Luxury Coach Lifestyles - View Single Post - What does it take to add a slide room to a coach and is it feasable?
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Old 03-31-2013, 10:14 PM   #3
Neweller
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Location: Heartland
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Brady and Forest, thanks for dragging me into this one! If you don't know me by now then you will eventually figure out that I'm the guy that says go for it, just do it or hey, lets go for it! Now, does anyone want to hear my take on this thought? I do agree with Brady and Forest, as they both are correct with their assumption in my book. Not saying my book is gold lined or anything, I'm always just spewing something crazy or ____.

Let's ask a couple simple questions. 1) Can slide's be added to a Newell professionally? Yes they can. 2) Can slide's be added to a Newell at a realistic cost? I believe it can depending on all the relative factors. Now that we have those simple questions out of the way lets move on. And of course I'm looking for anyone else rationale here too.

We must ask; what are we willing to spend to upgrade a non-slide coach professionally? If you had a Classic, early 2000 Series or a late 2000 Series with a Series 60 engine, would it be feasible?

I'm thinking if Newell Coach factory was willing to add a new slide for around $35,000 each, some folks would pay it. Now whether there would be enough profit in it for them, they would have to answer that. A few years ago on this very same forum we had some dialog and I don't remember who stated it, but they just didn't think it was a good idea from a structural engineering standpoint. But recently I spoke with someone that knows the Newell inside and out, they told me that it would not be a problem to do, since the Newell bottom structure was the strongest in the industry and naturally designed for slides virtually anywhere.

The reason the factory hesitates on offering them is mainly from a marketing standpoint, it may affect newer coach sales. After pondering this for some time, I believe they actually could be missing the mark with this train of thought and feel they should offer it and with a normal warranty as with any other update or modification they do. I also realize that slide's are figured in right at $150,000 each on a new coach. But prices on a new coach are not the same even though you would think it would be cheaper building from the get go. It wouldn't necessarily be true, since new coaches have a ton more electronics and accessories compared to an old coach.

About ten years ago I spoke with a company down in Arizona that was knocking out their own slides and installing them for right $6000.00. They have long went out of business, mainly since the market changed with companies like Prevost not willing to take any responsibility for coaches having aftermarket slides installed. I believe that to be fair. That is why Prevost builds most slides you see nowadays themselves for bus/RV converters or the other options would be if you are a coach converter and can pass their quality assurance requirements such as companies like Featherlite, you can build your own.

I know that if you wanted a level floor slide done, you would like to have Newell do the job, if you didn't care about it being a level floor surface design, you could have someone else do it. There are companies offering the service for buses and I find it hard to believe they wouldn't want to give it a try for a fair profit.

We need to ask Newell if they are willing to do it and if so at what cost. I do know people that already own their Newell and if you love the coach you have the way it is and would really like a slide installed and keep it, then it could be very worthwhile. What if you already have some upgrades like a new engine or other accessories on a non-slide coach and if you sell it, you will loose thousands, what would you do if you had a choice?

There are a few questions here that we can dialog on and we may actually find a more feasible solution then say selling and trying to upgrade. I have to believe it's possible. I'll dig deeper into it myself and anyone else with anything to add, please do so. That day in the future could come when there are more folks wanting used Newell's then the supply in demand, especially with slides. With current and past production at Newell only being 24 coaches a year, what do think is going to happen?
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