2020 Newmar Dutch Star

Spring. Time to buy a new coach! Not for us, but I have been seeing a lot of trade-ins with our friends as they switch out coaches for a newer model.

I decided to take a look at the new Dutch Star for 2020 and how it differs from our four-year old model.

This is a shot of the 2020 version of the Dutch Star 4002 (now renamed the Dutch Star 4020):

And our trusty old 4002:

Not sure why Newmar insists on changing front and rear caps all the time. Reminds me of the old automotive design approach. Namely, make people think that their coach needs to be replaced every few years because it looks outdated.

I prefer the look of our caps over the 2020 caps. Our coach looks fine and I don’t have a sense that the design is outdated.

The biggest change in the design for our model? The floor plan.

This is our floor plan:

And the new floor plan:

The two washrooms have been completely redesigned. The rear bath offers a larger shower, sink and vanity and reorients the water closet and storage areas. The mid bath also offers a far better design relative to our model. Does take away some space from the front sofa. Down to 68 inches wide from our 74-inch sofa. Also looks like the living room area overall is narrower by 5 or 6 inches.

What are the other major differences for all of the new Dutch Star models?

A bit more space between the nightstands and the bed. It has always been a pain to make the bed in our coach as the nightstands are so tight to the mattress that is difficult to tuck the sheets. A small detail but long overdue.

Sony TVs are ditched in favour of Samsung 4K sets and the bedroom will now be equipped with a much larger, 43-inch Samsung 4K set, likely at the expense of some wardrobe storage.

Cabinet drawers are now soft close as a standard.

New steering wheel and column which puts the windshield wiper controls on the turn stalk. Not sure if Newmar has improved the windshield wipers any from our model year. They do not work all that well and it can be a bit of a challenge to turn them off as the blades often get stuck midway on the windshield. And that means turning them on and then off again. I’ve subsequently mastered the timing of when to turn them off so the blades return to their resting position. Something not covered in the owner’s manual.

This change I’m not too sure about. The transmission and engine brake controls are now on the steering wheel stalk if you are running a Freightliner chassis.

Something that should have been done many years ago? Tire pressure monitoring! Finally, standard equipment on the 2020s.

An option for adaptive cruise and collision mitigation.

Shower walls have mosaic tile inserts.

Steinbring has the full list of changes here.

Video walkthroughs? Well, I guess Newmar has asked their dealers to hold off a little longer on the 2020 Dutch Star videos. Must be a number of 2019s still on the lots. I’ll post a link to a video as soon as I see one out there.

Are these changes enough to get you to hold off on a 2019 purchase in favour of a 2020 model?

Only you can decide. There are some good deals to be had on the 2019s right now as dealers clear them out for the incoming 2020 models.

Some good incremental design improvements on the 2020 models.