I can initially see why you would be interested in this coach. It's purty!! Ask the owner lots of questions to see what kind of a RV owner he is. & is he first owner. Has he ever owned one before? And lots more. Maintenance records? Front end repair shop? Pictures of damage? 24k miles is pretty low for a '97. Yep it is definitely a big question mark. I'm guessing it was too much for him. I'm with jim on this one I would be concerned about the damage & what is it covering up on the front??? The door doesn't look out of whack but.... that's the 34K question isn't it? Just curious-What do the generator rails that were chopped off normally look like in this application?
Where is the RV located? Where was it before GA? That rust underneath would be a concern for me.

Don't we all buy low hopefully or not then spend that extra 6 to 20K+. Then we have the envy of the campground & a great coach.
Where did you see the ad for this?

Tere

Everything on an older motor home that is made out of rubber or gasket material,or is a belt of some kind, is something that will need replaced, unless you know it was replaced recently. Even a 97 is 15 years old. It's all ordinary stuff that you would expect with an older home. Now collision damage is something else. Someone said have a fiberglass repair facility check it over and see how much it would cost to do it right and if there is some structural damage underneath the repairs already made. Sounds like good advice to me. As far as the mechanical items, I can work on cars, understand them, but these big motor homes are something else, at least for me. I can change oil and filters and belts, maybe even a water pump. But head gaskets, intake manifold gaskets, fuel pumps stuff that's in another league. BTW, the pic you took of the sticker next to the door was in French and English. Maybe a Canadian Barth?
Jim

quote:

Maybe a Canadian Barth?

ergo the rust underneath??

Tere

Hello all,

I finally felt I knew enough to call the owner last Sat and see what he had to say. Well the call ended up being very short. The current owner named Ben basically went over the 1997 Monarch history:

Said he bought it for $72,000 with 9,100 miles on it, he was the second owner. He says it has 27,000 mile on it but his sign in front of it said 24,000? He said he drove it to races such as Daytona and changed the engine oil before every trip, about two trips a year. Had new tires put on it for $3400 at Lanier tire in Gainesville, GA (I think that is about $1000 to much? They are Goodyear tires, maybe they are almost $600 a tire? ) So that raised my eyebrow if you know what I mean. No smoking, no pets in it.

There is 1100 hours on the generator.. had a problem with the generator, he said replaced the fuel solenoid but turned out to be that battery was low. (that did not make any sense to me).

Said the whole front end where the generator is was rebuilt and the Fiberglass front reattached. He also said the damage to the front side a-pillar area was there when he bout the coach for $72,000??? Seems odd?... I wouldn't have done that... in any case... I asked for maintenance receipts and he started to get agitated and never answered the question... said that he had records on front tray on front of the coach but as you can see there is just a copy of the registration... maybe there is some paperwork under it.

I asked him about the hydraulic leak on the radiator fan and he said that something probably needs to be tightened up and that he never had to add any hydraulic fluid. He was again irritated when I asked him about that and finally I asked him about the Miter box where the steering column meets the linkage to the front suspension was leaking. He didn't know what that was or what the chassis was.. thought is was a Freightliner... I let him know it was a Spartan.

Finally he said that he would not accept less than $38,000 for the coach. I said that the price is about $15,000 above market value in which the same coaches are going for. He said he knows the market value is $27,000 but he didn't care.. he wanted $38,000. I then said that with the state of his coach with the damage and maintenance issues it is worth about $20,000 to $25,000. He then said that he doesn't care and would let his grandkids play in it then if he doesn't sell it and hung up on me. I was polite, kind and respectful. I said "yes sir" to acknowledge what he was saying, I tried to ease the bad news on him easy. Didn't go over very well.

He was a real peach of a guy! He is more of a person that you have a one way conversation with where he talks and doesn't expect you to question him.

So that is the scoop on this one... Here is his number if anyone wants to try their luck with him and probably have a uncomfortable conversation.

This Barth is located between Cumming, GA and Gainesville, GA off of 369 about 3 miles east from the 306 and 369 intersection in front of a storage place.

Owners number - Ben -770-527-3433

Well, you were very nice to him. Sounds like a grumpy old man. But you came away feeling good about how you conducted yourself. Can't beat that. Keep looking. There's one out there that has your name on it. Welcome to Barthmobile.
Jim

This 97' Monarch is no longer in front of the storage place, it either sold or the owner took it off the market.

Thank you everyone for your very helpful advice. I would have prob made a mistake if it weren't for this web site. You all are the only resource out on the Internet for Barth information, and a very very good resource on top of that.

Looking forward to finding the right Barth for my family and I one day and making it to a Barth get together.

-The other Corey.

No matter how well your future coach will have been maintained, I suggest planning to spend at least $5K over the first few months.

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
No matter how well your future coach will have been maintained, I suggest planning to spend at least $5K over the first few months.

what he said