Thoughts on this MH for our first?

What I always worry about with older, low milage RVs is that it has obviously spent a lot of time just sitting and things like leaks can go on unnoticed when people are not using them on a regular basis. Check carefully.

Well someone put a deposit on it today before my dad got to check it out. Ah well, the search continues.

STBRetired wrote:
The Canyon Star also does not have suspiciously low mileage.

I suppose it is always possible to find a true diamond in the rough. If this was purchased 16 years ago by the original owners and used less than 800 miles a year to simply go to local parks, say 4 times a year at 100-200 miles round trip, then I guess it isn't too hard to believe.

Obviously I'd want to change all fluids, belts, filters, etc. and really make sure things worked. Says in the AD it has a new fridge, water heater, and tires.

The Canyon Star also does not have suspiciously low mileage.

The newer coach will have a V10 with more hp and a 5spd (if not a 6spd) trans and will have greater resell value a nd be an easier sell if you change in a few years.

I have a 2013 Newmar Canyon Star 3940 that I bought last fall. Love it, can't say enough good things about the Newmar. Previously owned Coachmen, Damon. Definitely a step up in quality with Newmar.

As far as Mountain Aire, I think that is only a Diesel Pusher now but I may be wrong. From what I have read on Newmar Baystar and Canyon Star are the gas models now, not sure when that changed but I am pretty sure Mountain Aire is only a Diesel now. Someone will correct me if I am wrong, but if the price is right I think you will be happy with the Canyon Star, I know I am.

You can also go over to the IRV2 web site, they have a specific section for Newmar owners. Have found a lot of good info there.

Good luck and let us know what you end up doing.

Found a Canyon Star (2007 model, great condition, new tires, only 32k miles) for a very attractive price.

Is the Canyon Star in any way appreciably different than the Mountain Aire?

Sounds like decent mileage. I used to get about 6.5 towing our 31 foot TT with the 2500 Suburban. But its all relative - I get, if I'm lucky, 2.5 MPG on my boat - LOL. Of course, I'm not going hundreds of miles in it.

Me and the wife luckily love reading books and watching videos, not seeing live TV or Sat, which will be nice again - we want to get AWAY from the modern world for a little while.

Thanks for the advice on the V10 and transfer switch. I hate constantly filling batteries on my boat, so maybe a combination of AGW batteries and the newer switch/converter that will keep that from being an issue.

For the spark plug issue, you just need to follow the torque guidelines from Ford. Or do as I do, have the Ford dealer change them. I changed my first set at 60K, so it is not a frequent issue. I would not spend $$$$ to replace the heads unless you have spit out 3 on each side. The replacement heads only give you about 1 thread more. There are LOTS of these V10s out there that never see any issues. Some people hear there is a problem with plugs coming out so they put them in "extra tight" which is what causes them to get spit out in the first place.

The Todd Engineering transfer switch had an issue with burned contacts on the relays. The exact replacement is no longer available so I put in an ESSO I got on Amazon for about $250.
The Todd Engineering converter will cook your batteries if you are not religious about checking electrolyte levels. The float voltage is too high (13.6V). Todd Engineering was bought by Iota and it looks like you can add the IQ4 but it does not work. I got tired of adding water to the batteries, so I replaced it with a Progressive Dynamics PD9280V with Charge Wizard for $225.

We really like our Mountain Aire 3796. DW will not give up the kitchen layout. That model actually has a decent amount of counter space. For a gasser it rides fairly well. I can do 550 - 600 mile days if needed, even though I prefer 350 - 400. We are averaging 7.4 MPG pulling a Chevy Malibu and maintaining 62 - 65 MPH. Swapping out the TVs is easy and so is adding a satellite dish as it should be pre-wired. The tank capacities are a bit smaller that we would like, but we usually only boondock for 2 or 3 days at a time so they are sufficient.

PM me if you want to talk or have more questions.

Thanks, STB - so is there a way to "fix" the potential spark plug issue, maybe new heads with the better threads? Cost $$$ ?

Converter and transfer switch changeover - is it that the Todd one just can't handle to amp draw or is it just twitchy and there are better ones out there? Looks like not a huge cost to do.

And you mention a 5-star tune? Looks like about $500 - does it really do that good of a job to justify the cost?