Newell Gurus

According to the listing, made custom for Mr Earnhardt.   A '97 for 72k.

https://www.rvt.com/Newell-Custom-Made-1...9-UX356720

https://youtu.be/RU1zNEeFcG8
This may or may not be accurate but worth a look nonetheless.
Good luck on finding the right Newell for you, you will love it. Truly great coaches.

This is a great video. I suspected there may have been deferred maintenance based on the price and pictures. I'm in no rush to find the "right coach", so I hope my patience pays off eventually.

I saw that video when it first posted. My comments are only based on what was in the video. I have not personally inspected the coach.

I thought the video was a bit jaundiced. Many of the issues that were mentioned would have been easy workarounds for a Newell owner who knew the systems. Others were expected maintenance issues for a 25 year old coach.

I don't know what the young may who looked at the coach expected, but the 50ish k price mentioned seemed about right to me for what he was looking at.

I was the one who made that video. While recording my intent was still to buy it...so I didn’t go around nitpicking with the camera or record any of the serious inspection aspects like reading the service records. I also spoke with the previous owner on the phone. This guy who currently has it really let it go. Zero upkeep during his ownership and it was clear he was never prepared to own one of these things. I read every piece of paper in the document binder on the thing. Everything stopped at 2015 when it was sold to the current owner. Spent two days going over it and the video was 30 minutes so it doesn’t show the whole story.

The most concerning thing I left out was the potential frame damage. The front windshield will not stay in. I read in the records that it had popped out in 2008 also. The former owner took it to Marathon in San Antonio FL to be fixed. They noted “unusual tension” on the window frame. It said “repaired but not guaranteed. Possible Coach frame was torqued at one point”

The previous owner mentioned the left front shock mount breaking off the frame two times.

The slide out does not work. Never worked for the current owner. He left that out in the ad. When it was unsuccessfully trying to level itself I could see the gaps in the slide growing and shrinking an unnerving amount. The strip between the bottom of the slide and above the bay doors was actually buckling out from the side of the coach it was twisting so much.

That was enough of a red flag for me. When I stopped by the factory a month ago I talked to Brian about it. He said those signs point to the coach potentially running over a median at one point...

Assuming the frame ISNT damaged...the coach needs major help. The paint is completely toasted. Almost everything in the interior is visually worn or beat up.

It would be a great restoration project for a buyer with deep enough pockets. Unfortunately that’s not me...I’m 24 and planning on full timing in whatever coach I end up with. My time needs to be spent in the shop building other people’s racecars to make money. I’m just not in a position to undertake a job like this.

I was quite disappointed after the whole thing. The guy made it sound great over the phone. Made up all kinds of history related to dale (which I’ve since found to be untrue) he made no mention of any issues besides the slide not working and a cracked windshield.

Thanks for the detailed explanation, it will help someone properly assess the coach in the future.

It’s sad to see any coach go to seed.

Good call '42. Many guys your age would have had "stars in their eyes" and not done their due diligence like you did. I hope you find a Newell that will work well for you.

I did find one and just took it home last week actually. It’s 1996 #402 originally built for Al Unser Jr. Then sold to Robby Gordon who had it redone with a bad ass silver and black paint scheme. Then he sold it to the guy who at the time ran RedBull North America. I got to talk to Robby on the phone about it and he had all kinds of awesome stories. It needs some work but the bones are good. I signed the papers and drove it 1,500 miles from South Carolina to Oklahoma to Dallas.

I’m about to be on the forum a lot more now discovering more things that need attention. Just the way it goes lol. I’m glad to be here!

it has been fun getting to know you and i am glad it all worked out.

i am sure you will be a great addition to our gang

tom

Welcome!