Newmar Coaches

Adding a woman's point of view here. I wrote about loving our Newmar coaches in an earlier post. You mentioned about going full time, and one thing I would not leave home without, was a washer and dryer. I had to spend out early marriage years, at a laundry mat and I told DH., I did not want to spend our later years going back to the laundry mats. We have had a Splendid in both of our coaches, and I would not travel without one. You may also want to consider this idea when you buy your motorhome.

I have an '05 Newmar Dutch Star and have had it for 4 years now. I am well pleased with the coach and I have been very happy with the Newmar factory warranty work. I really like the fact that, even though I am now out of warranty, I can still call Newmar and make an appointment to have repair work done there if I wish to. I may have to wait for their non-warranty work period of January - March, but I know if I take it there they will fix it right. Now, having said that I will add that I seem to be very uncomfortable at times with the long wheelbase of my 40' 9" rig. I think I have run over every curb between GA and IN doing a right hand turn. I will do 3 left hand turns to keep from making a tight right hand turn. I have seriously been looking at a Tiffin Phaeton 36QSH floor plan. It is a 36 ft. coach with 4 slideouts and it seems to have lots of room, lots of storage, still has a place for the washer/dryer, and I think I could make a right hand turn with it. So, I do not think you will be unhappy with any Newmar product. They build a great coach and their factory service is top notch. This is my third motorhome and Newmar has been the best experience of the three. If you are considering a 40 footer or larger, make sure you are comfortable with the right hand turns of that long wheelbase Spartan chassis And I would not be afraid of a Tiffin Allegro Bus or the Phaeton either. Tiffin builds a quality coach too and also has a good reputation for their support and service. And unlike a lot of the other coach builders, I do believe both Newmar and Tiffin will survive the current turndown in the economy and hopefully they will both still be around to support our coaches. Many of the other "bargain priced" coaches out there right now are sort of orphans because their builders have gone bankrupt.

Mel, not knowing your wheel cut, 50 or 55, if you drive passed the crub until you your knee lines up turn or your hip, you should not hit the crub when you turn. If you don't know the wheel cut do a few practice runs. This works for me anyway.

John Gardner
05 Beaver Santaim 40DST

wb4zit wrote:

And unlike a lot of the other coach builders, I do believe both Newmar and Tiffin will survive the current turndown in the economy and hopefully they will both still be around to support our coaches. Many of the other "bargain priced" coaches out there right now are sort of orphans because their builders have gone bankrupt.

It is not just with the "bargain priced" brands. Until this past year I would have advised folks to buy nothing but a Monaco product (Monaco, Holiday Rambler, Beaver or Safari). Now Monaco, like Fleetwood and several others, are in bankruptsy. Monaco has not built any new coaches since last November and the company service centers and tech support are shut down. This seems to be the problem with the public traded builders. Newmar and Tiffin are private owned companies and seemed to be able to pull back in faster than the big public owned companies. It appears that Monaco, at least as we have known it, will not return. They are in the process of selling off their assets to Navistar (International Trucks and Workhorse) at the present. Looks like the Holiday Rambler and Monaco brand will survive but under a complete new company. I've been a died in the wool Monaco owner (this is my second) but if I was looking today I'd be looking very closely at Tiffin first and Newmar second.

Monaco will be back in service for parts and service sometime in June this year. This is from a top person who gave us a talk at the HR diesel pushers rally in Goshen In. a week ago. They are currently doing inventory for the parts department. You are correct about them probably dropping the Beaver and and a few other things. They will also be opening the plant in Wakurusa, In. I spelled that one wrong I know.
Bill

Bill O'Dell,

Wish I had known you were at the HR Pusher Rally. I was at the Monaco America rally the following week but actually came in on Tuesday while you guys were there. While you were there we were parked on the east end of the fairgrounds on the grass with 30amp/water only.

Rick