2010 Essex questions

[Mark D]

My wife and I are looking to move from a 2005 Fleetwood providence to a Newmar. We have kept coming back to a few Essex models that are on the market. 2010 is our range of affordability.

My first question is how well do these coaches hold value? Most of the depreciation has been taken out of the price but a concern is that if we drive it for 5 years will the price drop another 50%?

Second is do these coaches have the touch pads and power vents that I have seen in the Alegro bus? I liked the touch screen but my wife who is vertically challenged loved the power vents. We plan on traveling to see one if we can agree on a price and wanted to know.

What bell and or whistle do these have that sold you on an Essex over a Mountain Aire or Dutch Star?

How many miles can you safely get on a full fuel up, does the generator cut out at 1/4 tank? What about the Oasis heat what happens if the fuel is under 1/4 tank?

How much of a pain is the air level system? I assume you use the hydraulic like other coaches and the air bags do fine tuning as needed?

How much more quieter are these coaches over a 2005 Providence type coach. By quiet I mean when we are in bed at 6:00 am and a neighbor gets up to cough up a lung or use an impact wrench to level his 5th wheel is this level of coach measurably quieter than what we have now?

Is there a life span for the fiberglass roof such as replace in 20 years or can most issues be addressed the same as if you had an issue with a fiberglass fender?

Any other love or hate comments would be great. This is a big jump for us and while we think we will get the use out of it I am frugal so 200k+ makes me pause. Thank you in advance for any constructive feedback!

[bruceisla]

Although I have a 2005, many things have remained basically the same.

My power vents work fine and my wife (5'6") thinks they are awesome.

My depreciation has remained very stable over the last 2 years. To put it another way, the curve flattened at 10 years old.

Fiberglass roof has not required anything except routine touch up or replacement of sealer (Dicor).

The original air conditioners were replaced at 10 years.

My leveling system (which may have changed over the years) has hydraulic jacks (automatic or manual) and air leveling (for overnight if you don't want jacks down) and automatic air lift/leveling for travel.

The Essex is a beast and well insulated.

Basically, I'm very satisfied with our unit and have no reason to get a newer one.

[azSkier]

>> What bell and or whistle do these have that sold you on an Essex

The ISM 500 cummins engine, the Allision 4000 transmission and the Aquahot.


>> How many miles can you safely get on a full fuel up

I get 7.1 MPG, and have a range of 1050. I rarely travel more than 750 per tank. I haven't tested the cutoff level.

>> How much of a pain is the air level system

I primarily use the hydraulic leveling system. The air bags are dumped and never adjusted. I do use the air leveling on soft surfaces. The system is supposed to monitor the leveling and adjust as necessary.

>> How much more quieter are these coaches over a 2005 Providence type coach

Probably. we are never concerned about campground reviews complaining about highway traffic noise. Hear very little of it. Occasionally, are by a train track. If necessary, I just turn on the bedroom AC fan to create some white noise. We never hear people noise.

The Essex is a great, well built coach... But it does have one significant challenge... E-Plex. You should research E-Plex here on IRV2 and understand those challenges. Basically, e-plex is a systems controller for the charger, inverter, tanks, ACs, power management, water pump and a few other systems.

e-plex is obsolete and unsupported at this time. Replacement parts, if available, are expensive. Also, a vertically challenged individual may find the screen hard to see and operate. The e-plex lighting in my coach is awful.

[bruceisla]

Originally Posted by azSkier

>> What bell and or whistle do these have that sold you on an Essex

The ISM 500 cummins engine, the Allision 4000 transmission and the Aquahot.


>> How many miles can you safely get on a full fuel up

I get 7.1 MPG, and have a range of 1050. I rarely travel more than 750 per tank. I haven't tested the cutoff level.

>> How much of a pain is the air level system

I primarily use the hydraulic leveling system. The air bags are dumped and never adjusted. I do use the air leveling on soft surfaces. The system is supposed to monitor the leveling and adjust as necessary.

>> How much more quieter are these coaches over a 2005 Providence type coach

Probably. we are never concerned about campground reviews complaining about highway traffic noise. Hear very little of it. Occasionally, are by a train track. If necessary, I just turn on the bedroom AC fan to create some white noise. We never hear people noise.

The Essex is a great, well built coach... But it does have one significant challenge... E-Plex. You should research E-Plex here on IRV2 and understand those challenges. Basically, e-plex is a systems controller for the charger, inverter, tanks, ACs, power management, water pump and a few other systems.

e-plex is obsolete and unsupported at this time. Replacement parts, if available, are expensive. Also, a vertically challenged individual may find the screen hard to see and operate. The e-plex lighting in my coach is awful.

As mentioned, e-plex can be problematic. Newmar started using it in 2006 and it was still specified in a 2011 owners manual ... don't know about 2012 and later.

[Mark D]

Do you know if the e-plex can be upgraded? Ibwould assume if it's one solid module that could be replaced with a newer one and fit a new screen? I will research further. Thank you so much for the comments.

[bruceisla]

Originally Posted by Mark D

Do you know if the e-plex can be upgraded? Ibwould assume if it's one solid module that could be replaced with a newer one and fit a new screen? I will research further. Thank you so much for the comments.

I believe Silverleaf has done a conversion or 2.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f103/e-pl...er-313641.html

["007"]

Welcome to the forum.
Here is a link to thread I made up for ESSEX owners, with info you need to know.
This link is from a irv2 search engine you can also use, just change the input.
All the links below in my signature have info for a Newmar.
Enjoy the forum safe travels.

[Jager]

We have a 2007 Essex. We came from a long list of travel trailers and 5th wheels. Our last 5th wheel was pretty high end as campers go. All I can tell you is this Exxes is MILES beyond any camper. Nothing about it makes it feel or even remotely seem like a camper. The first morning my wife and I woke up in it she sat up in bed and stated, "This is NOT camping!" She said that in a very good way.

We only get about 6.5 mpg but if you're looking at a coach of this class . . . mileage shouldn't be a concern. We have the ISX 500 engine and while I like it a lot, we will some day upgrade to a newer Essex with a 600 HP engine.

Quiet? It is way, WAY beyond quiet compared to any camper we have ever been in. We attend NASCAR, music events, bike week, etc . . . I know noise. I can't imagine it much more sound proofed than this coach is.

Our fuel tank holds 150 gallons. We can travel further distances than I care to drive on a full tank in one day. The issue is fuel capacity for events you can't move out of once there. And yes, the gen set will cut out at 1/4 tank so we fill up very close to any event we go into so we have AMPLE fuel supply.

As others have said . . . ePlex sucks. It will be a huge pain to replace it when it dies. I would love a SilverLeaf conversion (see 4x4's post on here about doing this) but I'm not driving my coach all the way to Washington (state of) just to get this done.

An Essex is not your average camper, RV or even coach. Most are built to order and although we have seen a bunch with our floor plan (4510) I have never seen one that has our interior or exterior. It is definitely unique (custom). So I would suggest looking at the units you're interested in personally.

How much do they depreciate? How well do you take care of your coach? How much do you know? Are you mechanically inclined? Stuff is going to break and you will have issues with it (same as any coach). You should be expecting this. How well you take care of all these issues will have a big impact on how much you can resell the unit for when you're done with it.

If you're looking at units in Florida or AZ (or other retirement mecca's) there are professional RV inspectors. I would consider contracting with someone with advanced knowledge in the systems to look the unit over before you buy.

IRV2 is your friend. The folks here can help you out of or through just about anything you encounter in one of these.