Community Forums

aeroquality · 08-25-2020, 07:09 PM

We are planning to sell our 2015 Bay Star Sport 3309 and replacing it with a 2021 Bay Star 3626.

I am curious about any thoughts on possible changes in quality at Newmar with both the Winnebago buy and the COVID 19 pandemic. These 2021 new RVs also have the new Ford V8 with a 6 speed transmission as opposed the well known V10 with a 5 speed transmission that my existing coach has.

We are also wondering on the driving/handling change that we will see in making this change. Our 2015 BSS has good power, but it gets pushed around on the freeway by trucks/winds.

We haven’t been up to speed with the new gas RVs - we had been monitoring the Ventana line as we have been seeking a king bed, washer/dryer, desk/pull out table (instead of a booth) and captions chairs. We were surprised to find the Bay Star 3626 has all that, so we now on this change our RV path.

I also see the 36’ Bay Stars are on a 26,000 chassis. GCWR vs GVWR however is only a 4,000 lb difference - so it seems that would be the max towing capacity. It does show about 3,000 in NCC.

I appreciate any thoughts on these questions.

Steve-W · 08-25-2020, 07:48 PM

I picked up my 2021 3401 about 6 weeks ago ( ordered in March) I previously had a 2017 32’ class C. I cant compare the new F53 chassis to the new one. We left e days after pickup and will be out for another week on our maiden voyage, about 1500 miles so far. Handling has been fine minimal push/pull from passing semis. Power is sufficient no issues on climbs, shifts are smooth. It’s not going to win any races bit it’s not as loud as the V10, the tone is lower and less harsh sounding.
The build quality is great no major issues so far. I am very pleased with the coach and the new chassis. The dash is a big improvement over the V10 dash. My coach is built on the 24K chassis CCC is 3,300, towing cap. is listed at 5,000.
As I ordered the residential refer and the Inverter for the TV’s the coach was wired with a 2K inverter through a sub panel. All outlets, microwave/convection, refer are wired through the inverter sub panel. The coach was equipped with six 6 volt Interstate Extreme GC batts. I was quite happy about that. The specials I ordered were done per my request with no issues.

aeroquality · 08-27-2020, 07:51 PM

Thank you Steve

aeroquality · 08-30-2020, 03:27 PM

BTW one item I noticed of concern is the GCWR is 30,000 and the GVWR is 26,000 which means the max I could tow is only 4,000 lbs - this is the spec on the 2021 Bay Star 3626. Surprising.

MidMichHunte · 09-02-2020, 05:26 PM

The 3626 is a nice floor plan, we looked hard at it and the 3609, I liked the 4 slides on the 26 but the wife liked the 1.5 bath so we went with the 09. In retrospect she was right, the 1.5 baths is nice and we got more CCC due to fewer slides, which helps as our Jeep is 4,500# fully loaded.

Cant help with ‘21 models as we got a ‘20, but we’re happy with it.

JP308 · 09-04-2020, 03:13 PM

I have a new 2020 BayStar 3124. Love the 6 speed transmission...incredible going up and spectacular going down the hills of NY and PA on 81. I am pretty sure the 6 speed in the 2020 is the same as the 6 speed in the 2021.

hohenwald48 · 09-04-2020, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aeroquality

BTW one item I noticed of concern is the GCWR is 30,000 and the GVWR is 26,000 which means the max I could tow is only 4,000 lbs - this is the spec on the 2021 Bay Star 3626. Surprising.

Actually, you can still tow 5,000 (hitch limit) if you only load the coach to 25,000.

aeroquality · 09-05-2020, 12:04 AM

True, but the basic CCC isn’t that great, and to lose 1,000 lbs to cover a two vehicle would be a challenge.

aeroquality · 09-26-2020, 01:30 PM

We are narrowing in now on the Bay Star 3309. Same reasons are commented on earlier. Lighter (due to fewer slides), Bath and half is nice. This coach also has more storage (underneath) than I have seen in any coach. There is also a lot of inside storage. Overall it has very good cargo carry capacity and towing capacity.

aeroquality · 09-26-2020, 01:30 PM

Correction 3609

aeroquality · 09-26-2020, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MidMichHunte

The 3626 is a nice floor plan, we looked hard at it and the 3609, I liked the 4 slides on the 26 but the wife liked the 1.5 bath so we went with the 09. In retrospect she was right, the 1.5 baths is nice and we got more CCC due to fewer slides, which helps as our Jeep is 4,500# fully loaded.

Cant help with ‘21 models as we got a ‘20, but we’re happy with it.

We are wondering if the TV over the driver’s area is useful. We are also debating on the fireplace vs having the extra storage below the TV (might be good for gaming consoles and so forth).

MidMichHunte · 09-26-2020, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aeroquality

We are wondering if the TV over the driver’s area is useful. We are also debating on the fireplace vs having the extra storage below the TV (might be good for gaming consoles and so forth).

We have both and would not give either up. The TV up front is always on and it’s easier for both of us to watch from the dinette while eating. I know we’re not supposed to do that, but we’re adults and we do.

The fireplace is really nice to heat the place up in the morning. Sure you give up storage space, but we didn’t get the washer & dryer so we have, dare I say it, more than enough storage space. The fireplace is kinda cheesy, but we’re glad we got it. I‘m not sure a gaming console would fit in the space the fireplace is as the storage above the TV isn’t deep at all.

We did get the outside TV, probably wouldn’t do that if we could do it over. Another thing to consider, we opted out of the satellite dish, we were just going to stream everything. After messing with that for way too long, we had our dealer install a dish. Outside only having Wally’s (no DVR) due to a change in how Wineguard configs things, we’re pretty happy we don’t need to deal with the hassle of streaming.

aeroquality · 09-26-2020, 05:42 PM

Thank you for that input. We plan on not buying AV options as they are too expensive from Newmar - we will have a local shop install a SAT dish (they did one before for us). Did you go with a couch or captains chairs? Booth or dinette?

MidMichHunte · 09-26-2020, 07:20 PM

We stuck with the Jack knife sofa, still having kids in college, we felt that was the safe call as they may travel with us a time or two and would need a place to sleep. In a few years we’ll swap it out for theatre seating or recliners. I misspoke in my last post, we did go with the booth, not the dinette.