Community Forums

Mr_D · 03-10-2015, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidki

First things first.... you say your 3 years to retirement.. but you didn't mention if your goal is to go full time or not.. That is an important question. If your using it for several trips a year, some extended stay and other shorter trips there is a large range of great coaches... I've done quite a bit or reading and Newmar keeps coming up on our radar as to the one to buy... seems just like a real solid coach with a great reputation... but each their own..

So, perhaps you might clarify if your going to use it full time (in other words move in to it and sell your house)...

We just traded our 2002 Dutch Star for a Country Coach Magna. The Magna is so much more than the Dutch Star but the Magna sticker was $749,700 and the Dutch Star was $211,000 or so. No comparison there. The Dutch Star is/was a great rig for us and we decided a long time ago that we didn't want anything fancier, then we decided we were going to spend what we wanted to and not worry about leaving a bunch to others when we go.
The DS was bought to live in full time, then we found in the manual that it wasn't "rated" for full time use but lots of people do it.
It's up to you and your budget to decide what you want/need. Floor plan is important too, but it depends on you. Are you going to travel a LOT or just snowbird it? No need for a fancy diesel pusher if just snowbirding it. A gas unit will do just fine.

Technobody · 03-11-2015, 06:23 AM

I'm six months from retirement and haven't bought our coach yet. My wife and I have been researching for 5 years.
The top coach to avoid in my mind is Thor. They may sell the most units but's it's at the cost of quality. I really don't think they even have a quality assurance program when you hear of the defects that go out the door.
I believe the best coaches made are Tiffin and Foretravel. I once thought Newmar but lately I have heard that they too are plagued with defects which Newmar is very slow to rectify.

UKGuy · 03-11-2015, 06:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Technobody

I'm six months from retirement and haven't bought our coach yet. My wife and I have been researching for 5 years.
The top coach to avoid in my mind is Thor. They may sell the most units but's it's at the cost of quality. I really don't think they even have a quality assurance program when you hear of the defects that go out the door.
I believe the best coaches made are Tiffin and Foretravel. I once thought Newmar but lately I have heard that they too are plagued with defects which Newmar is very slow to rectify.

I think you are going to get some responses about the Newmar reference.

PorscheVille · 03-11-2015, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Technobody

I'm six months from retirement and haven't bought our coach yet. My wife and I have been researching for 5 years.
The top coach to avoid in my mind is Thor. They may sell the most units but's it's at the cost of quality. I really don't think they even have a quality assurance program when you hear of the defects that go out the door.
I believe the best coaches made are Tiffin and Foretravel. I once thought Newmar but lately I have heard that they too are plagued with defects which Newmar is very slow to rectify.

When I first started looking, the Thor Tuscany caught my eye. (Thor comes up high on search engines). Then a competitor I won't name dropped the hint that they are a public company vs. private. Inference being a focus on bottom line profit at the customers expense. Then I noticed a lot of talk about quality issues and have dropped Thor from my interest list.

I like what I have seen and heard about Tiffin models but haven't looked at Foretravel.

PorscheVille · 03-11-2015, 07:48 PM

[QUOE=Mr_D;2459809] No need for a fancy diesel pusher if just snowbirding it. A gas unit will do just fine.[/QUOTE]

Mr_D, For me, a motor coach will be all about "want" and nothing to do with "need." And as I said earlier, I owe much of my career and business to Cummins, Inc., so a gas engine is not an option. Whatever I buy will be powered by a big red diesel. I hope to travel a lot, but nothing approaching full-time.

As for floor plans, I really like the Tiffin Allegro Bus 45 UP plan which has a half bath behind the bedroom and a full bath forward of the bedroom and entry to the full bath from both the hall and directly from the bedroom.

PDR John · 03-11-2015, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Technobody

I once thought Newmar but lately I have heard that they too are plagued with defects which Newmar is very slow to rectify.

Could you expand upon this?

Your post is the first I've heard of. There isn't anything in the Newmar section relating to what you've said.

Mr_D · 03-11-2015, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PorscheVille

[QUOE=Mr_D;2459809] No need for a fancy diesel pusher if just snowbirding it. A gas unit will do just fine.

Mr_D, For me, a motor coach will be all about "want" and nothing to do with "need." And as I said earlier, I owe much of my career and business to Cummins, Inc., so a gas engine is not an option. Whatever I buy will be powered by a big red diesel. I hope to travel a lot, but nothing approaching full-time.[/QUOTE]
Didn't look at my sig did you? Just got a 45' Country Coach Magna with the ISX 650. But after only 3,000 miles of ownership it's in the Cummins shop for a dropped valve in #6. Second time in 25,000 miles. Cost now is at $5,100 and could be triple that when done. No warranty help either.

Prometheus · 03-11-2015, 09:23 PM

We spent a great deal of time in this arena, we narrowed it down to 2 brands, Prevost and Monaco, then we broke it down to either conversion companies for (Prevost), and the sole manufacture of the final unit, then we broke it down to Drivetrain, engines, transmissions, electrical layout. Sheer Workmanship. We were hung-up on Prevost with a Marathon conversion, as the layout and workmanship were top notch, the largest problem was the Prevost seem to all the same cheesy look, nothing against the converters but they seem stuck on an 80's brass and glass obsession.
Finally we moved to an early 2000's Monaco, they have a great generator, great amenities solid chassis, great woodwork, and excellent workmanship. We then focused on what year specifically, with emissions, and safety issues "chassis".
So we also decided on an 2001 Monaco Signature 42-45', 500hp ISL, pre emissions (no egr or recycling issues), excellent chassis, no tag axle issues pre roadmaster chassis sell off. We are more than happy with our decision, and the savings over a Prevost with similar age and mileage we could buy 2 or 3 of the Monaco's. there is something wrong in the industry if you can buy a 42-45' 2012 or newer coach for less than 250k, makes you wonder what is being cut to made it that cheap.

srrobe · 03-12-2015, 04:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Technobody

I'm six months from retirement and haven't bought our coach yet. My wife and I have been researching for 5 years.
The top coach to avoid in my mind is Thor. They may sell the most units but's it's at the cost of quality. I really don't think they even have a quality assurance program when you hear of the defects that go out the door.
I believe the best coaches made are Tiffin and Foretravel. I once thought Newmar but lately I have heard that they too are plagued with defects which Newmar is very slow to rectify.

...??

Technobody · 03-12-2015, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PDR John

Could you expand upon this?

Your post is the first I've heard of. There isn't anything in the Newmar section relating to what you've said.

If you go to the Newmar owners group on Yahoo there were a few recent owners complaining about how much they paid for their coaches and Newmar has been very slow to respond to deficiencies if at all. Some waiting up to a month for parts etc.
There are numerous other RV blogs besides iRV2

wnytaxman · 03-13-2015, 06:23 AM

To put Tiffin in the same league with Foretravel is, well, more than a very huge stretch. Tiffin has had some very severe quality issues over the past few years with things like rotting wet bays and cracked roof rails. If you go to the Tiffin RV forum you will find all kinds of issues. It seems like many Tiffin owners have to make the trip to Red Bay, Alabama fairly regularly. For some it is by choice and for some it seems to be for necessity. Foretravel is at a much different price point than Tiffin so the comparison would be like comparing a Mitsubishi to an Audi.

Most of the problems that I see crop up on the Newmar Yahoo group are with older coaches and very few issues with newer coaches. Anytime someone is dealing with a ten year old coach, there will be issues. For us the choices come down to either Newmar or Entegra, although I would like to see the new American Coach Allegiance before committing one way or the other.

Betr2Trvl · 03-13-2015, 06:53 AM

Porscheville, I'll provide some perspective as a new To RVing Tiffin owner, and car guy that I expect you'll follow but others will probably shake their heads.

Is a Porsche better than a Ferrari, Aston, or Lambo? What about a GT-R?

Would your rather have a new 991S or an 8 year old F430 for the same price?

There are reliability/quality/dealership/service horror stories that become legend, but most people are generally happy with what they have in the RV world just as with cars. Even within the same manufacturer - IMS/RMSs get a lot of attention on 987/997/996/986s, but people seem to forget that the beloved 993 can have valve and secondary air passage issues that can cost $12k plus to fix; Water cooled GT3s and Turbos blow out their coolant pipes and dump coolant all over the rear tires that costs $5k, and then there is the center lock hub fiasco.. And let's not forget the $8k clutch jobs on 430s at 6,000 miles. I think you get where I am.....

Used / new is the most unusual debate I have seen in the RV World. The technology and interior styling of coaches have changed dramatically from my perspective in the last few years. I had looked at used 996s off and on from 2004-2006, hooped into a new 2007 Cayman in Nov. 2006 , and a week later had a new "left over"2006 CaymanS in my garage I just sold that was a great car.that saw DEs, autoX, etc. without a glitch. There was just no comparison between a 996 and the 987 in so many ways, and I didn't car that it wasn't a 911........

As with our new Tiffin - we knew what we liked and wanted, and even the few 2013 models we saw did not fit our desires, at least enough to make the price difference compelling vs. new, special,ordered just like we wanted.

Regards!

mike brez · 03-13-2015, 07:19 AM

In a five year study you came up with Tiffin and Foretravel. Tiffin is not even close in my book. In no particular order off the top of my head I would go with something like this.

Newell
Foretravel
Newmar
Monaco

Out of bussiness rv manufactures. I know CC is up and running kinda.

Western Rv
Wanderlodge
Country Coach

Scottybdivin · 03-13-2015, 07:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PDR John

Could you expand upon this?

Your post is the first I've heard of. There isn't anything in the Newmar section relating to what you've said.

I was thinking the same thing. In my research, among several of my choice brand forums, Newmar owner's satisfaction and support was almost unanimous and overwhelming. It was the driving force in my decision to seek out a used Newmar. As the 2nd owner of a MADP, the response I have received from Newmar customer service, has been as if I recently purchased a new coach from them. I simply don't understand where that statement came from.

My investigation was short of scientific, more of taking all the information as a whole, and going by a gut feeling. On the other hand, two other manufacturers that were high on my list were suffering some satisfaction and delivery issues. This also swayed me toward Newmar.