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some questions from prospective new owner

Yahoo Message Number: 77140
Hello, I'm new to the forum and I wish to thank you in advance for sharing your knowledge.
My wife and I are looking to acquire a vintage (mid '90's) Country Coach to start full-timing. I have experience with travel trailers, but not with motorhomes, so I would like to invite your comments on my approach.
I'm thinking we would prefer a coach about 36' in length with no slides because we like things simple and less likely to break, plus we don't need the extra room for just the two of us. We plan to "follow the sun" so we will be largely staying where we can get a lot of time outside as I like to golf and we both like to hike. Do we risk being claustrophobic without slides?
I would welcome comments on the relative merits of engines - Cummins, Detroit and Cat from the mid-90's era. Be as specific as you can on what model of engine you are talking about.
Some of the coaches of that age have issues with the clear coat peeling or flaking. Does anyone have advice or experience dealing with that? I have located "RV Clearcoat Paint & Body" in Tampa, Fl, but I would like your thoughts, as well.

Thanks for your help.

Jerry

Re: some questions from prospective new owner

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 77143
We do not full time but have enjoyed a 38' Magna for over 10 years.

"claustrophobic without slides?"

We do not have that problem when staying for 30 days. But do want to be outside a lot. Ours is 38' with front entry. We travel with a 45lb dog.

"Cummins, Detroit and Cat from the mid-90's era":
We have the Cummins C8.3L 300hp mechanical. It has been a non-issue except the exhaust manifold leaked and was repaired. The fuel pump also had to be replaced.
Since we live in the Wes, I am considering adding a pyrometer and TST fuel plate to up the engine by 100HP.
That would allow faster grade climbs. But we have not found a grade on which we could not get to the top.

"clear coat peeling or flaking":

Yes, we have had extensive clear coat peeling. Especially on the non-painted white gel coat sections that get the California sun while in storage.
I had the brow painted and cleared in 2003 for $1,000. It remains very good. I have developed my system of repair on the roof edges, rear cap, and sidewalls using a rattle can of Spraymax 2K clear coat. It does a nice job, requires a lot of polish and wet sanding, and seems to be durable. You would not be able to do this in an RV Park.
I suspect a commercial repaint for clear coat would cost about $8,000 if the base coat needs no repair. I have about $150 in paint and have caught up with the peeling clearcoat.
After 10 years of ownership, we would enjoy having the room of slides and less than 100 lbs of coach weight per HP. But the purchase price and resulting depreciation just does not make sense repeating for the value received.
Steep mountain grades are accomplished at 35 mph but we get to the top.
During that era, the rigs were simpler and seemed to have great quality control.

Dean

95 Magna 5280

Re: some questions from prospective new owner

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 77145
All classic CC suffer from clear coat peeling along the roofline. Some of us have the coating removed and that area painted to match and then coated, which stops that. We went from a 1984 34' Airstream TT to 36' (37' 10") 98 Allure with one slide. There was so much more room and available storage. If I had bought a 40' Allure for $1800 more or a 40' Intrigue at the time I probably wouldn't have bought the 2004 42' Intrigue. But we both love the bed room slide of our 04 coach. There are over 135 upgrades between our Allure and Intrigue. The only problem I had with my 98 allure one slide was caused by a tech not taking the time to adjust it properly during production. The factory HWH REP. fixed that in 10 minutes at a CC rally. I preferred Intrigues of that period for the upgraded cabinetry and the full size shower. I was 6' 2' at 200 lbs at the time and the Allure shower was small. The bay door access with out slides is fabulous, with slides on the DS a pain. The 2002 or 3 are the best of the classic CC. Full body paint, Above floor slides, allowing easy access. Good basic Cummins 350 ISC or 370 ISL on Intrigues. Magnas had C-10 and then C-12. All the TVs will need replacement, if not already. And the tire issue had been fixed by then. 275R70's are just to small on the 90's units. There was an issue with electrolysis between the edge trim of the slide openings and the chassis frame, but that can be fixed. 90's Allures had severe electrolysis issues with the front entry door. ($$$$$$) I am not sure about the Intrigue. Friends of mine owned a mid-90 Magna, and said the Detroit was terribly insufficient, but got reasonable milage. The 3000 and 4000 Allison transmission is 15% more efficient than than the 3060 or 3066 of the 90s units. So if you can swing it look for the earliest Intrigue or Magna with a Bed room slide, 12R tires and Allison 3000, or 4000 transmission. and full body paint. IMHO. TWI 2004 intrigue 11731.. PS Hindsight is 20/20 and Cummins gets better fuel milage, but a Cat will probably last longer, leak more oil, weigh more, and get you there faster.

Re: some questions from prospective new owner

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 77148
Jerry,

Just make your offer based on what needs to be fixed, nice thing about a Country Coach is that it is a solid RV and taking care of cosmetic issues that you have mentioned is not a big problem and there are many excellent paint facilities that can return your coach to like new appearance.
You are lucky in that you are near one of the finest RV paint shops in the country. Creative Coach in Lakeland recently took care of the peeling paint on the radius of the roof on our 2000 coach. They also put a ceramic coating on the entire roof and I couldn't be happier with the job. They also did some other touch up work where the clear coat was starting to peel. They are very busy this time of year so you would need to call them to schedule any work you need to have done. I also had them remove the old head bumper TV and rebuild the cabinets and install a 40 inch flat screen LED TV, they did an outstanding job with that. They can do pretty much anything you want done on your Country Coach.

Best of luck.
Ray

2000 Intrigue 11040

Re: some questions from prospective new owner

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 77150
Hi Jerry -

please be sure to further check out what I am going to mention, but the dealership I purchased my Country Coach from said to be very cautious about purchasing a coach that has been used exclusively in Florida -- he does consignment of coaches and will not take in a coach from Florida as too many times he has found malingering mold in internal systems, etc. Just passing along info that was told to me in hopes it may be of some benefit...... jan

06 Inspire DaVinci 51898

Re: some questions from prospective new owner

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 77152
Dean - have you ever incurred overheating issues when climbing? thank you
Jan

06 Inspire 51898

Re: some questions from prospective new owner

Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 77166
Yes, I have overheated on the way to South Lake Tahoe from Folsom, CA.
That is about 7000 feet plus gained in about 70 miles. Towing a 5,000 lb jeep in 90 degree temps. Since that event, I flushed the radiator and replaced the thermostat. I still get high temps but no repeat event.

Dean

95 Magna 5280

Re: some questions from prospective new owner

Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 77186
thank you for your input on overheating

Jan

06 Inspire Davinci 51898

Re: some questions from prospective new owner

Reply #9 –
Yahoo Message Number: 77187
Dean - did you have to have roadside service? My coach, when climbing slowly (and I am towing a 2006 Jeep Cherokee) will slowly climb to 220 - I do some downshifting and run the RPM's up and that will sometimes work - otherwise, I pull over and idle it.....
Do you have a CAT C9?

thanks Dean, for your input....
jan

06 Inspire Davinci 51898

Re: some questions from prospective new owner

Reply #10 –
Yahoo Message Number: 77190
Thanks to everyone for the wealth of information that you have shared. We are concluding purchase of a 1997 Intrigue that I found locally.

Oddly enough after searching far and wide on the internet, we ended up buying a coach that I discovered sitting with a for-sale sign in the window at the owner's place of business as I returned from a game of golf. I'm glad I decided to take the scenic route home that day.

Best of luck to everyone
Jerry

Re: some questions from prospective new owner

Reply #11 –
Yahoo Message Number: 77192
Jerry - good luck with your new coach - jan

06Inspire DaVinci 51898

Re: some questions from prospective new owner

Reply #12 –
Yahoo Message Number: 77200
Hi Jerry,

My husband and I have a '99 Magna, 38' non slide model. Previously, we had a '96 Intrigue 40' also without slides. We have enjoyed our travels in both of our Country Coaches for over the past 9 years. Although we are not fulltimers we have spent quite a bit of time traveling every year.
We have traveled up to 2 months at a time in our Magna with our 2 dogs. We have driven the Magna over 90k miles over 8 years with very little problems. It has a C-10 Cat 385 hp in it and after driving an '07 Allure I realized its a hotrod. We haven't been out west to the real mountains yet but she has no problems with these eastern ones.
We have lots of storage space inside and out. I find myself taking things out every once in a while because we don't use them and I find more space. I don't think we will ever live full time in ours but don't doubt we could.
You asked about peeling clear coat. On our Intrigue, the clear started peeling really bad (coming off in sheets). We had a friend repaint the entire coach and clear it. We got a great price because he was a friend and he needed the money. Now, our Magna is starting to peel up at the edge of the roof. We have several friends have approached the issue in a number of ways. We are kinda holding out to see which might work out better after some time.
Some others have given you advice about tv's and such which is all good info. We replaced our rear tv with a new one just by installing a bracket inside the space the where the old one was. We have been experimenting with OTA tv. Its been ok so far but I still have Directv (for now anyway). We are considering replacing the carpet in the living area and the tile in the kitchen with some new heated tile and having the head-knocker tv box cut back and a new tv installed. Maybe this summer? I guess my bottom line is I would not hesitate to buy another "vintage" Country Coach as long as its in good shape for the age. Almost anything on the interior or exterior are repairable or replaceable if the drive train is in good shape.
Good luck and happy hunting.

Tammy

Panama City, FL
Magna 5605

Re: some questions from prospective new owner

Reply #13 –
Yahoo Message Number: 77209
Jan, no I did not need road service. My rig shuts down at 225 degrees with alarms sounding. I let it cool and restarted. It is an C8.3L Cummings pushing 31,000 and pulling 5,000lbs.

That event occurred in 2004.

I do down shift and can be found climbing steep grades in 3rd gear at 35mph.

Dean

95 Magna 5280

Re: some questions from prospective new owner

Reply #14 –
Yahoo Message Number: 77212
Sounds to me like you guys both have circulation issues or defective fan controllers. When I had my fan controller replaced after about 5oo miles every time I saw a 6, 7, or 8 % grade, I started having issues, by the time I had reached Laramie, Wyoming and had to climb Sherman hill I was In real trouble. I later disconnected the control section plug to allow the fan to run high all the time until I could get a second controller. If you will stand next to the radiator with the coach being hot and you can still hear the engine over the fan noise, then the fan is not running at high speed. TWI 2004 Intrigue w/ ISL 11731 pulling 4500 LBS.
PS. I know its not scientific, but that's how works for me and Chris Snyder confirmed my diagnosis.

Re: some questions from prospective new owner

Reply #15 –
Yahoo Message Number: 77216
Dean -- thank you -- I thought about taking my coach in to a trucking place and having them check everything out before I start travelling in March - maybe its not necessary...... thanks again, Dean
Jan

96InspireDaVinci 51898

Re: some questions from prospective new owner

Reply #16 –
Yahoo Message Number: 77251
You can over do the rpms the 400hp C-9 pulls its peak torque at between 1100 and 1300 rpms. Using more rpms will only increase temps.

Dan 2006 Allure 31348