Hey y'all. You all have been so helpful. Thank you so much. On to my next post here:
Got my eye on a 77 era coach that's local here and did my first test drive on it. Found the following possible problems that I'd like your opinions
on.
Dash heat. We ran the coach for over an hour and the heater never blew warm. It was 45 degrees outside. Owner didn't think it was broke just
"inefficient". Something about the long distance the water had to travel around (to the house water heater and back he said). Total bs or is that
normal for these coaches. (Sure hope not. Wife will definitely murder me if we can't have cabin heat) What things could cause that and how much to
fix? Ballpark.
Exhaust fumes. When we drove around the coach smelled of gas and fumes. He explained it away as the tank being "too full". True or bs. What could
cause this? How much to fix. Ballpark. This is also a non starter for the wife. She gets migraines pretty easy if she's trapped in a room that has
bad chemical smells. Pretty sure carbon monoxide would make that list of triggers.
Some Road drift and loose steering - I think. The rig has just shy of 120k. Suspension never rebuilt. He's Running Alcoas and firestones. Owner said
it drifted a lot more when he had Michelins and he feels it rides fine. Im sure I do need to drive more GMCs to see if it's just me or if they all
drive like this. Assuming I need a rebuilt front end - what would this cost. Ballpark of course.
he didn't demonstrate the dash or roof ac - said it was "too cold" to show the AC works but he said they both worked.
he didn't have the refrigerator lit off. What's a worst case scenario (parts and labor) on a replacement refrigerator in case it turns out to be
beyond repair.
It's never been converted for ethanol tainted gas. Conversion estimate?
He keeps the airbags in "auto" and not "lock" contrary to the instructions stated on the advisory plate. Is this bad. I seemed a tad suspicious
especially since I found a post he did on here asking about a problem with the level system several years ago. He says it is working to spec. I don't
know enough about it to know if his demo Of it showed it worked after all. It seemed to slowly go up and down as he hit the controls while I watched
outside.
Last, the seats wouldn't slide forward. What do new or restored seats cost if it can't be repaired or just operator error.
Trying to get a rough idea of what I'd be into $$ wise - worst case scenario - if all these things require repair/replacement (assuming I had it all
done for me at a shop).
I understand this is asking a lot not knowing what actually is wrong in each case. Just trying to
Get a sense.
Other than these things I liked the coach based on my shallow knowledge of these so far and with nothing to compare it to.
He was an otherwise really nice, older gentleman who said he was selling it because they are headed to the "old folks storage facility". his words. To
be fair he knew a lot about the coach and could be spot on with all of his assessments. He seems motivated to sell and I may make an offer (it has a
rear bath and was maintained by Ken Frey and has all records since new and a new galvanized frame which like) especially if he concedes these costs
and adjusts the price accordingly. (He listed the price based on "everything works" and was surprised I brought up these issues) so I think an
adjustment would be fair if they turn out to be real issues. Naturally I'll pay to have a shop draw up estimates to get a more exact idea of what to
offer him if we get that far. Mostly just want to know if you all think this coach would be worth the time and expense to take this next step or is
this sounding like a lemon and I should just move on.
Thank you in advance.
Jason
--
WTB a 77 or 78 with dry bath config.
Got my eye on a 77 era coach that's local here and did my first test drive on it. Found the following possible problems that I'd like your opinions
on.
Dash heat. We ran the coach for over an hour and the heater never blew warm. It was 45 degrees outside. Owner didn't think it was broke just
"inefficient". Something about the long distance the water had to travel around (to the house water heater and back he said). Total bs or is that
normal for these coaches. (Sure hope not. Wife will definitely murder me if we can't have cabin heat) What things could cause that and how much to
fix? Ballpark.
Exhaust fumes. When we drove around the coach smelled of gas and fumes. He explained it away as the tank being "too full". True or bs. What could
cause this? How much to fix. Ballpark. This is also a non starter for the wife. She gets migraines pretty easy if she's trapped in a room that has
bad chemical smells. Pretty sure carbon monoxide would make that list of triggers.
Some Road drift and loose steering - I think. The rig has just shy of 120k. Suspension never rebuilt. He's Running Alcoas and firestones. Owner said
it drifted a lot more when he had Michelins and he feels it rides fine. Im sure I do need to drive more GMCs to see if it's just me or if they all
drive like this. Assuming I need a rebuilt front end - what would this cost. Ballpark of course.
he didn't demonstrate the dash or roof ac - said it was "too cold" to show the AC works but he said they both worked.
he didn't have the refrigerator lit off. What's a worst case scenario (parts and labor) on a replacement refrigerator in case it turns out to be
beyond repair.
It's never been converted for ethanol tainted gas. Conversion estimate?
He keeps the airbags in "auto" and not "lock" contrary to the instructions stated on the advisory plate. Is this bad. I seemed a tad suspicious
especially since I found a post he did on here asking about a problem with the level system several years ago. He says it is working to spec. I don't
know enough about it to know if his demo Of it showed it worked after all. It seemed to slowly go up and down as he hit the controls while I watched
outside.
Last, the seats wouldn't slide forward. What do new or restored seats cost if it can't be repaired or just operator error.
Trying to get a rough idea of what I'd be into $$ wise - worst case scenario - if all these things require repair/replacement (assuming I had it all
done for me at a shop).
I understand this is asking a lot not knowing what actually is wrong in each case. Just trying to
Get a sense.
Other than these things I liked the coach based on my shallow knowledge of these so far and with nothing to compare it to.
He was an otherwise really nice, older gentleman who said he was selling it because they are headed to the "old folks storage facility". his words. To
be fair he knew a lot about the coach and could be spot on with all of his assessments. He seems motivated to sell and I may make an offer (it has a
rear bath and was maintained by Ken Frey and has all records since new and a new galvanized frame which like) especially if he concedes these costs
and adjusts the price accordingly. (He listed the price based on "everything works" and was surprised I brought up these issues) so I think an
adjustment would be fair if they turn out to be real issues. Naturally I'll pay to have a shop draw up estimates to get a more exact idea of what to
offer him if we get that far. Mostly just want to know if you all think this coach would be worth the time and expense to take this next step or is
this sounding like a lemon and I should just move on.
Thank you in advance.
Jason
--
WTB a 77 or 78 with dry bath config.
