Looking at 34' Alpine

[Mortgagehomes]

I am currently looking at a 2009 34 ft. Alpine. I know this is an "orphan" and we must basically self insure as WRV is gone. Is there anything I should know about this coach before I pull the trigger? Is it worth buying a warranty? What do you think the parts availability going forward will be? Any advise welcome

[Dave Fernandez]

Hello & Welcome MortgageHome:

WRV had/was turning things around in the manufacture of the alpine when they closed. Yes you may have a few problems with a new coach no mater whose coach you purchase. We have not had any problems with parts since all manufactures purchase parts and build a coach.

Yes I would purchase an extended warranty because you never know what may happen. It is like car insurance you purchase and hope you never need.

I think you will like the Alpine. If you purchase it please join us at a rally with the Alpine Coach Association or at one of the other Alpine chapters.

[takepride]

Mort:

I would buy the warranty and renew it until you are sure the bugs are worked out. Like Dave says the '09s are well built, but I'm 100% sure you'll have a few issues, unless you are favored by divine intervention or are cashing in on your karma. I've never heard of anyone not having anything wrong.

You are going to have the best coach you've ever driven.

[EngineerMike]

We have a substantial amount of info on the workings of (and the info needed to repair) the Alpine Coach on our Owner's Association Tech Library site and more coming, which makes Alpine way ahead of most orphans. Even the chassis multiplexing, which formerly had no OEM documentation at all, now has an Alpine-specific manual with all the pin-outs identified.
You will like the way it drives, and you will like that there is great help here on iRV2 for most situations that come up. Some people shop & shop, and then buy an Alpine because of the great help from fellow Alpiners.

[Cinequip]

We just purchased an '09 with 1800 miles on it - essentially new. Through the posts here, I was able to make a much better purchase than I would have otherwise. Study as many postings here as you can. With help from others here, I developed a multi-page check list. I used this list with the 3 coaches that we we seriously considered and looked at. The reality is that you will have NO WRV warranty the second you leave the lot, so everything you can find out while still in delivery, will save you money. I caught several items that the dealer didn't notice, and I found a few more on our first trip. Email me if you want a copy of the updated list. Now that we're through the birthing pains, we are very happy.

Your '09 was actually manufacturered in late '07 or early '08. That means it was parked a long time - and out in the weather. Have the seller perform full service - even though there may be few miles driven.

We bought a 5 year extended warranty that includes tires. You are correct that we must "self purchase our own warranty".

Good luck!

[swansnest]

You will definitely need an extended warranty (which is really just an insurance policy) and we DO NOT recommend CPS. We bought CPS when we took possession of our custom ordered '07 thinking because it was Good Sam that it would be different than what we had heard about other plans. Well, guess what! We have had nothing but headaches and hassels from them. You will want to research your extended warranty as well as you have researched the coach! We have literally spent $$$thousands fixing bugs or repairing things that did not work because CPS does not do what they say (nor will they stand behind a repair that is botched).

Even with all the costs of repairs - we LOVE our Alpine and have not been sorry we "upgraded" to it in '07. And the Alpiners are a great bunch of RVers!