These are some facts & conclusions that may interest you

Recently I decided to spend a couple of days looking and pricing coaches.  My reasoning was to see what the going prices were.  We don't have a Bluebird Dealer in Vegas so I contacted Holland RV Center who is the big guy on Bluebirds.   

I was able to ascertain the facts below !

1, Buying from a dealer you can expect to pay approximately $60,000.00 more for a used Class A RV than from a private party.  This number applies to Bluebird Wanderlodge's built between 1980 and 1992.  Remember there are huge differences between Wanderlodge's & other Bluebirds!!!

The advantage to paying that extra amount is simply that if something goes wrong within the first 30 to 60 days the dealer will probably take care of it for you.  Even if he sold it as is. Unless the particular dealer is an idiot. Good business sense 101 is to always take care of your customer and they will send you other customers. Most of them are pretty accommodating to minor problems say up to $5,000.00 .  When you have a major problem, like a transmission or motor failure, they usually expect you to go to your aftermarket insurance provider. Those policies are inexpensive and really worth the investment. 

I looked at all types of class A tandem rear wheel busses, Prevosts, American Eagle, and several Bluebirds. The average price on what I was looking at was between $130.000.00 & $190.000.00.  Some lower and some higher but remember I said average.

The vast majority of what I was able to see were American Eagles which is a great looking bus from a distance but the quality of construction versus the Bluebird is almost comical.  Every single one of the 15 or so that I looked at had been redone.  Most of them were made in the mid 1970's and had been redone in the mid to late 90's and the prices ran about $125,000.00.  I found one really nice one but the price was $195.000.00 and it had 500.000  miles on it. These diesel motors are good for a Million miles but remember my Bluebird only has 52,000 miles on it.

Typically, the sheet metal sides were wavy and looked homemade on every one of them but one. The carpeting inside was always pretty cheap and in every case stained, The upholstery on the dash & seat looked amateurish and very poorly laid out. A couple of them had some interesting layouts inside but I noticed things like watermarks where the ceiling had leaked, floors buckling, really poor design of color combinations. Hack Job paintwork on the outside  and air conditioners hardly working. The ride was quite smooth on every one of them but the drivers seat in every case had tears and rips in them and the instrumentation was about 20% of what I had grown used to with the Bluebird.

I concluded repeatedly, that my Bluebird should be worth well over $300,000.00 in comparison, based on the prices I was seeing. The cost of redoing the Interior, to bring it anywhere near the specs of the Bluebird, would have cost more than the bus was selling for in almost every case.

Everything looked homemade and designed by someone with little or no design experience.  Remember the Bluebird Wanderlodge is the only Class A Motorhome that is built by a large manufacturer. All of the others, are conversions built by little shops around the country, who might know mechanics and carpentry, but certainly have little or no grasp at all for fashion and design. The exceptions to that rule, Companies like Marathon & Liberty build incredibly nice conversion coaches today.  Remember they are still conversion coach companies. Their conversions sell at prices way over a million dollars. Some of them have gone over 2 Million dollars. They can afford to hire professional designers and engineers. However, when you are looking at Prevost conversions, in the price range under $200.000.00 you won't get that much.  Because even if you buy an old Marathon they were a smaller company back then and their early stuff doesn't compare to what they are doing now.

I concluded, time and time again. that I could never ever be able to replace my Bluebird for the price I was asking for it.

The comfortable all Leather & Corian dinette is opposite the galley.   In front of the dinette are two more leather chairs with a combination game table and mini bar.

The tall closet on the left houses a combination stacked washer & dryer that have never been used.  These could be removed to add a gun safe or even more storage space.

The door on the right goes into the bathroom. It also swings out and will also serve to separate the front from the back for privacy.

The cabinets are all beautiful laminate on ball bearing rides and they all lock tightly during transportation.

This may be an older bus but the all solid doors and super sturdy construction is far superior to most of the Million Dollar plus Prevost's & MCI's you can buy today.

A Word About Construction,

No other bus in the world is built like a Bluebird. A Prevost, MCI, none of these are built as well as A Bluebird Wanderlodge.  The Bluebird uses 11 gauge steel walls and a 13 gauge diamond-plate roof. Nothing else comes even close to the sheer ruggedness of a Bluebird. In 1998 1999 all the survivalist groups who were afraid of the big computer, power, crash meltdown that never happened did tons of research on vehicles that were suited for long hauls (Getting Out Of Dodge) that would be able to take the rigors of possible chaos. The Bluebird Wanderlodge was the clear winner in every review I read. Nothing compares to the sheer heavy duty construction not even today.

If A Prevost Coach rammed into the side of the Bluebird, The Prevost would be in worse shape. In fact all but 3 Wanderlodge Bluebirds that have ever been made are still running on the road.  (Figure as of 2002)

The Wanderlodge is not a Conversion Coach like the Prevost & MCI. Yes you can buy a Bluebird bus and have it converted but the Wanderlodge model is the only real heavy duty bus that is actually factory designed from the ground up.

#1 When you buy a Prevost or MCI you buy from a conversion shop like Vantare, or Marathon, Liberty, Custom Coach etc etc. You don't actually buy the Vehicle from Prevost,  In The Case of The Wanderlodge there is only one way to buy and that is through one of 3 Dealer outlets in The USA The entire Motor-home is manufactured right at the Bluebird factory.

The first thing you will notice is the AC System in the Bluebird is clearly better than the MCI or Prevost. There have been significant improvements from Prevost & MCI in the recent years but the price will be as much as 11 times more than What I am selling this bus for. 

Prevost, MCI & Most other Busses are all electric, There is no backup propane system, If you want to go camping somewhere besides a campground with Electricity then you will be running on batteries.  Good Luck starting Your Coach in the morning !!!!

Also the Bluebird refrigeration system is dual Propane/Electricity powered so that you can keep your refrigerator running supercold even on long hauls without straining your battery.

The Gauges & Instrumentation are worlds better in the Bluebird, The storage capacity & Fuel capacity exceeds the fancier Prevost.

The Prevost will impress the first time coach buyer who looks at the fancy mirrored ceilings and chandeliers. But believe me that will get old quickly. Nothing beats the Bluebird for practicality & intelligent layout and design.  I am in the music business and many of my friends have Prevost entertainer coaches.  They cost 3 times as much and you don't get as much. The newer Bluebirds have been obviously leaning in the Prevost direction because one of the reasons the average consumer buys one of these units is to impress his friends.