As the title implies, we will be living in our coach fulltime, for at least months at a time, and we certainly want the nicest accommodation we can afford. We’re certainly not million-dollar buyers, our budget will be in the $500,000 range. Remember, we won’t have a house payment any longer so it really isn’t that outlandish. We just moved back to the mainland from Maui, Hawaii, where $500,000 might buy a two-bedroom condo, so everyone’s perspective is relative and that’s the target value we are looking at.
So, what will a half-million dollars buy you in the world of luxury RVs?
- Brand new – Entegra Cornerstone, Newmar Mountain Aire, Tiffin Allegro Bus, American Eagle Heritage and then lower-level models of each of those manufacturers, none of which we are interested in.
- Used – Newell Coach, Foretravel IH-45 and Realm. The model year 2010 and earlier for Newell and about 2015 for Foretravel.
- Used – Prevost conversions 10 years or so. This includes Marathon, Liberty, Olympia, Emerald, etc.
Of course, there are exceptions, but the above would be a good representation of what we’re looking at currently.
RV vs Coach
Buying an RV or a Coach is a big question that we have yet to make a final decision, yet. We are certainly hoping to obtain as much feedback as possible from our readers as well as the research that we are doing. Let me define what our perception of both is. An RV is a fiberglass shell over an aluminum frame, vehicle. A coach is an all-metal body on a metal frame, similar to a long haul bus. These would include Prevost chassis’s, which most of you are familiar with – such as Marathons and Liberty Coaches as well as Newell Coach, which is built on their own chassis.
The ride, stability, and longevity of a coach seem to be superior to an RV. However, given our price-point at somewhere around $500K, we would be looking at a 10-year-old Prevost type coach or 4-5-year-old Newell vs a brand new luxury RV.
A big consideration is a warranty. Obviously, all of the new RV’s we have listed include a warranty. Entegra offers a 2 year, 24,000 mile, bumper to bumper warranty, which is probably the best in class. Newmar provides a one year, unlimited bumper to bumper warranty and a 5-year superstructure (frame and walls,) warranty as well. Tiffin also provides a one year warranty with extended levels of structure and construction warranties. That stuff never seems to be an issue, I’m more concerned about the A/C going out or the plumbing.
As for coaches, Prevost’s and Newell are going to be used, so, we are going to have to rely on whatever the dealer provides or makes available, or we would purchase something ourselves. Except if we buy a pre-owned coach from Newell, directly. They seem to always have a few coaches in the under $600,000 level that is subject to their Newell pre-owned warranty which I believe is 12 months or 12,000 miles. For some reason, their warranty descriptions have vanished from their site.
As far as the used Prevost conversions, Marathon, Liberty, and a few others, like Emerald, the warranty coverage will come either directly from the dealer or we will need to purchase an after-market warranty, which apparently can be a tricky thing, to say the least. I’ve heard some YouTube, RV gurus, comment that these can be a downright scam. However, I say that with the benefit of nothing but YouTube gossip. My due-diligence so far has been pretty promising.
I’ve done some preliminary research and I used the Good Sam extended service plan and it appears to be fairly comprehensive. It covers used coaches, up to 15 years old. Then, the coverage stops at 18 years. It won’t cover a coach with more than 80,000 miles and coverage will cease at 150,000 miles.
So, this is quite relevant when looking at, for instance, a used Marathon or Liberty, Prevost, Olympia or Emerald conversion coach. What this means is that we could only purchase the warranty on up to a 2004 model year, with 80,000 miles. Then, the coverage would only be available for 3 years and up to the point we put 150,000 total miles on the bus. But the point is, an extended service plan or warranty, is available to us, even if we were to purchase a 15-year-old bus!
However, I was able to run an online quote and it’s not exactly cheap. With a $1,000 deductible, the coverage is almost $400 per month. For a lower deductible, the coverage cost blows up to close to $2,000 per MONTH. But keep in mind, this is what appears to be fairly comprehensive coverage for repairs on just about everything aside from wear items, for a luxury coach that cost close to $2,000,000 when it was new. So, at first glance, to ensure that you insulate yourself from repairs that easily could cost over $10,000 with a failed transmission or electrical system, etc., $400 per month isn’t such a bad deal.
Okay, so, we’ve figured out that one way or another, we can obtain warranty or extended service guarantees on a used, luxury coach, and all of the RV manufacturers provide warranties that cover the inevitable bugs that are likely in the first year of ownership. So, we’ve got that element covered and I feel like concerns over breakdowns, can be mitigated.
Now we have to explore the quality of these 45 foot, rolling luxury condos. As you can see, there’s not much difference between the interior of this Newell coach and a small, albeit, very small, luxury condo. The only difference is that the land-based condo can’t travel 4-600 miles per day, at 65 miles per hour, across North America! And that, my friends, is the allure!
Our mission is to live our lives on a mobile platform that is comfortable, safe and high tech, to the extent that we can communicate and interact. We both have businesses that are completely portable, so long as we are able to tap into the internet. And what we are learning is that we won’t be alone. There are close to a million RV’s !and motor coaches on the road today with folks who are living fulltime, “on the road.” And we can’t wait!
So, in part two, that we’ll publish in the next 5-7 days, will detail some of the primary differences between a brand new, fiberglass RV or a steel and aluminum, bus conversion. We’ll talk a little about our own preferences and perceptions of these two different types of coaches. A shiny, brand new, super high-tech, fully warrantied, fiberglass RV, or a Prevost bus or Newell Coach that will likely have over 50,000 miles and could be as much as 10 years old. But, when that coach started its journey, it was likely priced at over $1.5 million, and worth every penny.
This is the beginning of our journey. Most people who take this leap, spend as much as two years doing considerable due diligence, research and experimentation, not to mention plenty of chats on Facebook pages, forums and comments and discussion on YouTube and other platforms. The community is huge and can be found all over the internet, not to mention dealerships, highway rest stops, truck stops, and so on.
Please comment below and share your insights on our thoughts and observations. For now, that’s all we have to offer. But we know we aren’t alone in considering this way of life, not to mention the many of you who are already out there. Yup, we can’t wait!
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