New Bay Star 3626

[Patti Brown]

Just traded in our much enjoyed, and well cared for, 2014 Bay Star 3308 for a 2019 Bay Star 3626. Same floor plan, just a little longer. Thought I would share some initial thoughts on the new coach. Most of this report is about little things, but useful ones in our opinion. Entry door is much heavier, very sturdy. It no longer flops all the way back to the side of the coach, but has an integral stop. The privacy door shade is now an accordian shade built into the screen door, rather than the old roller shade mounted on the wall over the door. Obviously the electronics are updated. There are now chassis battery powered USB ports on both driver and passenger sides. The glass shower door now closes up from right to left, and locks on the left side, which means the open space when locked is across from the toilet. DH thinks this is a HUGE improvement to the "glass wall" on the old coach. The shower is 4" wider, the same width as a household tub. Gives more elbow room! The driver and passenger seats are definitely more comfortable. Nicely cushioned. The house batteries are under the hood, rather than on a slideout tray in the basement. Huge improvement in access for maintenance!

We bought our new coach, as well as the 3308, from Independence RV in Winter Garden, FL. Again it was a most excellent experience.

Will update more as we learn more.

[HavingABlast]

Congratulations on your new purchase. I hope that you and DH have as much (or more) enjoyment in your new Bay Star 3626. Pictures are always welcomed here.

[GL1800rider]

Congrats on your new unit. I was going to look at yours but it said sale pending Really love that floor plan with the dual recliners and the hide a bed.

How is Independence to deal with when you have a trade? I know most will rip you on the trade in if they give you a good deal on the new one.

[scbwr]

Congratulations on the new Bay Star! Enjoy!

[brandss]

Wow, congrats. Just took a look at your coach on line and love the look and layout. Fantastic. You should get a lot of great years out of it. Post some pics when you get a chance.

[scbwr]

I agree brandss that that is a really nice floor plan! If money were no object, I could be motivated to upgrade....Who knows....maybe in a few years!

[Patti Brown]

Originally Posted by GL1800rider

Congrats on your new unit. I was going to look at yours but it said sale pending Really love that floor plan with the dual recliners and the hide a bed.

How is Independence to deal with when you have a trade? I know most will rip you on the trade in if they give you a good deal on the new one.

I agree with your general assessment, but we have found that Independence RV is not most dealers. David Scott was our salesman, and we told him to make us a deal we could not turn down. The trade offer was extremely fair. Astonishingly so compared to the conventional wisdom. But in chatting with the GM later, he explained that trade values depend in part on how sellable they think the trade will be.

[Patti Brown]

Okay, have driven it for a long day and have new opinions to add. (BTW, if I could figure out how to post pictures, I would.) Moving from a 20,000 lb chassis with 19.5" tires to a 24,000 lb chassis with 22.5" tires does, as I thought it would, give a more solid feeling ride. The 6-speed transmission does not scream at hills like the 5-speed did. Suposed to improve gas mileage. Will know soon enough.

Forgot to mention they added an rpm gauge to the dash. Also the kitchen counter is now flat all the way across. The gas range has been lowered and the Corian cover for it is flush with the rest of the counter. Much more usable. The refrigerator in ours is the larger option, which means the pantry no longer has pullout shelves. Because the fixed shelves are so deep and narrow (5"!), I was less than thrilled until I found some wonderful aftermarket ones at verticalspice.com.
There is always a solution to be found somewhere...

For some reason Newmar moved the camera monitor, radio and A/C controls farther to the right of the driver. Very awkward placement IMHO. Now rather than being able to glance at the camera for a split second you have to actually give it, not the road, your full attention. If you have the NAV screen option on the radio, it is worse. Being located below the camera monitor means you have to completely take your eyes off the road and turn your head to try to look down at it. We will stick with our Garmin in its weighted bean-bag on the dash. Of course a passenger navigator can take the time needed to look at these awkwardly placed things, but from the driver's perspective it's not so great.

So far I am ambivalent about the swing out basement doors. On the one hand I like not banging my head on the old style that raised up. On the other hand, they required less side clearance than the long swing out bays do. That can be a problem if you park next to a power pedestal.

More later.

[harleyjt]

Originally Posted by Patti Brown

Okay, have driven it for a long day and have new opinions to add. (BTW, if I could figure out how to post pictures, I would.) Moving from a 20,000 lb chassis with 19.5" tires to a 24,000 lb chassis with 22.5" tires does, as I thought it would, give a more solid feeling ride. The 6-speed transmission does not scream at hills like the 5-speed did. Suposed to improve gas mileage. Will know soon enough.

Forgot to mention they added an rpm gauge to the dash. Also the kitchen counter is now flat all the way across. The gas range has been lowered and the Corian cover for it is flush with the rest of the counter. Much more usable. The refrigerator in ours is the larger option, which means the pantry no longer has pullout shelves. Because the fixed shelves are so deep and narrow (5"!), I was less than thrilled until I found some wonderful aftermarket ones at verticalspice.com.
There is always a solution to be found somewhere...

For some reason Newmar moved the camera monitor, radio and A/C controls farther to the right of the driver. Very awkward placement IMHO. Now rather than being able to glance at the camera for a split second you have to actually give it, not the road, your full attention. If you have the NAV screen option on the radio, it is worse. Being located below the camera monitor means you have to completely take your eyes off the road and turn your head to try to look down at it. We will stick with our Garmin in its weighted bean-bag on the dash. Of course a passenger navigator can take the time needed to look at these awkwardly placed things, but from the driver's perspective it's not so great.

So far I am ambivalent about the swing out basement doors. On the one hand I like not banging my head on the old style that raised up. On the other hand, they required less side clearance than the long swing out bays do. That can be a problem if you park next to a power pedestal.

More later.

Newmar really has improved the look and content of the Bay Star over the past few years. One of the biggest things that turned me off on Bay Star besides the 19.5" wheels, was the non-recessed cooktop. I mean, really. How much could it cost?

I agree with what you are saying about the placement of the radio and monitor. Not good at all. Kinda bizarre really. The only other thing that bothers me about Bay Star is the ceiling height. I'm 6'-2 so I really like the taller ceilings in the Canyon Star and other coaches.

I'm not sure about the basement doors - I kinda like my old style top hinged doors.

Congratulations on the new coach. Which color did you get?
jt

[Patti Brown]

Originally Posted by harleyjt

Congratulations on the new coach. Which color did you get?
jt

The lighter one. I think it's called Whitecap.

[scbwr]

I've thought that the swing out doors would be nice to have, but never thought about them requiring more room and possible interference with posts, etc. Something to consider if the upgrade bug bites! Even on our Bay Star, the location of the radio/camera screen is a bit awkward. Manufacturers should definitely locate the camera screen where minimal eye movement is required by the driver. Can't speak for the DW, but the elevated stove top is a non issue for me. We did purchase the Camco cutting board for use as a topper.

If we decide to upgrade in the future, based on what I've learned here and from owning our Bay Star, I would try to get a heavier chassis and 22" tires. We're really happy with our rig and it should meet our needs but there's a lot of learning that takes place when you own your first MH.

Patti...thanks for sharing information about your Bay Star!

[We_B_Tripn]

Congratulations! We had a great experience with Independence RV and David Scott as well when we purchased our 2018 Bay Star.

I hardly use the side cameras because of the monitor location and don’t have the Xcite option to worry about.

Bill

[Patti Brown]

Now that we have completed one actual 2 week trip with the new Bay Star 3626, I thought I would share some additional observations.

The extra 3' length of the 3626 over the 3308 does not bother me on the road like I thought it might. The coach has a smoother, more solid feel while driving, which is to be expected being on a heavier chassis and larger tires. The door is heavier, much more solid.

This is a small item, but I really like that the shower door handle now has a small screw holding it securely on. The old style used an adhesive and it was always coming off.

About that 3 extra feet. I think Newmar did an excellent job of allocating it throughout the coach. The king sized bed uses up half of it, of course. As for the rest, there is now enough room behind the driver seat that those of you with long legs can move the seat back far enough. The couple of extra inches between the dry bar and the slide wall mean you can reach in and close a cabinet door should you have forgotten to check that before bringing the slide in. The extra elbow room in the shower makes a world of difference! The drawers under the gas cooktop are slightly wider, just enough that they hold a surprisingly larger amount of kitchen gear. There is extra space under the kitchen sink, and in the angled corner of the bathroom cabinet.

After using the swing open bay doors for a while, I have decided I do like them much better than the overhead opening ones. Originally I was ambivalent.

DH and I both agree the soft accent lighting on the upper part of the slide walls is a very nice feature. It gives a good compromise to our preferences. He dislikes having lights on when he watches television, while I hate to sit in an overly dark room.

Still dislike the placement of the camera monitor, radio, and A/C controls. Very hard to view while driving. There is no actual "off" switch for the A/C other than turning off the fan. Liked the older controls better.

While I like that the Corian counter extends smoothly over the cooktop, there is no support for the center back of the cooktop cover. If you put something heavy on the seam, the 1/2" Corian will bend down. To resolve that, we cut a piece of wood 1-1/2" x 12" x 1" to be a support piece underneath it. We just lay it on the lip underneath.

I will add other observations as I remember. Overall, this is a great coach!

[KJR]

We looked at a 2019 BayStar 3626 yesterday with the two recliner option. No washer/dryer and the posted carrying capacity was only 1700 and change lbs. no enough for us since we full time.

KJR