The Scalzos fine Breakaway is on Ebay, and I'm really trying to put my friends in this coach. Talked to the guy selling it, he's a dealer, and he says he loved driving it up to Tennessee, got about 11 mpg, and he can deliver. I've seen this coach, and a bunch of you have too, so no mysteries here except what it will sell for. He's hoping for mid 30's, I spect 27 or 28. Don, give me a call and let me know if I should know anything else, thanks.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIte...m=&item=150118715692

That's a very desireable coach - I don't think mid-thirties is unreasonable, but I'm with Danny, I'd be surprised to see it hit $30K.

Wasn't that one for sale a month or so ago?

Don traded it for larger coach, and posted its location at the dealer's for the forum.

I'm not sure how it wound up in Nashville, but the guy up there says he talked to Don, and he seemed to know a lot about why they got rid of it. Makes me wonder how low he really got it.

This Barth was on eBay recently and again now. Does anyone have any specifics on this coach? I talked with Denny, he has it listed on eBay, and although it is listed as a 32', he says it is actually a 33' Barth with a 230HP Cat. The NADA didn't list a 33' front entry or a 32' with a 230HP diesel. Can anyone expand on that for me? The seler also didn't list any particulars for the coach such as A/C / Furnace size, TV's (?), DVD/VCP (?), can anyone expand on how it is equipped? Their is a big difference in the value between the different models so if you can help me out here I'd appreciate it. I'm looking at a 38' Regency and need to decide which way to go quickly. Thanks, Bill - Colorado

P.S. denny also said one of the roof A/C's did not blow cold and the dash air has the same problem. Bill

I would base the choice on the size coach you need. The Cummins 5.9(B?) at 230 HP should perform well with the six speed. I also wouldn't be too concerned about the repairs needed for the air conditioning, as any used coach will need something. Don did drive the coach frequently, even though it has low mileage, which is a plus.

You can be sure the 32' Breakaway will have better fuel economy than the Regency.

The only downside is that the Breakaway has an LPG generator (probably a Kohler). I'm replacing the Kohler 3.6 KW in my coach (which burns .85 gph LPG at half-load) with a liquid-cooled Honda, rated at .66 gph at full load (half-load should run around .45-.50 gph). The other reason is that my Kohler is ridiculously noisy, and isn't all that welcome at some of the star parties I attend. The noise of the Kohler also makes it unpleasant to run while underway.

So, if you plan to boondock a lot, and don't need to worry about maneuverabilty or fuel economy, the Regency, with greater water/grey/black capacity, storage, and a diesel generator, would be the choice.

As for me, I'd not hesitate a minute to get Don and Linda's Breakaway.

Hi Rusty,

Your comments were very helpful! For several days I have been leaning towards the 38' Regency vs two Monaco's and a Country Coach. Suddenly, the Don & Linda 33' Breakaway Barth popped up on radar and became a contender. Both of the Barth coaches have their pro's and con's and I have another day to mull it over. The other three coaches have been eliminated from the running. I will most likely go see the 38' Barth this weekend (it's closer) while keeping an eye on the 33' Breakaway that is on eBay. My personal opinion is it won't meet the reserve regardless of what the NADA says it should be worth. Speaking of NADA, is there anywhere that you can get a "private party" value for motorhomes? NADA only lists retail making it hard to figure what is a good deal or what it will realistically bring if you're selling.

Wish me luck, I am constantly battling those anti-Barth types that say I should be buying anything with a slide and stay away from anything that doean't have one. I'm of the mindset that I would rather buy older quality than newer junk. If it has a slide and I can afford it, I most likely don't want it. And that brings me right back to Barth.

Thanks again!

quote:

need to decide which way to go quickly.

Exactly what a seller wants to hear.
Good luck,
Kit

I think you'd have to get inside this coach and ask yourself,"Do I really need a slide?" You have a bunch of room, all accessible, even when going down the road, you have an extremely strong coach frame with no gaping holes to add to the stress of crosswinds and semis, and you hit the levelers at the campsite and you're done.
If I were looking for a 5th wheel I'd want slides and pops everywhere, because I don't have to ride in it and listen to all the structural protests, just hope it all opens,[and closes] like it's supposed to when I want it to. In a motorhome, when I have a quarter mill to spend on a Newell or equivilant, maybe that slide will look pretty good. But a stick and staple piece of junk won't cut it just because I have an extra couple feet of floor space.

Some folks look at a slide for the extra room. I look at a slide and think, "Do I really want to crawl under the coach to make it retract before leaving my sister's in Missouri in January at 10F?" One of my friends just got a new 39' Beaver (in September - in October, he had to do just the exact thing - only it was a balmy 40F.

For me a slide doesn't add any features - just floor space...but since it's just me, Maggie, and Casey, there's plenty of room for all of us.

Not to mention, each slide takes 150-300 lbs. away from the useful load - and many of the SOBs are at margin to start with - that same friend I mentioned previously had a Tradeswinds LTC 38' - when he had it weighed with full fuel and water, he had less than 500 lbs. payload left. He had to take it back to the dealer and bludgeon the manufacturer to upgrade the wheels and tires.

quote:

Exactly what a seller wants to hear

True, but the question is: which seller and what do they think they heard? Probably moot anyway. One seller isn't responding and the other couldn't answer my questions. The result is other motorhomes (such as: http://www.fleetofcads.com/ scroll to the bottom of his page) are now in the running even though financing is in place for a Barth. I wish there were a few more Barths on the market along the lines of what I'm looking for.

Patience, my man, patience. I too looked at Barths for a couple of years before joining this forum (and I ran into the same shuck-and-jive from the owner of the first Barth I discovered). In the meanwhile I had a Class C SOB. It wasn't bad (I put 20K adventuresome miles on it), but having reviewed that 30' Breakaway a couple of years before, Barths were still on my short list.

I got my prized 28' Breakaway here on the forum, and I've never looked back. It's an ideal coach for me. While the few items needing attention have been taken care of, I never feel that I'm losing ground. This is why you'll see '70s Barths for sale. Most SOBs by then have been made into mulch.

As you already know, sellers are basically deaf, unless someone on this forum is selling their coach.

Frankly, if I were looking for a motorhome today, I'd cut down some trees so I could get Don and Linda Scalzo's coach into my place (which is why I originally wanted nothing longer than a 30').

So, from my Department of Redundancy Department, I'll again state: Wait until the right Barth comes along. It'll be worth it.

I'm sorry to say the Don & Linda Barth has been eliminated from contention due to a very poor response from the current seller. After doing a little light reading here, I find out that, at some point in the past, this coach had in excess of 100K miles with the odometer broken at that time. It was also suggested that when Don traded it in, the current mileage would have been documented. That documentation would have been on the title indicating how many miles and was the odometer working.

With that information, I asked the seller about the mileage and he told me "Why don't you ask Don, he can tell you about the coach." At this point I see red flags going up. The seller went on to say "Remember you are not spending a fortune, what can you get for $35K? The unit is exempt from mileage." First of all, Don doesn't own this coach any longer and shouldn't have to answer questions from every possible interested party. The current seller should answer all questions honestly and not respond like this.

Second, in todays climate with high fuel prices, I can get a lot for $35K and will prove it next week if everything goes as I hope.

Third: this seller has stated several times that the mileage is exempt and I'm wondering just why he keeps putting this disclaimer in. I think he doth protest too much!

Fourth: I have asked two questions of this seller via eBay, both times the response was sent by circumnavigating eBay, why would they do this unless they are trying to hide something? More red flags!!!

I know several of you think very highly of this coach but I am afraid things might have changed since Don traded it in. Anyone interested in this coach should proceed with extreme caution, IMHO.

I'm trying to be patient in my search for a Barth, some people make that a bit of a challenge. Barthmobile.com has been extremely helpful to me, this is a class site, Thanks!!

By the way, "SOB", that only has one meaning for me but I see it used in reference to other motorhomes here, does it have a meaning I'm not aware of?