Newmar on a budget

[Roadyacht1]

2 yrs age we bought a 38’ Newmar Dutch Star. Well equipped. Spartan/ Cummins.
Year 2000. 30,000 mi on it. Other than wash compound and wax. We drove it another 10,000 mi in six months with minimal problems spent maybe $500 in repairs. Add Freon the chassis ac. Minor service on brakes. The rest piddely stuff that any average DYS can do. We have been full timing for a year now. It was in real good shape inside and out. There are lots of them out there well under 50 grand. Early 2000 vintage. Newmar is a quality product. This is my second one. Did similar deal about 15 yrs ago full timed 3 yrs on a 37’ Dutch Star traveling most of that time. Put 30,000 on that one with no significant problems. Save your money. You could have a great time on a hundred grand. But I have said this before “please, if you want to but new, by all means do. How else can we buy good used coaches if someone else doesn’t buy them first! Ps also I’d be looking pre DEF. Diesel Exhaust Fluid. The stuff is a pain in many ways.

[jryan39]

Outstandng barn looks absolutely great. BTW we are considering trading up and have a 2016 Newmar Canyon Star - 3904 that is loaded with everything except a dishwasher because it won't fit. It has <13,000 miles on it. Runs great and never had a problem with it but with a German Shepherd and grandchildren its a little small. E-mail jryan39@cox.net.

[R.Wold]

Lots of good info here. I wouldn't worry about def either but earlier engines have less complex systems, less to go wrong, less to repair. Given your choices I would go with an older low miles, side radiator unit. A newer Vantana may be tempting but for me the benefits of a side radiator coach outweigh the allure of a newer rig in the same price range.

And then theres gas. Your money goes a lot father in a gas coach and in a year or so the V10 will be replaced by the new 7.3 gas. Might be worth the wait to see how that works out and what other changes are coming on the F53 (select shift, IFS, etc).

On the financial end, I get hung up spending larger sums of money because Im making between 4 and 5% on my investments so anything I spend costs me that much annually on top of the purchase. So if I can get a loan for the same interest rate that Im making Ill do that, let my investments make the payment, and maintain the principal. Just food for thought.

[sledbiker1]

Originally Posted by tim5055

I didn't say it, but yes - we want a diesel pusher.

Take a look at the Bluebird Wanderlodge...

[SnKPerk]

Newmar makes a great coach, but some of their floor plans are outdated. Occasionally we watch TV and the Newmars we looked at had the TV 90 degrees to the side of the couch. Tiffin has floor plans with the TV in front of the couch.

[09 harley]

There are lots of good used DP with low miles and the prices are going down. New sales are down so used prices are taking a hit.
There are many retirement areas where you can find good deals. Lots of units from people who can no longer travel, too sick to travel, can no longer afford to travel or just have changed their minds. Just be patient in your search. Good luck.

[guichard]

We bought our Newmar at Mesa RV. They have about 5 dealerships. Nice people!! we bought a 2014 Baystar for less than $90,000.00 fully loaded with 11,000 miles

[IndyHntr]

Originally Posted by edegenhart

As crazy as it may sound a lot of RV parks won't accept coaches that are over 10 years old so keep that in mind.

Heard this before, but never seen or heard of one. Check other posts on here, I recall one about this and there really very few.

[Joe O]

So happy I stayed away of DEF and cats. Talk to truckers that pay their own expenses. I also stayed away of two extra tires the put me in a 41ft. No long slides but I do have four. Feel at home in that much room. What you save going this route will maintain it for some time as well. My humble opinion. whatever decision you make, enjoy.

[tim5055]

Originally Posted by IndyHntr

Heard this before, but never seen or heard of one. Check other posts on here, I recall one about this and there really very few.

Most of the ones I’ve heard of use the rule to keep converted school buses and stuff like that out of the resort. Most of the places that call themselves Class A resorts have this hidden in the rules, but from what friends tell me if you have a decent looking coach they never ask the year.

[VP Chianese]

Well I had to read this thread. My first thought was that Newmar and Budget just don't quite go together. Or maybe Motor Home and Budget may be even more non compliant.

Before anyone goes off on financial principles, I know we all have some budgets we want to live by but big expensive toys defy that theory.

So as a third time Newmar owner, first a used 2002 MA 40' then a new 2015 DS 4369 and now a built to our order 2018 DS 4369 I'm going to make some comments from my experiences with these three units on Freightliner, DEF and Newmar.

Tiffin has been mentioned and yes they are a good coach and company. That being said the concern is what happens when Bob passes or just can't run the company anymore. As I understand it past history is he tried twice to turn the reins over and had to come back both times to correct the course of the company. Which just might mean that when that time comes the company may then be owned by someone that doesn't give a damn. Where as Newmar has been in the hands of Matt Miller for the last six or seven years and they have not missed a beat. Matt runs the company just like dad and that has seemed to work very well.

Freightliner vs Spartan. Well both are good products this is somewhat Chevy vs Ford or Dodge. Yes Spartan may have a larger GVW or may use the 500 hp where Freightliner has the 450 hp but one thing to remember is there are about 250 Spartan dealers in the US and 1,100 Freightliner dealers. When you breakdown it won't be next to either of them but most likely an Freightliner dealer is going to be closer. Just had a friend breakdown with a 2019 Dutch Star. It took two weeks to get it fixed because Spartan didn't have a service center anywhere near where he was and they had to call and cajole a Freightliner dealer to repair it for them.

This brings us to DEF. My 2002 didn't have it but both the 2015 and the 2018 do. The 2015 had a "Check Engine" light that was a bit of a problem from the get go. In fact it came on during the pre-delivery and was sent to a Cummins dealer that just reset it, then it came on again with in 500 miles and another Cummins dealer replaced a sensor, the at 2,000 miles it came on once again and a Cummins dealer replaced a different sensor only to come on once again at 4,000 miles. I took it to a large Cummins dealer in Forth Worth Texas and the tech put the computer on it and told me that there were four up dates to the engine computer that needed to be done and probably none of the sensors were bad to start with. He did the up dates and I drove it until 17,000 and I know the present owner and it has I'm sure well over 23,000 miles and has not had a problem since. The 2018 has not had any problems. So saying that the truck fleets that run 500 k in six months don't want it isn't really relative to what we do with our motor homes. I'm sure there is someone some place that wants a new Cadillac with roll up windows, no A/C and a standard Transmission but it ain't happening. DEF is here to stay and we might as well get use to it.

Comfort Drive is a must. Driving without it for five hours and with it for seven or eight and you will be less tired after the seven or eight with it. Tag axle makes a big difference as well. Again back to the budget if having to buy two tires for $1,600 in seven to eight years is going to break you then maybe you need to be doing something else. The difference in ride, crosswinds and when trucks pass you is well worth it.

I also read here that the RV market was slowing down. I'm not sure where these folks get that from but Newmar is at 10 units a day which is almost were they were before the fall in 2007 and 2008. New coach sales make for a good pre-owned market. So dealers have used inventory. Dutch Star has been the best bang for the buck in the Newmar line for a while now. Full wall slides are no where near the problem if folks would just follow what Newmar says about deployment. Deploy with the coach on it's airbags then after deployment level with jacks. To side them in raise jacks, start engine, wait for the air system to vent then bring slides in. But again Bubba has done it for twenty years on his Fleetwood or whatever and he isn't going to change. Well Bubba is in for a rude awaking when that full wall slide fails. And no the dealers and sales folks don't know how to do it either. They just press the button and the slide goes out or comes in but it isn't that simple.

Try some of the larger Newmar dealers that are Gold or Platinum service dealers. They sell the most coach's and do the best service work. TransWest 3 locations, NIRVC 4 locations, Steinbring, Mid-Way to name a few.

Hope this all helps.

[hsvjim]

I have a real nice 2008 Forest River Berkshire 390QS for sale. It is listed on iRV2 below.


hsvjim's Ads - RV & Motorhome Classifieds

[Piros1]

Originally Posted by tim5055

Well, after 25 years of camping/RVing in everything from tents to our current 35' Coachmen trailer it's time to jump into a Class A. With Wednesday being my last day of work, I guess it's time!


For years we have been "looking", but with no schedule or plan in place. For the longest time we thought it would end up being Tiffin, but on the advice of a good friend who had two Tiffin's and is now on his second Newmar we have decided Newmar is it.


But, we are on a budget. No loans, no payments, no games. m $150,000 is it.


So, now looking with an eye to this budget we know -

• New is out of the question
• "Newer" (2012 - 2016) units will put us in a Ventana
• If we start going "older" (2009 & before) we get into Dutch Star's
• Even "older" (2006 & earlier) opens up a world of other possibilities including the Mountain Aire

So, where is the sweet spot?


Then the next question is size. In years past looking at Tiffin, teh vast majority of units available were 40's. Looking at Newmar, teh 40's are out there but are eclipsed by the number of 43's available.


While our RV building (yea, we built it first) is about 49 feed deep (the door is 14' high clear space and 15' wide) a 43' coach will eat up a lot more real estate inside. I built it 36' wide so I could store other toys on the sides. Hindsight is always 20/20, it should have been 60 feet deep.....


So older Mountain Aire, less old Dutch Star or newer Ventana?


Part of me wants to stay away form DEF units, so 2012 and newer may be out. I haven't made that decision yet....

As said by several here there is a lot of good advice at least on the first page. It sounds as if you will use it enough to warrant a diesel. If you can afford it my experience is that a tag coach handles much better than a single axle also stay with a side radiator if possible. Most repairs are much easier, something as simple as a belt replacement. is done by your self and in minutes versus requiring a second ort third hand to change a belt. I have had both and wont purchase another rear radiator coach. My experience as the owner of a small fleet of trucks stay away from anything with the DPF emission coaches. Most are 2008 through 2010 or 2011. I think by 2012 most of these have switched to DEF systems. I have a pre-emission CAT in my coach and all is good. You have to weigh out what amenities are important to you as well as floor plans and last but not least power how much do you want or feel you need for your driving style and what you may be towing. This is individual taste and comfort. There were not many coaches built with a tag under 42' at least in the 2012 or newer models. You would have to drop back to older models to get a shorter tag coach. I know Country Coach was one of the few that had a 40' coach with a tag but they are long gone, last one built by CC for public sale was in 2009. If you can't find a coach you like in your budget you could always step back to a pre-emission coach 2007 or older. There are still some well kept older coaches available. Do your research and check the forums to see what issues are common with the coaches you are interested in before making a purchase. Now is a good time to buy with the market being a bit slow or that is what I have heard. Good luck and this is just my 2 cents worth.

[Steve 716]

So you are buying on a budget as most of us are. When I reached an agreement with NIRVC to buy my Entegra I was on the road slowly heading east in my former Bounder. I did all of my negotiating online, including the trade-in. When I got back to Georgia I contacted NIRVC to tell them I would be there the next day and, when I got there they honored our negotiated prices. No dickering, no nickel and dime, no added costs. I feel I got a very fair deal, NIRVC felt the same, and I drove away very impressed with NIRVC.

Last year I was in Casa Grande, AZ for the winter and decided it was time to trade in my Honda Element. Great car, very convenient and versatile, but it had a bunch of driven and towed miles on it. I decided to trade it in on a Fusion Hybrid that I could flat tow and spent alot of time working out how much it was going to cost me. I looked at Ford dealers in California and on our route back to Georgia and nobody was making deals except in Maryland, where they were knocking as much as $6,000 off MSRP for the Platinum version as a regional sales incentive. I negotiated my price and my trade-in online and when I got there they honored our agreement. When they tried to add some "dealer extras" I feigned insult and they ended up giving me mud flaps and a cargo net to keep me happy.

My point is that, as long as you are flexible and honest, there are great deals out there to be made. Just do your research, be patient, and know what you are looking for (even if you are considering more than one RV). You can maximize the RV you are buying along with minimizing the price you will pay.

One other point, don't be afraid to walk away if you can't get your deal. Chances are they will follow you out to your car and offer something better.