Community Forums

Coma · 01-30-2015, 05:42 AM

A couple of points from a non owner shopper. Neither offers air leveling till the top of the food chain. The Aspire is an LP Aqua-Hot.

Jafundy · 01-30-2015, 05:52 AM

Both are good coaches but I like the fit and finish better in the Newmar.

As for the chassis I have had both. Biggest difference to me is that you can raise the back of the coach on a Spartan and you can not on a Freightliner. I need that to get down my driveway. Difference in clearance is about 4 inches.

Statgeek · 01-30-2015, 06:55 AM

I am running a 380 HP 40' DP, and I pull a 4-door Jeep Wrangler that weighs in a little over 4,000. I live in TX, so most of my local travel is flat... but I have taken this rig in smaller mountains like the Smokeys with NO problem. My buddy has the Newmar DSDP (43') and tows a slightly lighter car... That has as 450HP and he burns more fuel than I do with similar performance. The weight delta between his RV and mine is significant, so the 450HP gives him about the same performance as me, but with a few more dollars at the pump.

600HP for a 43' RV? Personally I view that as overkill, and expensive at original purchase plus every time you pump diesel. But maybe guys get more of a thrill when they hit the accelerator?

Guess it's all in your priorities.

PDR John · 01-30-2015, 12:24 PM

I don't believe anybody makes a 43' coach with 600 hp.

You looking at 2 very good companies, the only thing that pushed us to Newmar was the customizing.

Can't beat getting what you want for the money being spent.

Both are being very competitive right now.

I agree with most that has been posted already. Except for the person that said to stay away from Entegra.

Brobox, in the Entegra forum, had the worst possible delivery of his new Entegra. The company went crazy making up for their mistake, they have great people there.

The same with Newmar. They have always treated me great, like family.

Good luck with your choice, have fun with the search.

Ozarkan · 01-31-2015, 08:16 AM

As you can see by my signature line I made my choice at the Tampa show.

DD788Snipe · 01-31-2015, 05:16 PM

As you can see I'm partial to Newmar. Their customer service is awesome, they treat you like family and as far a chassis. I love my Spartan Mountian Master. I didn't get in on the Comfort steer but I've been told it is great. BTW for those of you that don't know. I believe Mercedes Benz now owns Freightliner and is trying to muscle it way in to be the only DP chassis manfacture available. Not good for competition. If your buying a Newmar you have to buy an Essex or King Aire to get a Spartan Chassis.

Campin Cajun · 02-01-2015, 06:04 AM

I don't own either one, but have been researching both. And after all the reading and looking at pictures I believe our decision will come to which floorplan we like the best.

Both companies have great reputation and both build quality coaches. We are leaning toward Newmar because of the customizing that they do. For example, exterior colors, interior furnishings and factory pick up with our own RV tech for a week.

MoHoGo · 02-02-2015, 06:57 AM

Wnytaxman made some excellent points. We are looking at a similar decision, Newmar DS vs. Entegra Anthem.

For us it looks like Newmar will win out. Factory delivery is the primary reason as we will be full time and need to take our best shot at resolving as many issues as possible during the PDI.

Some of the other thoughts we have....

Newmar is privately owned and has be around for years. Entegra is really an upstart. Doing a good job, but still a corporation and only 4 or 5 years on the market.

Newmar offers Comfort Drive

Newmar is less expensive when optioned out

Like the more even floor heat and quicker times to come up to temp in the Newmar

From a lot of posts, Newmar's wiring is more professional and clean in the areas you can not see.

Entegra

2 year warranty, not sure how this is truly a benefit as the chassis, engine, and generator have manufactures warranty that exceed this, but it is a 2 year warranty.

Spartan Chassis, this is acknowledge as a better chassis, but not as many service facilities. Freightliner is moving fast to step up their offer, but the truth is I wish the DSDP was on a Spartan.

Resale value on the Entegra might be better as most of the Newmar options are in the base price of the Entegra.

I think that the consensus is that you can not go wrong with either choice so our decision, while leaning toward Newmar is still open.

I believe that Entegra offers two inverters 2000 and 2800 watt. I believe Entegra may also offer AGM as standard.

Regards,

Jim

wnytaxman · 02-02-2015, 09:21 AM

Jim,

You and I are on the same page. One correction I'd like to make though, is that Entegra is owned by Jayco which has been around for a very long time also. Both Entegra and Newmar are family owned. Entegra has its roots in Newmar when some Newmar employees spun off and created Travel Supreme and when TS folded Entegra bought much of the assets and hired quite a few of their employees. I've toured both plants and their manufacturing processes are very similar as is their dedication to customer support and service.

Ed

Dennis_K · 02-02-2015, 09:29 AM

Something about Newmar that that hasn't been mentioned is that they make their own slide drive systems, no one else does that. Their slide system is much more robust than any of the others I have seen and all slides use the same drive system. Other manufactures outsource their drives systems. On my Monaco I have 3 slides and each one has a different brand drive system. To me that is a big advantage for Newmar.

bcp · 02-02-2015, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DD788Snipe

As you can see I'm partial to Newmar. Their customer service is awesome, they treat you like family and as far a chassis. I love my Spartan Mountian Master. I didn't get in on the Comfort steer but I've been told it is great. BTW for those of you that don't know. I believe Mercedes Benz now owns Freightliner and is trying to muscle it way in to be the only DP chassis manfacture available. Not good for competition. If your buying a Newmar you have to buy an Essex or King Aire to get a Spartan Chassis.

Daimler (Mercedes Benz) has owned Freightliner since 1982. Like many successful corporations, they want to dominate each market where they compete. If Freightliner wants to improve their chassis products and marketing to gain market share, that is good for competition rather than bad. In this case, Spartan would have to step up their game in order to maintain or improve their market share. Both companies make excellent products and I would make my purchase decision based on other factors than the brand of chassis. In case you are wondering, I am a retired Freightliner employee and I am living an Entegra MH on a Spartan chassis.

MoHoGo · 02-02-2015, 03:01 PM

the interesting thing is that regardless of brands we are both winners as the two compete in, at least my price point, in this market.

Regards,

Jim

Quote:

Originally Posted by wnytaxman

Jim,

You and I are on the same page. One correction I'd like to make though, is that Entegra is owned by Jayco which has been around for a very long time also. Both Entegra and Newmar are family owned. Entegra has its roots in Newmar when some Newmar employees spun off and created Travel Supreme and when TS folded Entegra bought much of the assets and hired quite a few of their employees. I've toured both plants and their manufacturing processes are very similar as is their dedication to customer support and service.

Ed

PPAinPA · 02-02-2015, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oakcreekeric

I wouldn't put much stock into this "review"... To compare a $100k gas unit to a $300k+ diesel unit is not wise... Two totally different creatures..

Besides... I'm pretty sure Entegra is a stand alone entity of Jayco... They're made in a separate building and have nothing to do with Jayco, except for corporate paperwork shuffling..

Well said, Eric. I could not agree more. We started years ago with a Coachman trailer that was pretty good. We then moved up to a Designer fifth wheel by Jayco in 2007. Some bugs in the beginning (most manufacturers) but the dealer fixed everything. Just purchased our first class a DP (Entegra Aspire 42rbq) and even before delivery, Entegra, not the dealer, have been more than helpful. I don't think that 2 distinct brands operation under the same corporate umbrella are indicative of their individual products... GM makes a Chevy spark and a Cadillac... JMO.

DebbieMH · 02-03-2015, 05:27 AM

Entegra does not have factory delivery right now ... however, we bought our Anthem from Lazy Days and spent a week in their "delivery campground - Crown Club" to work out any bugs and to get to know the different systems. Well, there weren't any bugs ... we had a tech at our beckon call 24 hours a day, if we needed them. The LD techs we met were all very knowledgeable of the Entegras and knew what they were doing. I can't imagine that "factory delivery" would be any better. Again, just my two cents.