Lead time for Factory Order

[taylorgso]

Hi, all:

Wife and I are strongly considering upgrading from our Sprinter-based C to a Class A pusher. She finally retired, and we now have more time to travel; the "C" is growing too small!!!

We like the Newmar Ventana, There is only one dealer in our area, and they only have one coach on their lot. We do know what we want in terms of color, accessories, etc., and doubt we're gong to find what we want on a lot anywhere within traveling distance.

My question to those of you who have dealt with Newmar in the past is - if we are to special order a coach, what is the probably lead time until the unit is shipped. I would also consider picking the unit up at the factory and camping in the area for shakedown, if that is permissible.

Any comments/suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ed (in Greensboro, NC)

[umcontractor]

I ordered my 2014 3634 Ventana on October 15. It is finally scheduled to go into production on January 8th and is supposed to be ready for us by the end of January. We have changed a few options since we placed the order which didn't affect the manufacture start time. This forum has really helped us decide on options and feel comfortable with going with the Newmar product.

[JohnT]

Ed and Becky. Welcome to the greatest Newmar forum anywhere.

There are folks on here that will direct you to various threads that will probably answer 110% of your questions. Yes they will answer questions you haven't thought of just yet. They are that good.

[nforus]

We ordered our coach at the end of May and picked it up on October 14, but that included 1 month with the coach in the service dept, for the Pre Delivery Inspection ( an option) which we strongly recommend.

[Rodneykrantz]

I ordered mine from Terry Labonte Rv in NC I think it took about 3 months

[MRUSA14]

Pre Delivery Inspection is an option? How does it differ from "quality control".

[taylorgso]

Originally Posted by nforus

We ordered our coach at the end of May and picked it up on October 14, but that included 1 month with the coach in the service dept, for the Pre Delivery Inspection ( an option) which we strongly recommend.

Thanks for the comment.
So, approximate 4 month lead time. If we pull the trigger on the Newmar, it will be our 4th MH - learned early on to insist on a complete PDI.

[Route 66]

Factory delivery is $1000+ I believe, but well worth it.

Order time is based on many factors and it's not fixed.

[nforus]

Originally Posted by MRUSA14

Pre Delivery Inspection is an option? How does it differ from "quality control".

It's on top of quality control. Everything on the coach is run for extended periods of time to find instances of infant mortality in components, all calibrations are checked, When you show up at the factory the tech who has been assigned to your coach takes you through as long of an initiation period as you need, and any items that you find are fixed on the spot. We've had 4 other coaches and this type of delivery blows the dealer delivery away.

Route 66- I think the factory delivery price varies by model, on the KGDB it's 4k

[MJFZ]

Originally Posted by taylorgso

Hi, all:

Wife and I are strongly considering upgrading from our Sprinter-based C to a Class A pusher. She finally retired, and we now have more time to travel; the "C" is growing too small!!!

We like the Newmar Ventana, There is only one dealer in our area, and they only have one coach on their lot. We do know what we want in terms of color, accessories, etc., and doubt we're gong to find what we want on a lot anywhere within traveling distance.

My question to those of you who have dealt with Newmar in the past is - if we are to special order a coach, what is the probably lead time until the unit is shipped. I would also consider picking the unit up at the factory and camping in the area for shakedown, if that is permissible.

Any comments/suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ed (in Greensboro, NC)

Welcome Ed,
You can call Newmar at 1-800-852-1731 and ask for Dave Garl , the east coast factory rep, or Michele Howard either will be happy to answer your question's directly. I suggest you also read the several threads posted this past year about options and customization for your factory order. Lots of great information contained in those threads. You will be surprised how must customization Newmar is willing to do. Take your time and think it through before making your order.

Mike


Mike

[redbaron73]

The factory PDI / Delivery option is truly a great option. Once the coach has completed the build stage, it then moves to the PDI department. This department assigns a dedicated technician to stay with the coach, and to personally check every component, and to use the components. If you did not choose factory delivery, this step is up to the dealership to perform, and we all have stories about how that is not done.

My delivery was to be delayed because of a chassis problem found by the PDI. Newmar was able to get this fixed and back to meet the original delivery time, as it turned out to be just an overfill situation on the fluids.

The Newmar tech that did our PDI had our Dutchstar for 3 weeks after the build was complete before I was scheduled to go pick it up. This made for a very good test of the major components, and was well worth it. If I purchase another Newmar, I will definitely purchase with the factory delivery.

[redbaron73]

Originally Posted by MRUSA14

Pre Delivery Inspection is an option? How does it differ from "quality control".

Quality Control = Under the direction of the build team. I don't know what newmar calls this position, but you get the idea, it is a production phase.

PDI - This is the delivery phase. The dealership generally performs this task prior to giving the coach to the owner. Done properly it will take two-three weeks of usage, and approx 20 man hours. If problems are found then there will be additional time. Dealerships will wait to do this until the unit has been sold, since if they find problems that, the warranty does not start until a customer has been assigned. The dealer has no way to fix these coaches until they are sold.

The problem most dealerships have is two-fold.
1) The customer is in a hurry. Pushing the dealership to give them the coach now. Most people are too anxious to get what they just paid for, that leaving it for 2-3 weeks doesn't make sense. So instead, the customer will leave with a very quick test done, and then return in a few weeks for warranty service.

2) The dealership wants to get the customer out the door, because once the sale is done, there is little to no money to be made. This is poor customer service, but is common place with the dealerships.

[TwoCorners]

Originally Posted by taylorgso

Hi, all:

Wife and I are strongly considering upgrading from our Sprinter-based C to a Class A pusher. She finally retired, and we now have more time to travel; the "C" is growing too small!!!

We like the Newmar Ventana, There is only one dealer in our area, and they only have one coach on their lot. We do know what we want in terms of color, accessories, etc., and doubt we're gong to find what we want on a lot anywhere within traveling distance.

My question to those of you who have dealt with Newmar in the past is - if we are to special order a coach, what is the probably lead time until the unit is shipped. I would also consider picking the unit up at the factory and camping in the area for shakedown, if that is permissible.

Any comments/suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ed (in Greensboro, NC)

Hi Ed, and welcome.

We ordered our Ventana on July 22 this year from the dealership in Orlando. It started assembly in Building 7 at Newmar on October 16, we drove up to see it start. We accepted delivery from the dealer on November 7. So roughly 3.5 months total time. Several constraints on us precluded a factory delivery in Nappanee, but we will certainly do that for the next one. Lots of good things mentioned on this forum regarding that option.

["007"]

Welcome to the forum.
Now that you have some of that question answered there were threads mentioned to read, well you can find them here in this link and if you need anymore to read try the HOOT's threads below them.