Community Forums

GordL · 08-18-2007, 08:39 PM

I have a 2002 Dutch Star. There are micro cracks in the dark paint, more and more appearing every month. Coach has a full body paint. Newmar had to redo some coaches under warranty within the first two years. However, mine is out of warranty. Has anyone had experience with Newmar on this issue? What did they do for you? Apparently it's a gelcoat issue. Now if the original owner of my coach had put this through within the first two years, Newmar would have replaced the side walls at no charge under their warranty. They have mentioned that they would charge me factory cost of replacing the sidewalls on both sides and repainting them at about a $12,500.00 charge to me. If I wanted to repaint the ends front and back and the storage compartments that would be an additional charge. By the way has anybody heard of coach owners going to Mexico for a repaint. I heard of someone who was very happy with a Mexico paint job for the whole coach at $12,000.00 compared to $35,000.00.

GordL · 08-18-2007, 08:39 PM

I have a 2002 Dutch Star. There are micro cracks in the dark paint, more and more appearing every month. Coach has a full body paint. Newmar had to redo some coaches under warranty within the first two years. However, mine is out of warranty. Has anyone had experience with Newmar on this issue? What did they do for you? Apparently it's a gelcoat issue. Now if the original owner of my coach had put this through within the first two years, Newmar would have replaced the side walls at no charge under their warranty. They have mentioned that they would charge me factory cost of replacing the sidewalls on both sides and repainting them at about a $12,500.00 charge to me. If I wanted to repaint the ends front and back and the storage compartments that would be an additional charge. By the way has anybody heard of coach owners going to Mexico for a repaint. I heard of someone who was very happy with a Mexico paint job for the whole coach at $12,000.00 compared to $35,000.00.

"007" · 08-19-2007, 06:15 PM

Gordl welcome to irv2 and the Newmar forum.

Has the factory looked at coach and was there problems with paint when you bought it from dealer? Did the previous owner ever record problem with Newmar?
There are paint shops that could take a look at also to see if paint was applied correctly to the gelcoat siding.
This LINK may find some in Canada or near to you.

Good shop Precision

RV Wizard · 08-19-2007, 10:42 PM

GordL, welcome to iRV2.com. We are sorry to hear of the gelcoat problem that has brought you to us but we are glad to have you join us anyway. How much area do the cracking cover? Let us know if you have had a professional body shop or Newmar look at it to determine cause. Good luck and tak care.

"007" · 08-20-2007, 08:34 AM

Gelcoat cracks Some discussion here about a recall on what your problem is.

Skip- Kerrville, TX · 08-20-2007, 01:11 PM

Hi and welcome to iRV2 GordL. There are lots of neat advantages to having full paint- but you have unfortunately experienced one of the huge disadvantages. I hope you are able to resolve issues with Newmar.

GordL · 08-23-2007, 10:41 PM

Hi Mike and Amy. The gelcoat problem on my 2002 Dutch Star is on both sides of the coach, in the dark paint it shows up and can be seen, The cracks are micro cracks by the hundreds last year I hardly noticed them, Now this year Its getting worse as time goes on, we where at the Redmond FMCA Rally and had a Newmar rep come and look at the problem , He said that the gelcoat panels would have to be replaced, since the coach is out of warranty , I'd have to pay I asked how much,he said they charge $25,000.00 at the factorey, but they would only charge me thier cost of $12,500.00 for both sides and a repaint, now bear in mind that the side panels are only from the front cap back to the back cap and do not include the basement storage doors, the paint is only for the panels if i wanted the front and back and the bottom storage doors repainted that would be extra, to what dollar amount I dont know , he said that we shall communicate by email I am to send him some pictiures of the micro cracks, for his file At this point I have't sent the pictures, but will as soon as Next tuesday arrives. Apprently there where a lot of 2002's with that problem when under warranty they replaced the side panels at there cost, I am not aware that there was a recall, I am sure that they did't want a recall and hoped that time would exspire the warranty period, then the owner of that coach would be stuck with the bill for reapire. Do you have any ideas? Gordon

GaryKD · 08-24-2007, 03:43 AM

Hi GordL,
Welcome to iRV2. We are glad to have you as part of the iRV2 Newmar family. Consider the following:
1. Ask Newmar for the total cost for what you want.
2. Ask Newmar if they have made changes to the fabrication process so the same problem will not happen again. I know this sounds like a "duh" question, but for my coach, Newmar keeps replacing my defective basement doors with doors that delaminate, again and again and again and again.
3. Contact Precision Painting in Bremen, IN (next to Nappanee. Their contact number is 574-546-4473. Go here to visit their web site. Precision Painting is a body shop for coaches. They may or may not take on your project. The also do custom coach painting. If you wanted a paint scheme different than the standard Newmar offering, Precision could do it. Newmar uses Precision Painting when they get over booked.
4. One could also consider doing a mix and match. Have Newmar replace the walls and Precision Painting provide the custom paint.

Now you can compare what each company offers and the cost. Good luck and please let us know how everything turns out.

Retired2000 · 01-07-2008, 03:48 PM

We are in Orlando and reconnected with some folks who come here every winter from Quebec. They had their 1999 Dutch Star painted a year and a half ago and said they noticed over the summer that the sidewalls had the small cracks discussed in this thread. They had their DS painted at Precision Painting, as did we have our 2000 DS painted in September. So far, we don't see any of these cracks on our DS. We went to look at their rig and you don't see the cracks from a distance, but up close they are very visible, mostly in the dark colors, but also in the light colors if you look very close. I thought I would update this thread with their experience.

They stopped in Nappanee on the way south to see Precision and Newmar. According to them, both said it was the other's fault. Newmar said they could redo the walls for $12,000. I called Jim Aslin who also had his 2000 DS painted by Precision two years ago and he said he also has some cracks. He said he was told it's not the fault of the paint, but of the gelcoat. He said in some cases the cracks were always there, but not visible on the white gelcoat. It's when it's painted that the cracks become visible.

If anyone has anything to add to this problem, please update this thread if you know anyone who had a DS painted and got someone to fix this gelcoat problem.

Norm Payne · 01-07-2008, 04:34 PM

In 2005 I spent 17 days at Camp Newmar, but not for fiberglass or paint problems. While I was there Newmar was replacing the sides and repainting many 2002-2003 Dutch Stars due to defective fiberglass. I thin Owens-Corning manufacturerd the fiberglass and they were paying most of the bill for replacement. I talked to many of the owners of those motorhomes and none were being charged. But it is now 2008 and I think Newmar is not doing it free any more.

Oh, I understand the cracks show up on painted areas first (especially dark paint) because it absorbs heat. Later cracks will develope in light painted and non-painted areas.

Edmund A Skibinski · 01-08-2008, 04:24 AM

GordL, call Presion Paint in Bremen, In. ask for Tony Box, and let Tony give you a quote for a complete paint job, I don't know where or from whom your getting your quotes. Ed.S

Retired2000 · 01-08-2008, 07:17 PM

It doesn't cost $35,000 to get a Dutch Star painted, at least not at Precision Painting. We had our 2000 Dutch Star painted in September and it cost us $13,000. Prices do go up year to year so you would need to get a current quote. They did a great job on our rig. You can see the before and after photos at http://www.roamingamerica.com/travel...k/newlook.html as well as photos of the process.

I'm sure there are other shops around the country where you could get a rig painted. Some will cost more, some will cost less. Personally, I wouldn't take it to Mexico to have it painted unless you were sure what you were getting. I've heard there are painters who will do it outside at a campground. That would be dumb. It took Precision about two weeks to do our rig.