We have 3942 Ventana and have owned it for 3 1/2 yrs. We have 2 kids age 13 & 10 and bought it used 1 yr old with 9000 miles. We now have 47000 miles on ours so I would say we use it a lot. At least 8 wks of holidays each of the past 2 yrs. We go dirt biking and pull a 7000 lb. traler most of the time and do a lot of boondocking. It has been a good coach but we have had some issues. The worst issue is the Precision Temp hot water heat. It is constantly in need of repair. Usually a small $10 part fixes it but in my mind a heating system should be dead reliable. The service tech at Precision Temp knows me by first name. When it is working it is the best type of heat. I would never buy a coach with a forced air furnace. Newmar no longer uses that manufacturer. We also had a problem with the heat because of an issue with Newmars construction. In the slide-out they go from Pex pipe to rad hose for a small portion to allow for flexing with the slide moving. Just using a hose clamp to attach the rad hose to the pex causes the pipe to crush and restricts flow. We changed the fittings to proper ones and problems solved. Poor design on Newmars part.
Another disappointment has been Newmars "Amish Craftsman" cabinets. I am a cabinetmaker carpenter by profession and luckily I am able to repair them myself. Thin plywood, staples with no glue have left cabinets shifting and twisting loose. In particular the large kitchen cabinet in the slide out has twisted, even enough to crack the Corian countertop behind the sink. I reinforced and all is well now.
Both passenger side slideouts have failed but luckily I have an old grumpy local repair guy that can fix anything. I replaced the Kingdome domed dish with a Motosat HD dish and am very happy. I built a larger stereo cabinet, installed a 40" tv with a proper Marantz AV receiver and Klipsch in-ceiling speakers and trashed the cheap sub under the sink and use a Velodyne sub and SQ is now pretty good. I even have a pair of Terra outdoor speakers I hang on the outside with a Bryston amp and wifi with a hard drive so I can sit in my lawn chair and
control music from my phone.
The chassis is good but remember it is a straight front axle and drum brakes. The "Comfort Drive" works well. Power is acceptable.
All in all a good quality coach that serves us well. I believe it is the best of the entry level DPs that are available with bunks. Our friends had a damon Astoria with bunks and our is miles better. I would only sell it to move up to a tag with IFS and 500 hp or more.
Sorry for being long winded. let me know if you want to know anything else.
2009 Newmar Ventana 3942
2010 Pace Shadow 18ft
2010 KTM 450 XCW six days
2010 Can Am Outlander 650 XT
2014 Can Am Outlander 500
2007 Yamaha YZ250F
1989 Douglas Skater 21' Twin 2.5s
