Comparing Mountain Aire motorhomes (2004-2006)

[littlec]

Hi all,

We're considering the purchase of a used Mountain Aire (diesel) motorhome, and are wondering if anyone with experience with Mountain Aires can explain to us what significant differences there are between the 2004, 2005, and 2006 models.

Any help is much appreciated!

Thanks,
littlec

[sjcaldal11]

Littlec,
Welcome to this fourm. I had a 2004 4301 MADP and a 4304 MADP and the coaches are the same except for floor plans and colors. On thing did disappoint me, they changed the tire size from 2005 to 2006. The 2006 had 305 70's and the 2004 had 295 80's. The 305's were 1.5 inches shorter. The 2006 Newmars with hydro hot had issues with bad hoses that caused antifreeze to flood the storage bay when they burst.

Thanks, Daryl

["007"]

Welcome littlec to the Newmar forum and irv2.
Glad to have you aboard enjoy the forum and do post often.
Congrats on your new to be Newmar, good choice.

[bcbounders]

littlec,

I've got a 2005 MADP 4304... and when we were looking to buy ours, we were on the cusp of waiting for the 2006 models to be released (as I recall, they came out early that year). A couple of points I recall from our analysis of the differences between the '05 and '06 were:

(1) The '06 introduced the higher curb-side belt-line for the front slide. On our '05, the slide design forces the basement doors under that slide to be shorter then they are further along on that side. In '06, they changed the slide design enough that they could raise the belt line and thus raise the height of the doors and the size of the opening.

(2) The '06 paint scheme changed and eliminated much of the color blending (one color fading into another) that we like(d) so much on the '05. Totally a personal-taste thing.

(3) Interior ceiling height was raised in the '06 by about 4"

None of the above were all that important to us to completely sway us one way or the other. We ended up feeling pretty lucky that we chose an '05 since we got a full 3-year warranty... and the '06's had only a 1 year. But obviously that would have no bearing now.

If you have any specific questions about the '05, fire away and I'll do my best to answer (as will everyone else, of course).

Happy hunting!