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Looking for opinions on a '02 Intrigue we are looking at purchasing

Yahoo Message Number: 95760
Looking at purchasing a 2002 Intrigue 36' ESSG Evening Star, and hoping to get some insight on a few potential issues we noted today. This rig has apparently been well maintained and stored inside when not in use. It has 68,000 miles, and has the 370ISL Cummins, and several other options. Here are my questions that I hope I can get some answers on to see if it is worth spending the money to have it inspected, or if these issues should cause me to keep looking:

1. Is the 370 ISL enough motor for a 33,200 GVWR coach, considering we will be full timing and towing our CRV? We will be traveling out west at times and want to make sure we can handle the hills.
2. During our test drive, the air system seemed to let off air every three or four minutes or so, is this normal? Didn't notice any issue with comfort of the ride.
3. There was very little travel in the brake pedal, and I seemed to have to put a lot of pressure on the pedal when at a stop light to keep the coach from creeping forward. Is this a potential issue?
4. The paint on the top of the front and end caps seems to be completely gone on the very top...can't see this unless on the roof. I understand some weathering, as this coach has spent most of its time in the Fl sun, but is this a major issue that will require extensive paint repair?
5. The paint on the sides is "spidering" in a few places, but seems to have been contained with routine waxing. I've seen other posers that seem to indicate this can be ok if kept clean and waxed.
6. Could not detect any water intrusion, but noted the wood frame in the cabinet above the bed and one in the kitchen had discoloring in very small spots that appeared to possibly be mold, but not sure. Any way to test?
7. The coach has a Zip-D manual awning. How expensive is this to replace with a good automatic?
8. The coach has a Invertrix 2000 inverter. Will this handle a residential fridge if we replace the Dometic 1272?

Thanks so much in advance!!
Ron

Ron Ten Haken

(321)258-7992
Ron Ten Haken
(321)258-7992

Re: Looking for opinions on a '02 Intrigue we are looking at purchas

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 95761
1. Is the 370 ISL enough motor for a 33,200 GVWR coach, considering we will be full timing and towing our CRV? We will be traveling out west at times and want to make sure we can handle the hills.
I have a 40ft Intrigue with the ISC motor and I pull a Jeep GC. The coach does fine with the setup I have. More HP is always nice but I wouldn't worry about needing more. The ISL motor was a $8,000 option for '02
2. During our test drive, the air system seemed to let off air every three or four minutes or so, is this normal? Didn't notice any issue with comfort of the ride.
This is normal. When the engine driven compressor builds up approx 120 pounds of air pressure, thepressure relief valve on the air dryer will "spit" and that is what you are hearing.
3. There was very little travel in the brake pedal, and I seemed to have to put a lot of pressure on the pedal when at a stop light to keep the coach from creeping forward. Is this a potential issue? Hard for us to measure your definition of"a lot of pressure". Very little travel of the brake pedal is normal.
4. The paint on the top of the front and end caps seems to be completely gone on the very top...can't see this unless on the roof. I understand some weathering, as this coach has spent most of its time in the Fl sun, but is this a major issue that will require extensive paint repair? Most likely what you are seeing is the clear coat peeling off. A lot of coaches have this happening. It can be repaired however if you are going to do extensive repair of the clear coat, the cost will be in the$2-3 thousand range.
5. The paint on the sides is "spidering" in a few places, but seems to have been contained with routine waxing. I've seen other posers that seem to indicate this can be ok if kept clean and waxed.
Is this happening in the dark colors? Mine is beginning to exhibit small spider webbing in the darker color accent stripes. I am not worried about it yet as I keep it waxed and the clear coat is in good shape.
6. Could not detect any water intrusion, but noted the wood frame in the cabinet above the bed and one in the kitchen had discoloring in very small spots that appeared to possibly be mold, but not sure. Any way to test? Being in FLA, I wouldn't think it would be mold. The wood has a lacquer finish and can discolor if wet.
7. The coach has a Zip-D manual awning. How expensive is this to replace with a good automatic? Mine came with the manual Zip Dee and it is the strongest of the manual awnings. I had it replaced at the Girrard factory in CA where I bought a "freight damaged" awning. I was able to get the main awning and the seperate awning over the door plus the auto retract for both cheaper than I could have bought the main awning from the factory. At the time my coach was built, the auto Girrard awning was a $5,000 option
8. The coach has a Invertrix 2000 inverter. Will this handle a residential fridge if we replace the Dometic 1272?
We just replaced the Dometic 1272 with a Samsung 197. The Invertrex will run the Samsung just fine. It is one of the refers that can run with a modified sine wave inverter.

Don

'02 Intrigue 11427
'02 Intrigue #11427

Re: Looking for opinions on a '02 Intrigue we are looking at purchas

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 95762
Thanks so much Don! Yes, the spidering is in the darker trim areas. You've given me much more comfort about this potential purchase. My wife fell in love with this coach. If anyone knows any good certified inspectors in the Central FL area, please let me know.

Thanks again,
Ron

Ron Ten Haken
(321)258-7992

Re: Looking for opinions on a '02 Intrigue we are looking at purchas

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 95767
Sounds like we have your "sister coach" ... 2002 Intrigue 36' "Evening Star" (#11382) (Interior theme "African Nights") which we bought used as our 2nd coach in 2004 and have been full-timing in it since then. Love it! It also sounds like you have some similar issues that are not really issues at all.

1. The 370 ISL engine is just fine and we pull a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (that's the heavy 4-door model).
2. Yes ... the air system pops periodically but that is normal operation letting off pressure.
3. I also noticed that the brake pedal seemed hard to push and hold when we first bought the coach but we got used to that very quickly.
4. Yes, the clear coat on the edges of the roof and the top of the front and rear caps is peeling but it can only be seen when you're on the roof ... and we're full-timers so it has never been garaged. The sun is just working its magic!
5. There are a few small spots in the dark accent colors on the sides that are spidering but they are small and barely noticeable (especially after a while). After all, the coach is 12 years old!
6. No comment on the wooden cabinetry in the bedroom but on very cold nights we will get a little "sweating" in the corner of the bedroom slide-out that allows moistur to run down onto the wooden "night tables". Probably not insulated very well at that point. It hasn't been a big deal.
7. Ours came with the $5K automatic Girard awning but we didn't have a choice in that matter since we didn't buy it new. It works like it should but that doesn't say very much for it. Since it is a cantilevered awning, it will retract automatically if a breeze comes up and you can't leave it out in the rain. Go with something sturdier than what was offered by the factory way back then.
8. Our Inverter is a Trace RV2012 which I believe was a retro-fit by Country Coach during its first 2-years of life with the original owner. We've had no problems with the inverter but we do have and plan to keep the original Dometic RM1272 "Elite" side-by-side propane/electric refrigerator. We do a lot of boondocking and a residential refrigerator therefore would not suit our lifestyle since we do not like to have to use the generator on a daily basis as I hear most residential refrigerator owners claim they have to do. Instead I have added 500 watts of solar and increased the battery bank to 900 amp-hour capacity by expanding to 8 Trojan T105 house batteries. The first set of batteries lasted for 10 years and we've just started on our 2nd set.
9. You didn't have a number 9 in your list but I'll throw one in ... right off the bat we had lots of cabinetry modifications done (by Davis Cabinets in Junction City) to expand storage space and to suit our lifestyle. I also did some "magical things" inside the coach and in the outside storage compartments to expand storage space so we can fit lots of our "stuff" for full-timing. And I recently further modified the front cabinetry myself to enlarge our 20-inch living room TV to a 37-inch TV. I'll be happy to share some of my "secrets".

Steve Bufty #11382

Re: Looking for opinions on a '02 Intrigue we are looking at purchas

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 95770
A few comments on Point 7.

I had 3 CC coaches in my 11 years of full-timing. Two had Girards and the last was a Dometic. Girard was by far the better awning. It is not true that you cannot use a Girard in the rain. A Girard is only at full strength when fully extended so it must be fully extended to support the weight of rain water. In that position is can handle any deluge with ease. Half extended and any substantial amount is sure to snap one or more support arms. The front to back pitch of a Girard is set when installed to 22 degrees but it can be adjusted with the support arms. Clearly adjusting it to less than that is going against Girard's determined optimum pitch.
All automatic awnings have some sort of wind sensing device to retract it in windy conditions. The rotating cup type spinner on my Girards work great and it took more than what I would call a breeze to retract it. If memory serves I believe it is factory set to 22 mph and can be adjusted. Don't quite me on the statistic though. it has been quite a while. My Dometic was controlled by a venturi type sensor and that would sometimes retract when I could not sense any wind at all. To keep it extended I had to shut off the automatic feature and stay right there. Just watching the awning it was pretty clear that it was not going to perform very well in any amount of wind. The Dometic had an ingenious way of handling rain water. The rear support was held up by an pneumatic piston. As the weight of the water increased, the piston would collapse dropping the back corner letting the water run off. Once off the piston would return to the support position. It worked very well but there was quite a startling bang each time the piston dropped.
For several years CC stopped using Girards on some of the coach models once the triple and quad slides came along. Girard did not make an awning that would clear the patio slide except on the higher end coaches that had the front to back roof ridges.
Now for my shocking recommendation. With all of my experience with automatic awnings I would leave the manual Zip Dee right where it is. Many times I would have gladly traded my automatic awnings for the good old manual type. The may take a bit longer to extend and not as glamorous but the are stronger and more flexible. They can be tied down and left in all but the worst wind storms. Usually one has plenty of warning of that type of weather coming in. They were on all of my various other RVs.

Don Seager

Former CC Owner

Re: Looking for opinions on a '02 Intrigue we are looking at purchas

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 95772
Excellent answers. I would add that the reason for the brake peddle pressure may be that the idle is set up too high. It should be around 600 RPM. Take a look at that as it is easy to set back down using the supplied control switch.

Good luck. Sounds like a nice coach.

George in Birmingham
'03 Magna 6298
George in Birmingham
2003 Magna 6298