01-19-2016, 07:46 AM
After much research and owning a several motorhomes it seems to me that once you get past the first couple years the value of pretty much every motorhome will drop 50% every 10 years. The higher end units tend to drop more in the first couple years and settle into the 50-10 pattern.
While every Newell is unique I can say I was surprised by how much was similar between the 77 and 93 coaches I've owned. If you walked into the two of them without being told they were built by the same company you would very quickly conclude that they were just by looking around. Newell gradually evolves the basic design of their coaches and then adds a layer or two of custom features at the request of the initial owner. The implication of all this is that there are enough similarities in the coaches for this group to provide enormous insight and support to owners of these coaches even though each coach is also unique.
The more features and complexity a coach has the higher the overall maintenance will be, there is just more that can go wrong. The Newell factory has slowly, cautiously, and conservatively evolved the technology incorporated in their coaches so, given the complexity of the coach's systems, these coaches are less prone to failures than similar coaches. However, there will be problems and you either work on them yourself with the help of this group, or you pay someone $100+/hour to work on a generally strange to them coach. It behooves you to know how the maintenance will be handled. With a new coach with a 2 year warranty your maintenance cost is minimized but your depreciation is maximized or you can trade off to a lower priced used Newell and flip those dynamics. Just where the break-even point is depends on who is doing the bulk of the maintenance. If you search this site you will find quite a number of reports regarding costs.
My point here is to point you in the direction of being able to understand your visible and invisible (depreciation) cash flows so that you can make a decision that fits who you are and how you want to manage things. Once you figure this all out for yourself you can purchase the best coach for you and go have the best possible time of your life.
While every Newell is unique I can say I was surprised by how much was similar between the 77 and 93 coaches I've owned. If you walked into the two of them without being told they were built by the same company you would very quickly conclude that they were just by looking around. Newell gradually evolves the basic design of their coaches and then adds a layer or two of custom features at the request of the initial owner. The implication of all this is that there are enough similarities in the coaches for this group to provide enormous insight and support to owners of these coaches even though each coach is also unique.
The more features and complexity a coach has the higher the overall maintenance will be, there is just more that can go wrong. The Newell factory has slowly, cautiously, and conservatively evolved the technology incorporated in their coaches so, given the complexity of the coach's systems, these coaches are less prone to failures than similar coaches. However, there will be problems and you either work on them yourself with the help of this group, or you pay someone $100+/hour to work on a generally strange to them coach. It behooves you to know how the maintenance will be handled. With a new coach with a 2 year warranty your maintenance cost is minimized but your depreciation is maximized or you can trade off to a lower priced used Newell and flip those dynamics. Just where the break-even point is depends on who is doing the bulk of the maintenance. If you search this site you will find quite a number of reports regarding costs.
My point here is to point you in the direction of being able to understand your visible and invisible (depreciation) cash flows so that you can make a decision that fits who you are and how you want to manage things. Once you figure this all out for yourself you can purchase the best coach for you and go have the best possible time of your life.
Jon Kabbe
1993 coach 337 with Civic towed