[Westielover]

Hello to everyone whom shares the feeling of freedom, sense of excitement and adventure every time you pull up anchor and depart for the next place of wonder and fellowship. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Steve, I have spent the last 40 years of my life in no particular order raising 4 children, starting and managing 3 businesses, being married a total of 28 years and divorced twice. During that time I built or renovated 6 homes for my family, started my obsession with motorhomes in 1983 with a 1978 28’ class A and worked my way up through a 30, a 36 and a 40’ Eagle. Most of our motor home expeditions were winter affairs traveling with my children to almost every ski area in the Northeast and then out West. Ask me anything about how to boondock at 8,000 feet in subzero temps with blizzard conditions. Or ask me what can’t go wrong, especially in one of the early coaches! 

Well times have changed and so have I, no more children, with the lady of my dreams and finally finished being a slave to work. I retired this year at 63 and am planning how to spend the next 3-4 years traveling around this magnificent continent meeting interesting people and looking for adventures  wherever it may be. Right now I am doing my diligence and comparing a select few coaches. Newell’s are high on the list for all the obvious reasons, the market for Newell’s has me looking at coaches between 1999-2003. There are some exceptions and this is where I am going to ask for some help.

Newell’s seem to be made for the long haul, many are powered by Detroit’s, I get somewhat confused when I hear of Detroit’s having rebuilds at 100–150K. What’s up with the million mile tag line? That being said when would mileage be a concern with a Newell? The construction and materials of these coaches would seem to indicate the potential for many years of usage. I guess my question would formulate to how will or when mileage affect the price of a coach? And by virtue should mileage affect the price? I wish to thank anyone for advice and look forward to future ownership of a Newell.

[Fulltiming]

Welcome Steve. Glad you have joined us. There are a few Newells with rebuilt Detroit Series 60's but not many. One of the issues of motorhomes, certainly not unique to Newell is that some are owned and operated by folks whose experience driving large trucks or buses is nil. As I am sure you know, lack of preventive maintenance such as replacing belts and hoses can be a disaster for a heavy duty vehicle. The Detroit 'Million Mile' moniker is tied to use in over the road trucks. In most cases, you will find that Newells in the age bracket you are looking at will have between 65,000 and 300,000 miles. I would not be concerned about any of those mileages in regard to the Detroit engine IF proper maintenance has been done. If maintenance has been neglected, all bets are off. Low mileage can be as large or larger issue than higher mileage as the coach may have sat for extended periods (even years) without use. Many of our members have Series 60 coaches with over 200,000 miles on them that are giving great service. Getting an oil analysis is always a good idea if possible.

I am certain that others will chime in regarding the Detroit Series 60 which was used to power virtually all of the 1999-2003 model Newells (there were at least two 2003's and one 1999 that were CAT powered).

[encantotom]

welcome.

as michael has said, that vintage will likely have a series 60. i have heard of very few that have had major engine issues. my coach has over 200k on it and going strong.

tom

[rheavn]

Show me a Newell with a Detroit series 60 that has needed an engine rebuild in 100K to 150K and 99% of the time I'll show you a coach that was not properly maintained.  The 1% is for unavoidable mechanical failures.

[77newell]

The early Series 60 engines (early to mid 90's) did have some kind of flaw thar would throw a rod through the case. Changes were made and that problem went away. There was no test that allowed you to see that one coming. Since then, keeping up with maintenance is all you can ask for. That, and an oil analysis on oil that has seen some use (you learn nothing by testing new oil).

I would also suggest reading everything on this site from owners of coaches of the years you are interested in. If you are mechanically inclined you will likely learn enough to ask really good questions and be able to assess the fit to yourself.

[rheavn]

Jon,
Can you post a source on the rod problem? Hadn't heard about an inherent problem.

[Westielover]

Thank you gentlemen for the information regarding Detroit Diesels reliability, it would follow that maintenance is the determining factor in longevity. The fact that a Newell is a premium coach probably factors into the care that it receives. Aside from the drive train some of my questions about the construction of a Newell would be in regards to how they are insulated, do they perform well in climate extremes, are the hvac units robust enough for such constant use? Is there a particular combination of primary and secondary heating that is more favorable to this measure that Newell’s offer? I know what I have used to some success in previous coaches, I have never been inside a Newell to be able to make an assessment of their systems, they are fairly rare around these parts.

[Trainer]

One of the members spent two winters in WY in below zero temps. The Aqua Hot ketp the coach and utility bay warm. Hard to best that test of HVAC systems.

All the best.