Is it ok to not like a Newmar?

[angelbones]

My title of the post was not meant to provoke and I mean no offense to Newmar owners or lovers. I've seen praises of the quality and I won't dispute that. Here's my issue. I've looked through every old brochure for the last 10 years or so on Newmar DPs, with the thought that one day I would "move up" to a used Newmar. Unfortunately, whether it be the Dutch Star or Ventana, I can't find a floor plan that I like. Of course the big ones like the King Aire, etc. are nice but I don't want to go that big. In other words, would like to stay between 36-39 feet. About the closest ones I seem to like were the Kountry Stars. I don't see a whole lot about them though so not sure what to make of them. Regardless by the time we're ready to move up, I'm sure we'll consider them too old to get into.

So I get the quality part, but what if I don't like any floor plan they offer. Maybe I'm being ridiculous, and again I totally respect people's needs and choices to get one, but every time I look, I am underwhelmed by floor plans, bang for buck, and other things. Thus, back to my original question. Don't hate me if I don't find the Newmars right for us. Honestly, I've tried and researched but just not feeling it.

[bokobird]

I'm big on floor plans and there are brands out there which I might "want" to buy but like you're saying, the floor plans just don't work for me and that puts them out of the running. So as provocative as your subject is, I can see what you're saying easily.

BTW, you can see in my signature I have a KDSP specifically because of the floor plan offered in what I purchased. Love this thing!

[Mike and Cha]

I don't see a problem with that, the important thing is that you do your research and buy the MH that works best for you. MH's are a big purchase that is a luxury to have so it's important that you buy what you want, even though no matter what you buy there may always be compromises. What quality is to people comes in many different forms, needs, and expectations. For some it's the build and lack of issues, others specific floorplans, others price ect. At the end of the day if you do your research you will know when you find the right combination of quality, floorplan, amenities, and price. Even though most of us Newmar owners love our MH's we may have at times considered other brands. Newmar is not the only brand that is quality built, but I can honestly say that with our experience with Newmar and our MH, if we ever buy another one it will be a Newmar. Good luck in your search, and remember looking for one is half the fun.

["007"]

Most smaller length coach's may only be in the gas lineup, some older DP'S started about 35' but floor plans maybe some what the same.
You didn't say what you are looking for in a floor plan the mid engine coach ATME may have a plan you may like for a difference.
The problem will be finding what you like in a floor plan on market but they have been

showing up.

In the QT's link 1 & 2 if you scroll through to end you will see many modes one owner did to his.
I had a Kountry Star gas on a Workhorse chassis one of the best chassis produced you can see some of the modes I did in same link.
Good luck in your hunt enjoy the forums.

[mtofell]

I hear you OP. I seem to fall in love with all the wrong brands. It kind of reminds me of my younger years before getting my stuff together and meeting my DW

Anyway, I seem to only find floor plans that I want on brands that everyone swears the wheels will fall off of when leaving the dealership. I'm in a new-ish 5th wheel and truck currently but my next RV will likely be a class A. All of my research so far leaves me with a lot of questions and trade-offs.

[twogypsies]

What kind of floorplan are you zeroing in on? Newmar does custom work so long as it's not structural change. Perhaps they could work with you to achieve your floorplan.

When we ordered ours we had approx. 100 changes/additions made. Nothing really major and some were small like more outlets or different lights or more lights, etc.

Correct in that Newmar isn't the only quality mfg. out there. Good luck finding the one for you.

[Dutch Star Don]

When we started looking for a DP in 2004, we toured three plants, looking primarily at Alpine Coach (Western Wilderness), Country Coach, and Monaco. The Alpine Coach chassis looked like something Nascar was building. Country coach was building the center of the chassis to length and then adding the front and rear end, a great way to build a custom chassis. Lastly, Monaco looked like they were slopping them together on a dirty shop floor and then spraying them with a TON of undercoating.

When we were ready to buy, Alpine Coach was folding and we really wanted a Country Coach floorplan that we could fall in love with, but found none. We then saw the Monaco Diplomat 36' SKT side aisle coach. We loved it and bought a new one in 2005. So far it's been the best RV we've ever owned. I later found all of that undercoating really protected the coach.

In 2013, we started looking at new coaches and limited our list to Newmar, Tiffin and American Coach. My wife just couldn't find anything that floated her boat until she saw the Dutch Star 4018. Luckily, it checked all of my boxes, a true 40' with a tag, side radiator and IFS.

So.....even though there may be a popular brand, if it doesn't work for you, you have to keep looking.

[DGBPokes]

We are on our 4th motorhome, and our second Newmar. We have moved up from an old C Class to a '07 KSDP last year. With each motorhome, it was significantly improved when we sold it from the condition it was in when we bought it. ( same can be said for our "sticks and bricks" as well.)

Our last rig purchase was to get a king size bed, and a mid coach bath. We found those in a used 39' DP with good maintenance records, new tires, and a beautiful paint job. However, the furniture, and interior needed a lot of TLC.

Long story short.....get the floor plan you like, pay attention to fundamental quality. "Lip stick and glitz" isn't hard to do, and moderate in cost. The cost is also manageable, like make a list, and do the improvements as the budget allows. The benefits are you get a good feeling as you see each improvement happen and a sense of accomplishment. And the DW becomes more and more "invested" in her home away from home.

[USMCRET]

The only thing I'm not understanding in the OP is the statement that you like the Kountry Star but not the Ventana. There isn't much difference there. What does KS offer that's not in the Ventana?

[Gordon Dewald]

Originally Posted by angelbones

My title of the post was not meant to provoke and I mean no offense to Newmar owners or lovers. I've seen praises of the quality and I won't dispute that. Here's my issue. I've looked through every old brochure for the last 10 years or so on Newmar DPs, with the thought that one day I would "move up" to a used Newmar. Unfortunately, whether it be the Dutch Star or Ventana, I can't find a floor plan that I like. Of course the big ones like the King Aire, etc. are nice but I don't want to go that big. In other words, would like to stay between 36-39 feet. About the closest ones I seem to like were the Kountry Stars. I don't see a whole lot about them though so not sure what to make of them. Regardless by the time we're ready to move up, I'm sure we'll consider them too old to get into.

So I get the quality part, but what if I don't like any floor plan they offer. Maybe I'm being ridiculous, and again I totally respect people's needs and choices to get one, but every time I look, I am underwhelmed by floor plans, bang for buck, and other things. Thus, back to my original question. Don't hate me if I don't find the Newmars right for us. Honestly, I've tried and researched but just not feeling it.

I believe more people change coaches because they are unhappy with the floor plan than problems they have with the unit due to so called quality issues.

If the floor plan is really close then the decision about a "quality" manufacturer could enter into the picture. If you are willing to pay extra for a "quality" reputation and have the money go for it.

Following the complaints noted on this forum, my observation is all manufacturers have about the same failure rate based on units produced. All manufacturers use the same third party suppliers for many of their appliances, chassis, etc. so that is not part of the consideration.

Based on two recent events involving Newmar (King Aire flood, DS front axle overload) and the management laggardly response to both situations I consider them no better or worse than any manufacturer who wishes to make a profit to remain in business.

[trs80]

I am with you as well ...I was looking forward to the new Ventana LE 4042 as I have 3 kids and wanted two bathrooms ...but then they put a dinette in the coach that is the opposite of family friendly. We need the dinette as a seating option while driving and to eat inside on rainy or very hot days ....strange being a bunk model and you would think family, but the living space looks like it is designed for two.

[Skripo]

Originally Posted by mtofell

I hear you OP. I seem to fall in love with all the wrong brands. It kind of reminds me of my younger years before getting my stuff together and meeting my DW

Anyway, I seem to only find floor plans that I want on brands that everyone swears the wheels will fall off of when leaving the dealership. I'm in a new-ish 5th wheel and truck currently but my next RV will likely be a class A. All of my research so far leaves me with a lot of questions and trade-offs.

I feel for you.. have the distinct dishonour of choosing a 2016 Georgetown 364TS because of the floor plan and budget.

Frankly, I find the value outstanding and the horrendous craftsmanship on par with the rest of the industry.

That being said, I can't complain about issues because it only had cosmetic ones. All the systems are well installed and the typical brands you will find in higher end coaches.

Speaking of which, I love to visit. The thing is, I'm always underwhelmed. Yes they have tile floors and nicer cabinetry but I just can't justify the extra cost. I feel like I get 10k of extras for a 60k bump in price.

[twogypsies]

Originally Posted by trs80

..but then they put a dinette in the coach that is the opposite of family friendly. We need the dinette as a seating option while driving and to eat inside on rainy or very hot days .

Did you ask if they could swap out the table and chairs for a booth? Newmar will do many custom requests. The 'options' list is different from a custom project.

[angelbones]

Thanks to all for not letting this get ugly as I feared. I knew this was a great bunch of owners and lurkers out there. I'll answer a couple questions posed by others. I should probably say that we did just get a 2013 Fleetwood Expedition 36M that due to other personal matters, we have not had time to fully appreciate yet. We did look at the Ventana, but we didn't feel it. I think, like most of you, I liken buying an RV as similar to buying a house: you just know it. When it comes to floor plans sometimes you know when you see it on paper, and other times you know only when you walk into them. Admittedly we only saw a few Newmars in person and we have no doubt about quality. It's just there was always something that didn't connect.

A couple posters have asked what we are looking for in a floor plan that Newmar doesn't offer. It would probably be easier to explain what we did like about the Fleetwood (not that it was 100% perfect because as others have noted that probably doesn't exist). First, it had a king size bed, which was mounted east-west on a slider. Some models could be refitted with a king, but nice to know that it was made for that. Another option that is much more common now than ones I have seen on older models is a stackable washer & dryer. I know some could care less, but for us, it was a must. Because we were intentionally trying to stay small-ish in RV size, a bath and a half would have been great, but other than a Palazzo, not much in our sweet spot of 36-39 ft. had it. Therefore, having a separate toilet from the shower is very nice. (Sort of crazy since there are only two of us (plus our dog) and we thought that our 2.5 bath home was our minimum living conditions before going into this; obviously our thinking has changed since then).

I'm sure Newmar (and several other manufacturers for that matter) can customize anything------for a price. There's the rub about this. We're not rich so as I stated, I'm thinking down the road. In other words, even though we just got a new to us RV, I like looking at 2016, 2017 models so that in a few years I'll know what to look for then in a slightly used model.

Of course, we worried when looking at all levels of coaches that the quality may not be there. That includes the one we ended up going with. The Kountry Star has a better lay out than the Ventana for example, even though they are similar. The 2011-2013 Monaco Knight/Holiday Rambler Ambassador had a great layout for us, but could never quite find the right one. The Thor Palazzo 35.1 had probably one of the best floor plans for us, but actual quality concerns (instead of imagined concerns) started turning us away from Thor (not to mention we could sense a cheapness to it that we didn't see in other brands). After reading forums and doing a lot of other research, one thing I learned is to quit worrying. ALL coaches have issues. Like a car, some go through a whole warranty period without issue, and some are in the shop constantly. We plan on enjoying this new direction and enjoying our new to us RV, with its certain warts and all. I encourage further discussion on this thread and will weigh in as needed. Other thoughts?