WD. Back in those days 4WD was very rare; almost all pickup trucks were two wheel drive. I took my drivers license test in the Scout and used it quite a bit.

I quickly found out that 4WD didn’t turn a snow covered or icy road into bare, dry blacktop! You couldn’t go as fast as you thought you could go without some unwanted consequences. Granted I wasn’t as apt to get stuck in a snowstorm with the Scout or Blazer as I would have with my Mother’s station wagon. But the Scout stopped just as slow on ice as the station wagon did.

I learned that 4WD helped in deep snow or on icy roads, but I still had to drive prudently. I found the same thing applied to RWD vehicles with posi-traction, front wheel drive vehicles, and vehicles with anti-lock brakes and/or traction control.

The next time you’re driving on snow covered and/or icy roads, pay attention to the vehicles in the ditch or median. I think you’ll conclude the same thing I have: a disproportionate share of the vehicles in the ditch or median likely have 4WD! After studying this subject for a number of years, I’ve concluded that too often a vehicle having 4WD gives the driver the mistaken idea that 4WD (and probably ABS, traction control, etc.) adds steriods to their driving abilities. It doesn’t.

Use these new, high tech tools on your coach to compliment your prudent driving practices.

[Tim]

I should clarify my question regarding the XLV vs. XLII. I realize many of you have not owned both models, but maybe during your research for your current model, you compared both models before you decided to go with one over the other. I’m also interested in learning about the H-3 model, but at this point, I’m a little more interested in the XL models.

Sorry for any confusion…

[Tim]

I normally lift the tag on our SOB coach when I need better mobility like in a tight parking lot or campground. The tag unloads in about 30 seconds but needs a good minute or two to fully lift. Lifting the tag also increases traction on the drive axle due to the extra weight. We needed this in the snow and mud this winter.

[Tim]

If the top is smooth and looks like a mushroom, it is the air horn. Stomp on it and see what happens!

[Tim]

I agree, but when we talk about leaks they fall under preventive maintenance in my opinion. I used to periodically look at the roof penetration seals and if it appeared they might be needing some work I would apply another coating of the flowable clear sealer that Camping World used to sell.

But I know there are guys chasing leaks on newer coaches that are associated with how the windows or skins are sealed to the coach and those are anything but predictable or even fixed by the owner.

[Tim]

Some of the information carried over the HDMI cable controls the aspect ratio and definition of the picture and switches it in the TV automatically based on what was transmitted in the broadcast. Without the HDMI connection it is necessary to select the aspect ratio and definition manually when you setup the receiver box and TV(s).

There are a lot of older coaches on the road that do not
have HDMI ready TVs. HDMI will improve the receiver to TV experience, but a HDMI
connection is not required to get a HD picture on a HDTV – a component cable
will carry the HD picture just as well. Even the simple yellow, red, white RCA cable will carry HD, but with a slight loss in quality. Depending on the TV itself you probably would not notice the difference. Coax will also carry HD, but like the component cable it won’t carry the digital information to control the TV. The original system in your coach was probably connected using coax so unless you have the latest TVs in your coach and you have to have all the bells and whistles they’re capable of, you can use the original connections.

To completely setup a coach with HDMI cables and connections from the receivers to all the TVs is a major job. My coach was completely redone with 4 new Smart TVs and HDMI cables throughout – inside and in the bays. I don’t know what the previous owner paid, but it wasn’t cheap and it was all done by Marathon Coach in Florida. I don’t care much for TV, so no way would I have spent the money to do that.

BTW: Amazon has a bunch of wireless HDMI transmitters available.

[Tim]

Diane, same thing with me…previous owner had put new Dekka’s in early 2011, two were bad by mid 2014….have Lifelines now!

[Tim]

Di is not muscular or a guy. Jon right about a lot of things but sometimes easily confused. Geo.

[Tim]

T&C, Nashville in May is a Prevost Prouds Rally and while fun…it’s mainly a social crowd. There’s nothing wrong with that but most of them do not have the hands on knowledge and experience that the PC group has. You will not find the same willingness to open their busses to you and share their experiences. They like to eat alot and the rally cost (12000) reflects that. Not that the PC group is not social….we’re a lot more laid back and relaxed. The Proud rallys are very structured with not a lot of down time and very little technical discussion. Geo.

[Tim]

Tim….

Welcome to PC you are in the right place for your shopping needs !

We purchased our first Prevost some 5 years ago, after owning SOB’s for 30 years before that… there is just no comparison as I see you have already figured out.

You have time in your corner since you’re not looking to purchase tomorrow and there are so many options out there for you… everyone’s suggestions about coming to the “oysterfest rally” at Bella Terra is a good one as it will serve as an opportunity to actually board many coaches in one spot with no added buying pressure and most owners are happy to share their views with you… we are are a very friendly bunch as you will see.

Our price range was the same as yours when we started looking and we found a coach we loved and paid a premium for it… our big mistake was we didn’t know what to look for… we figured it was just like buying a Newell or Bluebird like we had in the past… not so….we found out… our coach was a 1998 H3-45 Vantare with 2 slides and OTR with around 81K miles in excellent visual condition… interior and exterior was exquisite and we were in love with everything about it.

We knew we would have to spend some money on it but had no real idea of what we were in for. After taking it to a guy who “said” he’d fix us up we replaced air bags, norgren valves, brakes, shocks, A/C compressors, upgraded to 365’s on Steer and Tag, new tires,new air compressor…. the list just goes on and on… Long story short we spent over $50K and had all kinds of problems cropping up with the work that wasn’t done properly… so as a word of warning to you… do your homework… this is the place to do it !!

We did finally get the Vantare in top shape after spending another $10K+ and it was a dream to own and when we sold it we felt really good about the new owners getting a top notch coach for their money and they are thrilled with it…. bottom line being this would have been in your price range and nothing to replace anytime soon I would hope. Nobody could believe that it was a ’98 model.

We are partial to the H series for our personal use and have to have slides… you will find everyone has there own reasons for what they choose.

Our current coach is a 2005 Liberty H3-45 with OTR and after spending a week at Jeff Rowe’s place in Tennessee we replaced all the 10 year old airbags, shocks, tires … that list goes on and on too, but this time we were smart enough to get it done at the right time in the right place !! Nothing better than prevention !!

Just wanted to share our experience with you and again welcome to PC.

Hoping you can make it to Bella Terra next month,

Cheers, Diane & Larry

PS EDIT : I did fail to mention we replaced the entire house battery bank twice in 3 years of ownership…. the first time out of sheer ignorance we replaced them with what was in there which were Dekka AGM batteries that almost lasted 2 years… got that hot rotten egg smell around the bus rear… come to find a couple of the batteries were very hot and swollen… luckily for us we were on PC which was brand new then and had met up with the “go to battery man” Tom Chilcote… none other than Pc’s own TRUK4U … Tom had fresh Lifeline batteries delivered to our coach within 2 days and they were awesome… batteries are so important in our coaches and I think I can safely say that over 99% of Prevosts have Lifeline batteries and Tom gives by far the best deal out there…. just had to add that !!

[Tim]

Tim,

OTR is a hot button for discussions, but the use of the coach pretty much dictates if it is practical. If you run in the summer, especially if you will be where it is hot there is nothing that can match its ability to keep you comfortable. It has about twice the BTUs of 3 house air conditioning units so you are going to be comfortable no matter how hot it is outside. I cannot speak for others, but I bought my coaches to be comfortable and I not only like OTR for that purpose, but because my entire coach is the temperature I want it to be. Expect other opinions to be offered on this topic.

Slides are going to cost you money. The reason I mentioned Vantare is because they had a lot of coaches with slides before Prevost started installing slides so you trade a newer non slide coach for a slightly older slide coach for the same dollars. Prevost slides hit the market in 2001 I think.

As to a pre-purchase inspection I have some strong opinions on that. First, I would want a Detroit / Allison dealer to run the codes and provide an opinion on the health of the engine and transmission. Those are the big ticket items and while problems with either are rare it is worth the investment for piece of mind. An XLII I would insure it had the skin inspected unless it has the “rivet” repair which is identified with vertical trim strips over the panel joints. They are almost invisible unless you look for them. The inspection will identify if there is a problem or not. Not all XLII coaches have an issue with the skins, but if there is one the buyer or seller need to know if Prevost will help with repair costs or if the owner will have to cover the whole cost out of pocket. This forum has a lot of good threads and posts about that issue.

The rest of the inspection process I feel the buyer should do. It involves operating everything on the coach. It is a lot of work and it takes a lot of time, but it serves two purposes. First, by systematically operating every switch, knob and lever the operation of whatever it controls is verified. It doesn’t take any skills or training to do that and the seller should be right there to tell you what is going to happen as you operate everything. If something does not work as planned then you and the seller have an opportunity to discuss if that affects the sale or the price.

The second benefit is by doing the above you are learning the entire coach. If you are thorough you will know how to do everything from turning on the TV to putting out the slides to operating the heaters. And if the owner or seller does not know how things work you have a clue that maybe you might need to look further.

Doing your own inspection / training is absolutely required if dealing with an individual seller. If dealing with a dealer you have some leeway if the dealer is offering some form of warranty. If you deal with the converter who built the bus you have less pressure to check the coach 100% because they typically stand behind the coach for a while. If you miss something they almost always take care of it.

Any time I have provided a little help for buyers I start looking at the big expensive stuff first. Tires and batteries and their date codes are near the top of my list. If you buy a coach and they all have to be replaced it is not unusual to see the cost of doing that run $10,000 or more. Then I look at the AC systems. If a unit has to be replaced the cost can be substantial. The generator is a big ticket item that must work. Inverters are not cheap so they need to function as expected. The refrigerator is vital and replacing one is expensive so I want to be sure that works.

All the above are repairs that involve just money. But there are some things even money cannot take care of. A coach that has leaked and has mold or mildew issues can cost more to repair than the coach is worth. I have been in coaches owned by smokers and that odor will not go away.

So there is no substitute for doing the detailed inspections and with regard to the house portion you likely are the best to do that, as long as you prepare for doing it.

[Tim]

T&C, The suggestion of going to Bella Terra in April is a sound one. Even though you are 9 mos. away, that really is not a long time to find what you want given the current market conditions for these busses. you would save yourselves a huge amount of time and travel by seeing a great number of busses and talking to their owners. You would most likely leave knowing exactly what to look for and have time to find the right bus over the next 5-7 mos. Geo.

[Tim]

Mark,

Unless and until someone learns of how advanced the new shells are they don’t realize how far coaches have come with regard to safety features.

What you describe is the braking system that I think is adaptive braking that is automaticly maintaining a safe stopping distance when on Cruise Control. The coach also likely has a stability control that will prevent loss of control, a tire pressure monitoring system, a fire suppression system, and on board diagnostics.

I think when Prevost introduced the multiplex system in 2007 it began a long list of technical improvements that are just amazing.