Newell Gurus

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For some, the thought of renting their baby is unthinkable and for others, its no big deal. I would like to hear from those that rent theirs for I'm the "its no big deal" guy. Understanding the need for extreme vetting and hiring a driver if needed, I would love pointers from the owners that rent. Do's and don'ts.  We live in Palm Springs, Ca and have heard daily rentals from $1000 per day to $3,000. 
Any info would be greatly appreciated before we dive in head first!

J Mueller
I've rented several motorhomes in the past, including a few class A's. These were all well used motorhomes and certainly not on the level as any Newell. They were Winnebago, fleet wood, etc. I still had to go through a half day training on them before they'd rent them. But I found most of these operated similar to travel trailers and fifth wheels, so the learning curve was smaller.

Renting a Newell, especially a newer one with several slides would be a debacle to me. We spent two days at Newell when we bought it just learning everything. And my 2003 Newell was significantly different than my 2013, so even if someone has "Newell" experience they'd still need to be shown many things, which is quite time consuming for a short term rental.

Now if you're talking about just letting them sleep and stay in your coach and the rental is longer period, while your nearby and available to "rescue" them at any second, that might work.

Personally, I'd never rent mine. But I could see there is a market for it no question. I think if you provided a driver and operator who could get it set up etc that would help.
(05-30-2017, 07:16 AM)Junior Guru Wrote: [ -> ]I've rented several motorhomes in the past, including a few class A's. These were all well used motorhomes and certainly not on the level as any Newell. They were Winnebago, fleet wood, etc.  I still had to go through a half day training on them before they'd rent them. But I found most of these operated similar to travel trailers and fifth wheels, so the learning curve was smaller.  

Renting a Newell, especially a newer one with several slides would be a debacle to me.  We spent two days at Newell when we bought it just learning everything.  And my 2003 Newell was significantly different than my 2013, so even if someone has "Newell" experience they'd still need to be shown many things, which is quite time consuming for a short term rental.  

Now if you're talking about just letting them sleep and stay in your coach and the rental is longer period, while your nearby and available to "rescue" them at any second, that might work.

Personally, I'd never rent mine. But I could see there is a market for it no question. I think if you provided a driver and operator who could get it set up etc that would help.
Thank Jason. The "Park and don't move it" rental sounds more feasible. 
I was wondering, since you've owned a 2003, I'm looking to, purchase a 2002 with quad slides. The current owners have taken the Newell to the factory for service which is good. The question I have, what am I in for purchasing a 15 year old Newell? Will I need $30k in maintenance soon? Air bags, slide seals, etc. Any advise would be appreciated.
I was wondering, since you've owned a 2003 Newell, I'm looking to,purchase a 2002 with quad slides. The current owners, 2nd owner, have taken the coach to the factory for service which is good. The question I have, will I have 30k in maintence coats coming up with a 15 year old Newell? Air bags, slide seals, etc. Any advise would be appreciated
Lots of variables to factor. How well the coach has been maintained, what's been replaced already, whether you will do any of the work yourself, etc. that will vary coach to coach and owner to owner. Maintenance costs are part of owning a coach, so yes there will be costs. Id have no idea how much but just shooting from the hip, $30k seems high for a well maintained coach. However, if not much has been replaced then it's possible... tires, air bags, slide seals, AC's, pumps, compressors, etc can add up fast. But then if you did replace all that, you wouldn't likely need to replace for years. For us, we spent more in year one then in year two, etc.
(10-01-2017, 08:48 PM)Junior Guru Wrote: [ -> ]Lots of variables to factor.  How well the coach has been maintained, what's been replaced already, whether you will do any of the work yourself, etc. that will vary coach to coach and owner to owner.  Maintenance costs are part of owning a coach, so yes there will be costs. Id have no idea how much but just shooting from the hip, $30k seems high for a well maintained coach.  However, if not much has been replaced then it's possible... tires, air bags, slide seals, AC's, pumps, compressors, etc can add up fast.  But then if you did replace all that, you wouldn't likely need to replace for years. For us, we spent more in year one then in year two, etc.

I heard from another Newell Guru that mentioned similar items to look for.  He said Appliances are engineered for a 20 year life span, check for water leaks,  check the fluids by having them tested and take it to a DOT truck service station to have the safety items checked, brakes, etc. You brought up the seals and air bags which I forgot to think about. I wonder what the life expectancy of the air bag system is if a coach is parked indoors. I would think 15 years is about it. 
Thank you Jason for taking the time to respond! Really helpful.
I would think 30K would cover some fairly major stuff like engine & trans issues. I would think that 5-6K would be a more reasonable number for normal "get up to full steam" on a previously owned older coach. It's good to keep the 30K available though & then do some customization work over first few years as time & money allow to make it truly "your" custom Newell. That's what we did with our '92. Have had it since 2010.
Very difficult to peg a start up cost. I would have said 10k or below, but after living in ours since April my number is significantly higher. Living in it for a few months is a good way flush out any issues, large and small.

Obviously our new tires and AGM batteries were big ticket items. But rebuilt Webastos, compressors for refrigerators, air compressor parts, water pumps, and countless trips to the home improvement store for odds and ends add up quickly.
In my opinion, the cost of startup and ownership can be broken into two categories. The first cost is the part or item. The second cost is the labor. The point being that I don't remember hearing from JMueller any details on previous motorhome ownership or desire to perform mechanical electrical tasks.

I bought a 99 that had had routine Newell maintenance. In the first three years I put around 20K into it. Tires, batteries, one slide seal, air bags, radiator and CAC, shocks, 365 conversion, new upholstery, new flooring, and headlight upgrade. But .....I did everything but the slide seal myself. That cost would have easily been 2.5X with labor.
I agree with Richard, Newell's new labor rate at $138/hr even little items add up quickly. We recently went full time and I am still working. With my fix list running long and time running short, not to mention no garage to work on the coach, I chose to go to Newell for a long list of fix-it items, plus yearly PM ($3000).

While most everything is fixed, I paid for it! I also found out that Newell is not without flaws, they broke a few items in the repair of others, and had to work through those. I do have to mention in their defense, they have a lot of knowledge and know-how that I and even other service providers do not have, which can save time and money. They also made right the broken items.

While I hope to do more of my own work in the future, there are things I don't want to do or would not even attempt, and I appreciate Newell is there in those situations.

I read in an earlier post where somebody put a $1000 per month figure on maintenance. I thought that was double what I wanted to spend, but after my first year of owership, and being very picky to fix things correctly, that number seems about right if you are not going to do a lot of the work. Mileage varies widely from those that do all their own work to those that do none.
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