2014 Dutch Star

[Deek]

Pessman --

I must say that I am simply honored to have been able to be of some help to you and Mrs. Pessman in the noodling out of your new '14 Dutch Star -- if only by your learning from the mistakes we made ourselves.

Seriously, you and your wife are going to be very, very pleased with this entire process as your coach is dialed in by the factory, planned out by the Newmar build crew and, finally, built with your options and specifications. The whole and entire process to anyone not asleep is just a huge bunch of fun.

Be absolutely certain to get to Nappanee when they tell you your coach is going to be headed down the production line in Building 7 -- it is an event not to be missed, in my humble opinion. Most people want to spend the four full days watching it become transformed before their eyes. We sure did. In addition, PDR John very wisely suggested that we ask the Newmar people for a tour of the paint area when our coach was "in paint" and we were given that special treat in February when our Dutch Star was built. Man, was that a hoot!

You now know firsthand how nice and how helpful the Newmar folks are. They definitely are. The real article IMO. By the time you are done with this process, you will also know how excited all of us who roam this Forum are for you -- we can't wait to see what you and your wife have cooked up. Welcome to our little group and sincerest congratulations.

Unfortunately, now your real work comes -- as Steve (Skmwalden) says, you must keep us posted -- more details, tons of pictures as the coach is being built and released to you, your ongoing thoughts as you move along in the process.

These are the things we live for on this Forum.

Cheers, Phil and Jo Ellen!!!!

Deek

[PDR John]

Congratulations, I'm glad to hear you got one on order. Can't wait to see some photos of the paint, sounds "cool".

[dpeterso]

Wow! As Deek says you've taken the special order process to a new level. You're going to have one very special coach that you'll enjoy to no end. As others have said, can't wait to see pictures.

[Deek]

Originally Posted by dpeterso

Wow! As Deek says you've taken the special order process to a new level. You're going to have one very special coach that you'll enjoy to no end. As others have said, can't wait to see pictures.

True enough, but yours, Dale, is going to be really terrific too. Can't wait to see your pics.

By the way, when is expected delivery date for your baby?

Deek

[dpeterso]

Hi Deek,
I'm going to make a short story long. The expected delivery date from Newmar is July 8th. That would mean a pickup date for us of July 11th or 12th. However, Chad, our Midway salesman, says that the last few coaches he has received actually shipped a day or two early. In our case, shipment a day or two ahead of schedule would mean a pickup date for us of as early as June 29th. The reason for this bigger than expected improvement is that Newmar is shutdown from June 28th thru July 7th, so a day or two ahead of schedule would mean our coach could leave Newmar June 26th or June 27th for our pickup by as early as June 29th. This improvement in timing would be huge for us. We have a family reunion in Copper Harbor, MI over the 4th of July. We have reservations at the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge with the rest of the family since we never expected the coach to be ready this early. However, if we can pick it up by even July 1st we could take it up north instead of a 10 year old, 150,000 mile minivan. On top of this, my daughter who lives in Australia flies in on June 29th for the family reunion. To use one of your terms, it would be a 'hoot' to pick her up at the airport in the Dutch Star without her knowing it. We're not getting our hopes too high, but we are praying that the Newmar folks can pull off another 'miracle'.

["007"]

Pessman, it maybe a good idea to start a NEW THREAD with all your good info on your new coach I will add it to QT's # 3 with all the new member coach's for reference.
Tell me what posts with your info in this thread and I will put in first post so all your info on your new coach will be there.

[Sky_Boss]

Originally Posted by redbaron73

Also a drop in total gvrw. Not sure why, as axles are the same. Must be a frame issue?

Check the front axle GAWR in comparison then look at the tire selection between the models. I know that for my MH Newmar derated the front axle from Spartan's 14,600 limit to 14,200 because of tire selection. The thing is they build in fudge factors for L/R balance to make sure that regardless of the slide configuration and installed options that the tires will not be overloaded at a corner. I know that in my case, if I keep a good L/R balance that with the stock tires I can run 14,600 on the front axle and still only need 110 PSI to do it.

[Ma Snart]

[QUOTE=pessman;1598867]Well, after several months of research, the benefit of all the fantastic advice from those who’ve gone before (particularly Deek and skmwalden), whom we now consider friends and brothers in crime, we pulled the trigger on a 2014 Dutch Star 4038.

Congrats!

Now you must wait - The worst part of the process - LOL!

Ma Snart

[Deek]

Originally Posted by dpeterso

Hi Deek,
To use one of your terms, it would be a 'hoot' to pick her up at the airport in the Dutch Star without her knowing it. We're not getting our hopes too high, but we are praying that the Newmar folks can pull off another 'miracle'.

Dale --

I would definitely urge you to talk both to Chad and to Newmar to let them know what you are hoping to make possible. These people are all dedicated to the idea of making your dreams possible if they can -- and if you let them know what a 'hoot' it would be for you to pick her up at the airport and totally surprise her, I have not one smidgen of doubt that they will do their darndest to make that happen for you.

Please be sure to keep us all posted on this -- what a great thing it would be to have your coach in this earlier time frame. With the plant shut down, it might just be able to happen -- especially if you alert them in advance.

As you might know from many postings on our Forum, several of us have 'latched on' to Michelle Howard in Sales -- she is a simply terrific woman who is the best of the best at Newmar. Skmwalden and I coached Pessman to work with Michelle on the planning for his Dutchie and I am pretty sure he was very pleased that he was able to enlist Michelle's help. Professional, competent, a woman who just gets it done to help her customers. I recommend her to you without hesitation on this timing issue. If she can help, I am certain she will.

In our case, we took factory delivery of our '13 DS 4018 on February 12. We were originally scheduled to take delivery on the exact same date that Steve and Lisa Morrison (Skmwalden) got their 4018 delivered too -- February 4 -- but we had planned and paid for a trip to Mexico that we did not want to have to cancel and when we explained this to Michelle, she and Carl Snyder -- the guy who schedules factory deliveries -- gave us the February 12 date which met our needs.

What this says, I think, is that they are willing to take a coach out of the regular schedule for delivery and make the delivery date suit the needs of the customer -- all within reason. They sure accommodated us. We only ever regretted that we could not do our PDI and delivery at the same time as Steve and Lisa -- THAT would have surely been a 'hoot' to us!

We're all following your adventures and excitement. Do keep us posted.

Deek

[FLSteve]

dpeterso ... I see where you all were featured on Newmar's Facebook page!!

Steve


Newmar Factory Tour - June 13, 2013
Hello!

Today on my tour I had Dale & Lisa Peterson who have a 40’ Dutch Star DP on order through Midway RV out of Grand Rapids. They will be joining me tomorrow as well to see the progress of their unit. It has been an exciting adventure for them, and they are taking lots of pictures! I also had Max & Kathy Harrer, Clifford & Anna Raggard, John & Elizabeth Stephens, Roy Mapes & Joyce Defiuppo on the tour as well. We are all excited for the Peterson’s to be getting their first Newmar!

Safe Travels,
Roxie Rice

[Deek]

I continue to mull over how to make a little get together happen for those of us who have been engaged in our postings here -- once a few more of the coaches we have been following have been delivered from Newmar. Wouldn't that be fun -- or, as I say, a 'hoot'??

And this really IS related to this thread because it arises directly out of the Dutch Star / Ventana build threads where we all got together in the first place!

I am thinking it has to be October given delivery plans for Pessman, Dpeterso and one or two others. But October is a great month -- we just have to think about where and when to try for it and then have as many as can come join in.

Maine, New England, Williamsburg, Indiana somewhere, Hilton Head area, Traverse Bay (Michigan) area -- just to name a few that would be good choices.

So I am thinking ... and all of you reading this should be thinking too. Any suggestions would be great.

Deek

[dpeterso]

Steve,
Thank you for mentioning the post on Newmar's Facebook page. We never thought of looking there. That was very nice of Roxie to say a few extra words about us, but it's just another example of how everybody at Newmar makes you feel like family.

Deek,
We're very much looking forward to a gathering of the Newmar buds. Any of your suggestions for meeting locations except, perhaps, Maine/New England would work for us. And we agree October would be a great time to get together.

[FLSteve]

Originally Posted by Deek

I continue to mull over how to make a little get together happen for those of us who have been engaged in our postings here -- once a few more of the coaches we have been following have been delivered from Newmar. Wouldn't that be fun -- or, as I say, a 'hoot'??

And this really IS related to this thread because it arises directly out of the Dutch Star / Ventana build threads where we all got together in the first place!

I am thinking it has to be October given delivery plans for Pessman, Dpeterso and one or two others. But October is a great month -- we just have to think about where and when to try for it and then have as many as can come join in.

Maine, New England, Williamsburg, Indiana somewhere, Hilton Head area, Traverse Bay (Michigan) area -- just to name a few that would be good choices.

So I am thinking ... and all of you reading this should be thinking too. Any suggestions would be great.

Deek

Deek ... you might want to start a separate thread on this (with a catchy title) so this does not get lost in the other threads.

I think October would be a good month and maybe we try and find a place within a 1/2 days drive from Nappanee. I know that I want to go by there and get some things taken care of and this would give me a chance to schedule that as well.

Maybe somebody just needs to pick a place and a date, make sure the campground can accommodate a small group of us and then those that can attend will just call and sign up themselves. The folks that are planning to attend can use this thread to let the everybody know. You can keep a list and post it from time to time. That seems to work for the Tiffin folks over on the TRVN site when they have their rallies.

I do not know the area up there very well so any campground with 50 amp full hook-up sites would be fine with me. It would also be nice if the campground had some type of gathering place for get-togethers and meals.

Just my thoughts ...

Steve

["007"]

Say how about that a new thread The Newmar Buddies something in same vain as the dancing " Amigos"
Can't wait for the coming attractions and get together's something to read when its quite on the forum.

There is a campground just west on #6 from Newmar plant.