Wanderlodge Gurus - The Member Funded Wanderlodge Forum

I guess prices have come back, : ebay item number 201283739840.

Pretty and rare mid door entry. Nice coach. Too bad it is priced at 03 LXI pricing.

2 airs?
very nice
way over priced

Guess that's what you have to pay if you want a mid door

Heck wonder what he would want for a mid-wife?

Isn't it worth it?? Sometimes I have to wonder if we're not our own worst enemy. Isn't that one of the absolute best 1997 coaches out on the road today?? If you believe you're driving one of the best, why shouldn't it command a premium?? A Rolls Royce is extremely affordable FOR THOSE THAT CAN AFFORD IT!! Why is this any different? Because there's no factory?? How many of us bought our birds thinking "Well, that tire needs air; I'll just run to the factory and they'll fix me right up!!" Ok, so there's some sarcasm, but truly think about it. I'm 1000 miles from Fort Valley and was when I bought my bird. I'll be the first to admit I had scheduled service at the factory, but I was also headed to rats and felt I needed to do what I could to support Macy and company. Shoot, Newell is 200 miles away! I looked at new Newell's and I still bought the best coach out there.



Must be the cold is getting to me!

It has 100K miles, but the pictures look like they were taken when it was new. If they are current and if it has been that well maintained, and with new Michelins, it certainly should command a premium. I'd guess it is worth around $95K, but I hear the OEM's are flat out making Class A's, so maybe the market prices are coming up. That would be nice.

A few years ago a friend of mine made a large out of the ordinary purchase, and another of our friends commented to him that it was too much money, and he was foolish for making the purchase. The purchaser replied, if you are not in this market, and cannot afford it, then your opinion does not matter. We all laughed, because it was funny, and also true. The only person whose opinion that matters regarding the price of a bus is the one without a bus that desires to own one, and has the means to close the transaction.
A 97 Wanderlodge was listed for 119K in MD, and just sold last week for 110K. Too much? I say NO! I drive by several RV dealers in three cities on a weekly basis, and see brand new coaches with mid-six-figure prices on the windshields with the first digit being the number two. I have been in these coaches, and would not personally pay more than 25K for one if I had to keep it and use it. Again, my opinion does not matter as I am not, nor ever will be in the market for a plastic coach.
If a person can find a Prevost, Bluebird or a Newell in unmolested condition with a good maintenance history, and passes a through inspection buy it. There is a good outline for inspecting a bus on prevoststuff website. I had been in the market for four years looking diligently for a nice unit that met the above criteria, and there are surprisingly very few available. The Newell factory is still in business, and 60 miles from my house, but I own a Bluebird that has no factory support. It is not an issue as all the different systems on the bus are individual business still in operation.
There is a range of prices of mid nineties buses that I have seen from a low of 35K to 150K (the nice one on ebay that started this discussion) Does that mean that the person with the bus with the 150K price should lower his to match the price of the worst example on the market? The one for 35K will never be in the condition of the one for 150K regardless of what one spends on it.

It's an endlessly fascinating topic - pricing of Wanderlodges. I think Jeff has a valid point; regardless of whether a person is in the market or not his words do have an influence. Buyers and sellers are accustomed to seeing and hearing about what should be considered a fair price. Buyers and sellers have immediate internet access to the 'asking' prices of virtually all the birds currently on the market. They also have access to brokers and insurance appraisers who freely give their often biased and self-serving views of correct market prices. Couple this with the endless online pastime of passing judgement over the condition, circumstances, and price of a coach that's never been personally inspected. All this is taken in by buyers and serves as their price anchor for what they consider a fair price. Anything too high above this anchor is perceived a ripoff and anything too far below a huge steal. Sellers do the same. They subconsciously listen to the public drivel, they place far too much importance on the experts' opinions (brokers/insurance appraisers) and they let these voices influence their pricing. Then there's the price that the seller paid for his coach, or the money poured into upgrades and maintenance. This all has the effect of influencing the seller to stick to his asking price, but he faces a strong headwind of online experts, brokers, and insurance appraisers who often have self-serving agendas. So a transaction price isn't simply supply and demand, or "what a buyers willing to pay", or what a broker or insurance appraiser says it's worth, it's all the above and more. As interested parties we all benefit from a higher Wanderlodge transaction price. I contend that if prices increase then so does the condition and longevity of our birds. More vendors enter the fray, more parts become available, more folks with necessary disposable income enter into the mix, and the health and benefit of our birds and pastime increases.