[Neweller]

Dave, I agree with most of up you are saying and have scratched my head and pondered the same idea for about 10 years now, nothing has really changed. The market on comparable coaches of like age and condition have been around the same the whole time I have been associated with Newell's.

What seems to hurt them the most is that there has never been a "Book Value" available and you have to rely on appraisals or the factory to establish a value. The factory does not offer much toward the value of a 10 year or older coach so that is when they really start to dive in price. If you called and asked the factory what a your coach was worth you might be surprised. Now I have never personally asked the factory what an older coach is worth, but have spoken to a half dozen owners, ex-owners and finance companies who have asked for reference and they have all surprised me a little with the perceived values they had been told. I won't quote values but only say call and ask what they would give or think your coach is worth.

The valuation process also hurts the possibility for financing and so most owners of 10 year old coaches usually pay cash or get an equity loan, which in today's lending arena those types of loans are much tougher to obtain.

I myself am somewhat guilty of quoting such values, but only do to what I've learned studying the sales of coaches year after year. I would love to see the prices stabilize or even increase so most owners retain a much fairer realistic true value across the board. I believe what you are saying is obtainable. Maybe what hurts it some is that some buyers are hoping and waiting to nail a great deal and by holding out for a deal, sales become more slower which from a marketing standpoint creates lower values.

I too have been so confused as to why Prevost retain such a high value. I do know that they sell themselves on the fact that they are a bus and can obtain a life use of well over 2 million miles, but then Newell is built from the ground up to be a luxury coach bar none and end of story......

Why do celebrities mostly purchase Prevost conversions and rarely Newell's. I'm sure if they were made aware, that would change as most don't read MH magazine which is where Newell seems to do a large percentage of advertising.

Something else I would attribute to the great success and high values of Prevosts, is the fact that there are so many premium convertors out there marketing, building and catering to the "rich and famous" much more than one sole company such as Newell can muster. Another thing that I have spoken to many about is the image of the Newell factory compared to some of the Prevost converters, have you seen or been to any of these companies. Talk about the accessorized bling in the showrooms, lounges and so forth, it's quite the flash going on and that attracts the money.

It's getting late and I will quit blabbing for now and ponder your question a little further and think about how we can help one another improve our coach bottom lines as well.

Thanks for your wonderful thoughts and serious concern. I believe you are onto something here and we should probably get our heads into the game a bit more as many owners have already gotten a ton of skin in it already.