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NeverEnding
07-27-2012, 11:34 PM
I'm not new to this site, I actually visit it almost daily these days. My wife and I are planning on retiring soon and when we do we have plans of hitting the road hopefully in a "Newell" taking that never ending road trip. It's been a couple of years now that I've been a member here on the forums but I've been visiting for the past 5 years. I never knew what a Newell was until I stumble upon this site when the wife and I were looking into purchasing a Prevost come close to retirement for the both of us. The time is coming near and we are counting down the days!! wooo whooo! lol!

Anyhow, once we came to this site we were pretty much sold! This site has so much to offer and we find ourselves reading all we can. We also enjoy looking at the gallery it is such a great asset to the site and we love browsing looking at all the photos. We are also currently keeping up with the classifieds since we are in the market to buy. We didn't think it was necessary to post before since we were only researching but the time is close so we thought we'd say hello and we look forward to joining the rest of you lucky Newell owners!

Richard and Rhonda
07-28-2012, 01:15 AM
Hope you join us as an owner. We are happy to help you find the Newell that is right for you. When you define the approximate era you are looking for then shout out. It's easier when the era is defined for the group to tell you what to look for.

We love to spend other people's money.

larryweikart
07-28-2012, 02:32 AM
welcome to the group. You are definitely heading in the right direction. Good luck in your search!

fulltiming
07-28-2012, 04:35 AM
Thanks for posting!! Please keep us up-to-date on your progress in searching out a coach. We think Newells offer fulltimers a superb combination of style, space, livability, practicality, quality and dependability.

The Newell
07-28-2012, 03:35 PM
Just wanted to say welcome to the Newell Family!

lbrachfe
07-28-2012, 04:49 PM
Welcome and you might find a good deal on E-Bay if not in the classifieds. Newell's service dept is second to none and one of the greatest benefits of owning a Newell...Hope to meet you down the road......

NeverEnding
07-29-2012, 05:37 PM
Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. We are still trying to figure out the year of Newell that would be our best fit. We love the brand new coaches but a million plus isn't quite in the bag. We are looking closely at the 2005-2008 years. And we are keeping an eye on the classifieds and I'll take a look at ebay too. We'd like to purchase a coach by fall of next year.

Anyone have any pointers as what to look for when purchasing a used Newell? We aren't sure if we want to buy from Newell Coach direct or if we'll find a better deal from a private party? We have tossed around the idea of going down to the factory and seeing if we might have a tour at the brand new coaches but we don't want to find ourselves getting suckered in either. Impulse buying has been a problem for us lol but with this large of a purchase maybe we can keep ourselves under control.

Richard and Rhonda
07-29-2012, 06:12 PM
Don't go to the factory.

They give the customers free rein. Go in any coach on the lot. Go in any shop and see them under construction. Talk to the other 10 to 15 owners that will be there at the same time. I't the opposite of high pressure.

tuga
07-29-2012, 11:07 PM
NeverEnding,

I would go to factory if I were you. Take the tour AND also do like Richard said and talk to the other Newell owners who are in for service. You can learn a great deal by visiting with owners; they will give you great info from first hand experience.

If you are looking in the 2005-2008 range I would try to find one with an Allison transmission (6 speed) simply because they are bullet proof and there are service centers everywhere! I personally like the series 60 engine compared to the CAT because the DD gets 35% better fuel economy. At $4/gallon for diesel 35% adds up.

Next I would look for a 2 slide instead of 4 slides; the front slide when retracted (driving down the road) still gives you a good deal of room to walk around the coach. Four slides are nice but are somewhat cramped inside while on the road.

Lastly, carefully weigh buying from Newell (2 year warranty) and buying from an individual or a broker (no warranty). I have done both and there really isn't much difference. You can probably get a lower price from an individual but you give up getting the warranty. My first and second Newell were purchased from the factory with a warrany. My current coach was purchased from a broker. I had $5500 in repairs that would have been covered by Newell's warranty. That was in a 2 year period. It's a personal call: if I were to buy another Newell it really wouldn't matter to me who would buy from.

Chester B. Stone, Jr.
07-29-2012, 11:46 PM
Dito to Tuga's comments.

Newell Tank
07-30-2012, 03:00 AM
In agreement with everyone on here. I'm especially with Tuga and Chester, we bought from the factory a slightly used Newell a few years back and have taken advantage of the great service under factory warranty. Love those folks at Newell. I don't do any more repairs than I have too, I'm retired.

Best of Luck,
Gene

NeverEnding
07-31-2012, 01:08 AM
I can hear the factory calling our names! I think the wife and I will plan on making a trip in the very near future.

Thinking of a trip -

Does anyone have any suggestions on the best time of year to go out to the factory? I would enjoy talking with some Newell owners while out there. I'm also trying to pencil out if we should make a road trip down that way 600+ miles or if we should fly? We are leaning towards flying for the time savings. (since we aren't retired YET!) Not sure on what places are out that way in Miami, OK to stay as far as hotels go? Does anyone have any recommendations?
Thank you everyone for the help, suggestions, pointers and options to look for when buying a used Newell. The warranty is something I'm seriously considering and I'm calculating and trying to take this all in mind wise and on paper, lots to work out and still so much to learn.

You can bet I'm taking notes!

afrench45
07-31-2012, 02:42 AM
I agree with the rest if the group, go to the factory... You won't leave empty handed! There is a nice Holiday Inn in Miami that is probably 6 miles from the factory for lodging. If you fly, the closest place would be Tulsa I believe, unless Joplin has a bigger airport. The factory is about an hour and a half from Tulsa. In my opinion I would wait a couple months to go.... Oklahoma has been hot as ever. Our calendar has 100+ for the next 10 days and that's no fun to walk around and look at coaches in.
The warranty is great, the coaches are great. Enjoy the factory. You always meet great folk there.

Neweller
07-31-2012, 05:02 AM
Welcome to the Newell Forum! We are so glad you joined us and thank you for taking advantage of what we have to offer. As you can see this is a friendly site and many will try hard to help you learn about the greatest motorhome to ever roam the earth. Also, check the classifieds here on the site, there are updates almost daily and many have been selling.

NeverEnding
08-03-2012, 05:59 PM
Thanks afrench45 for the information. I agree looking at coaches in the 100+ heat doesn't sound to fun. We are looking forward to making a trip out in a few months.

Thank you for this great site ncadmin! Everyone has been very nice and a great help so far. We sure do like the gallery and I plan on making some calls this weekend on a few coaches that have us interested.

tuga
08-03-2012, 11:08 PM
I changed my service appointment from Aug. 20th to Sept. 24th because of the heat! Weather.com showed high temps of 106 degrees - that's too hot for comfortable travel.

If you are at the factory during the week of Sept. 24th I look forward to meeting you and your wife.

Don't forget your checkbook!

Neweller
08-04-2012, 12:58 AM
Tuga I think you have a point as to looking at coaches in the heat. I just returned from looking at coach today with some new folks here on the forum and it was too hot, then it started to sprinkle and the humidity went up that much more and then the sweat started rolling. lol. Maybe we can get a caravan of wannabe Newellers going to the factory in September? I've got a small handful of folks showing some serious interest. It would be nice if the factory could provide our members an incentive of some sort.

Ken

tuga
08-04-2012, 02:54 PM
Ken,

How about a $50,000 discount?

afrench45
08-04-2012, 05:17 PM
I changed my service appointment from Aug. 20th to Sept. 24th because of the heat! Weather.com showed high temps of 106 degrees - that's too hot for comfortable travel.

If you are at the factory during the week of Sept. 24th I look forward to meeting you and your wife.

Don't forget your checkbook!

Tuga good call! I'm taking my coach tomorrow and leaving it for a few weeks to get the damage from my blowouts fixed. It's miserable driving in the 100+ temps. With the basement air the rear of my coach is around 95 degrees.

jrarriola
08-04-2012, 07:34 PM
Andrew -

Which tire did you have blow out? We had the driver's side front tire blowout Thanksgiving day on I-20 near Marshall & had so much damage we had to have it towed back up to Miami. Coach was in the shop 3-4 months for repairs! That was a 2 minute ride I hope to never take again!

Jim
2000 Newell Double Slide
Coach 547

Neweller
08-04-2012, 09:54 PM
Tuga, 50k could be a descent discount. Speaking of discounts, we have had a couple of offers being turned onto our members; actually some interesting offers that may be well worth taking advantage of by our members come our way, which I'll touch on in the near future.

Jim, that blowout sounded like it may have been real expensive. Is that the part of the 20 where they were doing construction?

Ken

jrarriola
08-04-2012, 11:29 PM
Ken -

No construction going on at that part of I-20 but there was something in the road that I could not miss & just a few minutes after running over it the tire exploded with the loudest boom I've ever heard! A guy that had just passed me in a dually pulling a trailer said the explosion blew him off the road a bit! I was immediately pulled into the median and fought for nearly 1/4 mile to get the coach/tow vehicle under control & stopped. It took the Tow Company 7 hours to get us out of the median! Expensive?? Amen! But thank goodness I had great insurance!! And thank God my wife had done so much research prior to buying our first coach & her findings for safety kept bringing her back to Newell & the majority weight distribution being below the window line or we would have rolled over! The 3 highway patrol officers that worked the accident all agreed with that!

Jim

Neweller
08-04-2012, 11:38 PM
Jim, that makes the hairs stand up on my back. WOW, is all I can say and I'll double thank God you guise bought a Newell and came out of it unscathed. That is one heck of a testimony for the builders at Newell too!

Ken

afrench45
08-05-2012, 12:51 AM
Jim-
It was my outside drive tire that blew, and the inside was ruined as well. The only major visual damage was the fender flair, and some paint. What was later discovered was that the hydrolic line for the #3 room retract line was cut... Because of the closed hydrolic system I was unable to have slides for a few days until it was determined what line was cut, and where to cap it off at the block. I had to drive back from Florida with my room sticking about 3 inches out, and the hydrolic line will have to be replaced....can't imagine running a line from the front hydrolic block back to the back! We tried to splice the line, but it wouldn't hold the 2200lbs of hydrolic pressure.
My blowout was also on I-20 as well! I was about 40 miles shy of Shreveport.

Since your blowout have you changed to 365 drive tires?

jrarriola
08-05-2012, 02:27 AM
Andrew -

That must have been a long drive from Florida like that! How many people did you have flag you down & tell you your slide was coming out??!! LOL!

Yes I had them go ahead & do the upgrade with the 365's and new rims on the front end or I'd be traveling by myself after that experience! We just returned from a trip to CO & I experienced a problem four different times of trying to make a sharp left turn and the steering wheel would go so far into the turn and "lock up". I'd just have to ease on into the turn to complete and at that time the wheel would "unlock". I've never had this happen in the four years we've had this coach so I'm wondering what could be causing this. Come to think about it, this happened on our return so maybe the coach was trying to tell us not to leave the cool temps in CO and return to the brutal triple digits of TX!!

Jim