Still shopping; Newmar, Entegra, American Eagle H.

[Top_Speed1]

Originally Posted by Cranemec

That 2.5mil Prevost wasn't the "one" then. It didn't meet all your points. Price being one.
Quite frankly, I've never really liked the Prevost conversions. They always look like whorehouses on wheels to me. ROFL. Then again, I don't like my old mans Newell either.

Yeah it met my champagne desires and needs alrighty, just not my Budweiser budget.

The newer Prevosts are not as "disco" bling oriented. I personally love those high gloss 'curved' cabinets, all molded into a precise foorplan. I also know the longevity and resale value of the Prevost to be there also compared to the 3 coaches I'm in the market for.

Oh well, back to reality

Speaking of value and resale or taken-off-new-lot-price-drop. Mentioned was the big drop in American Coaches, personally in shopping and looking at fleaBay, all of these looks like they take the big drop the first few years of ownership.

[Smitty77]

No question that all new coaches, maybe more so the higher end units, take a dramatic drop in value the first 2-4 years. That is why I, and many, recommend:

-Pick your budget range
-Reserve a cushion of funds in the budget for any catch up maintenance, to establish a baseline that you as the new owner can then move forward from.
-Reserve a cushion of funds in the budget for any modifications to 'make it your' coach. (Update electronics. Change carpet to wood, tile, etc. Window treatments. Etc., Etc.)
-Drop years to remain within budget range, to purchase the highest quality coach that meets your needs. Quality lasts. A quality coach also becomes a 'solid foundation' to build onto, sort of like a good foundation of a home can be worthy of remodeling to your specific needs.

Somewhere along that 2, 3, 4, 5 year window - you will see a dramatic 'decrease' in the steepness of the depreciation slope... The slope continues to decline, but at a much slower rate, thus less loss of value.

That is why buying a good used higher end coach, Prevost base modification, Newell, Top Of The Food Chain Foretravel/Country Coach/Newmar/Monaco/Travel Supreme, etc. - really can make a difference in how big of a hit you take to depreciation.

I've also felt, from viewing and test driving well over 100 coaches during our search for our current coach, that even say a 5-7 year High End coach - will be in better overall value then a entry to mid level new coach at the end of 5 years of ownership. Both in satisfaction of ownership, and in cost/value. In other words, I'd rather have a 10-12 year old say Monaco Signature (Just choosing one as an example.), then a 5 year old Monaco Diplomat (Again, just choosing one as an example, and used Monaco for this illustration. And not even certain if Diplomats were made 5 years ago, during the Monaco transitions of ownership!).

On Edit: To be clear, just using the Monaco coaches above as an example. Not intended as a slam to the Diplomat, which is a respected good bang for the buck DP.... Just did not want anyone to think I was picking on the Diplomat!

Now, that is my opinion. And many others feel that buying new provides them with the experience that they're interested in. And for sure, nothing wrong with doing what you, or anyone wants, as you write the checks!

Again, happy hunting to you... Lots of angles, and don't get paralyzed during the analysis phase. Make your best decision, go get your coach - and get out and have some fun!

Smitty

[M&S Norrell]

IMO, based on your comparisons being so comparable; the 2 year warranty that Entegra offers is the icing on the cake! I always prefer icing on my cake...

[HarleyOutlaw]

Originally Posted by M&S Norrell

IMO, based on your comparisons being so comparable; the 2 year warranty that Entegra offers is the icing on the cake! I always prefer icing on my cake...

Agreed.

I looked at the other coaches the OP is interested in and just can't find a floor plan that we could live with. I know tastes are different for different people but with the Entegra I find 4 or more floor plans we would be very happy with between the Anthem and the Cornerstone.

[Dutch Star Don]

I think you'll be fine with any of the coaches you listed. Keep in mind, of the ones you're looking at, Newmar is the only one who will let you build the coach exactly the way you want it. You'll pay for changes, but they are very accommodating. They also have the proprietary Comfort Steer.

[univmd]

I am surprised that the AC Eagle Heritage is the only one that does not have size 365 tires. Even a Newmar Dutchstar has size 365 tires!

[Top_Speed1]

Originally Posted by M&S Norrell

IMO, based on your comparisons being so comparable; the 2 year warranty that Entegra offers is the icing on the cake! I always prefer icing on my cake...

That 2 year warranty is huge!. Just the company itself to have the bawlz in their product to do so, ranks very high with me. In reading tons of Entegra customer service reports, it seems they also do a great job of supporting the warranty as well.

2 things I would like from Entegra in their upcoming 2018's (and I would pull the trigger right now! ..or when they are avail to order of course!)
*Updated LCD Dash/gauges/cockpit (like the American Eagle or Newmar K-A)
*High Gloss Cabinetry option
(well, there's more like more efficient solar panel option (200w is not enough in today's solar world!), but those* (^) are my 2 Entegra deal breakers as it stands).

Hear me Entegra? I'm ready to sign and over both the AC Eagle-H and Newmar K-A! (both truly amazing coaches!)

sidebar Q? Why is the Silver Lining decor package more$ than the other decor packages like Mocha etc?

Originally Posted by HarleyOutlaw

Agreed.

I looked at the other coaches the OP is interested in and just can't find a floor plan that we could live with. I know tastes are different for different people but with the Entegra I find 4 or more floor plans we would be very happy with between the Anthem and the Cornerstone.

The 45B which I believe is their most popular FP and it works for us! I also like the AC Eagle FP's w full slide, and then probably Newmar as my least liked FP's.

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

I think you'll be fine with any of the coaches you listed. Keep in mind, of the ones you're looking at, Newmar is the only one who will let you build the coach exactly the way you want it. You'll pay for changes, but they are very accommodating. They also have the proprietary Comfort Steer.

If my budget was higher, maybe I could do a customizing ordeal. Want to stay around 500K however and the King Aire already pushes this above and beyond.

Originally Posted by univmd

I am surprised that the AC Eagle Heritage is the only one that does not have size 365 tires. Even a Newmar Dutchstar has size 365 tires!

Thinking this is b/c of the Freightliner chassis? So far, I really have been swayed to the Spartan K3 which has the larger front tires and heavy front axle rating. I'm sure the experts here will correct me if I'm wrong.

[louieyoder1]

Have you looked at Foretravel?

[HarleyOutlaw]

You could always take the Entegra to Silverleaf for a glass dash upgrade for about $10grand

[fsudelt]

Thinking this is b/c of the Freightliner chassis? So far, I really have been swayed to the Spartan K3 which has the larger front tires and heavy front axle rating. I'm sure the experts here will correct me if I'm wrong.[/QUOTE]

We have a Dutch Star on order on a Freightliner chasis and it has the bigger 365 tires and same front axle rating as the Spartan chasis that is also available. Where the axle rating is different is on the tag, with Spartan having 2K higher rating. We are not fulltimers and won't be anytime soon (as we are in our 30's) so we were not in need of the additional tag axle rating. I liked the Freightliner for the tighter wheel cut as we park on side of our house and it's a tight turn. Also the greater ability of service centers across the country when traveling is a plus to me.

As others have said you can customize Newmars quite a bit so if you like certain things off different levels of coaches you can mix and match a lot. Example for us, is we loved the King Aire floors (tile that looks like hardwood) so we had that added to our Dutch Star.


Good luck in your search!

[becks]

Pretty hard to beat the bang for the buck of an Entegra Cornerstone. The only coach we will consider in the future.

[Top_Speed1]

Originally Posted by louieyoder1

Have you looked at Foretravel?

Yes, and they are very luxuroius and nice, a bit higher a price tag, but again like the AC Eagle Heritage... that front cap (nose) is butt ugly!.

Originally Posted by HarleyOutlaw

You could always take the Entegra to Silverleaf for a glass dash upgrade for about $10grand

Okay, you peeked my interest. I was always told Entegra didn't do upgrades of such? And (I may be off here) but isn't the Silverleaf just the "in" coach display? I'm looking for the complete more modern dash system...

A-C Eagle


And this is a variation of Frieghtliners new digital dash...


Newmar's is nice also (albeit being shown here in a monitoring mode, not drive mode)

[HarleyOutlaw]

Entegra won't do the Silverleaf glass dash upgrade, you would have to take it there after purchase. Not sure what is involved but you would get the look of the King Aire Glass/digital gauge portion of the dash............if it's even compatible with Entegra, I'm not sure

[Top_Speed1]

Been getting things down in choices (well, so I thought).

I've been emailing RVOne (Robin McCraken) about the Cornerstone. Received a pretty fair price as well, but not having others submit theirs yet? anyways I got an anchor thrown out at me last night.

Plan A as of right now is to go with an ordered-in Cornerstone. The K3 chassis is favored by me more so than the FL. The 2 year warranty weighs the scale too much that the others don't quite come back enough to surface as the clear (if you can call it that!) winner. I still like some things on the AC Eagle-H, and some things on the Newmar KA better than the Entegra Conerstone. I think it's always going to be this way, I am content on waiting however till the 2018s come out. It seems Entegra has corrected a lot of things (customer issues) from their 2016's to their 2017's.

Reviewing the videos on the Entegra factory Spring Fling RV/Owners Roundup proves this as totally true. I really liked how you signed up, showed up and gave them 3 issues to fix at the campsite. All good reviews, owners thoughts on this and all agreeing that this service level is awesome! (and not to be missed if you're an Entegra owner). I'm sure the other brands have something similar? But, pretty cool tbh.

So the one main thing I thought we had down was the exterior color: Blue. Debbie said she liked it and if that was my color of choice for the exterior "all good w me!".... Until........ I showed her a pic of the exact Cornerstone in RED!

So now we debate on the exterior color!?... when the exterior was supposed to be my choice. ugh! ...and yes, all womanz are crazy! lol




My choice, more subtle