Community Forums

dsjones57 · 06-30-2016, 09:21 PM

Hello,

My husband and I have owned a travel trailer for the past 10 years. We have been looking for a good used Class A motor home that is ADA or handicapped accessible. We found what we were looking for today in the RV trader. A 2000 Harney Coach Renegade with 60,000 miles is for sale for $39,900. It has all of the accessibility features we were hoping to find. (wheelchair lift; roll in shower with seat and grab bars). We spoke with the owner who indicated he is the third owner of this rig. He stated that it's in great condition and has not had any issues with this coach. He said the rear breaks are 50% and the front have about 60% left. The shocks were replaced in the last year and he has taken it in for annual maintenance. He has the oil changed annually and has serviced the generator every other year. We searched and found that Harney Coach Works is out of business. This will be our first motor home purchase so we need some advice on this.. Thanks!

Scatterbrain · 06-30-2016, 10:01 PM

Most motor homes are simply assemblages of parts obtained elsewhere so there shouldn't be an issue with the company being out of business.

Make sure you have the chassis inspected by a qualified technician and have the "house" portion checked over by someone that is very familiar with RVs. Make sure you test everything on the coach to ensure it all works and have the owner walk you through everything. You should be able to take the coach to a truck service center to have the chassis and engine/trans checked out.
Also, I'm not sure if the 2000 era Cat motors may need any additives to run biodiesel but that is something you will want to look into, especially if you'll be parking the rig for long periods of time. The use of biodiesel adds a new element to the proper care of some coaches, especially in areas with B20. You should be able to sort that out with a quick email to Catapillar.

George Schweikle · 07-01-2016, 06:32 AM

Harney Coach works has been said to be created by Matt Perlot, founder of Safari, to give one of his sons his own business. Maybe an urban legend but the factories were not too far apart in Oregon. Harney's are similar to the Safari coaches of the period and information is probably available from one of the Safari clubs. Safari went from being privately owned, then public, then was sold to the old Monaco, which also went out of business.

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/SafariCoaches/info

Safari International | USA and Canada Motorhome Club | FMCA

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsjones57

Hello,

My husband and I have owned a travel trailer for the past 10 years. We have been looking for a good used Class A motor home that is ADA or handicapped accessible. We found what we were looking for today in the RV trader. A 2000 Harney Coach Renegade with 60,000 miles is for sale for $39,900. It has all of the accessibility features we were hoping to find. (wheelchair lift; roll in shower with seat and grab bars). We spoke with the owner who indicated he is the third owner of this rig. He stated that it's in great condition and has not had any issues with this coach. He said the rear breaks are 50% and the front have about 60% left. The shocks were replaced in the last year and he has taken it in for annual maintenance. He has the oil changed annually and has serviced the generator every other year. We searched and found that Harney Coach Works is out of business. This will be our first motor home purchase so we need some advice on this.. Thanks!

Doc Mark · 07-01-2016, 08:06 AM

My opinion: RUN, don't walk away from this one. We had a Harney and it was a disaster.

Firstly - the brakes are mechanical, NOT hydraulic. In an emergency stop, you have to literally stand on the pedal with both feet to generate enough brake power. Also, they had a tendency to have calipers freeze; one requiring us to be towed to get it fixed.

Secondly - they were prone to multiple water leaks.

Thirdly (if I remember correctly) their chassis is a proprietary design. Not many places where you could get service on them.

There are a lot of brands out there that are well known and noted for their construction: Tiffin, Newmar, Monaco etc etc etc.

Stay away from Harney's

Mark

mrboyer · 07-01-2016, 08:58 AM

Having had a 1999 Harney Renegade, we began to see separation between the floor and frame. Many of our Harney friends had delamination of the side walls.

smilnjac · 11-20-2019, 11:48 AM

I have owned a Harney Renegade since 2011, I have replaced quite a few components, but I have been happy with the Coach,, but it is 20 years old. Motor Coach are a lot owning a large Boat, something is wrong at all times.. Very nice Coach for its day.