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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: Country Coach Liquidation Results?
That is a bargain for someone. Sometimes there are real deals on ebay.
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B Bob
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11/30/09 08:39pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Choosing Gasoline or Diesel Powered?
RVgreyhound,
Sure new Foretravels, Country Coaches, and so on are big money. But there are many used ones that are under the 200,000 range. If you are asking me for a good under 200 new diesel motor home that is "consumer grade". We like the Fleetwood Providence 39 and 40 foot models. These have a really nice full wall slide on the drivers side and are simply huge inside. IMHO they have everything you need and nothing you don't for a very nice brand new class A. If we were buying an under 200 new DP we would take the 40 ft one. Very very nice floorplan. This is a mid range machine though. But all the essentials are there, screwed & glued cabinets, well made sturdy chassis with boxed frame, good drivetrain, company still in business. That is where I would look first. None of the competitors have as nice a floorplan in this price range.
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B Bob
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11/30/09 02:41pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: San Diago Naval Hospital
There is a huge parking log in front of the hospital. I don't know if they will let your overnight in it though.
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B Bob
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11/29/09 09:51pm |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Choosing Gasoline or Diesel Powered?
It is absolutely positively not trye that the house of a motor home quickly depreciates. Or that things will be shot at 10 years. My previous motor home was 34 years old when I sold it. Many of the things in the house were original and worked fine.
Motor homes tend to fit into categories of use for fulltiming, snowbirding, vacationing-weekender. Fulltime coaches like Fortetravel, Country Coach, Bluebird, Prevost, some Monaco coaches have very durable houses that will last for decades. Even coaches that were not that heavily build will last a long time if taken care of. The big deal is to keep up with things. Don't let the to-do list get too long. My old coach was a GMC and though I loved it, it was as fragile as they come.
Many many old Bounders and Winnebagos that were not expensive coaches to start with are still going strong. And higher end motor homes like old Bluebirds are in extremely good condition after decades of use.
Well made full timer coaches should easily go 25 years without problems. I have looked at 20 year old Country Coaches that were near perfect and everything worked. Same with Bluebirds and Prevost.
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B Bob
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11/29/09 09:06pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Will the class A RV industry survive?
I think the RV industry will come back strong starting next spring. This assumes the slight recovery in the economy that is taking place now will continue. RVing is still a great way to travel and enjoy our beatiful country and Canada and Mexico.
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B Bob
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11/28/09 10:00pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Diesel Pusher Questions
Flash - I just spent a year looking for a DP. We were looking for year 1999+. Past that we had few other criteria. I have rv'd a lot since 1980, but have never owned a diesel pusher before.
IMHO here is how you start to look.
1. Determine how much you are going to use the coach now and over it's projected life as your coach. Class A coaches are rated for fulltiming, snowbirding, weekending, etc. The more you are going to use a coach the more reason to go for one with more durable stuff in the house. Of course more durable stuff costs more.
2. Go look at and figure out what kind of floorplan you want / like. For example how many slides do you want? Do you want twin beds, double, king. Do you need two sinks in the bathroom area. Do you want 40, 38, or 42'.
3. Drive a few to see what you like the feel of.
4. In my opinion it is best to make sure the chassis is long enough for the house. Also, IMO having a longer chassis vs house size makes for smoother driving.
5. Make sure anything you look at has enough carrying capacity to hold all your stuff.
6. I would not worry about the chassis maker. They are all competent. In general it is better to get a motor home with a chassis made for that coach.
7. Now is a great time to buy a used RV. You should insist on a good price. If the economy continues to get better into next year likely prices of used coaches will go up.
8. There is a general consensus of the pecking order of coaches. In general I found the general consensus to be accurate when I was looking at coaches.
9. If you know little about diesel coaches consider getting an extended warranty for what you buy.
10. Enjoy looking. Many many sales folks out there know little about what they are selling. Avoid them. Go for the honest ones that are actually going to try to help you. They are out there, look for them.
11. Final thing. Going through a dealer can be helpful. They tend to check the coaches out before you drive off the lot if you ask them to. To get an extended warranty you will need to get the motor home checked out.
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B Bob
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11/28/09 09:53pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Garmin
My low end Garmin is almost two years old and I have updated it with new software once. It took lots of time to download a huge file and cost about 70 bucks. Works splendidly. I don't think there is a need to update frequently.
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B Bob
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11/28/09 09:15pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Newbie Questions
Driving your motor home for a couple of hours should charge the battery if there is not damage to it.
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B Bob
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11/28/09 11:13am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Whats the best & worse of Class A-ing & Gas vs Diesel ??
In my opinion the depreciation % is similar for a class A gas and class A diesel in the low and medium ranges. Where the depreciation really is high is in the high end diesel coaches. But right now is the biggest giant sale a big assets like motor homes ever. If you are buying now you are / should be paying a very low price. If the economic recovery keeps on the track it is on right now you might be looking at what you buy today being 10 % higher next spring and summer.
As far as is a diesel better than a gas class A. Absolutely. That is because a diesel motor is a far better choice for a motor home than a gas motor. You use torque in motor homes. Diesels have far more of that from their basic design. A lot higher compression ratio means a lot higher torque. That same higher compression ration also means an inherent approx 20-25% higher efficiency from the fuel you burn. Also, diesel fuel does not burn easily. Fuel leaks in a diesel coach tend to be far less serious than fuel leaks in a gas coach. A leaky fuel line near a hot engine and poooof up goes the coach.
Gas coaches are less expensive because diesel engines are rarer here in the States. A "market" premium is charged for them. Go to Europe and there are way more diesel motors and they cost the same as gas motors. I would guess that this "market" premium in the USA will go away if diesel cars get popular here.
A diesel pusher coach is far far more pleasant to ride down the freeway in than any gas front motor coach. The noise is in the way back which makes for a quiet ride. There are a few gas rear motor pushers. This is a better ride by far than a front motor coach. It certainly is true that once you get to the RV park a gas front drive is much more similar to the DP. But then some DPs are bigger than the biggest gas.
But after saying all that I can tell you I had a restored GMC class a front motor gas coach. I loved it. If GMC made new ones I might have bought one. No front motor has coaches are designed like the GMC though. They put all the motor below the floor and it made for a much quieter ride than what front gas coaches are like today.
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B Bob
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11/27/09 10:08pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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internet access with moto sat or direct
I just bought a new to me motor home with both in motion sat system and a moto sat dish. Can some users comment on which is the best to access the internet with? I currently have a Verizon air card which works fine until in an area with no cell coverage. The former owners said you could get internet with direct or moto sat. Which works better.
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B Bob
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11/26/09 08:43pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Country Coach Goes to Chapter 7
I work in the printing machine field. Half the makers that I deal with have gone bk at least once and are still around. Not always, but usually if there are enough users the parts and service business gets sold and someone runs that. I would suspect that at least someone will pick that part of the business up.
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B Bob
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11/26/09 11:27am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Where do I start?
Monaco has been reorganized but still in business. I have been looking for a year in just a bit lower price range than you. When you step up to a bit higher level, for example going to Fleetwood's American Coach Line, you really get a lot more. I saw and was too late to buy a beautiful American Eagle 2002 last month in Phoenix 13,000 miles. Sold for 109,000. This was a huge step up in interior quality over a 2008 Fleetwood Providence we looked at for 135,000. I would take the cheaper 2002 any day. Use the money for fuel bills.
We have ended up buying a Country Coach. Overall I think the Country Coach line has a lot going for it. (LOL and of course I would) Custom Chassis, high quality to gorgeous interiors, extremely good feel behind the wheel. We are going with a 2002, but if you want a newer Country Coach we saw two 2006 Inspire 40' with less than 20,000 miles for less than your price range. And there is a beautiful Intrigue for sale at Holland that is a 2005. The interior looks like it was made by Henridon or Century.
In the price range you are looking you can get a lux higher end coach. If that is not what you want get a very late mid range.
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B Bob
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11/18/09 09:54pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Price on used RV
We can Pooh Pooh the NADA all we want, but if you want to borrow money from a lender I can tell you that they look at the NADA.
The real "value" of an item can be assessed most accurately by the principle of what comparable ones have sold for. This is true in real estate, cars, boats, and motor homes.
So to get a "good deal" with regard to price on a motor home it is helpful to know what the approx value of a unit is.
I have been buying and selling bookbinding and printing machines for 35 years. My partner 24. We use the comparable sales method every day in our business. And we also factor in if the market is going up or down.
As I said earlier I have been looking for a DP for a year. And over the last 4-5 years I have scanned ebay to see what motor homes have SOLD for. This should give you a sense of the approx value.
I do think the NADA charts are worthwhile. It sort of gives you a starting point.
But just getting a "sense" of what you should pay from comparable sales is the only way to go. If you don't have the time for that go see PPL in Houston.
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B Bob
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11/18/09 01:24pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Price on used RV
We have been looking for a DP for a year. All sources of info, NAPL, Ebay, Craigs List, PPL consignment are all worth noting. I have used them all. A big hole in the NAPL is the fact that they do not take miles on a DP into consideration. Reality is that a low miles coach is usually worth more. This assumes it has been used regularly and not stored for long periods.
I have regularly had ebay send me new listings of the brands I am interested in. Chances are many of the ebay listed coaches have been on Craigslist too. IMHO someone be it a dealer, owner, consignment place that lists on ebay and craigslist really wants to move the coach and this is a clue to look closely.
I do agree with the posters that recommend the PPL site in TX. If we were a little closer we would have flown there and bought one. If the one we are buying falls through we may still do that.
I agree with the poster that says NADA low retail should not be exceeded. You want below low retail. My experience in the last few months is that you can normally find good coaches for about 10-25% below low retail. The coach we are hoping to buy is below NADA low wholesale. We have our fingers crossed the seller will perform.
The time to buy a nice motor home is NOW. Wait till next spring and barring a 50% rise in oil prices I think DPs will bring 20% more next spring, maybe. That is what I am telling my wife anyway.
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B Bob
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11/17/09 10:02pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Travel I 40 West in December to CA
Flagstaff gets lots of snow in the Winter. If the long range forecast is clear I 40 should be fine, but your coach must be able to stand temps of 15-25.
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B Bob
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11/15/09 08:16pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Best (warmest?) snowbird spot in southern Arizona?
Area around the east of the Salton Sea in CA is below sea level and quite warm in the winter. We like the Fountain of youth park. There are several nice ones. Great sunsets over the sea. IMHO a wonderful spot to spend some winter in is in Borrego Springs CA. One fantastic park and several other less expensive options. This is a nice quite little town with big mountains to the west.
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B Bob
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11/15/09 08:08pm |
Snowbirds
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RE: Home Theatre Systems for Dummies -- Help
I use Bose in my home and also coach. I would not buy anything else. My home system is 14 years old and still in splendid shape. On my home system I don't use the Bose amp but do on the coach. Quality is worth the money. Don't think all Bose are expensive.
That said, I would think that a couple of external speakers would add a lot to your TV. Might be easier to just do that. Eliminates the complication of using an amp.
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B Bob
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11/15/09 08:03pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: MS Streets & Trips
I have used Streets and Trips and DeLorme. S&T easier, but DeLorme has some very nice features and also some terrific topo maps. The DeLorme GPS works fine. It used to work better than the S&T one, but S&T may have improved. IMHO having map software in your laptop and a stand alone GPS is the right setup. I also like the TL software for finding parks. I have used that for several years. I think you can use a GPS with that too, but have not tried it.
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B Bob
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11/15/09 08:00pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Paying it forward
Wow, good story. It will come back to you with twice the good luck.
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B Bob
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11/15/09 07:53pm |
RV Lifestyle
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RE: Newbie First Post
About two months ago when talking to Verizon about how to lower my bill the operator suggested that since I did not use a lot of gigs (volume) on my air card I could lower the cost by just buying less volume. I think my rate went from 60 per month to about 30.
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B Bob
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11/15/09 06:17pm |
Technology Corner
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