Newmar tour with Andrew Steele

[Texas Clodhopper]

I don't care for him either and don't watch his channel. He lost me with his Newmar bashing years ago comparing to Newell's, etc. Whiney voice etc. and I'm curious what happened after his coach fire? Anyways, he makes money off of monetizing YouTube. I understand it's typically about 1K per 10,000 views, I could be wrong. He has a good subscriber base so he's making money off of each video. If only people like Newmar would accept more reputable people for their interviews, he's not the one IMHO.

Casey will be at the International Rally and I believe he will be at the Hoots rally too. Hopefully, I'll have an opportunity to voice my opinion.

 

[MarkMaxPayne]

Wow. All y'alls are brutal on Andrew. I guess I'll play the role of troll/contrarian in this thread. I happen to like a lot of his content. Does he accidentally say some things out of ignorance that are incorrect? Yep, as do many on these forums, including myself. Have many of his videos become sales tools for a handful of luxury line used dealerships he is paid by? Sure, but it's sometimes nice to see what has stood the test of time, what hasn't, mods that are interesting, etc.

I see somebody who has worked his way up through putting in some serious sweat equity, put his backbone where his wishbone is, and has carved out a niche for himself that generates revenue for himself and for his employees/contractors without taking advantage of or hurting others. And he does score some interesting interviews. As for the factory tour video I've seen better, but I've seen a lot worse, even when produced by the manufacturer through a professional media company. Given Newmar's last factory videos are anywhere from 8 to 11 years old and at low resolutions, it was nice to finally see something that reflects what is going on today and where I could pause the video and then zoom in on where I was curious about something.

Lastly, after his RV fire, he did have a great follow-up video on how bad he screwed up when it came to insuring his rig, being totally transparent on the mistakes he made to help others not do the same. I almost got caught in a similar bind, but due to a dishonest insurance salesperson. Remembering his video had me asking the right questions, which exposed how underinsured I was going to be had I not dived in vs simply making my payment, so I'll give him credit for that.

<putting on my flak jacket now>

Best,
-Mark

 

[Neal]

Lastly, after his RV fire, he did have a great follow-up video on how bad he screwed up when it came to insuring his rig, being totally transparent on the mistakes he made to help others not do the same. I almost got caught in a similar bind, but due to a dishonest insurance salesperson. Remembering his video had me asking the right questions, which exposed how underinsured I was going to be had I not dived in vs simply making my payment, so I'll give him credit for that.

Nice post @MarkMaxPayne - good to hear and I'm sure many share your sentiment. As to the above quote, I'd love a thread wherever on the site to help share what these lessons learned are/were, what you discovered, to help educate others that may not know, including self, and feel free to post Andrew's video on the topic if you choose.

 

[MarkMaxPayne]

I'd love a thread wherever on the site to help share what these lessons learned are/were, what you discovered, to help educate others that may not know, including self, and feel free to post Andrew's video on the topic if you choose.

Andrew's video "$100K Mistake (RV Insurance)":

In my case I had National General through Good Sam insuring my Class C Tiffin Wayfarer as Progressive, who insured my boat, wasn't writing any Class C policies at the time. When I went to purchase my new 2023 Newmar New Aire, I called to have my insurance changed to cover my new purchase. I gave the insurance agent all the info and then received the quote and a new premium request. I was shocked how low the premium was as I assume it was going to be way higher for a vehicle worth over 4.8x that of my class C (was only a little higher as I recall).

Remembering Andrew's very timely video I dug in and was getting what can only be described as sketchy answers. After careful review and digging in even more I learned that the salesperson was only writing a policy for the amount I financed. What?!? That's great for the bank, but what about me?!? When I pushed back on needing to cover the value of the rig as I had originally asked for I received another quote, but then again it looked too low. Turns out it was for only $250K. Pressing back again I then learned that NG wouldn't write a policy > $250K. Was I told any of this proactively? No. I can only assume there was the hope by this salesperson that I'd just pay the new premium and roll the dice without digging into the fine print... Needless to say I reached out to Progressive again, and they did the right thing out of the gate with no shenanigans.

Lesson learned, don't underinsure through stupid oversights, mistakes, or insurance agents of questionable ethics (I don't blame National General or Good Sam as I'd prefer to believe this is on one of their rogue agents vs something they encourage their agents do). I believe Andrew's transparency on a mistake he made, and his willingness to share that mistake in such a public way, helped at least one viewer (myself).

Best,
-Mark

 

[FLSteve]

As for the factory tour video I've seen better, but I've seen a lot worse, even when produced by the manufacturer through a professional media company. Given Newmar's last factory videos are anywhere from 8 to 11 years old and at low resolutions, it was nice to finally see something that reflects what is going on today and where I could pause the video and then zoom in on where I was curious about something.

Well after reading all the comments in this thread I watched the video and actually enjoyed it. I have been on several factory tours in the past and never saw some of the areas or processes that the video showed so learned a lot. Also as @MarkMaxPayne pointed out above, the video quality was much better that past ones. As to the Newmar folks looking off camera ... I think they were actually trying to look at the camera. It's like when you take a selfie, normally it's hard to get one with you looking right at the camera. Just my 2-cents.

FLSteve