My "New" 1998 Newmar Dutch Star

[Darbone85737]

I previously posted regarding the purchase of my 1998 coach. Thanks for your thoughtful replies. I noticed there are many other posts from people considering the purchase of their first coach so I thought I would follow up with my own experience.

I did everything that I probably should not have done. I purchased the motor home on Ebay, sight unseen, relying upon the representation of the seller (a used car dealer specializing in internet sales of high end European cars and the occasional motor home) who was located 2,200 miles away. I did some research that validated the sellers claim that this coach was owned by one individual who purchased it new and traded it for another newer one. It had 79,000 miles on it which didn't particularly bother me. I felt the mileage was proportionate to the age. Too many of these things lie unused and I felt lack of use was a more serious cause for concern. The transaction required me to make a very small deposit and close the deal once I got to see the coach. I took that as some comfort as I felt I could walk away if the coach was not as represented. There was very little downside.

I had never owned or even driven a class A RV so I was really taking a leap of faith here. These are complicated things with many different systems, some of which would be excruciatingly expensive to repair or replace. No one ever accused me of being the sharpest tool in the shed. Reading these forums is enough to scare the be-jeezus out of you with tales of things gone wrong, so I'm happy to share a story of things gone right.

As it turns out the coach was everything I was lead to believe it would be (probably more). Items that would need attention were properly disclosed by the seller and he assisted me in getting them taken care of before I flew in. I replaced 2 tires that were 7 years old and had oil/filter changes and fuel filter changes done before taking off. The seller spent a few hours with me going over the unit, including me taking a good test run before getting down to the business of closing the deal. To say I was at once elated and scared to death leaving that shop at night would be an understatement.

I spent 11 days on the road (drove about 6 or them) covering 2,200 miles with stops in places that I always wanted to see but were never convenient to visit (the Badlands, Custer State Park and the Crazy Horse memorial were amazing). All along the way I was learning how things worked and acclimating myself to running this new-to-me coach. I had one item that required attention - the failure of the cruise control to engage. After one day of driving I decided it would need attention before continuing on. A Freightliner shop in West Salem, MN was kind enough to hook up a scanner and found the switch wasn't sending signal. It turned out to be a disconnected pin connector under the drivers dash- a 2 minute fix. The folks there would take no money for their effort and declined my offer to at least buy them lunch.

Long story short, I returned home after the 2,200 miles completely satisfied with how the coach performed. The 3126 Cat ran perfectly and provided plenty of smooth, quiet power. I used around 250 gallons of fuel for the trip. That included a couple of days with serious wind conditions. The Freightliner chassis was exceptionally easy to drive. The coach tracked straight and handled smoothly.

I'm now camped at Catalina State Park here in Arizona. It's 3 miles from my home and we're taking a week to further acclimate ourselves with the unit in anticipation of our winter stay in Mexico. Aside from the disconnected cruise switch the only issue we've had was a little sand caught in the filter of the bathroom faucet.

Now that I'm settled I plan to do a few things in the way of maintenance to ensure things continue well. The house batteries are a bit weak and will need replacing. I may just be lucky but there is little I would change in the way things went. Although I didn't do it having a thorough pre-purchase inspection is a great idea and useful in negotiations for the purchase. I did have an RV specialist look at the coach when I got back here and he gave it a positive opinion. As far as owning an older coach, I found the original paperwork from the sale of the coach when it was new. I would never be able to afford something like this new so owning a well taken care of older coach is perfect for us.

[bizsmith@yahoo.com]

I firmly believe that a preowned coach that has had good care will beat a new one every time. The bugs are fixed and sometimes I question the quality of the newer models. We have sat in the waiting room of a large service facility waiting to have elective service and the complaints of the new purchase customers are either hilarious or heartbreaking. I'll take my '99 Monaco exec any day.