1998 Dutch Star 3865 possible purchase

[prcarol]

I am going to look at a 1998 Dutch Star model 3865 tomorrow. Long drive to go see it! This coach has spent considerable time in Alaska, possible even wintering there, presumable in storage. Coach is now in Arizona for sale.

What should I pay particular attention to when checking this out before I call in an RV/mechanical tech to further check things out. It has 110,000 miles.

Also this model doesn't have my favored bathroom floor plan. Specifically I wold want to replace the tub/shower with a corner shower and the commode with a china commode. Cost estimates, in your opinion?

["007"]

For a DP the miles if maintained should be OK.
Tires would be first check for dates and the roof seals of front and rear caps would be another.
1998 Dutch Star

PDI LISTS
Good luck hope it works out must have something to travel all them miles back to AZ.
Give Newmar a cost estimate they know the coach they built it plus you can get a 15%discount Jan to March if you had them do it.

[datrbone8]

Originally Posted by prcarol

I am going to look at a 1998 Dutch Star model 3865 tomorrow. Long drive to go see it! This coach has spent considerable time in Alaska, possible even wintering there, presumable in storage. Coach is now in Arizona for sale.

What should I pay particular attention to when checking this out before I call in an RV/mechanical tech to further check things out. It has 110,000 miles.

Also this model doesn't have my favored bathroom floor plan. Specifically I wold want to replace the tub/shower with a corner shower and the commode with a china commode. Cost estimates, in your opinion?

We recently bought the same motor home- a 1998 Newmar Dutch Star. We wanted a well built older unit but couldn't spend a lot of money. This one fit the bill. We live in AZ but bought it in Wisconsin and drove it home. Ours is on a Freightliner chassis w/ a Cat 3126B engine. It had one previous owner and 78,000 miles. I think mileage commensurate with age is better than low mileage as it indicates it's been driven regularly. Bought it on Ebay based upon the sellers representation and pictures. Didn't get it checked out before bringing it home but so far it's been everything we wanted and more. We have 81K on it now and have been using it regularly. Leaving for Austin,TX in November for Formula 1 auto race and then off to Mexico in December for the winter.

Great driving coach. Nice and steady on the road. Decent power and we've averaged almost 9 mpg so far. That includes driving the western mountains. We love the liveabilty of the coach when parked. Ours has all china fixtures and a corner shower so can't help w/ that.

We've since met other current and past owners of this generation Dutch Star. All have had good comments and praise for it's construction.

Good luck. If you get it I hope you'll like it as much as we do.

[prcarol]

Reportedly it has new tires and a new windshield. I added Alaska to that equation and thought perhaps there would be something specific to look for.

I will check the roof caps. The other thing I was alerted to were the boots on the ball joints. It has independent front suspension.

I am going with a creeper, good flashlight and a ladder. And a check list.

Think I will budget $3K for a bath makeover if I make an offer.

Thanks for your help.

[Mr_D]

We had a 2000 3865 on FL chassis. Nothing wrong with it other than my wife wanted more slides/longer and I wanted more HP/torque.
Newmar builds great rigs and there are really no known overall defects other than the exterior wall checking that our 2002 has.

[dennis45]

Originally Posted by prcarol

Reportedly it has new tires and a new windshield. I added Alaska to that equation and thought perhaps there would be something specific to look for.

I will check the roof caps. The other thing I was alerted to were the boots on the ball joints. It has independent front suspension.

I am going with a creeper, good flashlight and a ladder. And a check list.

Think I will budget $3K for a bath makeover if I make an offer.

Thanks for your help.

Ball Joints are on the Spartan IFS Chassis. The FLChassis is Solid Axle and has King Pin Bushings and not Ball Joints.
I have the IFS on mine and the Ball Joint Boots are cracked but I just raise it up twice a year and give them a shot of grease with a needle attachment to keep them lubed and clean. 60K and no problems so far.
Ours is a newer vintage but Newmar makes a good rig. I'm sure you will be happy with it.

[lonestarace]

Originally Posted by prcarol

I am going to look at a 1998 Dutch Star model 3865 tomorrow. Long drive to go see it! This coach has spent considerable time in Alaska, possible even wintering there, presumable in storage. Coach is now in Arizona for sale.

What should I pay particular attention to when checking this out before I call in an RV/mechanical tech to further check things out. It has 110,000 miles.

Also this model doesn't have my favored bathroom floor plan. Specifically I wold want to replace the tub/shower with a corner shower and the commode with a china commode. Cost estimates, in your opinion?

We had a 98 DSDP, 3865 model, on Spartan w/300hp C8.3 Cummins. We put 22k miles on it in less than 2 yrs. Went to Alaska and back from TX, etc. We never towed anything and got 9-10 mpg. That's nice!
We liked it, but it had some weaknesses.
Like: 1) a propane generator, 2) rubber roof, 3) it would overheat in the summer on long climbs, 4) the paint/gel coat/decals looked bad so we had a custom paint job. 5) The ball joint boots were bad on ours, but the ball joints were still good. 6) Limited small inverter for front electronics only.

We wouldn't buy another, not since discovering Monacos.

Good Luck

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by lonestarace

We had a 98 DSDP, 3865 model, on Spartan w/300hp C8.3 Cummins. We put 22k miles on it in less than 2 yrs. Went to Alaska and back from TX, etc. We never towed anything and got 9-10 mpg. That's nice!
We liked it, but it had some weaknesses.
Like: 1) a propane generator, 2) rubber roof, 3) it would overheat in the summer on long climbs, 4) the paint/gel coat/decals looked bad so we had a custom paint job. 5) The ball joint boots were bad on ours, but the ball joints were still good. 6) Limited small inverter for front electronics only.

We wouldn't buy another, not since discovering Monacos.

Good Luck

Propane generator was a big minus on our DSDP
They went to the BriteTek roof in 2000, a much better roof.
Didn't have any trouble with the decals
The ball joints are a known problem but they're not a Newmar part.
Small inverter can be changed, we had it done on ours.

And conversely, we would never own a Monaco after some of our club members had them and had nothing but problems and the factory was only a hundred or so miles away (when they were still in business under the old company).

[Dan DeBruin]

Just traded in my 1998 DSDP. Was a great coach. Had the Cummins 330 and Spartan chassis, averaged 9.5 pulling a Mazda on a dolly. No problems with engine or transmission. Had some age/milage related issues, steps, leak in leveler, oil sending unit, etc but it was well constructed and we thought it was a great coach enough to buy another one. Good luck with your search. Hope you enjoy it as much as we have enjoyed our's.

[lonestarace]

Originally Posted by prcarol

I am going to look at a 1998 Dutch Star model 3865 tomorrow. Long drive to go see it! This coach has spent considerable time in Alaska, possible even wintering there, presumable in storage. Coach is now in Arizona for sale.

What should I pay particular attention to when checking this out before I call in an RV/mechanical tech to further check things out. It has 110,000 miles.

Also this model doesn't have my favored bathroom floor plan. Specifically I wold want to replace the tub/shower with a corner shower and the commode with a china commode. Cost estimates, in your opinion?

DSDP are a dime a dozen so it is a buyers market(be picky). Here are a couple of searches I did for 98 & 99 yr models.
18 of them - New And Used Newmar Dutch Star Class A For Sale On Rv Trader
and here is a google search for - 1998 Dutch Star 38 for sale
1998 dutch star 38 - Google Search

Here are some before and after paint($15k) pics of our 98 DSDP.