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637 has new owners.
#1

My wife and I have purchased coach 637. We take possession on the 17th.

637 is a 2002 45-foot, four-slide, mid-door, one and a half bath, Series 60-powered coach with an Allison transmission. It was originally built for NASCAR driver Jeff Burton. It does not have over a million miles on it, though it does have over 200,000. I figure the engine should be broken-in nicely by now. During our test driving, my wife and I were impressed with how quiet the coach is. Not a rattle, not a squeak. Virtually no road noise and I could barely hear the engine (with all the interior doors open.)

This will be our third coach. From 2008 through 2014 we lived full-time in a Country Coach Intrigue (with a Cat C12 and a tag axle). We put about 40,000 miles on it, mostly in the west, with three trips east to visit family and friends there. We also spent a wonderful summer working and living at Desert View in Grand Canyon National Park. In 2014 we moved into a new home in Marana, Arizona, a burb of Tucson, and sold the coach. I though we were hanging up our keys for good.

But my wife doesn't want to travel without her beloved cat. He adopted us in early 2009 and was with us for most of the 40,000 miles. So in 2018, we had need to go east for a wedding in Wisconsin and a family reunion in Maryland. I looked at renting something small like a class B Sprinter and had lined one up to rent on the internet. I suggested that my wife go to a few RV dealerships and check them out for size. She decided that the class B was too small and said there was a Winnebago View for sale that was “perfect.” I have a friend with a View -- I do like the Mercedes-Benz chassis. We ended up buying it and we did take it east in 2018 and we went to Banff and British Columbia in 2019. After each trip we cursed that the View was way too small and we needed something bigger.

We were planing to take the View to the Four Corners this summer. But a few weeks ago a YouTube video caught our eyes and we again thought of The Newells. My wife and I looked at them in 2007, including a trip to Miami, when we were shopping for our first coach, but none of the units in our price range had Series 60 engines. We bought the Country Coach, but never stopped looking at The Newells.

So when 637 popped up for sale at a price that seemed doable, we jumped on it. We are a little overwhelmed and our not sure exactly what we are getting ourselves into maintenance-wise, but please believe me when I say that I don't think we would have ever purchased a nearly 20 year-old coach if this blog did not exist. I do know that there are much older coaches than ours still being used and loved. It is a tribute to both Newell Coach Corp. and the community of owners that keep them on the road.

We look forward to becoming part of that community.

We have many questions and will post them in the appropriate forums.


Glenn and Jill

Newell #637, 2002, 45', 4 slides, center door, 1.5 bath, Series 60, Allison 4000, ex-Jeff Burton NASCAR coach
Honda 2009 CR-V equipped with M&G Engineering Brake System
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#2

You are right Glenn. Elaine and I live and travel full time in our 1982 Newell 36' Classic with a DD 6v92 (38 years old this month). She stands up to full time living like a champ. We have a little over 166,000 miles on this series 92 engine, and it is barely broken in. Ironically, we also worked a winter at Desert View in 2017-2018. Did you work in the General Store, or elsewhere?


Clarke and Elaine Hockwald
1982 Newell Classic, 36', 6V92 TA
2001 VW Beetle Turbo
Cannondale Tandem
Cannondale Bad Boy
Haibike SDURO MTB
http://whatsnewell.blogspot.com
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#3

Congrats!!! We loved that coach! Only thing that kept us from it was the fridge drawers and washer dryer. I know you will enjoy the heck out of that one she is a beautiful coach, happy trails to you and your bride

home: Southern California
05 #746 quad slide 2000i, 
Steerable tag 
Detroit Diesel series 60 515 hp
Allison trans

Toad 2013 Avalanche Black Diamond edition 4 wheel drive
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#4

Welcome to the gurus, and thank you so much for the background info. It really helps us help you.

No worries about 200k on the engine and tranny. We are showing 235 k and it doesn’t use a quart of oil between changes.

The good news is that many of the gurus have hands on experience with that era coach and technology.

Enjoy the coach.

Richard and Rhonda Entrekin
99 Newell, 512
Maverick Hybrid Toad
Inverness, FL (when we're home Cool )
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#5

Clarke and Elaine:
Not at the store. Summer 2012 we worked for what was then called Grand Canyon Association (it's now called Grand Canyon Conservancy). My wife worked at the Tusayan Museum and I worked at the Desert View Visitor Center. This was before Delaware North replaced Xanterra at the east end of the canyon and before the Park Service took over the Watch Tower. The Visitor Center was then located in the brown wood-frame building located closest to the parking lot. Last time we were there in summer 2018 the building was not in use as the Conservancy had moved their operation to the Watchtower.

rundlc:
We found the fridge drawer and the lack of a washer/drier off-putting too. We hope we don't regret it.
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#6

Welcome Glenn and Jill. No question you will have a learning experience but I think this fine group of people can help you through it.

Michael Day
1992 Newell 43.5' #281
NewellOwner.com
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#7

hi glenn,

you have my phone number and you are just 140 miles from me. my coach was a race coach as well with no washer dryer. we have managed just fine. darlene would have liked one but it is very doable.

my invitation is still there. i think you would enjoy a visit either in the coach or just drive over. we can go over the coach systems with you.

you can always drive your coach over for a test drive and spend a nite and we can go over everything in it.

tom in wittmann az

2002 45'8" Newell Coach 608  Series 60 DDEC4/Allison World 6 Speed HD4000MH

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