What is the cost of the yearly maintenance for a coach? I'm looking at 2000-2006 vintage coaches. Are the Foretravel coaches less than say the Newman, Marathon or Prevost coaches? Within the Foretravel brand is the maintenance going to be different between a Phoenix, Nimbus or a U320?
I would say any Prevost chassis is another level of wallet pain.
Talk to James at Xtreme...
Hi Jim,
I hope you find a great one. Normal maintenance depends on mileage each year, some just time.
Every coach will be different. Foretravels are probably cheap compared to a Prevost. Between U320, Nimbus, Phenix there are some variations but probably not much. Different engines have different service schedules.
Oil and filters every 5-6,000 miles. $300-400,
Transmission service every three years or so, $400,
AquaHot, worst case $225 (should be able to do it every other year),
Hydraulic service, every three years, $100,
Coolant service not sure,
Chassis lube, $100,
Set aside 1/6 of a set of new tires, (no tag ~$700)
Set aside 1/7 of a complete set of batteries. (~$375)
Set aside $200 for brake service
There are always unscheduled repairs/replacements. Stuff wears out, stuff fails.
In that age air bags and fuel lines may be needed. Maybe $4000 or a bit more.
So I budget about $2,100 for annual maint and set asides. I probably spend another $1000 on unscheduled stuff.
I spend more on discretionary stuff.
Others may add more than I am thinking of right now.
Thank you for the detailed response. I'm selling my house. Taxes are 4,000 a year. I'd rather spend that in maintenance costs.
Who is James at Extreme?
He is the owner of xtreme paint and graphics in Nac.
I could live with faded paint.
He has a Prevost is what Dave was alluding to. and so he could tell you the costs of keeping it up.
OK. Thanks I know some of the paint jobs will run $150k.
Jim, what paint job you talking about? Maybe you meant $15k? That would be a bit low though if you want to full body paint a 40 ft Foretravel.
Full body paint at Xtreme for a 36' with one slide was ~$23K when I decided maybe I didn't need it.
The way to estimate the cost of an imagery Coach of unknown length sent me into a math spin. I'm OK. The answer:
Yes. Budget $ 20K++ for paint and add 1.5 for Roof and a Coach Buck ($1K) for the face Armor from the pros.
2X $15K is more like it for a 40' FT
I've been mainly focused on looking at FT's up to this point mainly because of the reviews I read on this web site. I did run across this coach which is on the upper end of what my budget is--more than what my budget is. The maintenance costs would be the big wild card. 2002 Prevost American XLII, Gilbert AZ - - RVtrader.com (https://www.rvtrader.com/dealers/Premium-Coach-Group-3004906/listing/2002-Prevost-American-XLII-120989779)
Whatever coach I get, I'm thinking 30k for backup reserves and 4 or 5k per year for maintenance. Sound reasonable?
Jim, have you a motorhome now?
If not, my free advice. The Prevost is a complicated machine and expenses high. I would not want it as a first motorhome.
A person asked me to help him here in Nac to look at a Newell. A salesman saw us and quietly and thinking of the potential buyer told me, if you can, you need to steer him from a Newell as a first motorhome, too complex. I imagine a Prevost not easier?
How do you want to use what you buy? That is the first question in buying....and perhaps the Prevost fits that better than anything and worthy of the learning curve.
good starting point - that would be lower than what I spend on my U-320, but not by a lot -
you won't do a Newell or Prevost for that $$ however
Many here get by for less, luckier, perhaps not as picky as me, or more DIY than I
I plan on living and traveling in the motorhome. Yes this will be my first motorhome. I'm selling my house because it's not paid for and I want to retire. The class A is are a compromise where I won't have to give up the luxury I had become accustomed to.
I'm pretty handy and can fix most things myself. I'm not a mechanic and don't want to be.
At the age of coaches you are looking at, you are going to be fixing things regardless of brand. 10+ year old stuff wears and ages out.
I agree with the others who have commented that a Prevost or Newell (or even a Foretravel) probably isn't a first RV purchase for most people. It's a hell of a lot of money if you decide that you really don't like living permanently in such a small space or realize that you don't like some of the aspects of full time RVing. Just my .02.
X2 well said Robert. OTH we have been living and moving full time 3 1/2 years in this 18 year old FT, one needs to be handy and willing to keep costs down with shop rates at 100-125.00$ per hour or it would get costly quick. I just spent 4 days doing routine maintenance and waxing on just the house portion.
Been fulltiming in my FT for about 7 years now and for 5 years prior to that in a travel trailer. I was not exactly prepared for how much more work (and $$) it was going to be to keep a class A diesel pusher going compared to a trailer. I don't regret the decision and have no intention on going back because the benefits far outweigh the downsides for me but there is a big step up in what is required of an owner of one of these things and I would guess that many people aren't going to be willing to deal with the problems. Just gotta be honest with yourself about how dedicated you are willing to be. And for that reason, I generally try to steer most new RVers I know away from class A diesels.
I want to live in the coach and travel. I'm not interested in buying another house. I've lived in small spaces and a coach does not seem difficult to adapt to. I drove a semi truck for 4 years and can adapt to a high learning curve. I also have a friend that has repaired rv's for 45 years. He would help figure out the tough problems.
Seems like a very nice RV. I would ask about recurring maintenance costs over on a Prevost forum but I doubt they are too terribly different than maintenance costs for a FT and your budget seems reasonable for maintenance.
If 40 or 45' was the desire, I'd definitely consider Prevost with a series 60. Many more service options to get the vehicle portion repaired and lots of people know how to work on Prevost. The house section may be unique, though.
Also check out Wanderlodges. I bought my FT because I didn't want BIG and heavy. But if 40,000+ lbs and 40 foot wasn't a problem, a mid to late 90's Prevost and Wanderlodge seem to be solid values too.
Thank you everyone for your input. I'm still thinking, reading and considering all my options.
Jim- we have been full time in our coach for over 9 years now. Ours was 6 years old when we bought it because my DW sat down and said she wasn't leaving, so it was cheaper to buy the coach than get a divorce. Don't ask how I know that....s.
When we started I determined a budget of $5,000 ish/ year for maintenance and upgrades. We have had years where we spent little more than basic maintenance, years where we spent considerably more due to upgrades, repairs, tires, batteries, etc. Over the entire time we have spent a little over $31,000 ,almost $10,000 of that was wants, not needs. That averages out to about $3,400/year so far, well within our budget. My experience is different than others, but it shows if you plan, it can work.
Best of luck with your search.................. ^.^d
Jim,
I have had my 2000 U320 for 21 months and about 11,000 miles of full timing. Through today, I have spent $11,001.48 on maintenance and replacements. I have also invested about $8,000 on upgrades. If I had hired a professional and independent person to inspect the coach, I might have had less than half of the maintenance costs. I relied on the dealer inspection report that was done by a sub-contractor hired by the dealer and within six months had to buy both house and chasis batteries for about $2,100 plus alternator and cooling fan repairs for another $1,100.
I am not sad about any of the costs as i enjoy my Foretravel every day. Ken
PDI can only expose apperant flaws, only bonus is a insight or opinion based on many years of professional or personal experience. In other words hire the old guy who cares about YOUR interest. Certifications can be bought nowadays for about 500 bucks after watching two hours of YouTube's.
Old phart phred, BSARE, LEED, WTF, EIEIOU.
Our coach had a pdi done by an old Foretravel parts manual and mechanic. Sounds great.
I laughed out loud when I was told who it was. He was my old parts manager when I ran our store.
Not the best guy per my personal experience countless times long ago.
So I tuned him out as he mentioned many things checked for condition.
Turns out I was correct.
Long list of needed repairs and upgrades were not mentioned.
Coach would not air up and release the parking brake on the demo drive as the D2 valve was gummed up.
But I bought the coach anyway and have happily spent 20 CB's since rebuilding the coach.
Why? We are not front door coach fans. And the coach was a 40' u320 WTBI mid door. Good luck finding another.
Lots of things will not show up until in actual use or on long drives.
The pdi idea should catch obvious large issues although but is not a magical process obviously.