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magna / affinity

Yahoo Message Number: 90746
We are trying to decide between a 1995 magna and a 1997 affinity the magna has75000 miles with 8.3 Cummings. The affinity has35000 miles with catc-12 both are on a Gillig. any advise from those in the club will be greatly appreciated.
Obvious you fellows know your coaches. thanks

Re: magna / affinity

Reply #1
Yahoo Message Number: 90748
1995 Magna

I have a 95 Magna, 5220. Excellent chassis. The 8.3 Cummins is a strong motor.
Things to check: the square tubing that holds the bottom of the fiberglass body panels. They have a tendency to rot. Not the best paint job on them, if any.
Check the bottom of the radiator. Had to have mine recored. the fins had rotted out, all the junk from the road kicked up by the tires had collect in the bottom of the radiator.
The 8.3 does get good mileage, about 9mpg.
I'd think the Affinity would also be a excellent choice.
I really do like the sidedoor over having one by the passenger seat. Not as much road noise.

Steve, 95 Magna 5220

From: "clarsenjr@..."

To: Country-Coach-Owners@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, August 21, 2013 12:00 PM Subject: [Country-Coach-Owners] magna / affinity

We are trying to decide between a 1995 magna and a 1997 affinity the magna has75000 miles with 8.3 Cummings. The affinity has35000 miles with catc-12 both are on a Gillig. any advise from those in the club will be greatly appreciated.
Obvious you fellows know your coaches. thanks


Re: magna / affinity

Reply #2
Yahoo Message Number: 90750
I have a 8mnd old 1996 Affinity with 48000 miles, 350 cat on a Gillig. We came from a 40' Royals International 5th wheel.
Love the Affinity, my wife misses the slides but I don't. Just the two of us for 3-4 months out of the year.
I had a Cat dealer do a computer check, only 1 flag came up and it was a sensor for barometric pressure $165, the fuel mileage 8.17 a clean bill of health it seemed

Now it is 8 mnds and 4000 miles later the repair bills are mounting.
1. New hose for dash air and changed trans fluid and filter $550
2. Changed green coolant to Fleet Charge and installed new thermostat
3. Installed new head light fixture $70 from Ebay
4. New carpeting, installed by me
5. Two new LCD TVs
6. Dash heater not working, cable adjustment
7.Generator working on only 1 leg, found burned wire easy fix
8. Toilet fresh water hose small leak
9 New o rings 3 on Cat engine$400 leaking coolant 10. More o rings on engine, cold leak $300 11. Changed new Chinese tires to Michelin, much smoother tracking at high speeds 65-70 12.Electric spark for refrigerator gas not sparking. Lighting it manually.
13. Fantastic Fan domes are cracked, company sending me new domes no charge liftime warranty 14. Sensor for air brake buzzer not working 15. Splendide washer/dryer need water pressure sensor.
16. Roof had small crack, 3 in long, put 5200 on it.
17. HWH leveling is not working on all valves, this will be the next project for me.
I know this is not the end of the list of repairs, but I am very pleased with this magnificent coach for the purchase price of $31000.00
Handling; Traveling south through Vermont mountains 6deg incline and decline Jake brake worked very well in 3 stages high medium and light. The 350 Cat made the grades with no problems keeping rpms at 1500 close to max torc that I have learned from this forum.
Would I buy this unit again knowing now what I did not know at that time, yes
Exterior is starting to peel with a few bubbles in the clear coat sheet. I used glue to keep it from getting bigger, seems to work
I am on a 40000 mile shake down cruise from Florida to Ottawa Canada, we are now in Boston and feeling optimistic for the remainder of the trip
I hope this will shed some light on your decision making and good luck.
Tom Buka

96 Affinity 350 Cat

Sent from my ASUS Eee Pad

stephen burdick wrote:

1995 Magna

I have a 95 Magna, 5220. Excellent chassis. The 8.3 Cummins is a strong motor.
Things to check: the square tubing that holds the bottom of the fiberglass body panels. They have a tendency to rot. Not the best paint job on them, if any.
Check the bottom of the radiator. Had to have mine recored. the fins had rotted out, all the junk from the road kicked up by the tires had collect in the bottom of the radiator.
The 8.3 does get good mileage, about 9mpg.
I'd think the Affinity would also be a excellent choice.
I really do like the sidedoor over having one by the passenger seat. Not as much road noise.

Steve, 95 Magna 5220

From: "clarsenjr@..."

To: Country-Coach-Owners@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, August 21, 2013 12:00 PM Subject: [Country-Coach-Owners] magna / affinity

We are trying to decide between a 1995 magna and a 1997 affinity the magna has75000 miles with 8.3 Cummings. The affinity has35000 miles with catc-12 both are on a Gillig. any advise from those in the club will be greatly appreciated.
Obvious you fellows know your coaches. thanks


Re: magna / affinity

Reply #3
Yahoo Message Number: 90768
Both are good coaches. I would look at which floor plan suited me best, and of course overall condition. Our coach is on a Gillig as well. We just had Country Coach go through the chassis and replace most rubber bushings as well as the rear shocks. Significant improvement in ride. If this has not been done on the coaches you are looking at, they may need a chasssis overhaul as well. Look for corrosion on engine coolant clamps, and make sure everything works the way it is supposed to. Our hydarualic hose burst two years ago--make sure it is in good shape, and check the age of the tires--over seven years are highly suspect. Things like TVs and VCR/DVD players are easily up graded. Good luck!

Per

95 Affinity

 

Re: magna / affinity

Reply #4
Yahoo Message Number: 90771
We had a '95 Magna 38' with the Cummins 8.3 300 hp. It was probably the most trouble-free coach we have ever owned. We gave it up in order to have slideouts. If it had had slides, we never would have traded it.

David Jarrett

2003 Magna Resort 42'