Woulda - Shoulda - Coulda. . .

[DustyMom]

Woulda - Shoulda - Coulda - What would you have done differently , purchased but didn't, or left out of the mix when you listed your must haves...? Pertaining to your coach..

No washing machine or hold out for a pusher or heated floors or (fill in blank)

We are coming up to the final date to change stuff. Would love to hear from ALL Part timers/ Full timers/ Back in stick and bricks.

[AFChap]

Would LOVE to have the tile area be heated floor, OR I would be happy with a good quality wood laminate. On the flip side, having carpet immediately inside the entrance door is NOT good!!

[Hammer bird]

We have a free standing table and chairs. Our family always wants to travel with us and a booth dinette would've probably been a nice extra sleeping option! There's always the next coach!

[saddlesore]

Originally Posted by AFChap

On the flip side, having carpet immediately inside the entrance door is NOT good!!

TRUE!
Go for the DP
Go for the least number of slides...sooner or later they will give you fits
Also the largest Fresh/Gray & Black tanks that they can stuff into your coach!
Diesel fired Aqua-Hot or Oasis for heat and hot water!
A stacked washer & dryer lessens the weekly ordeal of laundromats.
3 A/C units and a large gen set (10 or 12 kw)
(And yes I'm spoiled with our current coach, couldn't afford new so bought used)
Enjoy the pursuit of Wunderment!

[Stretch]

We are in our late seventies. Have had many motorhomes. Always bought a less than we wanted motor home to save money. This will be our last. So because it will be the last and because we had sold a piece of real estate so had $$$. We were free to buy what we wanted. I had been studying Newmar line for quite awhile and found that the best bang for the buck, by far was the Dutch Star 4369. It had everything the Essex of the line had for much less money. Washer and dryer, dish washer, heated tile floors, two bathrooms, full wall slide and much more. The Engine is somewhat marginal torque wise for such a heavy coach. But turned out to be adequate. We love it.

[Arch Hoagland]

We have a bath and a half. We'd never have another coach without two toilets.

[pilotspike]

I would have given more considering to the double pane windows.

John

[Dutch Star Don]

"DustyMom"......There are a few posts where people asked what others did. Some listed their change orders. If you can still find those, you might get some good ideas. I have hopes of ordering one more coach before we quit RVing. I've started a list on my phone under "Notes" of what I would change/order. Everyone is different, so many things may not be for you.

-All electric
-Four TV's.....we like the one over the windshield and use it the most
-Dishwasher....love it, great place to store dirty dishes for a few days out of sight
-Washer/Dryer
-Fireplace....initially laughed at ours, but very convenient to quickly turn on
-If we lived back east .....heated floors
-Built in vac....great for sweeping tile floors into auto vac opening
-HWH air leveling if I can afford the extra $5K
-HWH air handling package...extra $10K if I can afford it
-Light colored paint with no dark colors near or on roof
-3 A/C units on 40' and above....our coach struggles in the heat out west
-Delete sewer door on exterior near left rear wheel
-additional light control panels in key places
-shower seat, my wife likes it
-additional drawers in the small pantry alongside refer in 4018 model...we added three
-definitely HDMI TV upgrade

These are just some of things I would do to a new coach.

Lastly, I would offer to Newmar to be the guinea pig on the test of an ISX 650 in a 40' Dutch Star.

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

Lastly, I would offer to Newmar to be the guinea pig on the test of an ISX 650 in a 40' Dutch Star.

I don't think Cummins wants to "push" an ISX to 650 now after all the troubles they had with the 2007 EPA model DOHC units!! 600 seems to be the top now and I'm not sure that add'l 50 hp makes much difference when the weights get up to 50,000#'s like mine is.
I can see Newmar going to the ISX 12 in a DSDP and that would help.

[ficodek]

For us, electric outlets that are white, not dark brown, and all outlets on the walls, not in the underside of the cabinets! For us, it's a pain feeling around with your hand to find where the outlet is and then inserting the plug correctly, especially in low light.

[kamakalama]

Wish we ordered electric door locks on basement doors.

I wouldn't bother with Winegard Traveler dish. Often there are trees that block signal.

They weren't available when we ordered but I wish we had heated floors.

[JohnRL]

Dutch Star Don: Great idea re sewer door deletion. What is your thought process re light colored paint? Does it have to do with heat retention? I am a fan of the dark colors and not a fan of the light colors, but maybe need to rethink this. What is the difference of the air leveling vs the air handling? Does the air handling includes the air leveling?

[reubenray]

Originally Posted by pilotspike

I would have given more considering to the double pane windows.

John

Why and what did you get? I am going back and forth on this option.

[Entropy]

Double pane windows for sure. Prevents condensation on the inside of the window and makes the coach more thermodynamically efficient.

Cable chases installed at the factory to all the important wiring locations - makes upgrading wiring much easier. Makes it much easier to add stuff down the road.

All LED lights

Extra insulation

Heat pump A/C

Heated tanks

In floor heat

We would order a custom table or no dinette at all. Hate RV dinettes.

Sea Level tank gauges.

Large battery bank and hybrid inverter (might be aftermarket only)

That's off the top of my head.


2008 Newmar All Star 4156