2005 Patriot Thunder pre purchase jitters

[cfyanes]

We are real close to buying..... are there any quality issues we should be aware of before finalizing the purchase? We loved the test drive the Cat 525 was fabulous. Thanks

[Mike Canter]

Wow, that is a great MH. Are you buying from a dealer or is it a private sales? Make sure you operate evrything, charging system, slides, generator, Aqua Hot, frig. If you don't know how to turn it on then ask. Then turn it on. Make sure all the manuals are there and find out when filters and fluids were changed last. Most likely it came with Allison Transynd synthetic ATF from the factory but make sure it still is and was not changed. and was the 5000 mile initial transmission filter change done? Are they original tires? Check the DOT dates on them. If they are original tires and it is being bought from a dealer then he needs to change them because they are over six years old. Make sure you know what tire the dealer is going to buy. No chep Chinese tires on that MH. If it is a private sales then they should discount the price to pay for new tires. You can buy Michelin at discount price of around $550 each right now. Without the discount then they will be around $660 each so that is a big purchase item.

[boaterok]

How about some particulars, dealer or owner, miles, $, tires, service records, overall appearance, where kept when not in use. Your answer will not be if there has been problems but will be in the condition and maintenance.

[Steve Ownby]

mike covered it pretty well. He's right, that is a great coach! There were no documented quality issues with this coach. In a 6 going on 7 year old coach, any manufacturing issues have been addressed so it's all about maintenance. If service records are available then go over them in detail and negotiate any current needs. If records are not available then you will be faced with doing a complete service soon in order to be sure the drive train is protected.

The PT was on our short list when we were looking for a full timing coach in'06. Good luck and let us know how things turn out.

[Diplomat Don]

That's a coach that many would like to have. I personally feel that is a year where Monaco's quality/features were at the top of their game.

[RickO]

Congrats on your pending purchase! That really is a remarkable coach.

If at all possible, spending at least a couple of nights in it AT the dealer is a good idea so they can answer any questions real time and fix anything that needs fixing. If they don't have any hook ups available they I would stay at a nearby CG for the shakedown.

Best of Luck...

Rick

[frankdamp]

I wish I could have swung a deal like yours. It makes my rig look a bit dowdy by comparison.

We have a length limitation of 35' due to storage space. We looked long and hard before we found our signature rig. One MH we really liked was a '92 (I think) Beaver Patriot "Charleston", a 30 or 31' DP. DW was a bit leery of the age, but the whole thing foundered when we found that the dealer wanted 2.2x NADA for it and wouldn't negotiate.

I think it was still on the lot two years later when the dealer went bankrupt, but we'd bought our GT by then. Now we have a rig with slides, maybe it's a good thing we didn't get the Beaver!

I'd had quite a lot of miles on 28 and 30' transit coaches (all DPs) at the time and could live with the porpoising of a short DP for the 4000 miles or so we drive a MH in a year. I think the Beaver still handled better than our GT!