Considering a Kountry Star

[mineralslee]

Hello...Been hanging around the web for several months searching forums...trying to gain knowledge about motorhomes and the current state of the RV market in general. My wife and I have settled on a DP and I narrowed my list to just a few manufactures. We decided try to find a quality used coach...as we couldn't justify the extra cost of a new one.

We've been looking at an '05 Kountry Star. We like the coach....it handles great on the road with excellent turning radius, great ride on the Spartan Chassis, and good power with the upgraded 350 Cummins .

My only negative is the height of the storage under the slides, coupled with the top hinged bay doors...seems like it will be pretty cumbersome getting things in and out of these bay's while the slides are out. Otherwise...we seem pretty content.'

Are there any negatives I need to consider ?? I've owned a Tiffin product years ago and made a trip to Red Bay (great experience)...would love to hear your opinion of Newmar's factory service offering. Any other opinion why I should purchase a used Newmar product would also be appreciated.

Thanks for the feedback.....may be part of the Newmar family soon.

[GaryKD]

Hi mineralslee,
My compliments you you and your good taste for considering an 05 KSDP. We have the 3910 model. What model are you considering? The basement doors mentioned in the OP may have a tendency to delaminate, if opened and left in the sun. Carry some towels with you. If you plan to leave the basement door(s) open and in the sun, cover them with towels. That is the only "quirk" I have found with my 05 KSDP. On the Cummins side, if you are offered Cummins campaign 925, refuse it. Go to Warning Cummins Campaign 0925 to read about the campaign.

Other than these items, I've experienced the usual component failures just about all owners see at one time or another.

[mineralslee]

Gary...thanks for the comment. We're looking at a 3909. We like the 4 slide floor plan as well as the Newmar quality and reputation.

["007"]

Welcome mineralslee to the Newmar forum.
Good choice a Kountry Star I have one only its gas. Check the link for used value.
See only 2 recalls for that year also.
Good luck and welcome to the Newmar family.

[JDunn]

Mineralslee,
We purchased a 2005 KS, model 3910, with 18,000 miles last September which is our first motorhome. We are in the rig several nights each month and could not be happier. We have the ISC 330 so I am jealous of your power. We have had no problems and have found everything to be of good quality. I have been on the phone to both Newmar and Spartan with various questions to learn about the systems, etc. Service has always been great. Newmar customer service was so good, I wrote a letter saying such to Newmar's president. From my limited perspective, I think you are making a good choice. Best of luck.
JDunn

[94-Newmar]

I have a 1994 Kountry Star currently undergoing an all over paintjob, to get rid of the very ugly gelcoat and sticker theme that was so common many moons ago. Ours is the 40' large single slide out model, Spartan Chassis, Cummins 8.3C (300hp) and we love it. The good part is that Spartan and Newmar STILL support this model - I've had to call each once or twice for various normal component issues and I was surprised that they still had the build card and all the info to help me on even a model this old. I have seen many other older DP motorhomes and I can honestly say the quality of the Newmar units is of no comparison to many other manufacturers newer models. No stress cracking *anywhere* on the exterior, the roof still looks new. The interior was meticulously taken care of. Oh sure we've had to repair/replace some things over time, converter, refrig, various plumbing fixtures, upgraded to a couple flatscreens, recharge the roof A/C units, replace the main awning and added window awnings, etc etc etc. The chassis was taken care of equally well with scheduled fluid changes and chassis lubrication - at 110,000 on the odometer it's just getting 'broken in'.

Regarding the basement doors.. on our unit the doors under the slide are hinged from the bottom, which at some point in time was probably a good idea. However over the years as the latches obtain more clearance they can pop open if you travel over any terrain that may twist the chassis a lot - we've had doors fly open on the freeway and even though they have safety chains to keep them from hitting the pavement, 65mph speeds and winds broke one of the chains and we lost an entire basement door. Now that our MH is undergoing an all-over entire paintjob we're in the process of removing the door frames and turning them upside down so the doors are hinged from the top and installing gas/spring cylinders to hold them open. This way if they accidentally pop open they wont get dragged on the ground and possibly ripped off the hinge. Having them hinged from the top is a blessing in disguise in my opinion!

Attached are a couple pictures of it BEFORE we started the all-over paintjob. I'll start a thread in the Vintage RV forum to document it's progress - we're repainting it ourselves - fortunately I have a wonderful son who just happens be a body/paint professional!

Good Luck with your purchase, you cannot go wrong with Newmar!

[mineralslee]

Thanks to everyone for their responses. We're getting closer....will post some pictures if everything works out. Maybe we'll be able to make a deal in the next couple weeks.