Diesel Motorhome

mike brez wrote:

Mr.Mark wrote:

bluwtr49 wrote:

mike brez wrote:
One thing my next coach will not have is oak.

Wondering why that is...just out of curiosity.

Mike, is it the color of the oak? Generally, I've always seen oak in lighter shades. Personally, I like a deeper stained wood like cherry or walnut but oak is certainly a nice wood.

Mark

X2 my next coach will have darker cherry or walnut. I ripped out all our oak at home and replaced with cherry I couldent stand looking at it anymore.

I prefer dark wood like cherry or walnut as well. But......I opted for maple in my coach....after looking at both, the darker woods just made the interior too, well...dark! So, I compromised...nice maple but its lighter..

I just got a 2015 Newmar Canyon Star 3610. First gasser I've had in a long time coming from a 2000 Monaco and then 2006 Winnebago Journey . The build quality on this unit is amazing. Gas motor homes have come a long way.

As an Airstream Land Yacht owner I can assure you that everything, especially cabinetry, is of superior quality. My LY is a diesel pusher with 84,600 miles and has never caused a problem in 5 years. The coach is a 93 by the way which I bought as a collector unit to match with one of my cars. Love it!

OP, I don't know much about Newmar cabinets, but IIRC all-wood cabinets in the Monaco coach line of the '04-'08ish era started with the Camelot and on up.

I've seen a lot of great deals on '04 and up Dynasty models that would not only include real wood cabinets, but a great S-Series chassis and four slides. If, like me, you live out west I would try to spring for an Executive, Signature, or HR Navigator with a bigger engine to get over the hills.

Country Coach and Foretravel also offer good custom chassis and nice wood work. If I were in your shoes I would be looking at an Executive, Signature, Navigator, CC Magna or Affinity, or Foretravel Nimbus or Phenix. Mostly because I prefer the chassis and way they were constructed -- steel framed houses, vacuum bonded walls, etc. Though I don't own one, if you can afford it I would focus on a Foretravel.

If your budget requires it, just buy a bit older. You'll not likely get four slides, but you can still get quality. And that's what I would focus on. Buy a good foundation that will last and has been well maintained. There is an issue with bulkhead separation with some older Foretravels so do check with the factory to make sure it's been addressed if you go that route.

Everyone has their biases and most tend to speak up for what they bought -- until they trade it in of course ;-) And beware of anecdotal stories. It seems most everyone has built a dog at one point or another. What you should focus on is how they were, in general, made and ensure to the extent you can that the one you plan to buy was not made on the Friday before a holiday.

That includes sending fluids out to be tested. You can buy kits that will allow you to take a fluid sample and get it tested. What is going on, right down to what metallic particles are in the engine oil, can actually reveal a great deal about what's going on in the engine. I would prefer to take and deal with the sample myself rather than take the word of the person trying to sell me something.

If you feel you have to act quickly to get a too good to be true deal please have the strength to walk away. Chances are you'll be dollars ahead in the long run if you don't let yourself be rushed.

Finally, I personally wouldn't bother too much with Ebay. Consider trying rvonline.com, rvtrader.com, and rvdeals.net

Good luck with your search and I hope this helps in some way.

Mountain Air beautiful motorhome.

SpurHntr wrote:

Deano56 wrote:
what is the best to the least in Newmar coaches, I'm having a hard time with the Kountry Star, Mountain Air, Dutch Star

Mountain aire better than Dutch star better than kountry star

Unless you can find an optioned out 08 kountry star, which essentially is a Dutch star and IMO precisely why they dropped the kountry star line since those two models became a similar price point coach.

ok, thanks

Deano56 wrote:
what is the best to the least in Newmar coaches, I'm having a hard time with the Kountry Star, Mountain Air, Dutch Star

Mountain aire better than Dutch star better than kountry star

Unless you can find an optioned out 08 kountry star, which essentially is a Dutch star and IMO precisely why they dropped the kountry star line since those two models became a similar price point coach.

bluwtr49 wrote:

mike brez wrote:
One thing my next coach will not have is oak.

Wondering why that is...just out of curiosity.

Eating crow. I have oak again it's stained on the darker side.

Deano56 wrote:
Walnut is beautiful as well as cherry but probably wont be in my 75K cap price range.

We gave less than that for ours, solid cherry. They look hand rubbed….with a bit of lemon oil they look about 4" deep.

Mr.Mark wrote:

bluwtr49 wrote:

mike brez wrote:
One thing my next coach will not have is oak.

Wondering why that is...just out of curiosity.

Mike, is it the color of the oak? Generally, I've always seen oak in lighter shades. Personally, I like a deeper stained wood like cherry or walnut but oak is certainly a nice wood.

Mark

X2 my next coach will have darker cherry or walnut. I ripped out all our oak at home and replaced with cherry I couldent stand looking at it anymore.