[MrE]

2.  Driving experience.  I live in constant 20-30mph winds across Kansas.  The other two coaches were terrible to drive in cross winds and were very rough and difficult driving in general.  It was a chore driving the others. Every bump was accompanied by rattles and shakes.  Newells both old and new drive like butter in comparison and no rattles other than your dishes!  This was a HUGE difference in experience.  It's actually pleasurable to drive Newells and most owners prefer driving them long distances than their cars. I know I do.  

Jason, you hit the nail right square on the head here!

[larryweikartsr]

MHUD The quality and honesty of the replies you're receiving from my fellow gurus is a good indication of the continued assistance you will always get from this site. The Newell owners on this site could build one from scratch and they'll help you thru most any challenge you're likely to encounter. As for me, I've used our Newell for business purposes since 1999. We were in the Racing Hospitality business until 2014. I have logged over 250K miles on our Newell, most of which was while towing our 25,000# Kitchen trailer. I'm not mechanically inclined by any stretch of the imagination, but with the assistance of this site and Newells fantastic 365 24/7 hot line, We've never missed a race! In addition, the Detroit Series 60 is practically bullet proof. You can do a lot worse and none better than spending your hard earned $$ on a Newell. As you can tell, I'm not biased at all. Good luck in your quest.

[Yachts]

Hey Larry looks like I may have a chance to see you this week.

[pairodice]

I have to second, third, etc. all the above comments. We have owned three Foretravels which are commonly known to be of much better construction than other fiberglass Motorhome brands. I would not EVER go back to a fiberglass coach. We love our Newell and live in it full-time. You may see my questions and comments about leaking slides and other things but overall this is the best built coach on the road along with outstanding customer support. The Wanderlodge is a very good coach and they have a great forum to help with questions but if you want factory support then Newell or Prevost is the way to go. I figure about $1/mile for maintenance and that seems to work out well. No matter how new of a coach you get just put aside $10-$20k for problems and you will be fine! Welcome to the forum!

[Junior Guru]

I agree re maint costs. I bought my 2003 Newell with an initial budget for first year maint of $25k and then less the following yr. that was pretty close to accurate. That might seem like a lot but just changing out all the TVs, updating sattelite dishes, etc can cost a bit. Unless you know for certain the previous owner had everything up to par, I think it's best to plan for additional maint cost the first year or so regardless of coach brand. I just factored it into my total purchase price.

[77newell]

There are three factors effecting costs in the year following purchase: fixing things the previous owner was willing to defer, normal interval servicing that just comes naturally due, and changes you wish to make due to personal interests and values. The first category you have to search for and question the owner about, and to a certain degree depend on the forthrightness of the previous owner. The second category can be determined by age stamps on tires, maintenance records and the like. To some degree you are dependant on the oreviois owner for important information. The third category is all up to you, and you get to choose the timing. I have found it useful to break costs down this way so as to minimize surprises and to structure the investigation of prospective coaches.

Hey, I'm an unrecovered engineer, what can I say. I just like to reduce the thinking process into bite size pieces, that better fit my limited brain.