Sorry to hear about those problems you had with the Monarch. Monaco's lack of support is very surprising because, when we were at their service centers in Oregon and Indiana, folks were raving about how Monaco was continuing to support their older coaches; These included the ones built by other companies that Monaco subsequently purchased, although the coaches were long out of warranty.
I had issues with terrible dealer support, which was why I chose to visit the factory service centers., but the folks at the service centers wouldn't let us leave until we were happy with the coach.
Didn't realize the Monarch was built on a Ford chassis; I thought Monaco built all their own chassis at their Roadmaster chassis plant in Indiana ??? I must not have been paying enough attention when I took the Roadmaster tour a few years ago - the guy was pointing out which chassis was for which model coach, but I think I was focused on the one for our Camelot.
the main reason we took a beating by trading it in instead of selling it ourselves is that I didn't want to take advantage of someone .....
I understand how you felt. When we "traded" our old Pace Arrow I didn't want to take anything for it, although I had to charge the dealer the obligatory $1 to be able to transfer title. I made it an "as is" deal and listed everything I knew that was wrong with the old coach on the bill of sale. I probably left a chunk of change on the table, but my conscience is clear.