Newmar Furniture issues

[timkat78]

It seems that Newmar MO for handling the fabric issues is all over the board. In our case, they offered to replace all of our furniture for half price, that’s almost $7000 (plus labor). What a “Thank You” to 20 year + customers. Think we’ll look elsewhere for our next coach☹️

[Solo_RV_Guy]

Originally Posted by timkat78

It seems that Newmar MO for handling the fabric issues is all over the board. In our case, they offered to replace all of our furniture for half price, that’s almost $7000 (plus labor). What a “Thank You” to 20 year + customers. Think we’ll look elsewhere for our next coach☹️

If Newmar were the furniture manufacturer I'd agree with you. There are maybe 3 makers of RV furniture and at least 2 of them used the same faux-leather product from the same vendor. There has been much discussion about this and if the furniture and RV are out of warranty, it's on the owner to fix. Newmar's half price offer seems reasonable to me, although I know it's not what you want to hear.



Docj is spot on.

[PanJH]

Originally Posted by Solo_RV_Guy

If Newmar were the furniture manufacturer I'd agree with you. There are maybe 3 makers of RV furniture and at least 2 of them used the same faux-leather product from the same vendor. There has been much discussion about this and if the furniture and RV are out of warranty, it's on the owner to fix. Newmar's half price offer seems reasonable to me, although I know it's not what you want to hear.



Docj is spot on.

Newmar specified , in our case, to Flexsteel, the material to be used. They specified the cheap stuff. In comparison, when we sold our 1999 13 year old Pace Arrow Vision with over 150k miles on it, the all the furniture looked great.

[Electra 225]

Could someone post, (or repeat if already stated), what year range these problems are? Thinking of a possible upgrade in coaches. I want to stay away from the problem years. Is this issue evident in 2015 or 2016 Mountain or London Aires?
I have a recliner, (same one used in Dutch Stars of the day) that I purchased from Bradd & Hall around March 2013. I stated this previously in post #24. The covering continues flaking off all over. Though the padding is holding up well, I think the covering is going to completely disintegrate.
Bradd & Hall got the color and faux leather codes from Newmar to match the rest of my furniture.
I'm in contact with B&H, and will probably take the whole recliner to them. Would have done sooner, but time to do so is the challenge.

[BayStarRover]

For those who wish to know, my furniture issue in our 2015 32' Baystar began about one year after we purchased the coach, just out of the Newmar warranty period. Those who believe that the owner should accept a 50% reduced price for replacement (still at a cost of thousands) are out of touch with reality. Would you accept such a deal on your car or your home furnishings? Our car is 19 years old and has NO problem with furniture fabric. Let's not let Newmar off the hook on this. They set the specs. They need to make amends.

[Ronjonaz]

Wagonmaster2
Newmar replaced our couch and furnished material for our villa captain chairs in 2016 under warranty. The "new" material was the same as the old stuff and we are now negotiating with Newmar to replace it again. Got the 50% off offer.

[Ronjonaz]

Glampdaddy.....just got the same offer on our 2015 DS....Have you appealed and with what success? Newmar replaced our couch and provided material for the captains chairs in 2016. Back at it again as the replacements have the same issue, Why should we incur 50% of the cost for a recognized issue?

[Darrell-Ruth]

We have replaced material on both captain chairs and recovered sofa air bed in our 2011 Mountain Aire. When the passenger chair started to peel we went to the factory after extended warranty indicated they would replace. While at the factory it was declined and we replaced the passenger chair at factory. Newmar would not cover cost. Newmar claimed it was not a common issue despite my disagreement. The driver’s chair was done by a firm in Palm Springs around 2013 at our cost. ( i wasn’t well informed on the issue). When the sofas started to go I took a harder line with Newmar based on our experience and the knowledge I had gained on this forum. We arranged for Newmar to replace the material at the factory and work was completed by Flexsteel while we were at the factory. I had called Flexsteel at one point and they told me Newmar ordered the material and it was their ultimate issue. In any case it was frustrating and what bothered me the worst was that in 2013 when at the factory I was misled when I asked if the deterioration was an issue; service manager said not an issue. I realize now it was an ongoing issue.

[dav-cle]

Originally Posted by Darrell-Ruth

We have replaced material on both captain chairs and recovered sofa air bed in our 2011 Mountain Aire. When the passenger chair started to peel we went to the factory after extended warranty indicated they would replace. While at the factory it was declined and we replaced the passenger chair at factory. Newmar would not cover cost. Newmar claimed it was not a common issue despite my disagreement. The driver’s chair was done by a firm in Palm Springs around 2013 at our cost. ( i wasn’t well informed on the issue). When the sofas started to go I took a harder line with Newmar based on our experience and the knowledge I had gained on this forum. We arranged for Newmar to replace the material at the factory and work was completed by Flexsteel while we were at the factory. I had called Flexsteel at one point and they told me Newmar ordered the material and it was their ultimate issue. In any case it was frustrating and what bothered me the worst was that in 2013 when at the factory I was misled when I asked if the deterioration was an issue; service manager said not an issue. I realize now it was an ongoing issue.

Darrell I have a 2011 MADP also. When I bought it in 2016, both Captains chairs and one cushion on the couch was in terrible condition, so part of the deal was to have them replaced. North Trail RV took care of that in a round about way.
Now 4 years later the jack knife sofa is completely shot. Called CS and they were telling me the # on the material is still available at $46. a yard or can order the cover with the pleats for 1600. Why would I want to order that and worry about it happening down the road.
Weighing my options now and will have a call into FlexSteele tomorrow to see what they say. Newmar ordered the material and should honor as they know it's been a problem for years !

[docj]

Originally Posted by dav-cle

Called CS and they were telling me the # on the material is still available at $46. a yard or can order the cover with the pleats for 1600. Why would I want to order that and worry about it happening down the road.

This is illustrative of what where the problem really stems from. Ultraleather, which is the premium standard for leather-like upholstery fabrics, costs $60-$80/yard. You can't possibly expect a fabric costing ~65% of that to provide the same degree of durability.

As I said in a previous post, RV manufacturers decide how much they are prepared to pay for furniture. The furniture vendors then bid to supply furniture that can be sold for that price. If the furniture lasts at least a long as the warranty period then they have met their obligations.

[FLJOE]

It just isn't Newmar. Friends have a 2017 Thor Challenger and the front seats are flaking really bad. Zero help from Thor or Flexsteel.

I know I have posted our experience before with Newmar and this flaking furniture issue, but here it goes again. Our issue was with the driver's seat and we were just out of warranty. They agreed to replace for free but Flexsteel could not match our piping color so Newmar then agree to replace both front seats at no charge. They didn't even consider re-covering them but simply put 2020 chairs in.

I suspect starting in 2019 or 2020 Newmar began changing their specifications to Flexsteel and the material was upgraded. I know the covering on our new seats are a lot thicker and feels different than what the original felt like.

[ddethridge]

We had an appointment 6/8/20 with Newmar to have our furniture replaced. I called them in mid May and they said they were canceling and repair/replacement dates for furniture because Flexsteel has quit making RV furniture so they hope to have an answer on what will be done and to call them back on July 13, 2020. Has anyone heard anything more on this subject?

[PanJH]

For what it's worth, I'm just going to have my local boat upholstery guy redo everything in our couch except the drivers side sofa which I'll trash and replace with a couple recliners.
Yes, Flexsteel has gone out of the RV furniture business.

[ddowntown]

PanJH, if you don’t mine the inquisition, what’s the price tag look like for a job like that??? I was considering doing both the drivers and passenger seat because they are junk after only a few years....