Country Coach Reputation?

Hello everyone.

I am going to look at a 2003 Country Coach Allure Cascade tomorrow. A quick search here didn't return any results on 'Allure Cascade' so I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with the Country Coach line and their reputation?

I know that Country Coach went under in 2008 and they may be back soon after being bought recently by another major maker.

Apparently they had their own custom chassis and I have no idea how difficult or easily that might be serviced. The craigslist post and youtube video the private owner posted suggest it is in excellent condition so I'm going to take a look for myself.

Thanks,
Pete

Hello Peter H.  While I don't have direct ownership experience, many people in the RV industry I have spoken to have praised the now defunct brand.  Personally, in my quest to purchase a used DP, I have looked at several Country Coaches (Magna line) and was impressed.  Due to custom chassis, at least on the Magna line, the under storage was excellent and the ride was great.  Most major chassis items that wear (i.e. the moving parts) are going to be from tier level suppliers and therefore should be serviceable regardless of the fact they're bolted or otherwise attached to a custom chassis. Hopefully you'll get some direct experience from past or current owners to help you.  Good luck!

Pete
The chassis they used was yes, custom by them, but it is only the chassis, the parts as mentioned below are standard type parts.  CC was a great company, hope they do come back, their woodwork was awesome.  The Allure was at the lower end of their product line, but still quite nice.  Just got better from there as far as interior stuff and engine size.  I used to work in RV sales and CC was a line we handled, we had a bare chassis on display so we could point out why it was great.  If I had the budget I would jump on a good used CC.  BTW, their paint jobs are amazing, I don't remember how many coats, but interesting how they do it.  Look at the coach, find the least amount of color and that is the first coat, they would then mask off that color for the stripe, then the next color, them n mask again for that strip, the next color would then go on.  all followed by a clear coat.  They use automotive paint from BASF. 

On suspension, and this is somewhat common, as the coach leans into a turn, air is let out of the high side and sent to low side, keeping the coach pretty level.  We had one guy that was a devil on a test drive, would accelerate into a turn to show how nice it handled, used to scare the hell out of folks, but they would come away from it with a confidence in the drive.

I heard they get around.

Just for information, drove  99 Allure out of the factory and now have 224,000 miles, also getting its best fuel milage now.  It has been lived in fulltime and everything is still working fine.  just replaced 6 GC2 batteries, they were 8 years old.  Needless to say, I like this old coach.  Good luck with your search.

They were bought by Winnebago.  It was fun actually seeing about half a dozen Country Coach mixed in at the rally!  You could sure spot them.

I don't think there will be any Resurrection cc.  I'm pretty sure Winnebago bought it for the space, tooling and labor because Forest City was at capacity.  The Winnebago trend this year is to attract the lower market.  They have dropped all of their top end pushers, down to the new Horizon which was about my level.

If they do come back it will be in name only, much like what happened in 2016 with the new Monaco Trek, which all existing Monaco / Safari Trek owners hate as it is a Trek in name only, and completely misses the whole concept.

I can also attest to the quality of Country Coach.

I have had mine for about seven years.  One of the things that I especially like is the fact that they come with very extensive documentation.  As an example the electrical schematics are very complete and they have color coded wiring which makes it much easier to understand for working on it.

All makes of RV's use many of the same appliances which may need to be replaced as time goes by.

The basics of the coach are well built.

PS:  The one thing to be aware of is that at the time that they went out of business there were a few unfinished coaches.  You might want to make sure that those were finished properly.  I think that was around 2009 or 2010.

Just back from my first look at the 2003 Country Coach Cascade Allure. It is in very nice condition with a few minor issues. The sealing around several of the roof mounted vents and sky lights was fairly cracked and wet. Little concerned about water intrusion but see no signs inside but I did advise the owner to seal those up asap, especially before we get any snow.

The 8 tires are all just about 9 years old and therefore need to be replaced. Anyone know what brand of tires the factory installed? The existing tires are Toyo and I can put a new set on for $5338 or a set of Michelin tires for $7238. I don't always put the cheapest tires on my vehicles so I'd default to the Michelin.

Thanks,
Pete

Are you a member of FMCA?  There is a member discount on Michelin. 

Country Coach assets were acquired by Winnebago and all of Winnebago diesel coaches are now being built in the old Country Coach factory in Oregon  (IIRC).  I have heard nothing but praise for that line of coaches. I did not realize they had gone completely out of business but thought Winnebago had just bought them while still active.

Bill

PeterH said:

The 8 tires are all just about 9 years old and therefore need to be replaced. Anyone know what brand of tires the factory installed? The existing tires are Toyo and I can put a new set on for $5338 or a set of Michelin tires for $7238. I don't always put the cheapest tires on my vehicles so I'd default to the Michelin.

Thanks,
Pete

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Just so you know, there's nothing wrong with Toyo's. Just as good, if not better than Michelin. Michelin will have more treadlife, but an RV doesn't run the miles up like a semi. Either will age out long before the tread is worn out on an RV.

Bill N said:

Country Coach assets were acquired by Winnebago and all of Winnebago diesel coaches are now being built in the old Country Coach factory in Oregon  (IIRC).  I have heard nothing but praise for that line of coaches. I did not realize they had gone completely out of business but thought Winnebago had just bought them while still active.

Bill

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Forest City is still producing up through the Forza diesel coaches.  The only thing coming out of Oregon is the Horizon and they are behind in production.  The Journey, Tour and Grand Tour are out of production altogether but rumor of a Grand Tour "lite" being introduced out of Oregon in a year or two.

As an owner of a coach with a special chassis, Roadmaster, on my Monaco, it is hard to find shops that will work on a Roadmaster chassis or have the personnel that know what they're doing.  We looked at several CC's, mainly Magna's, very nice motorhomes.  Does it have a chassis multiplex?  If so make sure about shops that can work on that also. I wouldn't hesitate if the condition is good and the price is right.  BTW, it's expensive to get the roof and slides re-sealed if they need it.  One other thing, check the tire chart on the coach to make sure about the right size.  Sometimes people will put on tires they found on sale but aren't the right tire.  The tire shop isn't very happy when fooling around replacing the wrong size tire.  We wasted a whole day in New Mexico at a tire shop.  Turns out some previous owner had put on bigger tires on the front.  Who knew?  We toured the Winnebago factory in Oregon and saw the new Horizons.  I'm pretty sure they won't be making the old CC's anymore, at least not the way they were built back in the day.  Oregon Motor Coach has some of the old CC guys working there if you need help with something.  Good luck and have fun.

Another coach of the same caliber as the Country Coach, is the Travel Supreme. Beautiful coach, and there are a few for sale on EBay right now.

I would also highly recommend the Travel Supreme. I had an early one, ser. #369, bought new and put 120,000 miles on it over 13 years. Averaged almost 9mpg and, except for a bad tank of diesel, the worst issue I had was replacing the rear air bags at about 100,000 miles. Interior fit and finish was top grade

Forest City is still producing up through the Forza diesel coaches.  The only thing coming out of Oregon is the Horizon and they are behind in production.  The Journey, Tour and Grand Tour are out of production altogether but rumor of a Grand Tour "lite" being introduced out of Oregon in a year or two.

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Are you 100% sure of that?  There are 2019 Tours and Grand Tours for sale on the internet and all models still show up on their website.  I toured the factory in early summer and though the tour guide could have been wrong, he said only the Grand Tour was built in Oregon.

Maybe this all just recently happened?

Edit:  Link to article about former Country Coach, now Winnebago, plant.

https://www.registerguard.com/news/20180703/winnebago-industries-hopes-to-accelerate-from-sluggish-startup-of-junction-city-plant

Spring Creek said:

Are you 100% sure of that?  There are 2019 Tours and Grand Tours for sale on the internet and all models still show up on their website.  I toured the factory in early summer and though the tour guide could have been wrong, he said only the Grand Tour was built in Oregon.

Maybe this all just recently happened?

Edit:  Link to article about former Country Coach, now Winnebago, plant.

https://www.registerguard.com/news/20180703/winnebago-industries-hopes-to-accelerate-from-sluggish-startup-of-junction-city-plant

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I was there for the Grand National Rally, and the largest in Forest City being built was the Forza, and the largest out of Oregon was was the Horizon.  If you look at the Winnebagoind website, the Tour, Grand Tour and Journey all say "Dealer Stock Only" under each of the floorplans.  There are some 2019 Grand Tours out there in inventory (maybe some left), but they were built early 2018.  Lichtsinn had one for sale at the GNR, but it was his, not Winnebagos.  It was one that financing had fell through - one of the last beauties for a while anyway

I honestly think the days of the Winnebago big guys is over - the Mellinials are pushing the market towards towables and Type Bs.  Sad.