Question re: 2010 "new" CC

[Kathryn]

Hi folks!

Have seen a few ads recently for Country Coach units at dealers saying the coach is "New" or showing VERY low mileage.

In researching Country Coach, have reviewed the info regarding their brief closing in 2010, and their reopening with new finance, now gearing for 2013-2014 production. Have seen listings from the February 2010 asset sell-off which show a significant number of PARTIALLY FINISHED coaches which were liquidated, ranging anywhere from 5% chassis only to 25%, 45% 80% 95% complete.

My concern is, when considering any 2010 coach, is there any regulation on those partially complete units, or at least some kind of notice required that this is NOT a true Country Coach, but one finished elsewhere? And what about warranties on these suspect units? ......

Or do I just need to stay away from ANY 2010 coach since there is no way to know?



Kathryn

[num1dgh]

I want to preface my remarks by saying we have a 2006 Country Coach Intrigue, and absolutely love it. It did suffer a huge amount of "lot rot" prior to our purchase, and we got it for a great price but have also needed to invest a significant amount of money bringing it up to standard.

Honestly, I would stay away from these "new" units. We spoke with Ron Lee (brother of original CC owner and current owner of CC) this past summer at a North West Country Coachers rally, and while they say they are gearing up for production, their funding source is still uncertain and I would be shocked if they really did begin production. Their last coach that was completed would have been in 2009. There is NO warranty on any Country Coach, so certainly the partially finished ones will have no warranty associated with them. In addition, we personally would not buy a Country Coach newer than 2007 as the quality seemed to go down significantly while the corporation was being bought out, and employees' attitudes and loyalty went downhill as their jobs were being threatened.

Having said all that, Country Coach is a beautiful coach, and there's nowhere to go from our current coach except maybe a Newell! They are not, however, for the faint of heart, and I would highly recommend having any prospective purchased inspected by a reputable repair shop, specifically for any water damage and for transmission/CAT issues.

[B Bob]

I would not generalize. Judge each motor home individually. If you want to buy one of these "new" coaches get a professional surveyor pay them a fair fee and have them check that motor home for problems. Or you can do what we did and that is have the seller join you in buying the best extended warranty you can get. I will tell you now that we are very happy with our policy from Xtra Ride.

Many people on this forum and other forums will have their own idea of what the "good years" were from Country Coach. A popular notion is that the "best" Country Coaches were built before National RV had much influence on CC. Since you may not know the history, The Lee family sold out to National RV back appox 12 years ago. National made cheaper RVs than CC and many think National "cheapened" the CC line. Maybe. But we have a lot of National Coaches in our RV club, and though they are less costly than Country Coach, IMHO, they made good quality machines. If you subscribe to this theory you will buy a pre 2005 one. I do not subscribe.

I think CC made a great motor home up until the end. I have personally been in some of the derided Veranda motor homes and I thought they were beautiful. I have also been in a bunch of late year 2008-2009 CC's. Also very nice. On the other hand I would be careful of any Country Coach not made by Country Coach. So if people have bought up parts and cobbled together Sorta CC's I would be wary, but not entirely rule them out. If the design and parts are Country Coach it is likely good.

Finally. We really like our motor home. We have a 2002, which is before National supposedly had a bad influence on CC. Ours was designed well. The components are all first class+. And the result is we have a great motor home. But I have never driven a Country Coach I did not think was a good coach. So if you find a motor home you like, get a warranty and enjoy.