[Burlyman]

Thank you so much for your response, much appreciated. I got caught in 86 mph gusts one time between Ft. Collins and Cheyenne, lifted Excursion with an empty horse trailer. This is a very important factor for me. Never want to have that experience again and grateful to be alive.

How do you feel as far as power, especially with a tow vehicle? We will be in mountains frequently and some of them desolate.

Any quirks about your unit that you didn't expect? I don't even know what I don't know!

PLENTY of power!  The previous owner towed a stacker trailer that was about 16,000 lbs.  Sometimes he towed a Hummer (H2).  When he told me "I don't even feel the Hummer behind me", I was a tiny bit skeptical.  Well, when I got back to Oregon I hooked up my 8,000 lb truck and had the same experience.  I haven't taken it through the hills yet with the truck, but I was doing 65-70 through the hills on the way home, so I don't have any concerns in that regard.  

As far as quirks, not so much.  It's really been about getting to know the coach.  There are more systems on this coach than an average coach.  For instance, there are two separate furnaces, 3 electric heaters, two water pumps, a storage bay heater, and a generator that can run all those systems while you drive (which we needed as temps were in the teens on our trip.  We found a few items along the way, like a few drawers that slid open during cornering.  (We solved that temporarily with Velcro during a Walmart stop).  We did have a windshield wiper that decided to quit on us about 15 minutes before we arrived home on the maiden voyage, but oddly enough, it worked yesterday when I was driving it through the rain, so I guess that qualifies as a quirk. 

I would say that if the coach has been well maintained and you are aware of everything that works (and doesn't work) going into the purchase, that you can be assured that the "bones" of a Newell are good.  I did pass on the purchase of a 1995 Newell recently after having an RV inspector do a thorough inspection.  There were many items damaged and not working and it could have easily cost $40-50k to deal with the neglect on that coach.  It was an easy "no".