Differences Between Newer Rigs and Older CCs

[Stratman50th]

Thanks all, but I guess the reason I told that painfully long story is two fold. Just letting the OP know that first, CC makes a great product in my humble opinion. I don"t have the coach experience you all do, but I know quality when I see it. If there's lemon CCs out there, and I don't doubt for a minute there are, I believe it's an aberration, not the norm.
Second point. If you find something that is right, don't over-analyze it and lose the perfect coach for you. I've read every question and comment you've made LJ, I think you also know quality.
Best of luck!

[TQ60]

89 CC here and it is great coach.

You need to look long and hard to locate a CC owner who was not happy with their rig...the few lemmons may be from non factory "improvements..."

Suggest you first consider your purchase budget then your modification budget as you will want to do things then add 10 k for tires and equipment.

Now look at given brand such as cc priced at the purchase price regardless of year.

You may find a 2009 CC Magna fully loaded with everything you need and your additional budget can modify it to your needs.

We would put the quality build and features of our 89 to be better in its old condition than many newer units.

So CC and other high line units matter not so much about the year built for quality.

[smlranger]

Congrats on the new-to-you coach.

When we were looking at this coach, the dealer agreed to give me the first owner's name and number. I called him and he was very generous with info. When I asked him why he traded what appeared to be a wonderful coach with only 31K miles, he told me did not want to trade it and regretted doing it. He had traded for a new American Eagle. He said he and his DW went to a RV show and she saw an Eagle with the full rear bath and just had to have it. He traded and said it was not the coach the Allure was. In fact, he was in Decatur, IN at the factory getting things fixed that were still giving him problems more than 8 months into ownership.

I spoke to him again about 6 months ago (had a question) and told him we were really enjoying the Allure. He told me again that while the Eagle was a beautiful coach, he still wished he had not traded the Allure.

[vito.a]

I agree, Country Coach builds a high quality coach. The only caution I would add is to learn to check the coach Average MPG on both the current trip and Lifetime on the coach computer. I have found several 2006 and earlier Country Coach Magna, Affinity, and Lexa coaches with under 5mpg average.
Starting in 2006, many of these coaches are equipped with Cummins engines and seem to be slightly better.

Best of luck!

[Peralko]

Of course we have a much older coach than the OP is looking for, but our Cat-powered coach showed 8.1 MPG average when I got a readout about 80,000 miles ago. I will get it checked again next time I have Cat service the coach, but I suspect it will be higher based on the fuel logs I keep--which most of the time include heavy generator use. Of course, our coach is also lighter than the newer coaches.

[smlranger]

While I can't speak to MPG on model years before mine, we have logged just over 7,000 miles on our current trip from VA to Oregon and back. We drove over all kinds of terrain of course. I am close to 40,000 lbs pulling a CRV(around 3,800 lbs). Based on my travel log of miles traveled and fuel put in the tank, we have averaged 7.4 mpg. That is as good as our smaller, lighter 36' DP we had with a 330 CAT. Our best mpg (according to the Silverleaf gizmo) was 9.2 for a long stretch on I-80.....flat and no wind.

No complaints.

[LJSteinmetz]

B Bob,

Thanks for the info...please see comments below.

Originally Posted by B Bob

LJ - I read this thread just now and did not see anywhere that your question about number of airbags on Country Coaches had been answered. Our CC coach has 10 airbags. The number varies by year and model.

I suppose this is something that would have to be asked for each individual coach when I am out looking. I haven't seen anything that really talks about number of airbags in any specs I have run across online.

I would also suggest that CAT may have not wanted to deal with the repeated changes the Federal and State governments are making with emissions for OTR trucks. California from what I can see is at the forefront of repeated changes. Both Cummins and CAT make good motors. Some better than others. Our CAT motor has been quite good. The Allison trans on the other hand needed to be replaced due to a "known weakness" two years ago. The quote is from the Allison rebuilder and not Allison. Fortunately we still have extended warranty when the trans blew.

I enjoyed the general write up about coaches and always felt a monocoque type chassis for coaches was a more rigid platform, plus much safer.

Smitty's comments about the bolts holding the body on sent shivers down my spine. I have made a mental note to never buy a coach constructed like that.

This is something else I would be interested in locating online...a picture of a CC frame while being constructed so that I can get a better understanding of the type of chassis/framing it has.

We are very happy with the way our coach drives and operates in general. We have upgraded a bunch of stuff on our coach. One thing we have not touched though is the two inverters. We have 2 Heart Freedom 25 2,500 watt inverters. These are modified sign wave. So far in five years I have not found anything that does not run with them. We have flat screen TV, several types of computers, many electrical gadgets. All work fine with these inverters.

I read either here or on Escapees where some people fried electronic crock pots and other similar equipment with the modified sine wave inverters whereas, like you, others reported no issues. I think in the model years I am looking at they come with true sign wave so may not be an issue.

I do think I am going to have Country Coach put in an electric push up device on our flat screen next summer though. We have been buggered to figure out where to put a flat screen in a place we want to view it. I hate the up high ones. We just set ours on the desk when parked. An electronic trap door on the back of the desk sounds like the Cat's me ow to me.

This is probably the number one major interior modification we would make and would have it set behind a fold-out couch like the Newmar's have. We want two recliners (probably Euro style) opposite of the couch and lift-up TV. My wife says 32" flat screen; I say 50".

Something everyone should get if they are buying a Country Coach that I love is well made sliding basement storage. We have really sturdy big trays on two storage bays. I love that set up.

This is also a highly desirable feature that my wife and I both like in quality coaches.

[LJSteinmetz]

Originally Posted by Stratman50th

Just a quick reply, (I hope). My wife and I decided that we were if not full time, spend a lot of time on the road after we retired. This will be in the next 5-7 years. I just started looking around, not really knowing anything. In fact, the last time I camped was in a pup tent when I was 16 (54 now). Ok, small lie. I've had boats since I was 16 and the last, 31' that we weekended in a lot. So I wasn't foreign to some of the "house" systems. Back on track now.... I saw a really nice Class A in our local Chevy dealer lot. Asked a few questions. It belonged to the owner of the dealership. He had died the previous year from cancer. His wife didn't want the bus. Turned out to be a 2006 42' CC Magna 630 VanGogh, 7k miles. The price had just been lowered by $45k. Started to do some research and found the current asking price was very reasonable for that year and make. When I checked it out I was extremely impressed with the build quality. Just the attention to detail and fit and finish. The more research i did the more I realized I had myself a high end coach. The deal was too good to pass up. So instead of buying new 5 years from now we bought used. Consider me in pre-retirement mode. So far I am truly in love with this bus. We've only had it for about 5 months now so we are totally new at this as well. I'll keep you posted if you like as my experience mounts. I don't regret my decision at this point!

We hope to be so lucky...congrats on the great find!

[LJSteinmetz]

Originally Posted by Stratman50th

...I've read every question and comment you've made LJ, I think you also know quality.
Best of luck!

Thanks...I know quality in things I am familar with and can pretty quickly pick out short cuts and bad craftsmanship. The beauty of this forum is learning from those that have experience with their coaches and know more about them then just the obvious things like pretty cabinetry and what size TV it comes with.

[LJSteinmetz]

Originally Posted by TQ60

89 CC here and it is great coach.

You need to look long and hard to locate a CC owner who was not happy with their rig...the few lemmons may be from non factory "improvements..."

Suggest you first consider your purchase budget then your modification budget as you will want to do things then add 10 k for tires and equipment.

Now look at given brand such as cc priced at the purchase price regardless of year.

You may find a 2009 CC Magna fully loaded with everything you need and your additional budget can modify it to your needs.

We would put the quality build and features of our 89 to be better in its old condition than many newer units.

So CC and other high line units matter not so much about the year built for quality.

You make very good points. The primary reason I am interested in the years I mentioned is due to some of the options that became standard and/or new options that became available for each new year model. I am not afraid to get an older model if the options we prefer are able to be installed at a price that doesn't end up making it more expensive than if we bought something newer. It will be interesting when we really get down to brass tacks and start comparing model years and features, service logs, etc.

[smlranger]

Originally Posted by LJSteinmetz

You make very good points. The primary reason I am interested in the years I mentioned is due to some of the options that became standard and/or new options that became available for each new year model. I am not afraid to get an older model if the options we prefer are able to be installed at a price that doesn't end up making it more expensive than if we bought something newer. It will be interesting when we really get down to brass tacks and start comparing model years and features, service logs, etc.

You were interested in more info regarding the Dynomax chassis build process. This is the best link I have found:

RV Having Fun Yet!: COUNTRY COACH BUILD PROCESS: DynoMax-The Proprietary Chassis of Country Coach

[Peralko]

Larry,
I have a brochure I picked up at Country Coach back in the day that has some pictures showing the Dynomax chassis during construction. Send me an Email, and I'll send you the PDF file.

[LJSteinmetz]

Originally Posted by Peralko

Larry,
I have a brochure I picked up at Country Coach back in the day that has some pictures showing the Dynomax chassis during construction. Send me an Email, and I'll send you the PDF file.

Thank you...email sent.

[LJSteinmetz]

Originally Posted by smlranger

You were interested in more info regarding the Dynomax chassis build process. This is the best link I have found:

RV Having Fun Yet!: COUNTRY COACH BUILD PROCESS: DynoMax-The Proprietary Chassis of Country Coach

Thanks for sending the link...I just finished reading the article...informative and very interesting. I bookmarked it so that I could easily find it later.