Whew! Smokin' Hot! Can someone loan me $59,000 asap!

[white-eagle]

i don't mean to be a spoil sport, but $59k doesn't sound like that great a deal in today's market, if you are looking to unload an unneeded bus and make use of the cash.

No slides, diesel at 6mpg and costs soon to be $8-10/gal in a few years.  There are a lot of buses and used RV's on the market right now.

i offered a guy $70k a few years ago for his bus and he got mad at me.  he still has the bus.  and it sits either rusting or helping him with his hobby of keeping it painted.  Bet he wishes he'd swallowed his pride in his work effort and sold it.

my point is that the market conditions might be right for this person and you the buyer.  get it inspected?  heck yes.  But don't think $59k is too good to be true.  the ebay rating says be careful, not the price.

my 2 cents, which won't buy that bus, and like BK, my change was in the washer and the maid took it  .

[Damn Yankee]

His description says it all.....ESTATE SALE....He paid around .10 cents on the dollar of what it's really worth. The current bid of 40k he's more than doubled his money. I got my current coach at an estate auction. Easily worth in the 30k range for 3,500 and they auctioned the 15k diesel generator separately.....I had to bid on that too...got it for 250.00 more......

[Chariotdriver]

His description says it all.....ESTATE SALE....He paid around .10 cents on the dollar of what it's really worth. The current bid of 40k he's more than doubled his money. I got my current coach at an estate auction. Easily worth in the 30k range for 3,500 and they auctioned the 15k diesel generator separately.....I had to bid on that too...got it for 250.00 more......

   So at 40 K that's probably double what he paid (20k) and 20k is 10% or ".10 cents on the dollar"  of 200K
So it is worth 200K!!
I'm headed to MN !!!

[coachconverter]

I think it's all a sign of the times.  A year or so ago this would have brought 100k+, in my opinion, but things just aren't selling.  Too many people in Southern states are giving up on the snowbird lifestyle and selling off the gas guzzlers.  The more RVs that are available cheap, the more tempted people are to buy those instead of bus conversions, thus the lower the prices of conversions.

I was at Panterra the other day, been there several times and never saw anything but highend conversions in their sales center.  Last week there were more S+S there than buses.  THe owner said he just can't sell conversions right now.  He had a Liberty coach, a 2002 XL2 with marble everywhere, with 2 slides and low miles, sold it for under 300k - a huge difference than a year ago when he sold it to the seller for almost 500k, he does commission sales.

I think that 59k is a fair price for this bus, but the interior is very dated looking (strip mirrors and white leatherette)  I would value my investment in the shell, basement goodies, the cruisairs and floor covering. The rest, to bring current would be what I'd subtract from that value and then figure out what it's worth, to me at least.

IMHO

Todd

p.s. nice looking coach though

[luvrbus]

Not to tick the Prevost guys off but depending where that bus came from it can be a rust bucket and yes Prevost from that era do rust

[coachconverter]

No you're right, good point.

I've found the rust usually the worst above the rear wheels, which is hard to see, but easy to feel in the floor, at least on seated coaches.

I'm not sure when they switched to stainless only in the frame, anyone know?  I know that the entertainer shells kept using steel in the late 90's, even when the seated and rv shells switched to stainless.  I'm not familiar enough with these to tell if it was built on an RV shell or entertainer shell???  The dash doesn't look like from an RV shell, leading me to think it was an entertainer shell - pretty common in conversions, saves many thousands on the cost.

So we need a Prevost expert to pipe up here!

Todd

[Chariotdriver]

12355478 is the Vin and it is a 1985
Can you tell if it is stainless with this
Information?
I need to know as I'm headed there to
Takes peak at it.
My cell is two two 8-342-0687 if your a Prevost
Expert, or just have good info as what
I should be looking at closely
Thanks
Phil

[Barn Owl]

Phil,

Send us a report on what you find. The only thing I know about Prevost is that they bring more money than the other makes with all things being equal. No offence to everyone else, and don't even bother to try and convince me otherwise, because I have been watching this for too long. There is a reason I drive a GM...LOL

Good luck,

Laryn

[coachconverter]

Hi Phil,

I doubt that is the VIN, looks like some random numbers they typed in.  It should be 17 digits and have a few letters in it too.

If you search the forum I think there are a few references to checklists for inspecting a bus, they're a great start.

I'd recommend at a minimum:

Show up earlier than scheduled, see if he's already running the bus to get it warmed up (bad sign).  You'll want to know if you have to ether it, or jump it to get it started.  You'll also want to see how long it takes to air up from flat.

Before driving it (you must drive it at least 20-30 minutes), but before that, let it air up, pump the brakes several times and see how fast the air reduces and how long it takes to build back up.  Checkout all your lights.

Check every single gauge, make sure they're working and showing good readings.

When driving, make sure you find someplace hilly to drive up and get a feel for the shifting both on level and up hill.  

While driving, check your mirrors for excess smoke and color.  Remember, it's a V92 engine, it WILL smoke under load.

Check out every function of every device/appliance in the coach.  Better to know of problems while negotiating, than later.  Try out all the 12v and inverter-devices from battery power only.  Then try everything on Generator power, if shore power is available then try that too.  Try killing the generator and see if the inverter picks up the 12v devices without fail.

Check those floor tiles out, with the age of the coach, there's quite possibly some grout damage, no big deal, but check to see if tiles are cracked - ask if there are spares with the bus.

Check underneath for rust, take your flashlight and a magnet - to check what's steel and what's stainless.

Last but not least, keep in mind that it's a Prevost.  Whatever needs replaced, plan on 4 times what you think it should cost.  At least then you'll be half right! :-)  Seriously, Prevost buses are like Rolls Royce's when you need to buy parts for them.

Oh, one more thing, ask if there are manuals for the bus and more importantly for the conversion.  A good set of conversion wiring diagrams of the conversion is priceless.

Good luck, I have a customer interested in it, but he can't reach the guy.

Todd

[Blacksheep]

Todd you said you have a customer interested in the bus but you can't reach the seller? The auction has a "buy it now"! I'm sure you would get his attention with that! LOL

Ace

[Chariotdriver]

I will report back asap
Phil
P.s
Todd would you do some refurb work
On it ?
Is that what you do? 

[Lin]

It would appear to me to be well worth the price if there are no problems.  It is possible.  I had a friend that was a used car dealer.  He sold cars based only on what he bought them for or had to put into them.  He really never wanted to know more about the vehicle than what jumped out at him.  He theory being that he was not responsible for what he did not know.  He looked at any repair he would need to do before sale as a loss.  Of course, he was basically honest.

I guess I am going to stick with what I already have and don't need.  You can go to an appliance store and buy a refrigerator for $300. or $5000.  The former will keep your food cold, the latter will also keep your food cold.

[coachconverter]

Buy it Now, I couldn't let my guy spend all his money there though :-)

With the age, price, stated mileage and such, she is definitely in need of an in-person inspection.  You just never know.

Kinda curious though, the guy says he can't communicate via email, one of the numbers he gives goes straight to voicemail, which is full and he doesn't answer the other phone.  Oh well, guess he doesn't need to sell it that bad.

Phil, yes I do refurbs, would be glad to help out.

Thanks
Todd

[Barn Owl]

i don't mean to be a spoil sport, but $59k doesn't sound like that great a deal in today's market, if you are looking to unload an unneeded bus and make use of the cash.

That is the lowest BIN I have seen on one of that caliber. It's like the stock market, you never know when it will, or if it has, hit bottom. If you had to buy right now, today from what is out there, I believe this would be it. Six months from now we will have different circumstances by which to judge from that would apply to pricing at that time. My guess would be as good as anyone's as to what that might be. If I waited twenty more years when I become an empty nester, I could have probably got a better deal. I have often stated that owning a bus conversion is a lifestyle choice, and I choose to be on the train now.  But, how often has anyone here seen a non-home job, not a hound, professionally built coach that's not 35 yrs old sell for under $90k. It's not often, even if you have. The home jobs are a dime a dozen, not the real deals. There are still people out there buying and taking advantage of the good prices. Even at $5 a gallon, the fuel cost percentage wise, is still no where near the biggest expense for the average owner. This market hasn't stopped me from using my bus nor from looking. There has been active bidding activity on that bus from day one, so I do expect that it will sell. I feel that I have just a good a shot a being right as the next guy, we will know in four days, maybe less. Anyways, this is fun to watch.

[Barn Owl]

Kinda curious though, the guy says he can't communicate via email, one of the numbers he gives goes straight to voicemail, which is full and he doesn't answer the other phone.  Oh well, guess he doesn't need to sell it that bad.

It's entirely possible he is overwhelmed and just not able to respond to it all. If there is too much activity, and he thinks it is underpriced, then it could very well disappear from the auction. The bus my father bought had a lot of interest, but no one showed up to kick the tires. The dealer wanted it gone, along with all of the phone calls, so my father drove it home.