2019 Dutch Star Purchase

[Dutch Star Don]

Haven't gone yet! Leave tomorrow. For me, there were several reasons. First, we try to do a family trip (four families) every other year to Yosemite at Thanksgiving. This is one of those years and everything was booked four months ago. The FPU would have put us past that date.

Second, it would have also put us in a bad time of year, weather wise, to be driving cross country.

Third, it's an additional $4K with the FPU purchase and fuel.

Fourth, my dealer and I discussed the fact that I do most of my own repairs, even simple warranty stuff and I know how to operate most of the systems.

Hopefully, I don't jinx myself, but I've bought two new diesel pushers and two other new RV's over the years and never had anything major that needed repair, when new. When I bought my DS off the lot in 2014, it had a bad dash A/C fan and a recall on the microwave. I replaced the A/C fan myself and installed a different brand of microwave.

Sooooo…….I decided that FPU was not something I really needed. I added other features to the coach with the money I saved.

[Rojaco]

Off topic gut where do you camp with a big rig in Yosemite. I go there but have never camped there. Would like to.

[Dutch Star Don]

At Thanksgiving, they only open Upper Pines Campground. There are about a dozen sites in Upper Pines that will hold a 40' - 42' RV. We know which sites we'll fit in and book those sites every other year.

[kpecks]

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

The cell and WiFi amps are options. Someone painted their DS all black and some have had the wheels black anodized. Heat soak might be an issue with all black.

newmar will no longer warranty the durability of the sides of the coach when ordering all black. I tried to go all black but newmar had me sign a waiver stating I was giving up any claims to delamination cracking etc.

[woodwardmpd]

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

The cell and WiFi amps are options. Someone painted their DS all black and some have had the wheels black anodized. Heat soak might be an issue with all black.

Thanks Don. I'm familiar with the options Newmar offers, but prefer the WeBoost and WifiRanger EliteDC options and can be a little particular about the tech cabinet. I'll have to ask them to see if they would install other devices they don't offer.

Interesting point about heat soak.

[Dutch Star Don]

I bought my current coach with a lot of black in it and figured it would be a little more work. It was a lot more work. On a car, you can quickly clean it yourself or run it through the car wash. I got tired of washing and often waxing the coach before trips and having it look dirty within hours. When I added my satellite after we purchased the coach, I was on the roof, sitting on the white center section, and placed my hand on the black portion for just a moment. It was too hot to touch. I think when they do dark colors around the roof line, they're just asking for heat build up issues. If you look at older coaches, like my Diplomat, the dark colors are the first to start checking.

This time, I ordered 90% light colors, keeping the roof all in light colors. I have only one medium dark stripe. Keep in mind, an all black coach will have resale issues.

PERSONALLY, I would never have Newmar install anything like a WiFi or cell phone booster. These products just change too fast. 5G will soon be out and these items will be obsolete. I would rather buy the brand I want and install it myself, so upgrades will be easier to add later.

Well......we fly in 13 hours and we'll be in Indiana tomorrow. Hopefully I can post some pictures of our coach build Monday night.

[woodwardmpd]

Looking forward to the pictures.

You’ve given me something to think about. My black truck always looked like it needed a bath but my brown does look better.

Maybe a retro paint job with mostly whites then with muted graphics.

[Dutch Star Don]

Here is he rendering of my colors. Just the one medium brown strip. It's hard to tell in this picture, but the other stripe is a maroon.

[dmatt13]

Hey Don,
We stopped by Tom's today to check out the coaches and for the wife to get an idea the difference between gas and diesel rigs. Tom was delivering another coach to some happy customer. Spent a lot of time with him and it really is a comfortable experience.
Thanks for detailing the ordering process. I think we may go the same route as the wife wants to change some things. Good luck on your delivery, I'll be following this post!!