Newmar Recall 2016-559
A brand new 2016 Dutch Star 4369 caught fire last September. And now we know why:
Fortunately we have had our coach in storage since October. Newmar had an erroneous postal code for our address and we only just received the notice in the mail last week roughly 6 weeks after the date of the recall notice.
Thank heavens we were not traveling south with the coach this year. Despite the number of “coulds” in the recall notice above, a coach did catch fire. If we were snowbirds, we would have been on the road extensively during the latter part of 2016. Our coach could have caught fire.
We have booked our service appointment for when we take the coach out of storage in April.
I am a wee bit concerned about the 4-hour drive to the dealer from the storage facility. We are going to check with Newmar and Freightliner to confirm if the coach is safe to drive that distance with this defect.
You can check your hose prior to travel to see if it is fraying or even close. Ours was not close and did not rub. We have just got the recall completed and they use a clamp on the rail to hold the hose well off the starter. You can check it from the rear looking down the passenger side of the engine at the starter. I followed the steering hose from the reservoir and the pump to the starter. if the hose is touching you will probably have to go under to inspect the hose and bring a ty-wrap to secure the hose away from the starter. The wear point is near the battery cable connection to the starter.
Hope this helps ease your concerns.
Hi Bill,
Thank you for this insight. It will definitely help ease our concern — I have been worried about the potential issue with the power steering and/or an engine fire since learning about the issue. I did not know how to check and mitigate against the issue until your comment. Much appreciated.
I think Newmar has two problems. One is “Quality Control”, LACK OF IT! The second is “Customer Service”, or again LACK OF IT!
We bought a 2017 Ventana LE and it has numerous little problems both on the body work and inside. These are sloppy procedures one would expect if it was a Yugo, but not from Newmar.
Then, trying to get anything fixed one has to call Customer Service where you might connect with somebody or maybe not, or they have you leave a message and they will return the call, BUT THEN THEY DON’T.
If you can’t take your rig to a dealer and want to use a local RV dealer or repair shop Newmar wants you to pay for any overages even though it’s under warranty.
I’m not sure all manufacturer’s are as bad as Newmar since this is our first rig but personally I wouldn’t recommend purchasing a Newmar product.
IT’S VERY FRUSTRATING to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for a Newmar RV then have to argue over an hour or so of extra work to get something fixed.
Hello Lawrence,
I am so sorry to read about your experience.
Newmar builds a far better coach than most and problems, unfortunately, are part of the motorhome ownership experience. Regardless of manufacturer.
I hope you get your issues resolved and I really hope you get to enjoy your coach.
I’m glad someone out there has an understanding about what your dealing with when you enter the rv world. Especially when buying new! I’ve worked at a few dealerships in my day as an Rv tech. And let me tell you. These things (meaning rv’s in general specifically the house side not chassis )are made top to bottom sometimes up 17 per day from the lightest materials possible and for the most part stapled and Brad nailed together then sent down the road creating a constant earthquake soon as it leaves the lot .then when it stop people expect that they are bulletproof. I’ve also got to agree the newmar and tiffin Monica are definitely more than a notch above the rest. Just try another brand your gonna find a lot less luxury and a lot more press wood and plastic. Less insulation just a lot less. If your gonna try rving just be prepared for everything .and a lot less with newmar. I’ve got a pace arrow ide gladly trade ya!