Looking at 2003 Country Coach Magna at DeMartini

Hi Pierat - My husband's kind words aside, I am so sorry to read of the major problems you have had with your coach.  I know how excited you must have been to purchase such a beauty.  As my husband mentioned, we've been shopping for quite a while, and it was just a few months ago that we were in touch with DiMartini ourselves regarding a coach.  We thought at the time that Tim DiMartini was very helpful with information to us.  Like you, we had heard very good things about DiMartini.  The time just wasn't right for us to make a purchase.

I hope after all the repairs are finished, that the time you spend in your coach will exceed your expectations.  And by the way, we've only driven our coach for 2 days before parking it at Grant's Pass, Oregon.  So far so good, but wish us luck please.

I bought a 2003 Country Coach Intrigue 40', about 40,000 miles and iI love it.  I know you have bought and are entering the "living in an ongoing project" phase, but I believe you did very well.  If I had more experience I would have chosen a shorter coach, possibly with more slides, but I am getting used to the luxury.   A factory technician, on leave from Country Coach, said the 2003 models were probably the best made of all of them.

I am pretty handy to fix things, and after a year of tinkering and learning, I have only a leaking ice maker to deal with - everything else is perfect. (Things are rough on the fronter when the icemaker leaks.) I just bought six new tires at Les Schwab in Oakridge, Oregon, as the originals were seven years old, and he then sold my old tires for a $300 check back to me.  HIGHLY recommended.  Pirce on the new tires was within thirty dollars of proposals I had from Texas to Arizona.  I would not buy anywhere else.  (I went with Toyos, to replace oiginal equipment.)

The most critical item in being comfortable with my coach is the excellent documentation on all systems, contained in two large notebooks.  The quality and thought put into these Country Coaches is excellent. I only have one years experience in RVs, but have been a motorhead about sixty, and this is a very well thought out and assembled machine.  You done good.

By the way, just north of Eugene is a banner on a fence, saying "Country Coaches now $250,000 off list price", so you better hurry buying a new one.  Good grief, off of what?

Hi Again

Sue read my entry above, and says it looks a little like (a) I was insinuating that Tim DeMartini was somehow a dealer to be avoided and (b) that I was gloating that we made a better decision somehow.  Please believe that neither was my intention at all!  Even thought the tone of this string didn't sound to me like a glowing endorsement of Tim in this particular transaction, let me be clear that I know nothing of Tim or his business other than, as Sue mentioned, I had a couple of phone conversations with him over a coach that he had for sale.  I found him to be very friendly and informative and he seemed like he really wanted to help us find the right coach.  He even steered me away from one model because he knew it had a glitchy slide system.  The only point I was trying to make was that with these highline coaches, we really depended on the dealer to steer us right, much more so than, say, a car dealer and that we found a great dealer.

As for the gloat part, we have had the coach for such a short time, there is no way to know whether we "got a good one" or not.  So far the things that have gone wrong have been annoyingly consistently operator error....

I'm on restriction now...Any posts have to be edited by Sue.

Best to all

Appreciate the clarification Bob.

Tim is truly a gentleman, and it's a pleasure to be in his company and that of his family members who work in the business. He's been in the business for many years, has been quite successful, and there's a reason they earned "Monaco Coach Corporation's Prestigious Elite Customer Service Award -  For the #1 Highest Overall Customer Satisfaction of over 350 Monaco Corporation dealers".

We'd looked/shopped around for maybe a couple of years, and I'd planned to buy a coach from Tim when the time was right. However, when the time came to buy our current coach, circumstances dictated I buy it that day (long story, for a campfire maybe). That day happened to be Sunday, but Tim's business wasn't open on Sunday, so I went elsewhere. What a huge mistake, and the treatment from the other dealer was about as bad as it gets.

Thank you all for being so supportive. Hopefully we will enjoy the coach once we ransom it from OMC.

I think that, if a retailer is a good businessperson and makes a mistake, he or she steps up and makes it right (especially if they've promised that it IS right). Even in an "as is" transaction, a vehicle has to be fit for the purpose for which it is intended, doesn't it, without hidden defects? 

I would like to clarify a bit - My 2003 Country Coach is a beautifully made machine, but had been sitting unused for several years when I bought it.  As a result, the generator did not gen, the water pump didn't, air conditioner rattled like a boiler factory, headlights burned out, cruise control and horn fuse blown, tow light wiring confused, VCR inop, backup camera monitor/stereo stolen, satilite dish stolen, furnace did not blow hot air in part of the system, etc....  Not a factor of quality build, but of neglect and non-use. 

I bought it anyway, because I knew I could probably fix most of it, and it was priced right.  In an era where good deals on RVs abound, I got a really good deal, and like the dealer.

Love the coach.