Just ordered 2015 Dutch Star 4002

[slabman]

Not sure of those wood backed chairs. Mine are way too light with a relatively high center of gravity. I have dents on the refer and dishwasher to prove they flip over when traveling. Choose at your own risk.

[WYRon]

Originally Posted by jjr4

WYRon,

You mentioned the wood backed chairs from the MA for the dinette. That is exactly what we ordered for our 15 Dutchstar. We liked the look and were concerned that the cloth backed chairs would soil quickly from things like suntan lotion on hands.
Be aware that with ours the other two folding chairs still had the cloth back. I thought the change would apply to all four chairs.
Jeff

When we chose the hutch/dinette option the only thing I really didn't like were the cloth covered chairs. Just looked too formal and not quite right. Went into the MA and saw the solution. Yes, I saw the folding ones had cloth back, but still a nice set of chairs.

[WYRon]

Just wanted to give an update after our visit to Newmar for our customs and changes. First, I want to say that meeting with Michelle Howard was a real pleasure and she deserves all the good comments I've read here.

We visited Newmar this last Monday, just after the blizzard! Newmar production was closed, but Michelle and most of Corporate were there...but just barely. The Visitor's center was still snowed in, so we initially met in the Corporate office before maintenance cleared the snow at the Visitor Center. It's the visitor center where all of the colors, tile, fabric and other samples are kept.

A few overall notes
Wanted to point out a few things I wasn't completely clear about, and maybe some others may be in the same boat.

• Changes and customs can only be done during production using standard Newmar materials. Things like special electrical components, antenna wiring, etc. aren't possible during production, but might be possible at pick-up through the service dept.
• Seeing your coach being built is possible if you know your build date(s), but only during normal tour times in the morning/afternoon. You might get a few extra minutes to look at your coach, but only to look and only during the tour.
• If you make a change to something in terms of decor (counter top material, fabric, etc.), then you incur a change fee regardless of what alternative component you select. For example, if you change your countertop material in your Dutch Star, the cost won't be different if you pick a Mountain Aire countertop material. So if you're looking to change anything like this, look at the options in all the Newmar product lines.

A summary of our customs

• Extra AC outlet in the basement, off driver side, and extra AC outlet in the driver side entertainment area (we are getting the outside TV)
• Upgraded to the Mountain Aire chairs (we have the combination desk/buffet), and are using the standard leather material found on the captain's chairs/recliners/couch
• Advantium oven
• AGM batteries
• Two extra pantry shelves
• Change the overhead cabinets over the dinette area. It normally tapers inward after the couch, but we're keeping the same depth all the way.
• All sorts of changes to the backsplash tile (I think what we picked is from London Aire), counter top material (Mountain Aire), etc.
• Custom exterior colors. This was hard, because its difficult to visualize. The color sheets available from Newmar aren't really very "color" accurate, and its hard to imagine how all four of the new colors will work. We ended up going essentially with the Mountain Aire's "Mango" color scheme with a few switches to where the colors go. That way, at least someone more sophisticated has at least selected compatible colors. We liked the Dutch Star's "Seville" exterior colors, but thought they were a bit too bold. We also really like the idea of having our own unique exterior. What Newmar will always do for this is to send a custom Color sheet for our approval.
• Having the decorative wall art, that is normally on the wall next to the front bathroom, left unattached. I got the impression that was only possible because we're doing a factory pick-up, which means little chance it will get damaged in transit

What we couldn't have done during manufacture was adding antenna wire to mount a wireless antenna to use with a Verizon Mifi. That was because the antenna wire was not a standard production item. Similarly, we couldn't get the Progressive surge protector mounted during production, but that can be done at pick-up by the service dept.

And now comes the hard part...waiting. We do have a build time, Run 43. Should be off the production line about May 26-28. Pick-up should be mid-June.

Thanks again to this forum for most of the good ideas we've used for these changes.

[PDR John]

Thanks for sharing what you've learned.

Excellent upgrades. I wished I had put an outlet in the basement on the driver side. I finally got around to adding it myself.


The outside colors sound neat, can't wait to see the pics.

Congrats again.

[FRasco]

Awesome! thanks for sharing! We will visit Michelle on April 14th, right after the tours re-open. Once we get everything ordered, then we start deciding which dealer to go through.

Which dealer did you pick and what was the discount level, WYRon?

[WYRon]

[QUOTE=FRasco;2414948]We will visit Michelle on April 14th, right after the tours re-open./QUOTE]

I'm sure you'll have a positive experience with Michelle, she's very good to work with. We took a bit of a reverse approach regarding the order. We went to the Tampa RV show after doing a ton of research (not least of which this forum!), and were able to see virtually the entire Newmar lineup. We knew North Trail had a good reputation, and I believe they sell more Newmar's than any other dealership. It was very important for us to work with an experienced dealership, and salesman, because this is our first Class A. I know some on the forum don't rely much on the dealership, but we had a different view even though we're doing the factory pickup. We worked with "Diesel" Dan Cutting from North Trail for the basic Dutch Star we wanted, then visited Nappanee to finalize the customs. We had an agreement with "Diesel" Dan how the pricing of those changes would be handled. It's all worked really well, I think.

[newmarpusher]

Originally Posted by WYRon

Hi everyone. I've been "lurking" on this forum for several months, and used all the great information here to decide on a Newmar coach. We went to the Tampa RV Show this week, and signed the deal to get a factory delivery of a 2015 Dutch Star 4002.

We're planning a visit to Nappanee next month to review final decisions about colors, etc. and add a few customs. I expect we're talking June for picking up the coach.

Thanks to all the information here, I think we were really at the high end of informed about the Dutch Star and what we wanted. Really tried to buy our "second coach", but "buy it first". Yes, this is our first Class A.

Wyron,

The DS Looks fantastic! Love the changes/upgrades you and the DW did. Thanks to both of you for showing us around today. Already ordered one of those Moen double towel racks.

Small world that I'd run into another forum member a few spots apart in an obscure PA state park.