I see your point.....I knew before I made the purchase about warranty repairs - wanted to make the trip from Virginia to Indiana(my choice)to see the factory anyway - nice little spring break trip.....could have gone to a local place to take care of any warranty repairs (as I have already done)in Virginia....decided not to do that - besides if anything major comes up no appointment needed - just took it to a local Ford dealership for a warranty repair - I guess I'm just enjoying life and try to see all the positive - retired and blessed with great health!
Bruce Brown wrote: Lets look at each one of these...
Problems:
* Replaced rear end ring & pinion gear - extreme noise as we drove off the dealer lot.
Ford issue - 100%Shouldn't Newmar or the dealer test drive the coach before delivery? Newmar as much at fault as Ford IMO.
* Replaced entire rear ramp door assembly - cracked when loading 1st motorcyle. Again, Newmar contracted with the door supplier - why no testing before letting the consumer find the failure? A lesser rider without my 42-years of riding experience would have fallen when the front tire broke thru the ramp surface. Result would have been injury and damaged bike.
Newmar issue - 100%, defective door?
* Rear cargo tie down attachment strips in the floor improperly secured to floor. Screws missed floor supports and/or were stripped out. Had a motorcycle been tied down it would have fallen over!
Newmar issue - 100%, human mistake
* Driveshafts installed incorrectly after rear end gears replaced. No test drive by the factory after repairs. We went to pick it up and 5 miles down the road had to turn around and bring it back to the factory.
Ford issue - 100%
* Main slide out ruined the laminate floor during 1st week long use of the RV - entire floor had to be replaced.
The slides run on rollers. Unless there was a complete roller failure this is more likely an ownership issue. Debris hanging up on a roller is the cause of this 99% (?) of the time. The floor must be clean when the slides come back in. Newmar? Maybe? Owner? Probably?My wife and I actually swept and wiped down the floor each time before we operated the slide - we were worried this might happen. It's a design issue with each of the 4 rollers handling the weight of the slide and not a very durable faux hardwood laminate floor. Tile or carpet would be better choices but 2010 model had this laminate floor as the "upgrade" option. Newmar IMO.
* When we picked up the unit after the floor was replaced it was filthy dirty inside - thick dust even inside of the cabinets much less on all visible surfaces. Carpets were filthy - so bad Newmar then offered to clean everything free of charge. Nice gesture but more down time.
Newmar issue, offered to clean. Were they pushed timewise by a demanding customer or simply lazy? Or something in between??? I'll call this one pretty minor.No pressure from us - they already had the unit for 3 months. Just a lack of caring for the customers like new unit. They did clean it but why should I have to ask and then wait several more days? Newmar IMO.
* Rear electric bunk beds inoperable upon delivery. Shouldn't the factory AND/OR the dealer check those before delivery to the customer?
And the fix was??? Blown fuse? Bad motor? Again, if it's fixed pretty minor issue.The side rails and chain drive were installed improperly. The entire unit had to be R&R. No excuse for it to leave the factory inoperable.
* Rear cargo area side door (this unit has 2 entry doors) deadbolt lock could not be opened from the outside with the key.
And the cause was? Wrong key? Bad installation? Another pretty minor issue as long as it's been corrected.Yes a minor issue. They R&R the lock assembly and repaired it so the inside twist nob would operate the deadbolt.
* Passenger front brake caliper "froze" causing burned up brake pads. Caliper replaced but Ford refused to replace the brake pads! 7,800 miles.
Another Ford issue. Knowing how hard Ford works to keep customers satisfied this one is a real . I would bet dimes to donuts this was a dealer not wanting to do paperwork more than Ford "refusing" to replace. I called Ford's RV warranty department. I was told absolutly under no circumstances will they pay for new brake pads once a unit is past 12 months from it's "purchase" date - regardless of mileage. The Ford Truck service dealer simply backed up what Ford RV customer hotline said.
* Failed rear AC unit - fan had to be replaced.
Supplier issue, and almost every RV builder uses the same supplier on this one. We had a total A/C failure on our '08 Kountry Star (bad part inside), Dometic replaced under warranty. Again, pretty minor as long as it's fixed.
I've asked the OP twice now if everything has been taken care of with no answer. Hmm...why not answer the questions? If everything has been taken care of then enjoy. If not get it fixed. It's not like Newmar has told you to go away.
And for the record I will say the OP has had more issues with his one unit than we have with our 3 Newmars combined.
Yes everything has been taken care of. My whole point was actually 3 part - 1) Did we have a higher number of problems than most buyers experience? I think so. 2) Did we have some more serious issues that are not common? Yes I think we did. 3) Most importantly, almost all of our problems COULD have been fixed PRIOR to Newmar sending the unit to the dealer. All of the major problems were there from the factory and NOT something that showed up later after the unit was used for a few days/weeks. That's what has upset us the most. Then the topper was taking it to the factory because we felt they would do better work than a dealer only to have them make mistakes, NOT perform test drives after their drive train repairs and left it a filthy mess which meant we wasted a drive there and back again plus several more weeks waiting for the work to be done correctly.
I also asked Newmar during the height of this situation to consider taking the unit back as a R&D in quality learning exercise and get us into a replacment unit that didn't have all these issues. I even offered to pay additional money to do so. That was refused. I then asked for an extension of the warranty so I could have some faith in this unit. That was refused. I can only conclude a situation like ours is considered "normal" for Newmar. Not knowing if I should feel that way or not is why I have asked the opinions of this well respected forum, which I appreciate very much.
Retired VSP wrote: My wife and I bought a "leftover" 2010 Bay Star last April and so far we love it....the one thing I don't like about it is the "rough" ride....it's on a Ford F53 chasis, and I knew before I bought it from all the research, the Ford Chasis is a rough rider....the Newmar people have been wonderful at Customer Service and we are scheduled for our year end warranty work at their headquarters soon....I've had to inquire on a couple of minor things and they have walked me through the winterizing process and another issue when the heater/ac control panel came loose from the dash....Newmar installed that at their factory and not Ford....I did have the local Ford dealership repair it at no cost to me....Newmar took care of the cost.
Glad your experience reflects ours. This is the type of remarks we hear about Newmar everywhere we go. With tail-gating football games and clubs we see a LOT of Newmar owners. We have run into and talked to probably hundreds. There are a lot of Newmars in Florida. We are on our second one because the first one was so good and Newmar was so good to work with. Our 2003 Newmar Dutch Star has been trouble free from any major problems.
To the OP - Ignore some of the negativity here. Each coach and owner is different and how they "use and fix" their motorhome and how they treat their manufacturer when they want something is different. Just stay the course, be as positive as you can and get it fixed right and stay on top of it. It shouldn't have happened but it did. Hang in there and stay on top of it. Bet it turns out OK with Newmar.
Just got around to reading some of the posts on my topic....to begin with it was MY choice to do the trip to Nappanee for warranty work...wanted to do the factory tour with serious plans to upgrade..I was treated very well by Newmar while there and actually enjoyed a mini vacation in Amish country which we thoroughly enjoyed...my issues were resolved and the factory tour was very impressive...consider me a life time Newmar owner!! "longer the coach, the smoother the ride"
jerseyjim wrote: The motorhome industry, like everything else, is "cheapening" the product. Kind of reminds me of American cars in the 1960s, thru 1970's. Big, flashy, but the door just didn't seem to fit right. Or the chrome didn't match up. Then came the Japanese who showed Detroit how to make a quality car. Perhaps this is what the RV industry needs.
After the recession/depression is over, of course. Meanwhile....good luck.
x2....well said, jerseyjim.
I guess I remember this a little differently. My memory of the Japanese vehicles of this era are ones of Honda cars ,Toyota trucks and Datsun products all rusting within the first year on the road. Coupled with cheap inferior plastic interiors and poor fit and finish, I hardly think that the imports of that era were superior in any way to the American products of the time. Maybe, and I believe that it is a slight maybe they were better at producing 4 cylinders but I think that is about as far as I would take it.
2006 Safari Simba
Gone 2005 31W Fleetwod Tioga SL - Not my problem anymore!
1996 Jeep Cherokee Toad
jerseyjim wrote: The motorhome industry, like everything else, is "cheapening" the product. Kind of reminds me of American cars in the 1960s, thru 1970's. Big, flashy, but the door just didn't seem to fit right. Or the chrome didn't match up. Then came the Japanese who showed Detroit how to make a quality car. Perhaps this is what the RV industry needs.
After the recession/depression is over, of course. Meanwhile....good luck.
x2....well said, jerseyjim.
I guess I remember this a little differently. My memory of the Japanese vehicles of this era are ones of Honda cars ,Toyota trucks and Datsun products all rusting within the first year on the road. Coupled with cheap inferior plastic interiors and poor fit and finish, I hardly think that the imports of that era were superior in any way to the American products of the time. Maybe, and I believe that it is a slight maybe they were better at producing 4 cylinders but I think that is about as far as I would take it.
Bill that was the case with our two 1973 Datsun 1200's. They each ran to 200K miles and I never even replaced front pads or rear brake shoes on mine but the fight with rust did not turn out well. By 1980 that trend was reversed. We had a 1980 B210 wagon that was rust free for years. Our 1986 Nissan PU is just starting to show some door rust.
The RV Manufacturer CAN be responsible for defects that develop later in a Motorhome chassis. Bare rail chassis are often left in a storage yard to weather as best they can covered only by a cardboard box over the electricals and steering wheel. Stuff weathers quickly in these conditions and quite often a chassis will be bought, pushed to the back of the yard and when the Minimum wage driver is sent out to fetch another chassis, he grabs the first one he comes to and not the oldest one in the inventory. Time left in storage can cause all kinds of later problems for the final owner, including damage to brakes, rear end units and electricals. This goes on all the time. Luck of the draw I find.
I once bought a new 91 Winnebago Chieftain that was such a terrible coach. Don't get me started, I still feel the pain and it set me back financially for at least 5 years back then. Good luck with your "Lemon" I finally gave up and traded it in for a nasty loss. I often feel sorry for the other fella that bought it in good faith after I left it with a Dealer in Nashville. If your the guy who bought it in 1992 from the Winnebago dealer after I had it, my sincere apologies. If I had a more criminal bent I would have burned that one to the ground and left it on the Insurance company which would have spread it out over lots of folks in the form of higher premiums. As it was, I'm not a criminal and $30,000 was all I could afford to lose for 1 years use most of which was spent in the various shops who TRIED to correct that one. Price new then was only 65K if you can remember that far back. I SWEAR, I crawled underneath and there on the crossbeam under the Engine was scratched "666". That was when Winnebago almost went bust and I suppose one of the workers had "Cursed" the motorhome before it left the factory.
I probably just "buggered" my own Karma ALA "My name is Earl".
So, I have some friends who are really leaning toward a Newmar. I had always thought of them being a little bit above some of the others in terms of quality and fit and finish. Should they be concerned? My only personal experience is with Thor. And while fit and finish might not be as nice, I have never dealt with a company more ready to stand behind their product. While I have had no major issues, any issues were addressed quickly and without question and a few even outside of warranty.
Bruce Brown wrote: Other than the chassis items (and that one is beyond their control) has everything else been fixed to your satisfication?
This makes no sense to me! I agree with Tony Lee. The rig has the Newmar name on it. Why can't Newmar pressure the chassis maker (Spartan, Freightliner, or whoever) to fix it?
Effy wrote: So, I have some friends who are really leaning toward a Newmar. I had always thought of them being a little bit above some of the others in terms of quality and fit and finish. Should they be concerned?
Your friends can safely purchase a Newmar for its overall quality. We have full-timed in ours for 8+ years - even to Alaska - with no problems. The inside workmanship is still in like-new condition. We would purchase a Newmar definitely again.
Extremely Happy Full-Timers for 16 years
.... now trying to adjust to 3-season traveling - and it isn't easy!
2004 40' Newmar Dutch Star Diesel Pusher
2004 Jeep Liberty
Cloud Dancer wrote: . As we speak, I'm 4 weeks into fixing the roof (their first try at all-fiberglass roof). Why couldn't they just have copied the excellent Winnebago roof (my Winnebago was a 1995, the technology certainly existed)?
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I'm a new owner of a 1999 Newmar Dutch Star - it has a fibreglass roof so your are right, they should have gotten it by then as the 99 roof is good. It's not their first try.
Chris
2003 Dutch Star 4005
1999 Dutch Star DP 3865
2001 Honda CRV - Ready Brute Elite Tow Bar/Blue Ox Base plate
Retired Canadian Army WO (1971-2000)
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. I would bet dimes to donuts this was a dealer not wanting to do paperwork more than Ford "refusing" to replace. I called Ford's RV warranty department. I was told absolutly under no circumstances will they pay for new brake pads once a unit is past 12 months from it's "purchase" date - regardless of mileage. The Ford Truck service dealer simply backed up what Ford RV customer hotline said. 
