Monaco...The Good years and the bad...

[Ocean_Mist]

On the way to our vacation property, one of our neighbors has a Monaco Diplomat. It looks nice form the outside. My wife asks me about it and I say I really don't know. She say is it on that monocouque chassis? I'm like I think the top ones are but not sure...

Which leads me to my next questions...

I heard Monaco was a great brand and then they had a few years of some issues, and now are they good again? If so, which years should I stay away from? I see many for sale on RVtrader and many are priced very reasonably...

Are there any tips to getting a nice pre-loved Coach from Monaco?

I like a TAg, and stay in the 37 -40' range...

Oh, and do i have to worry about not having any CCC with these guys?

[moisheh]

Sorry: It was gemsworld back about 5 years ago!!!

Moisheh

[rvadventure2]

bullydogs1 wrote:
I have a 2009 HR (the diplomat in Monaco speak)..and it has been a decent coach..It is solid , there were issues such as an AC when Carrier was still doing AC's in RVs, but they all stepped up to cover their components...The fact that there is good support and I have a build sheet on the coach etc helps...I would not be afraid of any Monaco or HR unit at all IF IT HAS BEEN PROPERLY MAINTENANCED...The only exception is the RR4R chassis (Cayman and Neptune) with the 4 air bag chassis..Those had bad trailing arms and if you are looking at those, make sure all the necessary modifications were done. Note that the Newmar Dutch Star came with a 4018 floor plan which is a 40 foot with a tag.

I have a 2009 Monaco Camelot as well, I bought it even knowing that it was during the dark years! I had a 2004 Holiday Rambler endeavor and loved the road Master Chassis. After looking and walking similar makes and price of coaches, I bought this one used, that was well maintained, and had every option that was available. I've also connected with many others with the same year, mine was actually built in 2008, and have had very good luck with theirs as well. If you look at the 2015 Motorhone comparison guide, Monaco actually had their highest scores in 2008 and 2009. There is something to be said for having actually the time to assemble the coach as opposed to putting out 200 units per week. Regards

[ervinglobal]

moisheh wrote:
ervinglobal You are so far from the truth you must be a political surrogate for you know who!! The 07,8.9 are some of the finest units ever made. Compare a Dynasty from that era to a new Monaco and any Winnie of any year and one will see the quality. Strange that you are the only person who has ever posted such nonsense. have you ever owned one of these or is it just one of those" my friend told me" stories. hey have held their value quite well.

Moisheh

Sorry man you replied to a wrong person. If you read my post not the "quote"then you will know why. I'm happy with my 2013 Diplomat and that's all I said. Older Monaco unit's are well made what I know from my friends who own them. We camp together so take at as you want. All manufactures have their own problems but I still like my R10 Chassis and what ever they used to make it and what it is. Happy camping.
Cheers

[moisheh]

ervinglobal You are so far from the truth you must be a political surrogate for you know who!! The 07,8.9 are some of the finest units ever made. Compare a Dynasty from that era to a new Monaco and any Winnie of any year and one will see the quality. Strange that you are the only person who has ever posted such nonsense. have you ever owned one of these or is it just one of those" my friend told me" stories. hey have held their value quite well.

Moisheh

[DSDP_Don]

You guys realize that someone resurrected a year old post!

[barmcd]

Here's my two cents. Since we're talking about used, who owned the coach before you and how they maintained it is more important than the name on the side. We have a Dynasty with a Roadmaster S chassis and it's a solid coach. It was well maintained by two previous owners and we have few problems.

[doxiemom11]

We purchased a used 2000 Monaco and after 6 years no complaints. It is a well built coach. Ours is a gas Ford F53 chassis with the v10

[ervinglobal]

gemsworld wrote:

Ocean Mist wrote:

gemsworld wrote:
I had a new 2008 and it was the most expensive piece of junk I have ever owned. The company went belly up the following year.

i'm sorry to hear that. What Coach do you have now?

I got rid of the Monaco and got a Winnebago. Out of the three motorhomes I've owned, the Winnebago was the best.

I have the feeling Monaco already knew in 2008 they were in trouble and going down in flames really fast so they were cranking out c r a p p y units out the door as fast as possible to get some money coming into the company.

Most dealers at the time would not do warranty work on Monacos unless the customers paid for the work since Monaco wasn't reimbursing them for the work. The family owned dealer that sold me the Monaco got stiffed $300K in unpaid warranty work by Monaco. From what I understand, that was small potatoes compared to what other dealers lost.

When Navistar purchased Monaco, it made the decision not to honor Monaco warranties or reimburse part of the money owed to the dealers by Monaco. That decision made have made financial sense at the time, but it was an utter disaster from the customers and dealers point of view. This decision angered so many dealers and customers that the Monaco dealership network and the amount of Monacos sold under Navistar plummeted to almost nothing. No wonder why Navistar had to sell Monaco even though it got a great deal when it bought the company for 5 cents on the dollar.

In short, I would definitely stay away from the pre-bankrutpcy '08, '09 models, and maybe even the '07s. Personally, I would not buy any Monacos made by Navistar, specially the ones with their own diesel engines.

Good luck!

Well you know it all you think? I have a Navistar Maxxfoce 10 in my Monaco 2013 and I love it. It works hard and no problem till now. I went to Alaska and many other places with hills and it pulls like a champ. My unit never had any problems jet. It was built well and it works well also. The reason I like it because I do not need DEF fluid which is also adds to the maintenance and cost of traveling. It is still legal emission. You mixing it up with a 13L and 15L truck engines where they had problems. Do your homework first before you degrade Monaco Navistar. I had no problem with mine but I have contacted them about the electric schematics and they send me the whole file on the coach wiring diagram by email "PDF" file over 60 pages. Now that is a service!

[ervinglobal]

We bought a 2013 Monaco Diplomat slightly used with a Maxxforce 10. RR10 Chassis. We had some small issues just like any other companies made. NON of them perfect. When I called Monaco for parts they helped to find all the small plastic parts and send it to me for a few dollars. The warranty service was excellent for us. We have talk to other Monaco owners who owned 2012-2013 year models and all were happy with their coach in general.
This is our experience with the 2013.

[Vncgrg]

Ocean Mist wrote:

Vncgrg wrote:

gemsworld wrote:
I had a new 2008 and it was the most expensive piece of junk I have ever owned.

We also bought a brand new 2008 Monaco Camelot 42 PDQ in December of 2007.
We are pleased with the quality and performance of our unit.
Which model did you own? Gas or Diesel????

That Camelot looks real nice, and it's refreshig to know that even in 2008 you were able to get a good one...does yours have Residential frige?

My refrigerator is gas/electric side by side with water and ice dispenser in the door

[Kidoo]

I have a Cayman Monaco 34 feet with Cummins 300 HP.

Mine is just a Class A Motorhome! A Coach is one notch higher and looks more like a tour bus.

[Mr_Mark1]

Ocean Mist wrote:

Kidoo wrote:
Yep, 10,000, this is just about what it cost me to get it back in shape, all little stuff that had up.

What type of Coach do you have?

And, I find myself sometimes calling it a rig, or RV or Motorhome,or even sometimes a Coach. Are any of the names reserved for specific type of RV... Like the RV's that cost more are referred to as____________?

I do refer to ours as a coach as there is a plaque on each side towards the front that says 'Private Coach'. It's so that the police won't think it's a commercial vehicle when they come up to the coach.

But, you can call them anything you want. Sometimes I call ours the 'Hogwarts Express' because we have a train whistle (also air horns, siren and a loud speaker). LOL!

MM.

[Ocean_Mist]

Kidoo wrote:
Yep, 10,000, this is just about what it cost me to get it back in shape, all little stuff that had up.

What type of Coach do you have?

And, I find myself sometimes calling it a rig, or RV or Motorhome,or even sometimes a Coach. Are any of the names reserved for specific type of RV... Like the RV's that cost more are referred to as____________?

[Kidoo]

Yep, 10,000, this is just about what it cost me to get it back in shape, all little stuff that had up.