I'm trying to help a local mega high profile musician sell their high end star coach. Needs some TLC (it's been sitting) but it's all there and it has every bell and whistle imaginable. It took me awhile to get it running and I still can't figure out all the house 12 and 24 volt stuff but Holy crap! does this thing have power!!! Yikes! now I see what all the 12.7 litre series 60 bragging is about. Drives perfect. No slides. Give me your best ballpark idea as to what it's worth. I know it's gonna be a major bummer to give the owner the "you have lost a truckload of money on this thing" discussion and I'm just trying to have my estimate of worth be an informed one. I'm thinking 80-100k. What say you? I'd get into listing all the bells and whistles but it would be an awfully long list. Here's the short list. Leveling system, cruise, auto, awnings, 20kw marathon genset w lo hours,custom paint, 2 2500 watt heart inverters, full manifold marathon plumbing with manifold and macerator, all bays are lockable from inside, bedroom in back, no bunks, new tires (not sure of year code though so at least 5 years old), two speed jakes and retarder, absolutely no smoke from either genset or Detroit upon startup after start up after sitting for somewhere between 3 and 5 years. Front couches look dated and overall coach look is more of the glass and mirror interior rather than the current look of the new buses. Ask any questions about add ons and I'll let you know if it has them. Thanks for your help.
Rick
Rick -
Chassis? MCI? Prevost? Setra? Newell? WanderLodge?
Approximate mileage? Hours on gen set?
Pics would help, too.
FWIW & HTH. . .
;)
Rick a 1995 with that many mile and setting so long 60 to 75 grand IMO most Prevost buyers want a 1997 up with IFS the 95 models were solid front axles and didn't have the bonded windows. Buying a Prevost the Liberty will bring the most dollars and it is down hill from there I am just guessing that is a Star Coach Conversion ?by the post and Marathon is just the generator head no telling what brand of generator.
The market is still in the tank and not looking any better for the future anyway the bus is almost 20 years old so good luck selling
Where is it? do you have pictures? How many miles? I am thinking 50-70k. A high dollar musician would have been making enough to write the bus off their taxes. When they sell it they will have to recover the depriciation and pay taxes on it.
RJ it's a Prevost, 214k miles, 325 hrs on genset.
Luvrbus, it is a star coach setup
What a difficult conversation it's gonna be to let this guy know how much money he lost in 5 years. My recommendation is to keep it but it will just sit again and he will lose even more in two or three years when he decides he wants it off the parking lot.
I would love to buy it but I'm on my way out of the hobby.
RB
Star will sale you a new 2015 with slides for under a mil there lies the problem a Liberty will cost you 2 mil so the Star will not be worth near as much on the market IMO I would make a guess that was a $400,000 to $450,000 coach tops when bought new where conversions were in the $600,000+ range back then
He could donate it to some organization to sell and get the full write-off and make more on it than selling it. Plus the PR would be great if it was a Kids or Veterans organization. Sounds like he needs a better accountant and manager. Sorry not trying to be flippant just observing his situation. ;D
Dave
The fact that its been sitting is going to greatly effect the price of it. Tires, brakes, seals, moisture, rodents, etc.
Never could understand why people let vehicles sit.
200,000 miles is when Detroit says change the high $ injectors wonder if that has been done ? lol those 1,000,000 mile engines cost to get to the 1,000,000 miles
Rick -
There is still some confusion here:
Ok, it's a Prevost, but which model? An H-series or a LeMirage II? Both were available in 1995, which one may have an effect on pricing. A simple exterior pic will solve that question in a heartbeat.
Your subject line says Marathon Conversion, but you've also said it's a Star Coach setup. Does that mean that the conversion was done by Marathon, but with an entertainer interior? Or was the conversion done by Star Coach? Again, which one may make a resale difference.
Dave's suggestion of donating it to a kid's or veteran's organization and taking the tax deduction could be the best win-win for this owner. If his accountant has been doing his job, the coach should have been fully depreciated over the length of his ownership, so any sale proceeds will be considered income, which may, or may not, affect his tax bracket. Obviously, a charitable donation will also, but in a more favorable tax way.
Regardless, because the market's in the toilet, he's going to take a beating, but somebody might end up with a nice bargain. As an example, a friend of mine in OR just picked up a '96 Prevost Liberty that had been advertised at $85K for over nine months, my friend offered him $45K cash and he took it.
FWIW & HTH. . .
;)
PS: Why are you on your way out of the hobby?
I will certainly discuss the donation idea with him but philanthropy is not his strong suit. It is an XLII converted by Marathon. It is a star coach configuration, so no bunks and more of a high end rv setup with shower etc. I think he paid somewhere in the neighborhood of 800k for this 5 or 6 years ago. I can't mention his name when selling it and until he commits to selling, no pics are allowed. Please refrain from snarky comments about how he chooses to live his life, I wouldn't live like he does and I'm sure that would be vice versa from his perspective. I'm thinking somewhere between 80-100k is a place to start.
RJ, lack of power with my 2 stroke, price of diesel, loss of value and rising costs of licensing and maintenance all add up to me getting rid of my bus. Especially after I felt the power of that 4 stroke.
rb
Gotta be Michael Jackson! ;)
Give us the last letter in serial # and last 4 digits if it's a prevost. Prob a 45XLE The XLII didn't come out till later.
If one donates a vehicle to a non-profit and the non-profit uses it themselves the donor will be able to deduct fair market value. If the non-profit just sells the vehicle only the actual price the non-profit gets for the vehicle is tax deductible. Too many people were claiming values that were too high for donated vehicles so Congress reined things in.
Rick -
With a little snooping around via Google, it looks like private sellers are asking about $80K, dealers $130K for Marathon Prevosts of that approximate vintage with no slides. (I used 1993 - 1997 as a range search.)
Again, these are asking prices, not selling prices, but at least it's a place to start.
FWIW & HTH. . .
;)
Robert Glines last letter in VIN is R.Last 4 numbers are 1895
RJ, that's what I'm thinking price wise. If he ends up selling it for 50-70k I'm gonna be bummed. It's my dream coach.
rb
Wade Staley is your Star Coach man he been selling a few of that vintage asking just under 100k after he does some work that is who I would ask,the Star falls under the entertainer line not a Marathon or Liberty RV
Clifford -
Quoting Rick: "It is an XLII converted by Marathon."
He also says ". . . no bunks and more of a high end rv setup with shower etc."
Doesn't sound like an entertainer car to me, but it does sound like it might have been originally set up as the "star of the show's" private coach, for use by the star alone. Like Kellie Pickler's Prevost - only she & hubby ride in it, the band have their own bunked Prevost entertainers hauling them between gigs.
But your suggestion to use Wade as a reference is a good one, the more sources to substantiate the asking price, the better. Maybe even run it down to Wade's lot to be put on consignment? Or possibly one of the dealers around Nashville?
FWIW & HTH. . .
;)
I've always understood an entertainer bus to be a bunked coach regardless of who did the conversion it usually has no shower, just microwave small refrigerator etc. A star coach is made just for the artist, no bunks or just a couple bunks for kids, cooking stove and big fridge etc. and there are a number of converters that make star coaches. Am I wrong in my assumption?
Luvrbus, I know Wade and I'll turn to a clearing house as a last resort. I may already have this bus sold actually.
RB
True RJ but when Robert post the numbers it probably will come back as a entertainer shell Marathon and Liberty did entertainer shells for stars not the motor home shells FWIW
Clifford it is definitely a Marathon. It's written all over the coach. I've never seen a marathon with bunks actually.
RB
Hey Rick look at the 4th letter in the serial that will tell the shell model E= entertainer,L= passenger bus,M = Motorhome,V= VIP shell
I hope you do sell it fast or you may end up keeping it ::) FWIW I bought a Marathon several years back that had 6 bunks it was a Dale Earnhardt bus on a E chassis
Mfg date 1994-- like Clifford said 4th letter denotes designed use. M(motorhome) wound have been delivered to Marathon. It is a XL or XLE coach. Mine is a XLE (one extra Bay) still working on rest.. By the way V in the 4th position would be a H-3 model Vip shell(no stainless)..Fwiw..
It's official... it's a motorhome. 4th letter is an M. If I buy this bus I'm living in one of y'alls driveway because wifey will kick me out of our house! It is a beauty. I'm kinda surprised it's not purple though. LOL!
RB
Formally known as prince?
Quote from: Dave5Cs on May 26, 2014, 09:36:01 PM
Formally known as prince?
Or possibly Donnie Osmond!
;D BK ;D
All this goes to point out the value of renting what you need instead of buying it... I wonder if I will ever learn that lesson!
Brian
Lets just say that this has been difficult. Reclusive artist. Where's the title? What state is it titled in? how do we switch it over? Who owns the bus? Ok, repeat those questions about 2000 times and that's been my last few days along with running a business. Well, we are finally insured, in process of retitling the bus and off to C and J we go.
Rockstars... nobody ever said they aren't a bit strange
RB
LOL when they hit it doesn't take long till the forget about a old bus and graduate to a Lear or GulfStream then the 12 hour bus ride becomes a 1 hr ride
Rick, so you bought the Prevost?
;D And I don't even know the answer. No XLII delam problems 60series pre egr nice set up.. Bob