01-10-2022, 06:35 PM
My wife and I are approaching retirement (really me, as she already is retired) and are very interested in buying a motor home to cruise the country part-time. We presently own a 51-ft pilothouse yacht, for which many of the systems are similar to a motor home, so we feel the transition will be easier in that regard.
I’ve been reading Facebook sites and other blogs learning about the overall industry. This research has led me to the conclusion that “production” motor homes (e.g. Newmar, Entegra, Tiffin, Forest River) are fundamentally flawed in their basic design methods, which is further magnified by their poor quality of workmanship. This has in turn led me to the conclusion that the only feasible solution is to buy either a Newell or Prevost coach due to their apparent significant build quality and workmanship advantage.
The ownership of a boat has certainly grounded me in the complexities of these vessels, for which a motor home is quite similar, and I have no illusions that things won’t break and the constant need for maintenance, but as cited above I believe the production motorhomes are fundamentally flawed in their initial design and further impacted by their poor quality or workmanship. I’ve actually been surprised by how well my boat is built (knock on wood), not that it doesn’t take an enormous amount of work to keep it running, but it’s been way more reliable than I ever expected. I generally “fix” it on my terms.
So my basic question is are Newell/Prevost coaches fundamentally better design and built than production motorhomes? If so, my thoughts are to buy an ~15-year old Newell/Prevost over a 2-3 year old production motorhome. I don’t mind working on/paying to maintain (and improve) my motorhome, but I don’t want something that is inoperable more than it’s operable.
Would really appreciate your insights.
Thanks,
Rick
I’ve been reading Facebook sites and other blogs learning about the overall industry. This research has led me to the conclusion that “production” motor homes (e.g. Newmar, Entegra, Tiffin, Forest River) are fundamentally flawed in their basic design methods, which is further magnified by their poor quality of workmanship. This has in turn led me to the conclusion that the only feasible solution is to buy either a Newell or Prevost coach due to their apparent significant build quality and workmanship advantage.
The ownership of a boat has certainly grounded me in the complexities of these vessels, for which a motor home is quite similar, and I have no illusions that things won’t break and the constant need for maintenance, but as cited above I believe the production motorhomes are fundamentally flawed in their initial design and further impacted by their poor quality or workmanship. I’ve actually been surprised by how well my boat is built (knock on wood), not that it doesn’t take an enormous amount of work to keep it running, but it’s been way more reliable than I ever expected. I generally “fix” it on my terms.
So my basic question is are Newell/Prevost coaches fundamentally better design and built than production motorhomes? If so, my thoughts are to buy an ~15-year old Newell/Prevost over a 2-3 year old production motorhome. I don’t mind working on/paying to maintain (and improve) my motorhome, but I don’t want something that is inoperable more than it’s operable.
Would really appreciate your insights.
Thanks,
Rick