Newmar Ventana

Mile High wrote:
I'm no expert on the Comfort Drive, but doesn't this $1100 aftermarket option level the playing field a little when added to any Class A?

Tru-Center

Same idea, Comfort Drive is fully automatic and also reduces steering effort. The effort reduction is also adjustable on those built after 2009 I believe. Ours has a fixed effort, which I'm OK with.

Newell also uses this system now, I'm not sure if thiers is adjustable or not.

I'm no expert on the Comfort Drive, but doesn't this $1100 aftermarket option level the playing field a little when added to any Class A?

Tru-Center

As with everything, there will always be good and there will always be bad. I was recently asked why I'm not a fan of Michelin tires, the answer is based on my own personal experience, so take it for what it's worth. Many, many people love their Michelins, I'm not one of them.

Lets face it, if they were all truly junk they wouldn't be left in the marketplace today. My Tiffin remarks are from me personally working on my parents Allegro when they owned it, over and over again. It wasn't delaminated but you sure couldn't close one baggage door at a time. I believe Tiffin called that one a "wet bay" problem, and that was one of the things supposedly fixed during their trip to Red Bay. It wasn't. The funny thing is if you were to ask Mom today she would say it was an awesome trouble free MH. She wasn't the one working on it. Also from friends who owned an Allegro Bus. That had as many miles on it going back to Red Bay as it did in normal use. They have since gone back to a Winnebago.

I will have to say though on Comfort Drive it's kind of like having slides, you don't really need it but after having it you'll never want to be without it again. Take a look at Two Jayhawks post, he didn't think it was a big deal either. Fortunately for us on our test drive day it was a terrible gusty windy day so we were able to compare two otherwise identical units, one with CD, one without. The difference was enough for us to order our new one. When things are good they all drive nice, it's when Mother Nature kicks in that you really come to appreciate CD.

At the end of the day it's your money - spend it on what works best for you. Like I've always said, I don't care if you run a string between 2 trees and hang a tarp over it; as long as you have a good attitude you're welcome around our campfire!

lanerd wrote:

Bruce Brown wrote:

lanerd wrote:

We camped last weekend with friends with a 2002 Dutch Star that I believe has over 100,000 miles on it now. It looks as good today as the day it left Newmar. If you take good care of your coach, even a 99 Itasca will look good as my friends does.

Obviously, those with a certain brand will laude that brand unless they get a bad one. Even tho we hear a lot of complaints here on this and other rv forums, the biggest percentage of people will not come on here and just post positive ones. I've had several different rv's, all different brand/models and I gotta say I've been lucky in that all of them have been good ones and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. Our choice of the Phaeton over the Ventana was personal, not necessarily because it was a better coach. I just got more bang for the buck and there hasn't been a day that I've regretted that decision....just as I'm sure that Bruce wouldn't either.

Ron

Agreed - and speaking of a 99 Itasca........ Parked by this couple a month ago and was admiring the condition of their 1999 Winnebago Freedom! Strange, I didn't see any delam, nor did he complain of any. In fact, I don't remember him complaining of the handling either.

Bruce Brown wrote:

lanerd wrote:
Have you compared the 43 Ventana to the 42 Phaeton? We did and found the Phaeton much more coach for about the same $$.

Ron

You needed to look deeper. :W

One is laminated, and will at some point delaminate, the other isn't and won't.Mine hasn't and I haven't heard of any other Tiffin doing so.

One has Comfort Drive, the other doesn't.Don't need it. My tag axle Phaeton drives easily and straight down the road...wind or no wind. I can easily drive it with one finger. After doing over 35,000 miles with Comfort Drive I wouldn't be without it. Good for you. I'm sure after 36K miles, I will say the same. Driving home last Sunday in monsoon conditions just reaffirmed my feelings on Comfort Drive.

I know a lot of people love their Tiffins, heck I even bought into the hype and recommended on to my parents. I'd never do that again. :B I was working on that thing constantly, even fixing the stuff Red Bay had supposedly fixed when, like so many others, theirs too made the trip back. Friends had an Allegro Bus, same deal. Cracked sidewalls and endless trips to Red Bay. They gave up and sold theirs. I passed another Allegro Bus on the Interstate a few weeks back, another one with a big crack coming at the rear slide opening. Like any other brand, there will be a few that come out of the factory that should have been turned into junk. Just today, there was a post of a person who had nothing but trouble with his MADP.

As to the OPs question on the Ventanna, nice coach. As mentioned above, hung wall construction, Not proven to be ant better than lamination.Comfort Drive, As far as I (and others I have talked to) more of a sales gimmick than any thing else. and Newmar quality. No better and probably no worse than Tiffin quality. Check the recalls....I see more for Newmars than I do for Tiffins. As always, I would suggest walking through your local campground and look at the units that are 10-15 years old. They look good when they're new. Look at the older ones and see which ones stand the test of time.

We camped last weekend with friends with a 2002 Dutch Star that I believe has over 100,000 miles on it now. It looks as good today as the day it left Newmar. If you take good care of your coach, even a 99 Itasca will look good as my friends does.

Yes, I'm biased, Yes, you are.as we've owned (3) new Newmars and they've all been great. That's great. Good to hear.My own personal dealing with other builds haven't been so good.Thats just you.

Obviously, those with a certain brand will laude that brand unless they get a bad one. Even tho we hear a lot of complaints here on this and other rv forums, the biggest percentage of people will not come on here and just post positive ones. I've had several different rv's, all different brand/models and I gotta say I've been lucky in that all of them have been good ones and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. Our choice of the Phaeton over the Ventana was personal, not necessarily because it was a better coach. I just got more bang for the buck and there hasn't been a day that I've regretted that decision....just as I'm sure that Bruce wouldn't either.

Ron

jorbill2or wrote:

Mile High wrote:
They are a very nice coach. Looked at them ourselves! We preferred the LE over the standard just because of the features.

Isn't the Ventanna LE the cheaper base version? the just plain Ventana is the higher of those two. Bigger engine, frame, tile interiors more options available.

My apologies - you are correct! I had it backwards for some reason. We were looking at the tag axle versions, so we would have been looking at the regular Ventana.

Mile High wrote:
They are a very nice coach. Looked at them ourselves! We preferred the LE over the standard just because of the features.

Isn't the Ventanna LE the cheaper base version? the just plain Ventana is the higher of those two. Bigger engine, frame, tile interiors more options available.

I didn't give a rip about Newmar comfort drive it didn't even make the top five features when choosing a coach. Partly because short test drives make for a poor demo. My coach is one year old and right at 10K miles and my opinion has changed I would not buy a coach without it. I heard patent expired over a year ago so many mfg's may be offering it now.

lanerd wrote:
Have you compared the 43 Ventana to the 42 Phaeton? We did and found the Phaeton much more coach for about the same $$.

Ron

You needed to look deeper. :W

One is laminated, and will at some point delaminate, the other isn't and won't.

One has Comfort Drive, the other doesn't. After doing over 35,000 miles with Comfort Drive I wouldn't be without it. Driving home last Sunday in monsoon conditions just reaffirmed my feelings on Comfort Drive.

I know a lot of people love their Tiffins, heck I even bought into the hype and recommended on to my parents. I'd never do that again. :B I was working on that thing constantly, even fixing the stuff Red Bay had supposedly fixed when, like so many others, theirs too made the trip back. Friends had an Allegro Bus, same deal. Cracked sidewalls and endless trips to Red Bay. They gave up and sold theirs. I passed another Allegro Bus on the Interstate a few weeks back, another one with a big crack coming at the rear slide opening.

As to the OPs question on the Ventanna, nice coach. As mentioned above, hung wall construction, Comfort Drive, and Newmar quality. As always, I would suggest walking through your local campground and look at the units that are 10-15 years old. They ALL look good when they're new. Look at the older ones and see which ones stand the test of time.

We camped last weekend with friends with a 2002 Dutch Star that I believe has over 100,000 miles on it now. It looks as good today as the day it left Newmar.

Yes, I'm biased, as we've owned (3) new Newmars and they've all been great. My own personal dealing with other builds haven't been so good.

Have you compared the 43 Ventana to the 42 Phaeton? We did and found the Phaeton much more coach for about the same $$.

Ron