Purchase of 2001 Contessa

[Jim Camarata]

We are preparing to close on a 2001 Contessa and have recently heard that that year was one lacking in quality control.  That was the last year Beaver was in operation.  Can anyone with a 2001 advise me if they have had excessive problems?  Thank you

[George H. Wall]

The old Beavers were made thru the 2002 Model Year. I have a 2002 Patriot, that was manufactured in Dec. 2001. I have had very few problems, after the initial setup and break-in period. You must understand that with vertually thousands of possible things involved in a coach of this size, that minor things are always poping up!  Henry

[Marty and Suzie Schenck]

Jim, All the Beaver motorhomes built up to 2005 or 2006 were built at the factory in Bend, OR. by the same employees. The only thing that changed was the management in or around 2000-2001 I believe. The coaches didn't really take on any of the Monaco traits (different slide designs) until 2003-2004. You really should not have to worry about quality control. Marty

[Steve Adams]

We have had a 2001 Contessa since August of 2009. We have had a few issues such as replacing the exhaust header gasket, repairing the slide/jack hydraulic pump and a leak in the ice maker.

I felt these were normal items given the demands of moving all that weight over the road.

We thoroughly enjoy our coach and have never regretted the purchase. It was our first coach and we've learned a lot of things about them, Beavers in particular.

If you have any specific questions regarding the Contessa you can PM me.

Enjoy your purchase!

Steve

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Jim,
I just came across this thread when looking for another topic. We've had our 2001 Contessa since 2005 and love it (125K miles). However it did have some quirks / QC issues when we first got it. The rear radiator and rear mounted generator are (my opinion) design issues that can lead to overheat conditions. However this can be solved by a combination of relatively simple maintenance and operational procedures. The only quality control issues I've run into are electrical; specifically bad crimps, loose connections. This caused us problems with the bedroom slide motor brake and the headlights. Again, both were relatively easy (but time consuming) to solve and not something you want to pay a shop hourly rate for. The loose connections were in the electrical bay (in front of driver side front wheel) and the dash. The nuts holding the wiring to the dash gauges were loose. Fairly  simple to get at after pulling the dash panel. Also suggest you go through the electrical bay and ensure all nuts are tight. IF you got the Contessa, enjoy. It's a good coach and the Magnum chassis is "golden".
Steve

[Richard And Babs Ames]

One of the big things on all rear radiator motorhomes is keeping the radiator and intercooler clean and being sure the engine crankcase vent tube does not vent through the radiator allowing an oily buildup. Neither is a big deal. There are numerous threads (CAT RV Engine Owners Club) and you tube videos on cleaning the radiator and the crankcase vent.

[Jeff Watt]

... All the Beaver motorhomes built up to 2005 or 2006 were built at the factory in Bend, OR. by the same employees. The only thing that changed was the management in or around 2000-2001 I believe. The coaches didn't really take on any of the Monaco traits (different slide designs) until 2003-2004. You really should not have to worry about quality control. Marty

Following from this statement from Marty, can someone elaborate where subsequent year Beavers were built? My 05 was in Oregon, but I am wondering about say 07 (06?) and newer?

When I look at photos of 2000 +/- year Beavers the quality of wood work is evident, and these are in coaches that are now 10+ years old. Just wondering if the quality diminished over time, although the wood work in my 05 is very good and certainly is much better than many newer coaches.

Jeff

[Gerald Farris]

Jeff,
All Beaver coaches were built in Oregon. They were built in Bend Oregon until Monaco moved production to Coburg Oregon in 2005. If you have a 2005 model, it was probably built in Bend.

Gerald

[Jim Camarata]

Thank you all for responding - We bought the '01 Contessa and are pleased with it.  FOR YOUR INFO RE:NORCOLD 1200 REFRIGERATOR:  The reason we were looking for an RV was because the Norcold refrig in our Allegro Bus caught on fire while we were in it at 0400 hours on Feb. 1, 2012.  That was after all the recalls had been done.  I am a master RV tecnician and did all the recalls myself so they were up to date.  I replaced the Norcold 1200 LRIM with a $425.00 Kenmore refrig and am extremely, repeat, extremely happy with it.  I picked that particular model because it fit the existing enclosure very well.  The only problem with the Kenmore is the door shelving which is very wide and comes with a very low retaining wall.  As far as power drain, my Xantrex 2000W converter, with four 6 volt batteries, functions well with only a 1.0 amp draw when on stacdby.  I would close by recommending all of you replace the Norcold and Dometic refrigs with domestic models when they fail rather that replacing the cooling unit.  For you who boondock, I will run a test to determine how long my four 2010 6 VDC batteries will continue to operate the converter before it shuts down for low DC.
 Jim Camarata  423-413-9866

[Tom and Pat Fudale]

Do you have  a model # for that Kenmore fridge?

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Jim,
One problem you will encounter with the 01 Contessa is generator  (and possibly inverter) overheating. The exhaust pipe exits right under the generator intake. I encountered the  problem climbing in the AZ mtns and across OK / TX in the summer when the dash A/C can't cool the coach by itself. I first installed heat shields on bottom of the generator and the back of the inverter. It slightly improved the situation but didn't solve it. I was ready to move the exhaust pipe but Tom at Massey's in Phoenix suggested that I first try a downward pointed exhaust tip. Problem solved. I've removed the geni heat shield and purposely run the engine temp well past the normal geni overheat trip point (~210-215) with no problems. We cut a few inches off the pipe to reduce the extension of the tip to about 6". It's angled down at about 30 degrees.
BTW, would be great if you could post pics of reefer conversion.
Steve