Monaco Diplomate2013 VS Newmar Duchstar 2011 3734 with 1900M

Subject: sorry owner

In the fall of 2012 I traded in our 2011 Monaco coach with a Maxxforce 7 engine on a newer, higher end coach with the new Maxxforce 10 engine at Guarantee RV in Calgary.

In Oct of 2012 we picked it up and we left for Arizona, we made it to Nanton AB when we noticed a light flashing on the dash. this coach has the same engine as the one we traded in and never seen this light before. I let it flash and then stopped, I called their office to let them know, they said it should go out, its just the regen system and it will not bother anything. I kept driving and it didn't seem to make any difference then.

I got into Montana and made a second call, they talked me through it and said its all automatic but that we could fire it manually. I did what they said but the lights never went out. we kept driving. it stayed lit for the next couple of days when I noticed the light started to flash, we were in nevada and I called the monoco office, they said its going to plug the filter, I then got it to burn manually and it cleared up but the light never ever went off.

We got to our home in arizona and I made an appointment with Gibb IH truck service, we got it in where it spent 3 days there and they said it was repaired, the light was off, we took it back to our home but the light came back on, we took it back and they hooked up a computer, cleared the codes and it cleared the lights, we then took it home again and parked it until the next spring.

In March 2013 we got in it and headed for CA, the light came on again shortly after we got on the road, it started to flash, I called monaco and they said to pull over and they will find me a service port for IH.

I had to get it hauled into westrux a service place in SAn Bernardino CA as it was in limp mode and would only drive at 20MPH, the monaco people said there was no towing available but I got on my cell and found one guy who drove out to pick us up. When we got there (westrux) the guys said there was no way they could get it in but they could try a computer fire and they brought out the laptop and got it to burn, it would then drive again.

I got it to the campsite in LA and spent a week with my family there, after which I thought it would be okay again...then we got on the road to Fresno and the light was flashing again. I got it into Gibbs in FResno where they said it needs to be totally removed and cleaned, they allowed us to sleep in the parking lot in it and they worked on it during the days, it took two days to completely repair, they said the took out the filter and had to cook it...then put it all back and we left, it only went another 3 hours and the lights came back on. we limped into Oregon and got into a campsite, I tried to call Monaco again and they said there is only one place and it was another 800 miles, I kept trying the manual burn at the campsite and it finally lit again, I was ecstatic. I got back on the road and we made it to Prince George BC where it was limping again...it was the day before a long weekend and the guys at the IH service station went above and beyond the call, the worked well past quitting time to get it working again and it was firing when I left there. it got me home but the light was on again. I made another appointment at the Dawson Creek IH dealership where I got the mechanic and the monaco guys to talk and they said it was repaired and should not be any more problems. a month went by and we loaded up to head for Ponoka, the lights came on about 4 hours into our trip. I called monaco again and they were absolutely no help. I made all the calls myself and when we were climbing the hill out of whitecourt, it was like something released in the system and it took off, we climbed that hill like it has never ran before...like it was plugged up and it finally blew itself out. we got to Ponoka and then I took it back to calgary Monaco , I flew home at my expense, left it with them for two weeks, flew back where they said it was repaired again. they said it was driven for 4 to 5 hours and no problems. I got in it, the floors were covered in black oil from the mechanics, the front of the coach was damaged from hitting something, the rear of the coach has a long scratch, the toilet was used and not flushed, the roof lights were removed and the debris was left on all the counters from the lights. the outside was dirtier than when I dropped it off. I had to remind them to fuel it back up. I left Guarantee RV in a mad state of mind yesterday. after I was on the road for two hours, the lights came back on. I tried to fire it while driving to no avail. I parked in Leduc and tried again, it would not fire. I took videos and cleaned the coach in the parking lot (bathroom and counters) I tried to contact the dealership to no avail. I did receive a call back from Charlie the owner and a text but I missed them both as I was in the back cleaning the coach. I am now headed back to Calgary Monaco to drop off the coach again. I am done with this machine as I cannot trust it to haul our horses to our home in Arizona next month.

I will add up the total expenses of these mechanical break downs but I know its over 3000$ to date not including my lost time. Something has to be done. Monaco keeps pushing me towards IH and I feel I bought it from them so its their problem now, I have done all I can as an owner and carrying the problems that come with the coach and mechanical issues but this is way more than that now, your company can't fix this engine and to make it worse, the engine now has a large oil leak coming from between the engine and the transmission as best I can tell, it leaked about a quart of oil on the ground overnight.

I have since made it back to Calgary this afternoon, I met with the Manager/owner of Guarantee RV in Calgary (Charlie) I have to fly back home tomorrow and then back to calgary again in one week because they said the coach will not be ready for me until then, all at my expense. DO NOT BUY A MAXXFORCE 10 IF YOU HAVE A CHOICE, I MIGHT HAVE A LEMON BUT I HAVE HAD NO HELP!!!

I won't buy another Monaco until they dump the MaxxForce. I'm betting that when Fleetwood ramps up building Monacos, they'll dump the MaxxForce and go back to Cummins. Then there will be a period of about three years where Monacos came with MaxxForce and I don't think they'll hold their value. Just my opinion.

BG!!!663 - I have close RV friends that own Dutch Stars and Monaco's. Both like them. Last time I checked Dutch Stars put significantly longer chassis on their 40' motorhomes vs 38'. Go with a 40', long chassis make for great handling. Almost everyone says they love their tag axle. IMHO a tag is a good thing to have. I love mine. First time I drove a coach with a tag the difference was obvious. Bigger motor = better. We have a C12 and we just cruise up big hills. Our friends with the 4 slide Monaco have a 350 hp motor. Too small. Heats up on long uphills. They have to unhook tow and drive it separate.

Monaco being sold to the holding company of Fleetwood is a good thing. Fleetwood and American have been good about honoring warranties and Monaco not so good. Navistar who used to own Monaco (according to Forbes Magazine) got themselves into financial issues due to engineers overpromising on a pollution system not needing PET. Likely why they sold Monaco.

Higher end Monaco products are very nice inside. So are Dutch Stars.

Entegra has some Travel Supreme blood in them and therefore a very good line of coaches.

NEWMAR FACTORY TOUR:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QWWqODdymc

Well, the Newmar and Entegra factories are 30 miles apart (39 minutes drive time according to Google Maps) - you could easily tour both factories in the same day.

And it will be interesting to see what Holiday/Monaco's new owners do with the brands. Navistar seemed like a poor fit.

Trap wrote:
Navistar has had a lot of problems with there Maxxforce 13 mainly used in OTR trucks, and gained a lot of deserved negative press for that engine.
Unfortunately a lot of people assumed that all of there engines we're probmatic. The Maxxforce 7 & 10 that they use in there motorhomes have performed well with very few problems reported.

I believe they had to do some computer updates to he MF 10.

This is true, only the big bore Maxxforce (11+) had issues and it was with the emission system not complying not engine problems. The Maxxforce 7 and 10 are great engines. There was an update the the ECM last year for the 10. I have about 12,000 miles on my 10 and have had no issues since the update.

As for the sale of Monaco I think it's going to be a great thing as the new owners are going to "try harder" to make it better. Since it's a stock sale all warranties will be honored.

One of the reasons I went with the new Monaco is because it looks different than all the other brands. When you see other coaches coming down the road it's hard to tell what they are, they all look about the same. The 2012+ Monacos and HR's are easy to tell, coming or going...

Bgill663 wrote:
Thank you all.As everybody concerned about the miles that makes me think of twice and sales person showed me another unit Entegra aspire,but this one even more pricy than Monoco.New to all this and confused too.

You have to remeber that you could have problems or not have problems, with anyone of these coaches, in all reality. So as many would say go for the one you and dw like the best and best suits your needs.

Livability is a huge factor. Storage space, kitchen and bathroom layouts are all really important. Remeber you live in them more than you drive them.

Entegra's are VERY nice units! Unless there's something the Entegra offers that I want and the other coaches don't have, my money would be on the Newmar.

Thank you all.As everybody concerned about the miles that makes me think of twice and sales person showed me another unit Entegra aspire,but this one even more pricy than Monoco.New to all this and confused too.

jbburtch wrote:
To the original poster. As others have stated, you should research recent events with Monaco. At the risk of being too direct, I would not buy the Monaco regardless of its relative features.

Not sure why your so concerned, AVS has agreed to honor the warranty according to the sale of Monaco to them. (Probably has to honor the warranty)

The chassis and engine will continue to be honored and handled by Navistar.