Looking for a general opinion.. 2015 Dynasty???

[Scottp]

Hello everyone,

I am new here - probably because I currently own a Foretravel U320 and not a Monaco :-)..   That being said.. my girlfriend and I are looking to purchase a lot in a Motorcoach resort in Florida and all the resorts are are looking at have a 12yr rule for coaches and that combined with my current coach is a 36ft rig is driving me to look for a larger and newer coach.

While I am looking at newer Foretravels, I have located a couple 2015 Monaco Dynasty 45P coaches that look very nice and easily run 100k below an equivalent Foretravel IH45. They really have great floor plans, are side radiator (mandatory) and have the 600HP engine..  Assuming they are well cared for, are the 2015 years considered good or bad?

Question for the group:  What’s the scoop on the 2015 Dynasty coaches?  My neighbor has an older Monaco and loves it but I dont have any information or experience with the newer coaches..  

Hoping to mine the wealth of wisdom from this forum..

 

Thank you!

 

Scott Powell

 

 

[Just Jim]

everyone is going to have an opinion, but that is really a Monaco in name only.  Not the Roadmaster chassis that really makes a coach ride and drive well.  I think it is at least far enough into the DPF history to have most of the bugs worked out. 

[Scottp]

1 minute ago, Just Jim said:

everyone is going to have an opinion, but that is really a Monaco in name only.  Not the Roadmaster chassis that really makes a coach ride and drive well.  I think it is at least far enough into the DPF history to have most of the bugs worked out. 

Part of my concern as my Foretravel ride is amazing..

[Dr4Film]

The owner of this forum, Dave Pratt, sold his 2005 Monaco Exec and purchased a Foretravel.

Send him a PM. See what he has to say.

[vito.a]

Monaco Coach Corp filed chapter 11 in April 2009 and then was purchased by Navistar in Jun 2009.  Navistar thought motor homes would be a good fit for their MaxxForce engines.  Most MaxxForce engines were a disaster.  

In 2013 Monaco was sold to Allied Specialty vehicles which later became Rev Group.  Rev Groups main motorhome business was the Fleetwood line.  

There were some original Monaco built 10 airbag Roadmaster chassis left over that were finished by Navistar and then Rev Group.  

So, is this 2015 coach an original Monaco 10 airbag chassis, or is it a rebadged Fleetwood product?  The first question is it a side radiator?  Next, how many airbags and shocks does it have?  

From there you should be able to track down what this coach really is.  

Good luck!

[Scottp]

7 minutes ago, vito.a said:

Monaco Coach Corp filed chapter 11 in April 2009 and then was purchased by Navistar in Jun 2009.  Navistar thought motor homes would be a good fit for their MaxxForce engines.  Most MaxxForce engines were a disaster.  

In 2013 Monaco was sold to Allied Specialty vehicles which later became Rev Group.  Rev Groups main motorhome business was the Fleetwood line.  

There were some original Monaco built 10 airbag Roadmaster chassis left over that were finished by Navistar and then Rev Group.  

So, is this 2015 coach an original Monaco 10 airbag chassis, or is it a rebadged Fleetwood product?  The first question is it a side radiator?  Next, how many airbags and shocks does it have?  

From there you should be able to track down what this coach really is.  

Good luck!

It is a side radiator but I think only 6 airbags.. one of the two is only 2hrs away so I may go take a look..  my U320 is an 8 airbag system - it makes a big difference for sure!

[PeterSchweizer]

Question are you going to live in it on your lot or actually drive it alot? If not using it other to live in n the occasional trip. Why have the overhead and headaches of having a very expensive  Diesel engine n and coaches systems. Suspension  Brakes, ABS, cruise control, ,10 air bags 10 shocks, 10 tires,.... just sitting? Get a nice big 5th wheel n a Get a  reliable used Truck to pull it if u only go on a few trips n live in it on your lot. 

[Scottp]

Just now, PeterSchweizer said:

Question are you going to live in it on your lot or actually drive it alot? If not using it other to live in n the occasional trip. Why have the overhead and headaches of having a very expensive  Diesel engine n and coaches systems. Suspension  Brakes, ABS, cruise control, ,10 air bags 10 shocks, 10 tires,.... just sitting? Get a nice big 5th wheel n a Get a  reliable used Truck to pull it if u only go on a few trips n live in it on your lot. 

Valid point for many, but we do travel around 15k per year and just park in FL for the winter - unless the weather sucks, then we head to Tucson LOL!

[amphi_sc]

My opinion would be to look at well maintained resorts without a ten or twelve year limitation.

[CAT Stephen]

Scott,

I have discovered that the most important aspect in buying any used coach is chassis support followed by a close second of powertrain reliability.

I have determined through ownership of my current Freightliner Chassis is that Freightliner Chassis is currently the gold standard in support.  I have spent approximately 45 hours on the telephone with their technical support to resolve numerous technical issues that have arisen over the past 5 years. 

For the powertrain, make sure you carefully evaluate the reliability history of a given diesel engine.  Detroit Diesel has had virtually no reliability issues for their diesel engines manufactured the past 12 years.  Caterpillar exited the on-highway diesel engine business in ~2008, thus you will encounter no Cat diesels if you are seeking coaches less than 12 years old.  Cummins has had numerous issues with a very limited group of specific engines manufactured over the past 10 years.  Cummins is a tremendous company that makes top tier diesels, so don't avoid Cummins, but do your research on any given engine model to insure that you know what you are getting into.

[Dr4Film]

11 hours ago, Scottp said:

It is a side radiator but I think only 6 airbags.. one of the two is only 2hrs away so I may go take a look..  my U320 is an 8 airbag system - it makes a big difference for sure!

A 6 inboard air bag suspension (tag axle) will never ride like a 10 outboard air bag suspension (tag axle). That's the beauty of the Roadmaster S-Series Suspension.

Plus, the best Roadmaster Chassis support will be at Josam's in Orlando. They are the BEST!

[Tom Cherry]

http://www.monacocoach.com/library/2015/2015_dyn_b.pdf  this, and it was BURIED, is what you are looking at….

First….you need a little more “history” of the beast.  98% (or more) of the members here own pre Bankruptcy Monaco….my guess….and we can’t run a query of the data base….LOL.

Next. When Navistar purchased, via the receiver, the assets of Monaco, they tried to hire back all the employees.  Yes, they got a lot…but the old timers both on the floor and in engineering were sparse….and the newer ones were more mobile.  Navistar’s goal….make them MH and put our Maxforce engines in them. A FIASCO.  The EPA fined Navistar several thousand $$$$ for every ENGINE.  It almost took them under.  

Next up, Navistar decided to change some things….why…”they were smarter”…but no MH engineering experience….as well as some changes in such.  Most UGLY…. There was a change in the “interior lighting & 12 VDC control” system.  In 2005, Monaco partnered with Intellitec and developed a CPU system.  A poor man’s approach to what Foretravel and Prevost was doing.  It was a major market and customer coup. The MSRP was lower and the Intellitec Multiplex System (MPX) was a hit….and Monaco did well.  Their product line was upgraded and sales flourished and it filtered down to the lower ends.  They also owned HR and had a complete line.

THEN the economy tanked….Monaco never saw it coming and kept building.  In the end, in late November or early December, 2008….reality hit.  Monaco’s “advisors”,  Goldman Sachs(sp) was trying to restructure and keep them out of Bankruptcy. SO…Monaco pulled a fast one….We are cutting DEALER INVOICES.  The invoices were typically in the low 70’s…or that was the percentage of MSRP.  A $300K MSRP MH would cost the dealer say $210 - $225.

OK….fire sale.  The invoices, to move the massive amount of MH on their lots was cut to 40 - 50%.  ZOOIE!  So that same $300K MH was around $120 - $130K.  Like the California Gold rush.  OPPS….only MEGA DEALERS were in on the sale.  One 5 or 6 site Camping World in Northern Florida bought over 200 MH. They advertised them, on their sites…a $350 K MH for $200K. OMG….must be a repo. NOPE…NEW.  The smaller dealers were NOT given the opportunity to buy….the big boys had CREDIT or Floorplan financing.  How I know this?  A long time friend and HR GM told me that my MH was a REPO and was not new.  He didn’t believe the webpage. He knew one of the higher ups in that CW franchise….called him.  OMG….but it…he tried, but Monaco would not cut him the same deal.

THIS IS FACT.

Now….read the sales brochure.  The Monaco main site doesn’t even list a 2015 MY as that was the transition.  The 2014 was the LAST of the REAL original Monaco Roadmaster Chassis.  BUT, it had the Maxforce Engine.  It also had the FireFly (?? Memory) MPX system.  We have had members with Maxforce engines and the new MPX….one with both and REV is of no help and the “integration” of the Maxforce into a defunct line, Monaco MH, has been an issue and the Navistar dealers (engine) are less than enthusiastic about servicing and REV can not (or maybe WILL) provide much tech support to a Navistar dealer.  Navistar sold ALL intellectual property to REV. REV demolished all the tooling and equipment for the Original Roadmaster Chassis and the molds and such for all Monaco made MH.  Had to do that for a tremendous tax write off.  The 2015 Dynasty is NOT even close to what the 2014 was…which is also a distant cousin of the original MONACO’s.

Rev trademarked the “new” Freightliner chassis as the NEW ROADMASTER….they went back to Cummins engines. 

Thus….just because it says Dynasty….it has not ANY Monaco DNA….

[Chargerman]

Personally I wouldn’t touch a Monaco of that era and would certainly pay the extra for an IH-45. A whole different level of quality. You will be very disappointed if you you down from Foretravel, no matter what production brand you consider. I have two friends who both bought that era Monaco’s. One was a Dynasty and the other was the lower model, ( I forgot what it was called) both were junk with a ton on issues constantly. If you can, stick with  Realm or IH-45

[David Pratt]

Scott

Tom hits the nail on the head, but let me add my personnel experience.

The 2015 Dynasty is a Monaco coach in name only. It is built by the REV Group. REV purchased the Monaco Brand from Navistar in 2014 and destroyed all the Jigs and Templates for the Monaco Roadmaster Chassis. Rev Builds their coaches on the Freightliner Chassis. I will agree to disagree with Stephen and that the SPARTAN Chassis is a far better Chassis  than the Freightliner. If you ever get a chance to go to one of the big RV Shows you would be able to compare chassis as Both Freightliner and Spartan will have a chassis on display and you will see a notable difference. You will also find that with the current REV built coaches it is very difficult to access all the way through the coach with all the slides retracted.

That being said; Your Foretravel U320 coach  is a far better coach than any of the REV Brand built coaches today, especially in Quality and Equipment.

In 2010 Sandy wanted to move up to a Bath and a half coach because we had taken custody of our four year old Granddaughter. We had a 2005 Executive that we had purchased new in 2005. It was a great coach and I new that it would be tough to find an equitable replacement that would fit the Quality and Equipment of the Exec. I knew nothing about Foretravel or a Foretravel Coach until I saw the introduction of the ih-45 at the 2012 Tampa RV Supershow and it got Sandy an I's attention. Up until this time I had not found a Coach that I would replace our Monaco Executive with including Newmar, Entegra and Tiffin. A Prevost or Newell were to phoo-phooee for Sandy and I. Sandy'e father owned a couple of Prevost's and they are expensive to maintain as with the Newell. I kept telling Sandy I would have to give up to much compared to what we had in the Exec when we compared it to the other newer coaches.

It took three years of research on Foretravel and the Foretravel ih-45 and the other brand coaches for us to make our decision. I communicated with many Foretravel owners of new and older coaches and just about everyone I reached out to had nothing but good things to say about their coach and about Foretravel. We went to the Factories of the Brand coaches  we were interested in and at the end of the day the Foretravel Coach was the winner. The ih-45 was a custom built coach from the ground up.

We purchased and took delivery of our ih-45 at the Factory in Nacogdoches, Texas or the Mothership as most Foretravel owners refer to the Factory.

Our 2005 Monaco Executive was a great coach and we had very few issues with the coach in the 11 years we owned it but in comparison the ih-45 has it way over the Exec.

It is now been 7 years that we have owned our ih-45. Purchasing the ih-45 was one of the best decisions Sandy and I made. The quality of the build is over the top. The equipment and electronics are the best in the Industry. I have never been disappointed with the Factory support. Prior to 2019 the ih-45 was custom built from the ground up. "ih" stands for the Iron Horse Chassis that the ih-45 is built on. When Foretravel started building the Realm they went to the Spartan Chassis. The ih-45 was renamed the Presidential and still has its own specific chassis.

My personnel preference would be to pay the extra $$$$ and purchase the Foretravel. I do not believe you would be disappointed.

 

[Scottp]

1 minute ago, CAT Stephen said:

Scott,

I have discovered that the most important aspect in buying any used coach is chassis support followed by a close second of powertrain reliability.

I have determined through ownership of my current Freightliner Chassis is that Freightliner Chassis is currently the gold standard in support.  I have spent approximately 45 hours on the telephone with their technical support to resolve numerous technical issues that have arisen over the past 5 years. 

For the powertrain, make sure you carefully evaluate the reliability history of a given diesel engine.  Detroit Diesel has had virtually no reliability issues for their diesel engines manufactured the past 12 years.  Caterpillar exited the on-highway diesel engine business in ~2008, thus you will encounter no Cat diesels if you are seeking coaches less than 12 years old.  Cummins has had numerous issues with a very limited group of specific engines manufactured over the past 10 years.  Cummins is a tremendous company that makes top tier diesels, so don't avoid Cummins, but do your research on any given engine model to insure that you know what you are getting into.

Very wise comments!!  My first coach had the CAT C7 - It ran great and I had no issues with it but I was very particular in my maintenance 🙂. My Foretravel has the Cummins ISM 450hp - which I absolutely love!!  It is a beast of a motor with plenty of power.  Naturally lots of Prevost coaches have Detroits LOL!

21 minutes ago, David Pratt said:

Scott

The 2015 Dynasty is a Monaco coach in name only. It is built by the REV Group. REV purchased the Monaco Brand from Navistar in 2012 and destroyed all the Jigs and Templates for the Monaco Roadmaster Chassis. Rev Builds their coaches on the Freightliner Chassis. I will agree to disagree with Stephen and that the SPARTAN Chassis is a far better Chassis  than the Freightliner. If you ever get a chance to go to one of the big RV Shows you would be able to compare chassis as Both Freightliner and Spartan will have a chassis on display and you will see a notable difference. You will also find that with the current REV built coaches it is very difficult to access all the way through the coach with all the slides retracted.

That being said; Your Foretravel U320 coach  is a far better coach than any of the REV Brand built coaches today, especially in Quality and Equipment.

In 2010 Sandy wanted to move up to a Bath and a half coach because we had taken custody of our four year old Granddaughter. We had a 2005 Executive that we had purchased new in 2005. It was a great coach and I new that it would be tough to find an equitable replacement that would fit the Quality and Equipment of the Exec. I knew nothing about Foretravel or a Foretravel Coach until I saw the introduction of the ih-45 at the 2012 Tampa RV Supershow and it got Sandy an I's attention. Up until this time I had not found a Coach that I would replace our Monaco Executive with including Newmar, Entegra and Tiffin. A Prevost or Newell were to phoo-phooee for Sandy and I. Sandy'e father owned a couple of Prevost's and they are expensive to maintain as with the Newell. I kept telling Sandy I would have to give up to much compared to what we had in the Exec when we compared it to the other newer coaches.

It took three years of research on Foretravel and the Foretravel ih-45 and the other brand coaches for us to make our decision. We went to the Factories of the Brand coaches  we were interested in and at the end of the day the Foretravel Coach was the winner. The ih-45 was a custom built coach from the ground up.

We purchased and took delivery of our ih-45 at the Factory in Nacogdoches, Texas or the Mothership as most Foretravel owners refer to the Factory.

Our 2005 Monaco Executive was a great coach and we had very few issues with the coach in the 11 years we owned it but in comparison the ih-45 has it way over the Exec.

It is now been 7 years that we have owned our ih-45. Purchasing the ih-45 was one of the best decisions Sandy and I made. The quality of the build is over the top. The equipment and electronics are the best in the Industry. I have never been disappointed with the Factory support. Prior to 2019 the ih-45 was custom built from the ground up. "ih" stands for the Iron Horse Chassis that the ih-45 is built on. When Foretravel started building the Realm they went to the Spartan Chassis. The ih-45 was renamed the Presidential and still has its own specific chassis.

My personnel preference would be to pay the extra $$$$ and purchase the Foretravel. I do not believe you would be disappointed.

 

Thanks Dave!!   I believe you and Tom have read my mind 🙂. 

The responses from this group have been awesome!!!  You all seem very much like our Foreforums - great people, lots of wisdom and willing to help...   I think I am going to stay with Foretravel - There are several 2014 IH45s in the mid 300's that I am looking at.  MoT has a really nice one and that is where I bought my U320 a few years ago.  The motorcoach store in Florida has a couple but they seem somewhat standoffish when I reached out to them and asked simple questions like "date code on tires?" or " does the coach have all the service records?"  ugh!!

It's tough giving up my U320 - it is a rock solid coach!  Its a 2002 U320 36ft coach with the ISM 450 and an Allison 4000 tranny - its like the porsche of motorcoaches on the road, but we need more space for sure...

I might, out of curiosity, pop down and look at that one Dynasty but it looks like another trip to Texas is in the works 🙂. Its worth it - MoT is a great dealer...

 

 

 

[Tom Cherry]

15 minutes ago, Scottp said:

Very wise comments!!  My first coach had the CAT C7 - It ran great and I had no issues with it but I was very particular in my maintenance 🙂. My Foretravel has the Cummins ISM 450hp - which I absolutely love!!  It is a beast of a motor with plenty of power.  Naturally lots of Prevost coaches have Detroits LOL!

Thanks Dave!!   I believe you and Tom have read my mind 🙂. 

The responses from this group have been awesome!!!  You all seem very much like our Foreforums - great people, lots of wisdom and willing to help...   I think I am going to stay with Foretravel - There are several 2014 IH45s in the mid 300's that I am looking at.  MoT has a really nice one and that is where I bought my U320 a few years ago.  The motorcoach store in Florida has a couple but they seem somewhat standoffish when I reached out to them and asked simple questions like "date code on tires?" or " does the coach have all the service records?"  ugh!!

It's tough giving up my U320 - it is a rock solid coach!  Its a 2002 U320 36ft coach with the ISM 450 and an Allison 4000 tranny - its like the porsche of motorcoaches on the road, but we need more space for sure...

I might, out of curiosity, pop down and look at that one Dynasty but it looks like another trip to Texas is in the works 🙂. Its worth it - MoT is a great dealer...

 

 

 

TEXAS is nice.  Spending days on the phone and not getting any help and such and having the “lower level” NAME ONLY” Dynasty is something I would not do…BUT we try to help members and have at least one with some major and frustrating issues…and it is the same one as you are looking at…

Good Luck….

[David Pratt]

33 minutes ago, Scottp said:

Very wise comments!!  My first coach had the CAT C7 - It ran great and I had no issues with it but I was very particular in my maintenance 🙂. My Foretravel has the Cummins ISM 450hp - which I absolutely love!!  It is a beast of a motor with plenty of power.  Naturally lots of Prevost coaches have Detroits LOL!

Thanks Dave!!   I believe you and Tom have read my mind 🙂. 

The responses from this group have been awesome!!!  You all seem very much like our Foreforums - great people, lots of wisdom and willing to help...   I think I am going to stay with Foretravel - There are several 2014 IH45s in the mid 300's that I am looking at.  MoT has a really nice one and that is where I bought my U320 a few years ago.  The motorcoach store in Florida has a couple but they seem somewhat standoffish when I reached out to them and asked simple questions like "date code on tires?" or " does the coach have all the service records?"  ugh!!

It's tough giving up my U320 - it is a rock solid coach!  Its a 2002 U320 36ft coach with the ISM 450 and an Allison 4000 tranny - its like the porsche of motorcoaches on the road, but we need more space for sure...

I might, out of curiosity, pop down and look at that one Dynasty but it looks like another trip to Texas is in the works 🙂. Its worth it - MoT is a great dealer...

 

 

 

For your own piece of mind and to avoid a lot of frustration on your part You should avoid purchasing a coach from the Motorcoach Store. FOT would be the place to purchase a Foretravel, especially the ih-45. Also if you are not a member, join the Motorcade Club.

[Scottp]

7 minutes ago, David Pratt said:

For your own piece of mind and to avoid a lot of frustration on your part You should avoid purchasing a coach from the Motorcoach Store. FOT would be the place to purchase a Foretravel, especially the ih-45. Also if you are not a member, join the Motorcade Club.

Funny you mention that - they certainly did NOT impress me!!    Besides - I really like the guys at Motorhomes of Texas and its right next door to the mothership 🙂. I am a Motorcade member and we are hoping to start going to different rallies and Motorcade trips in the future 🙂

[Chargerman]

Why do you suggest not purchasing from the Motorcoach store? From what I understand they are a very reputable business. Just wondering as I have considered them in the past

Edited June 18 by Chargerman

[Paul J A]

https://stnonline.com/news/navistar-sells-monaco-rv-business-to-allied-specialty-vehicles/#

 

[Ivylog]

On 6/18/2024 at 9:23 AM, CAT Stephen said:

Scott,

I have discovered that the most important aspect in buying any used coach is chassis support followed by a close second of powertrain reliability.

I have determined through ownership of my current Freightliner Chassis is that Freightliner Chassis is currently the gold standard in support.  I have spent approximately 45 hours on the telephone with their technical support to resolve numerous technical issues that have arisen over the past 5 years. 

Doesn’t say much for the Freightliner chassis… granted a one! In 20 years I’ve spent 0 minutes getting support on my Roadmaster chassis, even when Monaco was in business.

[CAT Stephen]

Hello @Ivylog,

 

I have had no issues thus far with my Freightliner XC chassis.  Where I used Freightliner technical support has been to trace down issues with failed 3rd party components which have primarily been 3rd party relay cubes that have failed.  All relays have a limited lifespan resulting in the eventual need to replace on any chassis, regardless of the chassis brand.

[Ivylog]

Like Scottp, we snowbird in SE Florida…park has a dumb 10 year rule. Dumb as once in, it can be 20+ without getting permission each year to put it on the lot we own. Are you sure there’s not some exceptions to the 12 years and what happens when the “new” one is over 12 years old?

We own a seasonal RV park in N GA with a 10 year rule that’s fairly flexible… send me some pictures of your 14 year old rig. Our problem is most rigs are trailers and we have people that have been with us for 20 years…very little turnover. If there rig was 10 when it came in, a 30 year old trailer has to go.

[rustykramermetalfab]

I looked on Face book and there appears to be an owners' group of the Rev 2015-16 built Dynasty's. Might be away to connect with owners and get some input?

[birdshill123]

FL makes a decent chassis and provide good support. But Rev is famous for horrible support. Almost as bad as Thor. I would never buy one of those units. If you are not buying new look at a high end Entegra. Or spring for a Foretravel.