[Richard]

Thanks for the correction on the FL chassis.

10k is what the CFO tells me I spend a year.
Over the last ten years of ownership I have replaced, upgraded, or remodeled almost everything on the coach. I rarely have had to replace or repair something twice. The one exception to that has been the radiator. The point being that most of what I list is a one time thing.

We have a 99 model, 275K miles, owned for 10 years, and travel six months per year. We have spent almost as much maintaining and upgrading the coach as the original purchase price. And my labor is not counted in the $$$$. The 10K also includes tools I have purchased to do the work, such as industrial sewing machine and 1 inch impact gun as examples.


Tires
Batteries (there are 6 8D house batteries, although most go with Lithium now)
Radiator
Slide seals
Brakes
Reupholstered all the furniture, dinette twice
MCD blinds
Lithium batteries
Upgraded inverter
Rebuilt all air conditioners
Changed out Webasto burner control for Beckett
Moderate exterior painting to alter trim color
New Sunbrella all around
Installed air driver seat for CFO
Exhaust system replacement
Valve job and rings in generator motor at 7000 hrs
Tag axle bearings
Shocks
Tie rod ends
Headlight upgrade
Replaced carpet with LVT
A few windshields.

These are some of the things that come to mind.

[Little]

Thanks so much for that insight on your background, experience, etc.  What a crazy 5 months that sound ls like.  I think you’ll be very happy in any Newell that has been reasonably maintained.  Tons of redundancy is built into systems and between this group, your skill set and 24/7/365 factory support it’s hard to imagine any downside from my perspective.

The only thing I would research if you get into an ‘11 is I believe that is the year Newell went to a Cummins and some of those early years of that engine had a significant problem.  Sounds like most got resolved thanks to Cummins standing behind it, but not all.  Others with more knowledge than me can chime in on what the issue was and what the fix was.

Regarding the Cummins engine issues. The problem was nearly restricted to the 650's. They would drop a valve in #5 cyl.  Everything  went bad after that. Some of the warranty claims were north of $40k. The issues had to do with EGR and welded valve heads. Cummins was extremely lenient with the warranty claims on these, some of them being 9 yr old but 60k miles. I was personally involved in over 20 of these. All of the ones I was involved in were 650HP in diesel pushers. Never saw this is a 'deleted' engine though. I was not involved with the actual repairs other than to look at the invoice, butt I did witness first hand the actual destruction in  at least 5 units. About 1/2 were US coaches in western Canada. I have been out of the game since 2018, butt haven't heard of a catastrophic failure for some time mow.  A printout of the ECM history will tell a lot. Costs about $250. Its a deal. Good luck.

[Denie-Lisa]

Thanks so much for that insight on your background, experience, etc.  What a crazy 5 months that sound ls like.  I think you’ll be very happy in any Newell that has been reasonably maintained.  Tons of redundancy is built into systems and between this group, your skill set and 24/7/365 factory support it’s hard to imagine any downside from my perspective.

The only thing I would research if you get into an ‘11 is I believe that is the year Newell went to a Cummins and some of those early years of that engine had a significant problem.  Sounds like most got resolved thanks to Cummins standing behind it, but not all.  Others with more knowledge than me can chime in on what the issue was and what the fix was.

Regarding the Cummins engine issues. The problem was nearly restricted to the 650's. They would drop a valve in #5 cyl.  Everything  went bad after that. Some of the warranty claims were north of $40k. The issues had to do with EGR and welded valve heads. Cummins was extremely lenient with the warranty claims on these, some of them being 9 yr old but 60k miles. I was personally involved in over 20 of these. All of the ones I was involved in were 650HP in diesel pushers. Never saw this is a 'deleted' engine though. I was not involved with the actual repairs other than to look at the invoice, butt I did witness first hand the actual destruction in  at least 5 units. About 1/2 were US coaches in western Canada. I have been out of the game since 2018, butt haven't heard of a catastrophic failure for some time mow.  A printout of the ECM history will tell a lot. Costs about $250. Its a deal. Good luck.

Thanks for this info.  I was told the current X15's are fully choaked down to the minimum HP.  Allison said no more 650HP as these were blowing up transmissions.

[TJ Clark]

Newells are a semi monocoque from what I understand. Why the Semi not sure.

But the frame that supports the engine and suspension also created the base for the wall columns and roof joists to attach.
RVing with Andrew Steele on youtube has some videos showing the build process. You'll see there how the frame is fabricated. They have used the same process for 30 years or so.

I bought Newell because of the build quality. Solid, refined, durable, classic styling. These are the thoughts I had looking at Newell Coaches. Quite the opposite to the thoughts walking through all Winnebago, Thore, or production RV.

Liberty Coach, Country Coach, Newell all stand alone in my mind. All the rest are just not build to last.

Just my opinion.

All that being said. These coaches require a lot of maintenance. As Richard says plan on $10k a year is repairs and maintenance.

I live fulltime in my unit.

[folivier]

One advantage of Newell over Prevost is the Newell chassis is designed and built to be a motorhome where the Prevost is designed as a bus with add-ons by the converter.

[rundlc]

Ill chime in with my experience. I have a 2005 Newell, center island bed, both the boss and myself love it!! We bought right at covid from a nice couple in Fort Myers Fla. The coach seemed to be in pretty good shape. We had a few things go wrong (radiator/CAC) had to replace slide bearings, needed a new /used inverter etc. I'm sure I've topped around 30k on maintenance and or upgrades in the last three plus years. I can say that the Newell folks are there for you when you need them.

I'm pretty handy but there are some things I just do not want to tackle. As long as you have a piggy bank for those items that surely will pop up you should be good. We get complimented all the time about our rig and she is not a perfect example but she is road worthy and runs like a top now that the turbo issues are behind me lol.

Happy hunting on your new Newell, take your time and enjoy the hunt.

rundlc