I posted a thread over in the Newbie section and got lots of great feedback. I'm glad I stopped lurking and jumped in!
I'm in the middle of a deal on a clean 70K mile '06 P2000i 4 slide, mid entry, with single rear bath. Any thoughts on a good price?
Also, anyone know the history or previous owners of #777? I know it was a single owner coach until 2012 and then it appears to have been sold again in mid 2014 and then possibly April of this year, and now again where it was supposedly traded on another Newell. I prefer to see long ownership history.
I call Newell and while they will tell me when it was last at the factory (2014), they won't give any history at all on it regarding updates, service, recalls, issues, etc. I find this pretty odd. Even if you own it they won't give you history.
If you call Marathon, they will tell you the history of a coach as long as you either own it, or have a contract to buy it. I was looking at one coach that had apparently been reskinned and had chronic slide issues. They weren't even hesitant to disclose that to me!
Thanks
-Carl
Although my records are certainly not complete, I don't show any sales prior to late 2012. I show it advertised in January 2014 with a sale in July of 2014. I first saw it listed again the end of April of 2015 on RVOnline.
It was registered in Alaska in 2011.
Thanks Michael.
It looked to me like it had the original owner until late 2012, the second owner until July 2014, then a third owner until April 2015. Then it seemed to disappear (fourth owner) and reappear for sale just recently but maybe I missed something.
Think there are any concerns with too many owners?
Thoughts on price as you seem to follow these like a hawk? I think $300K is strong money on an '06 4 slide 1 bath.
-Carl
It is not uncommon for a purchaser of a new Newell to only keep it 1-2 years before trading it in on a new one. On a coach that is 10 years old, I would not be concerned with it having multiple owners. Some buy a coach and determine that they don't like the lifestyle, some decide they don't have the time to travel and some move up to a newer coach. I have owned 5 RV's over the past 20 years.
The P2000i's seem to be listed for higher prices than the 2000i's even within the 2006 model year. There have been several early 2006 2000i's that were available at around $300k. That does not seem to the case for the later P2000i's. I have no way, in the vast majority of cases to determine the actual selling price of coaches, only the asking prices. Occasionally, an owner shares the actual price paid with me but I have no other source.
Carl, I have not had any problem with Newell not telling me about my coach and it's owners. I am the third owner and I know who the other two are. They have also answered many of my questions about prior service. John Clark, who was VP of customer service at the time, brought out a folder about 4"thick and he looked through them with me. He was across his desk from me and he only went through them. I was not able to touch them, but he was very helpful. I will say that I was at Newell and I did already own the coach.
I think Chappell has provided insight into the situation. I am not defending or criticizing Newell's position on this, just saying I understand it. One, there is personal info in that file on previous owners such as names, addresses, and maybe DL and SS numbers. No way is Newell going to allow someone else to see that. Two, if they were to share info with potential buyers then they could create a situation where the owner hears that Newell has shared info that killed a potential deal.
Yeah, I would like to have schematics, blue prints, and the maintenance history records. They would help me immensely figure out some of problem solving. I wish Newell would provide that for owners on some sort of basis. I would gladly pay for the hours needed to round it up and copy. But, I am not holding my breath..............
It may be that that most of the original buyers of Newell coaches aren't all that interested in blueprints and schematics (Matz excluded). We of the self warranty crowd aren't Newell's mainstream business.
Thanks for the replies Michael, Chappell, and Richard. I missed them earlier as the thread notification wasn't working.
I went through the coach for a couple of hours and found things that bothered me. I'm not sure if these are normal on a Newell but I have not seen them on a Marathon...
1. The exterior side panel of the coach above the rear drivers slide was popped out slightly and there was a decent sized wave in the trim strip. I'm not sure what would cause that on an all metal coach. In a glass coach, it would be caused by delimitation.
2. A couple of spots in the interior laminate with diagonal cracks radiating 10-12" across wall panels.
3. Several fogging windows which was interesting as they already fixed 5 earlier this year.
4. Paint blistering around the latch handles for the bay doors.
5. Something that looked like paint blistering on the edges of the slides but was solid underneath.
6. One rear slide kept cycling between vacuum seal and inflate seal while trying to retract it. I finally got it in.
7. Some good sized cracks in a couple of rear bath floor tiles. This is likely why the radiant heating is dead back there.
8. A fair amount of water damage (mostly cosmetic) on the wall and covers behind the toilet that I assume were from an interior water leak.
General things that needed to be repaired...
1. Clunk in front suspension.
2. Seal split on the front slide...I'm guessing that's a big one.
3. Electric "Toll" windows getting stuck in the cab.
4. Despite new coach batteries and the unit being plugged in, I had to use the emergency start switch to get enough voltage to start.
5. Exterior window awnings would "jerk" and not want to cycle in and out reliably.
Pictures coming up.
Toilet water damage and previous repair to wall panel above it.
Paint irregularities.
Separating side panel and bulge in painted roof trim.
Cracked area in floor tile.
I tried to separate the photos out into labeled posts but it lumped them into one.
Overall the coach was in good condition with new tires, batts, maintenance looks done on engine/gen/major systems, drove well, and presented well.
It has minor interior wear and touchups but it does have 70K miles. The exterior is in good condition with only a couple of touchups and a full clear bra so no chips. Only the issues mentioned with the pictures above.
The history is "unique". Transwest took it on trade from the second owner in 2014 and that is was supposedly to be wholesaled. It was listed for sale and then "disappeared" on their lot and off the web until just recently. I was told that it was involved in a scheme from a fired employee to wholesale their trades below market value and then take large kickbacks. He was fired and legal/tax actions ensued and it was supposedly just written up publicly but I haven't had time to search.
Odd that 45' Newells (and others) could get "stashed" on their lot without anyone noticing but I will give them the benefit of the doubt.
This is my opinion, and worth exactly nothing.
The water damage around the toilet may or may not be water damage. I recently re wallpapered that area, and I can say the original looked like your pictures with peeling at the edges. On mine there was no water damage beneath the ugly peeling paper.
The Newell has aluminum skin as you know. It is tough on exposed edges not to get a little paint corrosion. Almost all of us have some. I used to worry about it, and after eight years of Newell ownership, I don't worry about the coach corroding away.
The buckle or protrusion in the top skin is likely, but not confirmed, caused by retracting or extending the slide when the coach chassis was in a bind. If you extend and retract the slide with the coach in an awkward position, you can cock the slide and it will catch the edge of the coach skin. I can show you pictures of mine. Newells don't typically have the delam issues.
Coach batteries dead. Could be older than advertised batteries. Could be a parasitic load dragging them down if they were not disconnected. The starting batteries are cheap.
Big cracks in interior laminate bear further investigation.
Crack in the tile, I don't know. Could be from flexing, could be from dropping something on it.
Rear slide seal cycling between vac and pressure needs some investigation. You do not want the seal to inflate while you are moving the slide.
No idea on the fogged windows. But I would check the walls under the windows for signs of long term leakage. That goes for ANY coach. A small ice pick right at the floor juncture can reveal a LOT.
The split slide seal is a big ticket item. Others may can tell you what the Newell price is for replacing.
Not trying to say these are or are not problems. But if you are like me, I don't know what is normal or abnormal when I first hit the learning curve.
Was it what you thought it would be?
Did it drive like you thought it would?
Was it quiet?