Newmar Mountain Aire - is this a quality coach, quality company?

[Doug427]

Originally Posted by Cincy Steve

That's a nice rig. We looked very hard @ Newmar before an American Coach "dropped into our lap." Shopping again, we'd still be looking @ American Coach & Newmar.

There are 5 Newmars in our garage complex & ALL swear by Newmar factory service.

The tag adds weight & expense to the coach but greatly improves ride & handling. Supports the single heaviest item in the coach - drive assembly. Resists "porpoising" & wandering down the road. Top of our list when shopping. (Pay no attention to your "friends" who say "it's too big for most campgrounds!")

Good luck!

Thanks! We'll see how it goes.

[Doug427]

Originally Posted by edgray

I think the MA may have been the top of Newmar line in 2005, and is most likely on a top of the line Spartan chassis. I agree with the others- you can’t find a better built coach for the same money than a Newmar from that era. That said, even the best will have some age-related issues after 15 years. Expect to replace some things to upgrade to modern standards, but if it has been well maintained and the price is right AND if your wife likes the floor plan and colors, you could do a LOT worse than a Newmar MADP.

She likes it a lot! She tends to make emotional buying decisions, I'm far more analytical. I guess it's a pilot thing..... I don't fall in love with what I'm purchasing, at least not until after the deal is done and I own it.

[Doug427]

Originally Posted by wingtrike

Spartan chassis is a good thing to have.

Just curious, why is that? Is it considered to be a better chassis than Freightliner? If so, why?

[Doug427]

Originally Posted by edgray

Not wanting to start another brand war, just sayin "most" think the Spartan Mountain Master chassis was superior to the FCCC of that era. At one time Newmar used ONLY Spartan under their DPs. I doubt you will be disappointed with the 400 Cummins, even at 43 ' and a tag. YES, the tag adds a HUGE difference in ride quality and stability.

And, FWIW, there is no comparison to the build quality of Newmar's "hung wall" construction and batt-type insulation to the WBGO you were considering.

That's great info and good to hear, thanks!

[Doug427]

Originally Posted by Crasher

The 400 hp is, as you stated, is more than enough for many 40' coaches. But, when you get into the higher quality coaches like the MA, they are also heavier because of their frame and construction. My 43' Allegro Bus weighs in at 40,000+# loaded for a trip. My sons 2016 45' Mountain Aire weighed close to 47,000#. We both pulled 12,000# enclosed trailers. He had 500 HP but I could pull away from him with my 450 Cummins going up to the 11,000' pass west of Denver. He had 250# more torque, but he was also 7,000# heavier. His current Newell weighs 60,000# and he tows a 14,000# enclosed trailer. @ 74,000#, he needs all of his 605 Hp and 2,000# of torque.

From your questions asked, you need to do considerably more research to gain understanding of all of the aspects that go into making the correct choice for your needs/wants. Good luck

Crash, I took a long and thorough read of your post, and really thought about it before answering. First, I greatly appreciate you taking the time to respond with some great info. With regard to your last paragraph, at some point a purchase has to be made, that's the whole point. I can sit here for years learning, and by the time I buy one, I've lost all that time that I could have enjoyed owning it. I certainly get your point. However, here's one key thing for me - I am buying used. You almost NEVER get exactly what you want when buying anything used. You get what the guy who bought it new wanted, the goal is to find a unit that is in good shape, is a quality unit, and was purchased by the guy who thought closest to the way you think. I've thought about this in what I believe to be a fairly analytical way. After discussions with my wife about what we want, we want the following:


Lots of time on the open road, and a coach that will ride well and keep us comfortable and safe. This coach seems to fit that bill.


We want lots of space to be as relaxed and comfortable as possible. This coach seems to fit that bill.



We want an extremely well built, high quality coach. One that will be sell-able 5-6 years down the road due to it's reputation for quality as well as the reputation of the company that built it. This coach seems to fit that bill.


We have no particular floor plan in mind. We look at a coach and see if we like it. If we do, that's fine. In the end there's only about 5-6 basic floorplans out there, the rest are just small variations on the same 5-6 themes. She likes the two sofa up front, kitchen in the middle, and bedroom in the back plan. this one has that. This coach seems to fit that bill.



We're not going to live in this. We're going to go out in it periodically and travel in comfort, safety and luxury. After the long difficult career that I've had, and all that she's put up with health wise and in dealing with being alone all these years while I have been gone working, and after the sacrifices that we've made to provide the best future possible for us and our kids, (just like I'm sure all of you have done) we both deserve that, cost be damned (within reason, of course).


All in all, this is a long winded way of saying: this ain't brain surgery. By buying a top quality coach and getting the best deal possible on it, and having it thoroughly checked out by a pro, it's pretty tough to completely bone this up. It's not going to be perfect, it's not going to be exactly what we want, because we're buying used and that's how the used game works. To get exactly what we want, we'd have to buy new, and there's no way in the world I would ever do that. The depreciation on these things is breathtaking, falling at a rate that somehow exceeds the speed of a set of car keys falling from the open door of a helicopter. I'm not at all knocking those who choose to buy new, in fact my hat is off to you. It's not for me is all I'm saying.


Used is the way to go for us. When buying used, nothing is perfect. We'll get close. Buying new is like sharpshooting. Buying used is like hand grenades. Get as close as you can, and then close is good enough, usually.


Thanks to you, and to all for the awesome information! Hopefully this all works out and we'll be down the road soon. The best wishes from all of you are greatly appreciated.

[Cincy Steve]

Originally Posted by Doug427

When I look on line at 2004-2007 era similar Mountain Aire 43's, they almost all have the 400HP Cummins. This one is no different?

Maybe the standard engine. I ran the same search & found nothing but 400's until '07.

Year-old tires is a very good thing! How old are the batteries?

[Doug427]

Originally Posted by Cincy Steve

Maybe the standard engine. I ran the same search & found nothing but 400's until '07.

Year-old tires is a very good thing! How old are the batteries?

Not sure yet on the battery age. I can see in the photo that the house batteries are 6V. One reason I'm looking for a very top quality coach is the reputation of the builder. If a company like Newel thinks that a 400 Cummins is good for their coach, that works for me. I can't imagine that a company like that which lives and dies on their reputation for being a gold standard in their field would skimp on something that basic as power level and run the risk of their coach being a flop.


That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
All joking aside, Newel knows much more than I do. I'll let them choose the engine. If they like the 400 Cummins, that's good enough for me.

[schad]

Originally Posted by Doug427

I am a bit concerned about the one comment that perhaps the 400HP Cummins is under powered in this coach. I didn't realize that another 2' in length and an extra axle that this coach brings to the table would make that big a difference. Everyone told me that the 400HP Cummins, with over 1200 ft. lbs. of torque, was way overkill for the 40' models I was looking at. I assumed it would be sufficient for this model as well, so I am certainly bit concerned when I hear this comment.

You'll almost certainly be fine. The rule of thumb for RVs is 1hp per 100lbs of weight. Look up that coach's GVWR for a worst-case estimate. If it's roughly 40,000 lbs you'll be OK.

As a practical matter, I suspect you'll typically find that your speed is dictated by how fast the semis in front of you in the climbing lane can go. Occasionally I'll get three lanes instead of just two, and when that happens I'll ride in the middle lane blowing past semis like they're standing still.

[winniman]

Sounds like a good find to me. Most of the heavy depreciating has been done at this point. If you can get it for a reasonable price, you may even be able to not lose much over a few years. I have a 25,000 lb DP with a 275 hp engine, and I tow 4000 lbs behind. Im happy with it. It has more pep than my previous gas rv. Some people think they are driving a race car. As long as its around that 100 lbs per hp, it will be fine. Having 600 hp in a 60k lb rv is no better. Good luck, and you will be very happy with the Newmar.

[Doug427]

Originally Posted by schad

You'll almost certainly be fine. The rule of thumb for RVs is 1hp per 100lbs of weight. Look up that coach's GVWR for a worst-case estimate. If it's roughly 40,000 lbs you'll be OK.

As a practical matter, I suspect you'll typically find that your speed is dictated by how fast the semis in front of you in the climbing lane can go. Occasionally I'll get three lanes instead of just two, and when that happens I'll ride in the middle lane blowing past semis like they're standing still.

I have a photo he sent to me of the weight statement.



The UVW is 33,664.

The GVWR is 44,200.

The CCC is 9119.



I can't imagine carrying enough stuff to equal 9119 pounds.It holds around 1000 lb of fuel, that still leaves over 8000 lbs for just stuff! I'm not going to get near that heavy. I think the 400HP and 1250 TQ will be just fine. Apparently Newel thought so too. I'm thinking it'll be ok.


Assuming, of course, that it checks out ok and we can make a mutually beneficial deal.

[Doug427]

Ugh. I kept saying Newel.



It's NEWMAR !!!!!



The holiday schedules in my business are brutal, I'm just tired. Sorry guys.

[Ivylog]

Originally Posted by Doug427

I have a photo he sent to me of the weight statement.
The UVW is 33,664.
The GVWR is 44,200.
The CCC is 9119.

I can't imagine carrying enough stuff to equal 9119 pounds.It holds around 1000 lb of fuel, that still leaves over 8000 lbs for just stuff! I'm not going to get near that heavy. I think the 400HP and 1250 TQ will be just fine. .

Once you’ve had a tag you’ll never go back. 40’ DPs of that era (they got heavy) can have only 2000 lbs of CCC...easy to use all of it up.
I put 85K miles on a 44,000 combined weight rig with a 400 ISL...a good engine. Thought it was plenty of power 99% of the time...1% was climbing high CO passes. Now that I have 1650 ftlbs and 47,000, the ISL was a slug at 35 mph climbing in CO. I can now merge left without a quarter mile hole in traffic.
You need to check the serial # against the 2005-6 wrist pin issue...Cummins section has the #s. Last year I talked to a 06 ISL owner that had a big hole in the side of his block at 50K miles. Took 3 years and a lawyer to get Cummins to pay half as they didn’t want the # of failures made public. Previous to him I thought the problem wouldn’t show up once you had a fair amount of miles on the affected engines...NOT TRUE!

Monaco made some excellent rigs in that era.

[USMCRET]

400 hp will be fine. Just don't expect NHRA top fuel acceleration off the line.

I don't know the weight difference between a 2005 MA and a 2020 MA, but the 2020 is going to outweigh the 2005 by some order of magnitude, and the 2020 is going to have more HP necessarily. At the end of the day, it's a wash.

I just looked it up. A new MA outweighs a 2005 by 10K lbs.

[PandS]

I don't know what the asking price is, but this will give you an idea of what a 2005 MA goes for.

That engine will pull the load just fine. Our 43' Ventana weighs 42,500 lbs and has the same engine.

Being 14 years old, having it inspected by a third party that knows what to look for would be well worth the money, IMHO. -Paul




https://www.rvtrader.com/listing/200...301-5010214608
https://www.rvtrader.com/listing/200...304-5010301840