Newmar Upholstery Rant

[CWSWine]

Originally Posted by Winemaker2

The thread is about Newmar upholstery material and not much / many that are real leather AFAIK.
The peeling fabric is not Ultraleather either or it wouldn't be peeling.
I have no idea what material it is and doubt whether other owners really know for sure. I would guess a vinyl but that's only a guess. Ultrleather surface is actually 100% polyurethane which is pretty tough stuff.

Remember my 2017 with 30,000 miles isn't peeling I have been using this stuff every month or so. Just Maybe it has helped. This is what 303 Leather protects.

"Safe for any finished leather or vinyl surface such as finished leather seats, furniture upholstery, saddlery, footwear, coats, furniture, handbags, purses & briefcases, sports equipment and luggage. Not for use on suede or unfinished leather.

303 Automotive 3 in 1 Leather Complete Care is made in the U. S. A. and safely cleans, conditions and restores finished leather & vinyl to keep it looking new, longer."

[docj]

Originally Posted by hohenwald48

I was in Sam's today and noticed they had recliners upholstered in top grain leather for $399. Wish they sold driver and passenger seats.

RV manufacturers probably could have specified top grain leather for $100 more per seat.

With all due respect, I'll bet the chairs at Sam's weren't "top grain" leather for that kind of price. That's the sort of price you pay for "bonded leather" upholstery and that is pure junk.

If you want to see what it costs to buy truly high quality leather furniture, take a look at Ekornes Stressless recliners and sofas. My Stressless recliner is nearly 10 years old and is used every day. Its leather is still soft and supple. But it cost significantly more than the deluxe Ultraleather-upholstered, full-power FlexSteel captains chairs we installed 4 years ago and it has no power features at all.

[hnipper]

Just remember who owns newmar now that would be Winnebago junk stuff

[wallynm]

I think Winnebago owns Newmar now!

[Jshemack]

Originally Posted by DRM901

I've seen Tiffins in the same age range with the same issue. It is a Flexsteel issue, but the ultimate manufacturer (Newmar, Tiffin) should be the one to force Flexsteel to fix. Too bad they won't do so.

I own a 2014 Tiffin allegro red. That had the same problems, and Tiffin covered the front seats totally, then the dinette and two sofas started peeling. They covered the materials and we covered the labor on a then four year old unit.

[kenkap]

Just adding my 2 cents. We had a 2004 Country Star MH (cloth upholstery) which we were very pleased with and replaced it with a 012 Vanleigh (Tiffin) Vilano 5th wheel. Two years ago, we noticed the "leatherette" furniture started peeling. Now it's in terrible shape.

[jbhtex]

As most of you are aware Newmar sold to Winnebago Not terribly long ago... one way to make that purchase more attractive is to “cook the books” for 2 years... cheating products to make a greater profit two years in a row. Then of course Winnebago now has to deflect these deficiencies.

I have owned several brands over 6 years or so. 8 motorhomes to be mater of fact. Newmar was always my go to because the build quality in older units were bar none the best of the best. The newer I go of this brand the worse they were.

Anyhow business and mathematics is probably the finger to point for bad business practices. Good luck!!

[bgkoontz1]

It’s not just newmar. It’s tiffin, Winnebago, Thor, rev group and many more. If you love your Motorhome and intend on keeping it get someone to upholster the flexsteel with real leather

[Mr. T]

Thanks CWSWine. I use 303 products and have good luck with them.

[Sittib11]

Same happened to our Fleetwood 2014 Bounder Flexsteel furniture after 2 yrs, called Flexsteel, spoke to a great rep who told me that they make furniture according to the customers orders, ie, Newmar, Fleetwood, etc., and use what they are asked to do. I asked what she would cover seats, dinette with, and Ultraleather was her answer. We pulled tags from furniture ,sent her pictures of info on all tags, Flexsteel sent samples of matching colors available, I selected. They made covers in 3 weeks, and we had recovered locally. Has been so perfect, wonderful product, fit perfect. See attached pictures..

[elees]

Originally Posted by hohenwald48

I have a 2 year old Newmar motorhome with peeling furniture fabric that I will likely have to replace in the coming months. It seems that Newmar won't step up and do the right thing and Flexsteel has decided to simply abandon the RV market altogether.

Newmar should be ashamed of themselves for using such cheap upholstery in their supposed upscale motorhomes.

I know they claim it's not their fault. That's an unacceptable excuse. When you purchase a high end motorhome and pay a high end price you have every right to expect high end components from an honest and reputable manufacturer. Newmar's decision to specify cheap fabrics is Newmar's decision and they should own it.

Anybody considering the purchase of a new Newmar unit should consider Newmar's conscious decision to cheap out and cut corners and wonder where else they may have decided to specify cheap components.

Did you go to Newmar to get it replaced? I have heard both Tiffin and Newmar have had issues with Flexsteel upholstery. Many customers got Newmar to compensate.

[dans1999f-53]

They are replacing my buddies 3 year old under warranty.

[Hermbike]

My 2018 Thor Citation Sprinter has the same problem with the passenger seat and captain’s. Thor advised since it was past warranty “deal with it” in so many words. I checked with their parts supplier and the rep. Said it was a bad batch from the supplier. The manufacturers are not as customer service orientated today as they were years ago. They throw them together and let you deal with the dealer which can be very frustrating. Unfortunately that’s the attitude today.

[Texas John]

We noticed this exact problem as we looked at what we considered to be high end coaches. Each coach we looked at 9all used) had some type of problem regardless of who made them.The problem is the leather like material theyall use. Much of the furniture comes from reputable furniture manufacturers like Flexsteel but still have problems. Our research determined that it was primarily the result of the non-climate controlled environment that RVs are stored in. We ended up buying a coach that the furniture had just been recovered but using the same faux leather from the Flexsteel factory. Our decision was made to limit the initial investment cost. But we expect that within 2-5 years we will have to invest in recovering and this time we will go to real leather. But there are three types of leather and the second quality level, Corrected or Embossed Grain, is the best suited for furniture withiut requiring excessive upkeep. That is what we will use. But depending on the exptent of the problems, the $6K cost to recover everything is not out of reason if you want leather. And for us we think going to cloth will have it's own set of problems showing dirt unless you go to a dark color.