Newell Gurus

Hi all,

Looking to purchase another coach.  it's a 2011 with over 200k miles.  Have not seem many Newell's with that high mileage.,  Some Entertainer Prevost coaches yes but not yet a Newell. 
How far will these coaches go without major grief.  Engine may be a million mile engine but what about the chassis?
My other concern is the transmission.  I've only owned Allison 6-speed.  what is the value in the 10 or 12 speed ZF etc?   any benefit or just what was available at the build time
Lastly the C15!  I've owned C12's before and fairly reliable but fuel mileage wasn't the greates.  I've always like the Detroit's but if not mistaken the 2005 was the last year for those.  Cummins would be ok but probably too new (expensive) on a working mans budget.

All comments appreciated
Marino

I am at 275k. I have replaced a lot of suspension rubber components. It is really hard to say if the rubber breakdown is use or time. I suspect time is the big factor. Personally I would rather have a rig that has been rolling and maintained than one that has been sitting for a number of years. But that’s one person’s viewpoint.

The ZF tranny was used because there was a period where Allison wouldn’t rate the 4000 for the torque of the C15.

None of the latter year coaches will approach the mileage of the S60. You’re not buying a Prius. The yearly depreciation dwarfs fuel costs.

Ditto what Richard said. Personally I wouldn't want anything built after 2007/2008, pre all the emission crap they're killing engines with. When I bought ours I thought it had 400k on it, turned out to only have 285k. I had the chassis inspected by Prevost before flying from Virginia to California to buy and drive home. I bought it in February and didn't think twice about immediately driving it cross country 4000miles in 4days to get home. It didn't miss a beat

Building on what Arch said, I recommend you research the year of the engine (which may differ from the coach). My understanding is that Cat began installing a DPF with sprayed fuel regen system (vice DEF) beginning in January 2007 in order to meet new EPA requirements and the result was lawsuits from owners due to issues with the system and Cat's eventual exit from the on-road market. I believe some with the DPF systems deleted them but I don't know how effective this was at addressing issues (setting aside the legality of deleting). We shopped with this in mind and found a very-late 2008 with a December 2006 engine.

Please also note that Cummins had a bad run of engines that led to replacement under warranty about the time that Newell switched away from Cat but I understand a few owners didn't qualify or elect to have their engines replaced and current owners are holding that risk without warranty support. I'm not sure of the years/serial numbers but I believe the information is out there and someone here may be able to chime in.