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Old 05-23-2018, 09:25 PM   #1
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Value of Factory Pick Up

We did Factory Pick Up & will do it on our next Newmar regardless of cost.

You need to understand that once a coach is completed & ready for shipping, it either gets shipped to the dealer to be delivered to the customer or if it is a FPU coach, it is delivered to the Newmar Service department to be gone over by a head tech that is assigned to this coach. He, along with his team, go over every working component & looks over just about every square inch of the coach, both inside & out, for any minor flaws.

Until you have personally experienced Newmar FPU, you can't understand the value of having a Newmar service tech go over your coach for 4 weeks prior to you arriving for FPU & you are in communication with your tech team during these 4 weeks. They even send you pictures on request.

When you arrive, you move into the coach day one & there is no better way to check things out than living in it & using it for 5 days. Heck, we were not happy with a few of the 6 panels on the sliding doors & they had production send over new panels for us to approve before replacing them.

No dealer can do or does a PDI like the factory. They just don't have the same resources available at the factory. Any item that come up or is spotted is taken care of either by production or with direct supervision by production.

BTW: the cost works out to be a good bit less as any extra work or installs that your tech does for you... are done at no cost.

Our tech (along with help from 2 other techs) worked 2 full days installing after market items for us & our bill was ZERO!
We had labor estimates from Newmar that were over $2800 for these after market installs & being that our tech was able to do the work & our bill at the end of the week was ZERO!

BTW: We did FPU in May 2017 & then returned to Factory Service 7 weeks later just for a check up before heading back to the west coast.

After our initial 16 week trip home from FPU & a few other shorter trips, & our coach has been trouble free for the first year & 8,700 miles.
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Old 05-24-2018, 03:02 AM   #2
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Sounds great. A what point do you hand over the check? Normally we do our best to get everything resolved to our satisfaction before paying for the coach including a test drive. Thanks
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Old 05-24-2018, 04:40 AM   #3
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You do have to hand over the check before you can move into the coach, but you do not *have* to move into the coach on day 1 if you don't want to. You can take a few days to look for major issues before you pay if you like.
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Old 05-24-2018, 05:02 AM   #4
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Do you think they are going force you to leave if there is a major issue or even if there is a minor issue? You have 5 days minimum. If it takes longer to resolve the issues you can stay longer.

If you think they are going to give you the run around at the factory then you have picked the wrong company.
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Old 05-24-2018, 05:05 AM   #5
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What did you have them install that was after market?
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Old 05-24-2018, 06:08 AM   #6
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Just to be the devil’s advocate, I was less than impressed with our FPU. Many things to be fixed were obviously left for the FPU team to fix. Our tech was not up to date on new features. I returned a month later as a scheduled follow up and spent over a week there getting more bugs fixed. I was just as happy with my pickup at the dealer. I’m sure everyone has a different opinion. I was so disappointed that I was about to write a letter to management, but didn’t. Very happy for those who enjoyed their FPU...
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Old 05-24-2018, 06:15 AM   #7
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Sounds like it maybe worth while to get to know the Tech assigned and communicate before FPU to help get things going before? Not sure if that is possible?
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Old 05-24-2018, 06:20 AM   #8
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I have nothing but praise for our tech. He was adamant that he wanted to know more but that Newmar does not train their FPU people properly. He was a great guy and tried his best.
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Old 05-24-2018, 08:29 AM   #9
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Our FPU was done in Building 42. This was the 43' Dutch Star & higher end coach garage. We actually requested a particular tech that works under Nevin Miller to do our FPU.


Newmar does not have special techs that do FPU. FPU is done by service techs. You are assigned to a tech leader just like any other service appointment at Newmar & that leader has a team of 5-6 techs that work under him.
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Old 05-24-2018, 08:45 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by StuartS View Post
Our FPU was done in Building 42. This was the 43' Dutch Star & higher end coach garage. We actually requested a particular tech that works under Nevin Miller to do our FPU.


Newmar does not have special techs that do FPU. FPU is done by service techs. You are assigned to a tech leader just like any other service appointment at Newmar & that leader has a team of 5-6 techs that work under him.
Yes, and our tech hadn't done a delivery in 5 years. That's 5 years of new features he wasn't aware of. It took 2 days to get the dish tv working which involved flipping the switch on the antenna from Direct TV to Dish. Not to take away from your experience Stuart, just relaying the flip side of the coin. There's no road without a curve in it.
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Old 05-24-2018, 09:21 AM   #11
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BBelanger—I think they changed their FPU policies. Whenever our tech was stumped on something he went to an in-house expert. At one time we had 4 tech/engineers in our coach until they solved it. There was also a service supervisor watching over the process who I’m sure wouldn’t let a tech get stuck on an issue. If we thought a tech was spinning his wheels we could have gone to the supervisor. So I think FPU has improved since your visit. We thought it was awesome. Also re: cost, I think the dealers give larger discounts for FPUs because it saves them a lot of time (&space). So it may not really cost as much as you think. We thought the cost was well worth it.
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Old 05-24-2018, 09:35 AM   #12
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My latest quote was $4595 FPU or $399 dealer pickup. Base price is the same. Again, glad you had a good experience Stuart, and I hope they've improved. I just won't be doing it again. I was very happy with my dealer for the $399.
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Old 05-24-2018, 10:58 AM   #13
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I would have enjoyed the process of FPU but just live too far away in California. I also bought from one of the best dealers around and pretty much had all the support I needed right at the dealer lot. I’m glad that Newmar offers this added value service, who else allows you to customize your coach and then spends a week with you, if you want.
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Old 05-24-2018, 11:24 AM   #14
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We picked up our rig this month at our dealer (Midway) and weren't charged anything for it. It was a great experience. They assigned a tech to us for as long as we wanted. I assume Newmar pays the dealer a set amount for the PDI.

I wouldn't be surprised i to see Newmar quit doing FPU. I doubt they really want to provide that service and would prefer to rely on their dealers to handle it.
The sharp increase in price in the last couple of years indicates to me they were/are probably losing money on it. And they lose a tech from their service area for an extended period and with the new larger service building they will need additional techs which are hard to come by these days.
They will probably keep making large percentage price increases for the service until most people start balking at paying it. By that time it may be a bit lucrative for them to provide it for the few who will pay for it.
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