Blangen wrote:
First, let's get tires out of the way... just wanted to make sure you weren't expecting to get 6 tires for $1500.
Second, I, too, found it difficult to get an inspection from a distance. Last year, I went looking around the country (online, of course)for a particular coach. Found three or four. One was at a dealer in the Indiana/Ohio area. Now, while there are plenty of dealers and manufacturers in that area, I suspected I'd have trouble finding an independent inspector who would give me the straight answers (knowing he needed to continue living in that area). I was right. What I ended up doing is finding out who the Dealer used for their bigger chassis work and then called the OTHER Freightliner shop in the area and told the Dealer that they would have to deliver the coach to them for chassis inspection or no deal. They did it, the shop found several things wrong that pointed to lack of maintenance, I paid the Freightliner shop... and told the Dealer the deal was dead. By the way, the "chassis" is just a small part of a coach but, to a trained eye, its' care will say a lot about how the entire coach was treated and maintained. Also, if the biggest ticket items (like the diesel engine, generator, transmission) are good and you're getting the coach at a cheap enough price, you are more able to suffer some smaller troubles in the house part of the coach.
The next one I liked was in rural Missouri and currently owned by a private party. Because it was such a sparsely populated area, couldn't find a coach inspector there, either. Ended up going there, myself, and looking. He had maintenance records. He and I spent a few hours looking at everything... under the heading of "This is my first coach and can you show me everything you know about how it works?". Of course, just that process told me a bunch about him, his attention to detail, etc. Had he been clueless... or even just shy of very knowledgeable about this coach he'd owned and cared for over the previous four years, I'd have walked away. Anyway... bought it, drove away, happy as a lark! Good luck to you and hope yours works out as well as mine.
One final note... at the risk of riling the non-Carfax people, I did pull a Carfax on each coach before wheeling and dealing. No, it doesn't tell you everything but it may tell you something that, at least, lets you judge the character of the private party you're talking to.
Thanks very much for sharing your story. It has definitely given us more food for thought!! The Dealer did email us a copy of car fax. Up to 2006 showed yearly service record notation every year, then stopped once it was sold to someone in TX. The dealer did comment they found some sort of record of fuel filter changed in 2012, but that is all.
