I'd like your thoughts on the Newell's from lets say 2002 to 2006? Would you consider an 8 to 12 years old Newell ?American builds a great coach with its Eagle and Heritage brands and Entegra has the Cornerstone, all top of the line coaches. And I know you can buy a newer one of them for the same money as an older Newell. My question is... is the build of the Newell so much better so that it is a viable consideration over the other newer rigs mentioned above? I'm probably asking the question poorly and I apologize for that. I know a Newell is a beautiful coach but would you choose one 8 to 12 years old with the expectation of it going another 20 years?Thank you for your help and wisdom...

Foodman, Newell builds a very nice coach on a robust chassis. I looked extensively at Newell crawling in and out of the whole unit.On the year that you are looking into, I'm not sure if they used the bi-fold cargo doors. That was such a turn off to me. For one, you could seriously pinch your hand in the crease and you 'have' to touch the paint to close the door. I could see a small child getting hurt easily (just my opinion). If the coach has the outside mirror arms attached to the upper part of the chassis, the sunshades are made NOT to block the view of the mirrors. So, that means that you have a shade that is 12-18 inches away from the A-Pillar which makes them useless from the low sun coming at you.Newell does have the option on some coaches of mirror attachment like regular coaches at the base of the windshield which is what I would prefer. Otherwise, Newell's are great coaches and usually have big power plants.We leaned towards the Prevost because of the solid proven 2,000,000 mile chassis. Also, I wanted Prevost slides vs. any other brand. That way, Prevost is responsible for them at the Prevost service centers.Take a peek at used Prevosts and see what you think.Another thing I like about the Prevost vs. any other brand, is that all the steps are on the inside. You never have to worry about jamming your steps or damaging them on a boulder that you didn't see, etc. (once parked).Safe travels,MM.On edit: Surprisingly, my fingers are slower than my brain and I missed a couple of words.

Do some price checking on these sites. On the Newell site close the error and then select the menu tab. The inventory is at the lower end of the options list.http://www.newellcoach.com/flash.html/http://foretravel.com/http://www.bus-stuff.com/busforsale.htm/http://www.rvonline.com/motorhomes-5th-wheels.asp?Searchmethod=1&SortedBy=4/http://www.prevost-stuff.com/used_coaches.htm/

Harry, I think you are headed in the right direction... a older used high end coach BUT I would include most major manufactures. After racing around the country a couple times most FT settle down and only put 5-7K miles per year on their rigs so any high end DP should be good 200K miles or 25+ years without any major problems. Are the AC's, refer, AquaHot, Girrard awnings ect any better in a Newell/Foretravel than American/Monaco/???? I would not go back more than 10 years as that is when there was a big increase in the number and size of the slides. Good Luck :B

Foodsman - Newell is a great coach. We bought a high end 7 year old coach 5 years ago. It is IMHO one step below a Newell. High end coaches are a luxury way to travel. But there are lots of parts and systems. More luxury = more parts and more systems. When this stuff works it is great. When they don't they can be a PITA and expensive. We get most of our work done now in the Junction City area of Oregon. There are lots of skilled people in this area plus the Country Coach factory. They fix things fast and at a fair price. We struggled getting things done correctly and at an affordable price locally for several years with limited success. Our coach this year seemed to know when we were going to the factory as all kinds of little stuff stopped working. Nothing expensive, but things that are useful like the keypad for the lock on the door. The solar electric monitor. And so on. So keep that in mind with any coach you buy. The simpler the coach the less things to go wrong.

Appliances and furniture are not made by the chassis or house manufacturer and they do age out just as they do on all other brands. It is they that make living comfortable.

A used Newell, what do you think? | Good Sam Community

Ivylog
Explorer III
Jul 07, 2014
Too heavy means the drive axle is over the 20K limit that most states have. Since we are not a commercial vehicle many feel we will always be exempt from having to stop and be weighed. I'm not sure why we will always be so special that we can exceed the 20K limit, often by as much as 3-5K lbs. Several of the NE toll roads weigh you as you get on and many have been stopped from using the road because they are over the 20K single axle max weight. There is a reason why many Newells have 315 tires all the way around.
RayChez
Explorer
Jul 07, 2014
The only problem with it being too heavy is that some states have weight limits on certain bridges. We had a crane that we had to go around certain bridges here in California. But I am almost positive that if you own a Newell or Prevost, you will not be effected as long as you stay on the interstate highways. Now some of the back roads could be different.

As to the poster that posted that he did not like the Newell because of too much glitz. Well! I have never seen a luxury coach that does not have glitz. Who wants to pay that kind of money for a box. Not me! I love the glitz on these luxury coaches.
Mr_Mark1
Explorer
Jul 07, 2014
The Newell guy told me on the new Newell that we were looking at that we had 2,000 lbs. of leeway on the FRONT axle. So, on the new coach, the front was not overweight.

Our new coach will weight about 54,000 lbs. wet. Not overweight on any axle. Liberty Coach is very careful of balancing the coach.

MM.

On edit: My Newell brochure is at the house in California (I'm in TN)
and I think I'm getting the numbers confused on the drive and tag axle. I looked at the Newell coach and spoke with the salesman in Feb. of this year. So, let me say that I know he told me I had 2,000 lbs. on the front axle to work with. It could be that the drive and tag were at limit.
RayChez
Explorer
Jul 07, 2014
Mr.Mark wrote:
The Newell guy told me on the new Newell that we were looking at that we had 2,000 lbs. of leeway on the 20 lb. axle. So, on the new coach, it was not overweight.

Our new coach will weight about 54,000 lbs. wet. Not overweight on any axle. Liberty Coach is very careful of balancing the coach.

MM.

I imagine that will be a very nice coach. That should last you a few years. Pictures when you get the coach.
John_S_
Explorer II
Jul 07, 2014
I agree with MM listing of order. If I was looking right now I would go Prevost or save a bit of money and go Foretravel. Used is fine but Newell's are very heavy and they know it. They have a button to let the tag take extra weight at slow speeds to get on toll roads even.
J-Rooster
Explorer
Jul 07, 2014
My thoughts on a 8-12 year old luxury RV would be a Country Coach!
mpierce
Explorer
Jul 07, 2014
Deano56 wrote:
why are people concerned about a 2 million mile coach, or even a million mile one? Is anyone here going to drive theirs even 500K? These companies boast about the mileage these coaches can last but who drives that many mies other than the bus companies they were made for in the first place. I understand marketing to some point in that they have to say these thing to have some kind of justification in charging the kind of dollars they do. JMHO, also if you are interested I can point you to a 03 45' Country Coach with 16K miles for less than 200K

Because that means they will not be falling apart at 50k.

We just brought home a 1990 Blubird Wanderlodge. 1800 miles, not a hiccup. 120,000 miles.

It is a great coach. The quality is so much better than run of the mill new MH's. No way I could afford a new MH of any brand. I bought it for less than 10% of its list price in 1990. Normal wear and tear, but the quality of everything is fantastic.

More people should be looking at older, top end MH's. They will get so much more than spending more money on a newer, lower quality MH.
Snomas
Explorer
Jul 07, 2014
Just remember you will have maintenance costs for any older coach. This past year I have spent close to 17K on maintenance problems on our Dutch Star. It started with a leaking exhaust manifold and went downhill from there. I just had all new heater hoses replaced because one broke on the Interstate on the way home from CA last spring! Have all the running gear checked by a good mechanic before purchasing any older MH. It is money well spent!
John_S_
Explorer II
Jul 07, 2014
I have had to replace my fuel lines. Sure on older coaches you just factor it in and do it before you are on the side of the road. Replace heater hoses next on the list. Simple if you choose the place and time. My coach has 161,000 miles on it. It runs greats nd I will put it up aganst any lower level new coach.
Mr_Mark1
Explorer
Jul 07, 2014
BTW, I edited my info above on the Newell Coach. I was trying to go too much by memory which is not a good thing.

Two years ago (June 2012), our Dynasty developed a leak in the heater hose. I caught it in time and stopped at the Cummins Central Power Coach Care in Kansas City, MO. Lucky, lucky, that is a fantastic facility. I've been back twice for other service as they know what they are doing.

The heater hose was rubbing against the engine and wore a hole in the hose. A protector was missing during manufacturing which caused the problem but it took 50,000 miles for it to happen!

If I were buying an older coach and didn't have all the service records, I would bite the bullet and zero out the coach (all hoses and fluids, wheel bearings greased, chassis lube, etc.). You just don't want to have problems on the road. And in almost 69,000 miles, we have never been stranded along the road.

MM.

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