Newmar saga finally over

[sightseers]

In Nov of 2015, we bought a 2104 Baystar 29 that was a dealer showroom model. In the last year and a half, it has been nothing but a constant problem with 3 trips to the dealer, one to the factory and the last one to a Florida RV repair shop. Each time it was for a laundry list of repairs all centered around very poor quality workmanship. In addition to the trips to dealers and factory, we had to make repairs on our own that included, subwoofer held in by only one of 4 screws, speakers miswired, wheel alignment and balance to correct severe tire wear and vibration, level jacks down over a quart of fluid, failed chassis battery and leaking power steering unit to name a few.

On our last trip this March, the storage bins still leaked when driving in the rain and worst of all, when hooking up one night, I discovered what turned out to be parts from the transtorque bushing for the FWS drive mechanism in the storage bin. As you may know, with the FWS in on this unit, the bathroom door opens only about 12" which means you go through side ways. After many phone calls, we located a repair facility that a) would work on it and b) had a service opening that was less than 6 to 8 weeks out. When we finally got in to the repair shop a week and half later, not only had the rear transtorqe bushing come loose, but the front was not far behind.

Not one trip in the year and a half we owned the coach did we go on trip with out having something break; in that time we were out numerous times and covered 12,000 miles. This latest issue with the slide was the last straw. We stopped in an RV dealer and traded in the POS. Took a big loss, but at least it's not our problem any more. We've had our new to us Winnebago for 3 weeks now and except for a minor issue it has been trouble free, a far cry from the Newmar.

We wrote and emailed Newmar and never heard a word back. Our dealer, Daves RV in CT, did stand by us helping out when we were on the road and getting us in to the shop for repairs in a timely manner.

After our research, we bought and paid more for the Newmar because it had a good reputation for quality, boy did we get taken.

[LarrytheBear]

Good luck with your Winnie!

Too bad Newmar didn't stand behind you... You usually hear good things about them. Anybody can produce a lemon now and then, but the difference is how the problems are handled by the ones who made the lemon...

[UncleBilly]

Well that's sad too read. I always thought Newmar was one of the best. Guess not. At least in this case 😢


1996 Country Coach Intrigue 😜

[Mr_D]

Did you ever do any maintenance on the rig, like checking the transtorque bushings to be sure they were still torqued correctly? Wheel alignment needs to be checked after you load the rig since that can change the weight distribution.
A lot of problems people report just seem to be minor corrections. Screws vibrate loose and fall out and then hide from you. Did you ever check the leveler fluid level yourself after the dealer delivered it to you? The dealer may have done a poor job of PDI which sounds like a lot of your troubles.
We've had two Dutch Stars and the '02 was the most reliable RV we've ever owned, even after 13 years, but there was still normal maintenance that I had to do to ensure it stayed that way.

[Luv2go]

Good post. It shows that everybody, including Newmar, have work to do. It's good to hear that your dealer stood behind you. There are other examples on this forum where Newmar has not responded until the owners became squeaky enough. Sad but true.

I will say, as an engineer, that Winnebago's documentation is second to none. I really wanted to like Winnies but in 2008 when we were looking they didn't have exactly the right floorplan and some rust issues turned us off the coaches we were considering. Good luck with your Winnie!

[BPoland]

We have a 2014 Bay Star 3103, and while your experience is not typical in a Newmar coach, I can understand your frustration. We have had a couple minor issues and repairs to deal with, but none can be attributed to poor workmanship.

Good Luck with your new coach. I hope you enjoy it.

[Dngreen51]

Too bad about your Bay Star issues. We are on our second brand new Newmar and aside from the usual adjustments you always have with a new coach, we are extremely happy. It's interesting how folks have different experiences: our first 2 rv's were new Winnebago and we had serious issues with the builder and their dealers. I eventually drove it out to Forest City for repairs. We will never buy another one. We then bought a new American Coach Revolution and had so many problems that were never repaired properly and then like you, took a huge financial beating dumping it. As a result we've learned two things: 1. that Newmar is the best coach for us and, 2. always pay cash. We seriously love Newmar and have found them very easy to contact, and obtain service from. Our experience has been they always call us within a few weeks after a service appointment to see if everything went as expected. Of course a good dealer is a very important factor in the experience, too. Good luck with your
Winnebago.

[JMonroe]

Seems every brand has one where the planets are misaligned during production and everything goes south, regardless of typical results. That doesn't make it any less frustrating when you're the "lucky" one that gets stuck with it.

Lets hope all your bad karma has now been purged and there are nothing but happy trails ahead.

[newmarpusher]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with your Bay Star. We've been very happy with our 2015 Ventana for two years now. Our Winnebago we had for 5 years before this was also a great coach. I'd buy another of either brand from our experience.

[twojayhawks]

What model Winnebago did you get?

[rodz]

I had a nightmare of a 2015 Canyon Star. In the year we had it, we couldn't make one trip without something failing or falling off. I got rid of it for a loss. At that point it wasn't about the money. It had to go.

[PanJH]

Originally Posted by sightseers

In Nov of 2015, we bought a 2104 Baystar 29 that was a dealer showroom model. In the last year and a half, it has been nothing but a constant problem with 3 trips to the dealer, one to the factory and the last one to a Florida RV repair shop. Each time it was for a laundry list of repairs all centered around very poor quality workmanship. In addition to the trips to dealers and factory, we had to make repairs on our own that included, subwoofer held in by only one of 4 screws, speakers miswired, wheel alignment and balance to correct severe tire wear and vibration, level jacks down over a quart of fluid, failed chassis battery and leaking power steering unit to name a few.

On our last trip this March, the storage bins still leaked when driving in the rain and worst of all, when hooking up one night, I discovered what turned out to be parts from the transtorque bushing for the FWS drive mechanism in the storage bin. As you may know, with the FWS in on this unit, the bathroom door opens only about 12" which means you go through side ways. After many phone calls, we located a repair facility that a) would work on it and b) had a service opening that was less than 6 to 8 weeks out. When we finally got in to the repair shop a week and half later, not only had the rear transtorqe bushing come loose, but the front was not far behind.

Not one trip in the year and a half we owned the coach did we go on trip with out having something break; in that time we were out numerous times and covered 12,000 miles. This latest issue with the slide was the last straw. We stopped in an RV dealer and traded in the POS. Took a big loss, but at least it's not our problem any more. We've had our new to us Winnebago for 3 weeks now and except for a minor issue it has been trouble free, a far cry from the Newmar.

We wrote and emailed Newmar and never heard a word back. Our dealer, Daves RV in CT, did stand by us helping out when we were on the road and getting us in to the shop for repairs in a timely manner.

After our research, we bought and paid more for the Newmar because it had a good reputation for quality, boy did we get taken.

We had many.many issues with out Dutch Star when we got it. In fact, It was in for "house" related repairs over 6 months of the first year we owned it and it has been back many more times during the following years-- thankfully I have an extended service plan and a great dealer that handles issues in a professional manner. . We have had no issues with chassis.
I also emailed and wrote to Matt Miller.... not even the courtesy of a response. Problems will happen with anything, but having an executive that will not stand up and confront issues and treat his customers with courtesy and respect is what really irked me.

[Smitty77]

Good luck with the new unit.

And thanks for sharing your experience, a frustrating period of ownership - regardless of manufacturer!

Sure, some things can go wrong with any coach. A used coach, you mentioned it was a deal showroom model, could also mean that this coach had been more then sitting around in the dealer lot. Going to RV shows, or Super Tent Sales (Or whatever your region may have in regards to multi dealer weekend extravaganza's!). I also know that many dealers who travel to different shows, will have their sales staff stay in a coach over that period of time too. Even with low miles, say even under 1K miles - this does not mean a demo coach, has not had some extended usage. (And then again, this could also have been sitting on the dealers lot and had only the normal walk in traffic for that one location.)

Not that it helps you now, but was a full independent inspection completed before purchase? Even being as young as it was, is always worth doing when not buying a relatively young/fresh delivered coach from the factory.

And as mentioned, as nice as the dealer maybe, does sound like PDI was lacking or inefficient.

But none of this matters now. You're experience was your experience, and it sure as heck could have been a lemon! Frustrating for sure, and a hit to he pocket book too...

And OP - Sure not knocking your post, you may have done an independent inspection, the dealer may have done a great PDI - and that is just how this one came down. My comments were added to help someone else in the future, that is looking at a seeming young dealer demo!

Move on, and enjoy your new coach, and best,
Smitty

[4x4]

So I had a brand new '87 Minnie Winnie... the ONLY issue I had was the propane water heater needed some work. It was a great unit. I traded it in for an '89 Chieftain... At that time the Winnebago was going with 3 shifts 24/7. First trip had to stop by the factory with 51 fixes! Next trip 30 new problems including delaminating of a side wall. They ended up repairing the delamination 2x, then finally replacing the entire side wall! So two different results from the same manufacturer.

So far my new to me '07 Essex has been a joy other than updating things. Good and bad units affect every manufacturer.