Question on first coach purchase

[Illfarmr]

Please be kind, this is my first post here.

Wife and I started looking for a used coach back in February. we like the Tiffin products, so we were looking at 2007-2009 Phaeton's and Bus's in 40 foot size. I have read and learned a lot here, but have (maybe) an opportunity we may not want to pass up.

From the above info, you can gather what price range we are looking in. While it is rather wide, we didn't want to discount a nice coach at a decent price. While looking for coaches last week, I found (what we thought) a very nice 2010 43QGP Bus. It is more coach than we wanted, but has the decor we want, residential refrigerator, washer and dryer, 41K miles, etc. Talked to dealer today, and told him it was too much coach, and then he came down from 220K to 180K. Suddenly, it didn't seem like too much coach.

Besides the "big 3", what other items should I be worried about. Tires are original, as are batteries. Thanks in advance.

[TurtleKent]

Post this on the TRVN forum, you will reach many more Tiffin owners there. And shop the TRVN classifieds for a lot of good FSBO Tiffins.

This is the best resource you will find on any used coach, bar none, and is specific for a 2010 43QGP! Expect to spend a couple of evenings reading it all. Ted has made a lot of corrections, as well as a lot of improvements to this same model. Crusingator's Files

It's a popular and highly desirable model that won't stay on the lot for very long, and therefore won't be sold at a low price. Don't take the sucker's bait from the dealer, as he merely came down from an astronomical asking price to something more realistic. Expect to need six new batteries real soon($1000). New tires in probably the next two years($5000). You could certainly negotiate both of these items into the purchase price, I would. And don't accept second quality on tires or batteries. Likely it will need the 'Big 3', but only Red Bay can check and tell you for sure. With the VIN you can call Tiffin to see if any/all have already been done. They can be done for free in Red Bay the first 6 years, so there is still time. However, expect to spend a month in Red Bay getting any/all of the work done.

Is it a 425hp(EPA07, no DEF) or a 450hp(EPA10, DEF)? The changeover was made around Feb 2010. Either is fine, the 450 probably gets +0.5mpg, but the cost of DEF probably balances out with the 425.

Which chassis? Spartan or Powerglide? Build date? The Powerglide has a couple of issues: An overweight front axle may be an issue. A number of 2010 Powerglide Busses were placarded(left of driver seat) at 50,900lbs with a 15,600lbs front axle, when actually built with a 14,600lbs front axle. Proportioning valves can be changed to lighten the front axle a bit. I would definitely weigh it at a CAT scale(3 axles) before I bought it. Not a deal-breaker, but an indicator of how much you will need to hassle with upgrading.

The exhaust flex pipe had a tendency to break. I've heard several revisions to improve the pipe. Tiffin will pay for pipe, you pay for labor.

It's a big coach to start with, if it suits your needs you will love it. Maneuverability in tight campgrounds is a challenge. Don't expect to visit many state/national parks, as most of their sites are too small for a 43' tag. Where will you store it? It has a long wheelbase and takes a lot of space to turn it around.

Have fun, it's a great coach.

[Illfarmr]

posted the original post to TRVN. You gave me several more questions to ask. I am winding down two business, a farming operation and a small (8) trucking company, so I am pretty familiar with diesels, DEF, and tires (I have a Michelin Small Fleet account and get a pretty decent price on tires, and we mount them ourselves.

I have looked at the coaches in the TRVN classifieds, and while a couple of the coaches looked ok, they just didn't grab our attention. I also thought the owners were plenty high on some of their prices. Actually, I concentrated on private sales on RV Trader, ebay, and other sights thinking they would likely be more "reasonably" priced.

For whatever it is worth, and I take a lot of stuff with a grain of salt, NADA's RV prices show this coach with an average retail value of $226K and low retail of $187K. Again, I have been to high dollar cattle sales where they run the same bull thru three or four times, knocking it off to a phony buyer, just waiting to set the hook on some unsuspecting newbie.

Again, thanks for the info