What's Up? Local Dealer Stopped Selling Entegra's

[PDR John]

I sounds like the normal "we need to give a reason, so we can keep our customers" excuse.

When it was just an everyday business decision.


But I know the pain, our local Newmar dealer sold out to Camping World. So no more local dealer for us.

[CampDaven]

Originally Posted by Crippsfl

Both Newmar and Entegra make quality product, however, Newmar has more choices in lower cost units.

I sense this played a big part in it. ECC has advantages with 2yr warranty and great customer service, but Newmar's variety and a wider selection of coaches and price points is also a heavy positive.
ECC is also popular for service at the factory site, in face to face contact with QA folks, and amenities and food/beverage and party-like perks to keep customers happy and not bored. Brand loyalty grows when folks show up for annual extended stays to get issues resolved, even after warranty.
Customer satisfaction and retention lead to a firmer, steadier bottom line, and the extra warranty and perks go a long way in keeping things going smoothly.
Both makers have similar issues with common supplier equipment troubles, as well as quality quirks with water leaks and such. But they both provide fairly equal overall quality, the difference is mostly in the bandwidth of product offerings.
Just my view from the saddle.

[DSL417]

Agree.

[DeeGee]

Richardson's RV in southern California sells both Newmar and Entegra. They do it out of separate locations, but they aren't all that far apart.

[MRUSA14]

Come to think of it, so does RVOne.

[wnytaxman]

Originally Posted by MRUSA14

Come to think of it, so does RVOne.

That is correct in both Buffalo and Albany.

[brobox]

Originally Posted by wnytaxman

That is correct in both Buffalo and Albany.

And Orlando for Entegra and Tampa for Newmar which are very close.

[wnytaxman]

When RVOne picked up Newmar in Albany the former Newmar dealer, Wilkins in Bath, NY, dropped the diesel end of Newmar and then Buffalo added the diesels. The performance in Hershey of selling 50 Newmars as opposed to the four or five sold the year before kind of sealed the fate of the former dealer.

My point here is that there are a lot of reasons why one brand is here today at a dealer and then gone tomorrow. Wilkins has always been a dealer with a good reputation but Newmar saw the volume that the RVOne group could generate and went that route. My take is that many changes that you see are very little more than pure business decisions.

[PushedAround]

Originally Posted by wnytaxman

When RVOne picked up Newmar in Albany the former Newmar dealer, Wilkins in Bath, NY, dropped the diesel end of Newmar and then Buffalo added the diesels. The performance in Hershey of selling 50 Newmars as opposed to the four or five sold the year before kind of sealed the fate of the former dealer.

My point here is that there are a lot of reasons why one brand is here today at a dealer and then gone tomorrow. Wilkins has always been a dealer with a good reputation but Newmar saw the volume that the RVOne group could generate and went that route. My take is that many changes that you see are very little more than pure business decisions.

4 or 5 vs 50. It's kind of hard to fault that math.

[BigTone]

Thanks to all for your insights and comments. I felt that there was more to this story than what the dealer was telling me. And yes, Gasman, it is Dylans. I have already contacted Entegra to find out where to go from here as far as to whether there will be a local dealer to carry their line.

Chuck, Dave, Ralph and everyone else, I knew I could count on you for your wise counsel! That is why I love this forum so much, you all have been a tremendous source of knowledge and have contributed greatly to my learning curve.

As I said before, I was going to leverage LD, RVOne and NIRV anyway to help secure a fair price when the time comes. But it would be nice to have someone local to the South Jersey/Philly area to go to. Fortunately, Hershey, PA (RV Show) is only a short drive from here. Might be the place to get the best deal.

Gasman, does Dylans service your coach at all? How is their service department?

[jmon129]

Curious, I have heard a few chime in that Anthem is a step above the Dutch. What is it. I am comparing both, the Dutch has Comfort drive, same engine and from MY opinion a better chassis. The Home amenities seem comparable. From what I have learned Oasis is better than Aqua, Newmars ceiling is cleaner looking and Newmar has been building FWS for years with very little to no trouble. Anthem has a nicer shower and a 2 year warranty, not a big deal to me, the Chassis warranty is bigger to me and Frieghtliner has more service locations and the 24/7. What am I missing?

[SWag]

Originally Posted by jmon129

Curious, I have heard a few chime in that Anthem is a step above the Dutch. What is it. I am comparing both, the Dutch has Comfort drive, same engine and from MY opinion a better chassis. The Home amenities seem comparable. From what I have learned Oasis is better than Aqua, Newmars ceiling is cleaner looking and Newmar has been building FWS for years with very little to no trouble. Anthem has a nicer shower and a 2 year warranty, not a big deal to me, the Chassis warranty is bigger to me and Frieghtliner has more service locations and the 24/7. What am I missing?

They are both great coaches, personally, I think they are comparable, I don't see one as better than the other. I looked at the Tiffin Allegro Bus 45LP as well and it was comparable but I preferred Entegra's and Newmar's styling over that of Tiffin. At the end of the day the Anthem was priced about $30,000 over the Dutch Star and I couldn't really find a justification for that price difference. But the real discriminator for me was Newmar's willingness to customize. They were willing to build me a coach with a customized paint job and a fully customized interior so I feel I got the motorhome I really wanted. Newmar also had much more to choose from in floorpans and they had one in particular that suited our needs better than anything else at that price point.

I think it just comes down to personal preference, I don't think one is better than the other, they are both incredible. Kind of like the difference between buying a Mercedes Benz E Class or a BMW 5 Series, one of those will just fit your needs better than the other.

[MRUSA14]

Originally Posted by jmon129

Curious, I have heard a few chime in that Anthem is a step above the Dutch. What is it. I am comparing both, the Dutch has Comfort drive, same engine and from MY opinion a better chassis. The Home amenities seem comparable. From what I have learned Oasis is better than Aqua, Newmars ceiling is cleaner looking and Newmar has been building FWS for years with very little to no trouble. Anthem has a nicer shower and a 2 year warranty, not a big deal to me, the Chassis warranty is bigger to me and Frieghtliner has more service locations and the 24/7. What am I missing?

Here are some reasons to buy Anthem over Dutchstar:

Many think Spartan Chassis is better built than Freightiner. This used to be very true, but may not be the case any more.

Anthem comes with many things standard that are options on Dutchstar. Some examples: Fireplace, safe, dishwasher, all electric including 8 AGM batteries, two inverters, in-floor heat, 3 roof A/C units, stacked washer/dryer, sleep comfort bed, GPS nav system, central vacuum, Sirius radio, chrome exterior mirrors, power window shades, power water and electric reels, pass through storage tray, in-motion satellite dish, keyless entry, power baggage door locks. Anthem has a standard 12.5 KW Onan generator, Dutchstar has 8 KW standard. Add all these options to the dutchstar and the pricing may look different to you.

Go into the basement and measure the height between the floor and the underside of the frame rails. When I was deciding in 2013, the DS had 16" while the Anthem had 22" in height. I think the 2015 DS may have a bit more height but the Anthem still wins here by a significant amount.

Two year warranty.

Those are some of the things that led me to choose Anthem over Dutchstar. I am not knocking Dutchstar or Newmar. They have their advantages too. The main advantages that I see for Dutchstar are the ability to customize, and Comfort Drive. I was able to customize my coach to my complete satisfaction after purchase so that was not an issue for me. Comfort Drive is a definite plus, but the Anthem drives superbly without it.

Lastly there is floorplan and styling. That is an entirely personal matter, but that to led me towards the Anthem.

The bottom line is, which feels better to you? They are both awesome products made by awesome companies.

[zman62]

Originally Posted by SWag

They are both great coaches, personally, I think they are comparable, I don't see one as better than the other. I looked at the Tiffin Allegro Bus 45LP as well and it was comparable but I preferred Entegra's and Newmar's styling over that of Tiffin. At the end of the day the Anthem was priced about $30,000 over the Dutch Star and I couldn't really find a justification for that price difference. But the real discriminator for me was Newmar's willingness to customize. They were willing to build me a coach with a customized paint job and a fully customized interior so I feel I got the motorhome I really wanted. Newmar also had much more to choose from in floorpans and they had one in particular that suited our needs better than anything else at that price point.

I think it just comes down to personal preference, I don't think one is better than the other, they are both incredible. Kind of like the difference between buying a Mercedes Benz E Class or a BMW 5 Series, one of those will just fit your needs better than the other.

Very well said. I will add, I have worked on both coaches and the biggest thing to me is Newmars workmanship is much farther ahead of entegra. Entegra will get there but just not yet. They do a beautiful job on the items on the surface. It sounds like the things under the surface they are still working on improving.

As far as Spartan vs Freightliner I think they are pretty even. Freighliner has so many more service centers which is a big plus. It seems like I am constantly reading about ride height issues,air leaks, vibrations and recalls with spartan.