ok, i will weigh in as well. this is our 3rd motorhome. after the last one which i sold about 15 years ago and bought our cabin (which btw, has appreciated in value), i told myself that if i ever bought another coach it would be a bus. so 3 years ago i had an injury that left me laying down for a couple of months and our oldest daughter was getting married and one reception was going to be in the midwest, i figured it was time to start looking. so i spent a couple of intense months looking initially for a prevost or mci conversion.
then i migrated to looking at a ton of wanderlodges, which i still really like. i had wanderlodges inspected all over the us, had plane tickets to go buy a 94 in florida that he sold out from under me the day i was flying there, put a deposit on a 95 with a series 60 in texas that wasnt in as good of shape as advertised etc. then a friend of mine that had a country coach told me to look at newells and from that point the more i looked the hooked i got.
the simple look of the classics was what i was drawn to at first, then when i found a series 2000 for a reasonable price that was it. having said that i inquired about a lot of them. i was patient and spent a lot of time analyzing features etc. i would have loved to find a series 60, but 3 years ago, they were still above the price point i wanted to stay with. now, of course they are well within that range.
now that my rambling about how, now for the why. first, having had several other coaches before, they were nice, but they were motorhomes that had no where near the build quality. one was a travco, which was a nice rig alot like the gmc. the next was an executive. it was very nice, but surely had alot of things to fix all the time. no way it drove like the newell either.
granted, i have done a ton of work on my newell. i, meaning darlene and i. most was not necessary, but something we wanted to do. for a rig that was built 21 years ago, i have no hesitation hopping in it in 2 weeks and driving to utah for the week like we are going to do. there is little i cant take care of myself and the things that do happen to go wrong are generally small things.
one time darlene and i were on a long driving day in the newell and she kept asking me if i was ok. i remember telling her it was like driving a race car. it was fun to drive and exciting and i could drive it forever. for me sometimes i just go out and start it up and sit in the drivers seat listening to the sweet sound of that 2 stroke diesel. when i go under bridges or in an underpass i always open the window to hear that engine and then i honk the air horn.
it drives and rides like a super long cadillac.
it is like a motorhome that is supersized and super over built. everything was done with high quality. i have found nothing i would consider that was cheaply done and i have been through a ton of my coach as i refurbished it.
i wish it had schematics for the systems, but the tribal knowledge from guys who helped to build my coach at newell is still available which is quite amazing in and of itself.
yea, it is a over 20 years old, but no one thinks that when they come look at it. do i wish i had slides...yes. does it really matter to me for my usage....no.
could i afford to upgrade to one....yes....will i....no. my newell has become part of me and we will never live full time in ours so for fun usage, it is awesome.
are there more upgrades in store....yes. i am an engineer and there is little i can leave alone. i always have more upgrades planned than i have time to do.
we are off to salt lake city in two weeks and have invited some friends to go with us and they are super excited to go on a bus trip.
that said, the newer, many slide fiberglass coaches are very nice. they are alot cheaper than ours or similar priced for ones that are 10-15 years older for newells. but i wouldnt trade for anything.
i have said it before and i will say it again. the best thing about getting our newell is not the coach. it is the friends darlene and i have made, met and traveled with. when the coach is gone (if it ever is) we will still have those friends.
we are in a blessed land to be able to have rigs like this. in the past month i have been in china, malaysia, singapore and israel. i have shown pictures of my newell and described it to my friends in those places and they are just amazed that someone can have something like that. it just isnt possible for them.
as many of you know i travel for work a bit. all i can say is to quote dorothy...."theres no place like home"
happy saturday
tom
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