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How far behind is Newmar in Tech and Furniture?

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Thinking that going with Prevost or Newell will eliminate the problems is wishful thinking. I know several people with one or the other of those coaches and they have more problems than we've had with our Mountain Aire. Its just that when you drop a $2-3 million on a coach, you don't tell anyone you've had a problem. :ROFLMAO:

TJ
 
I enjoy my Newmar Ventana for the reasons you describe @TJ&LadyDi but it shouldn't be that way. I should enjoy and trust any vehicle purchased current to the current industry in this time. I shouldn't be thankful I have manual on/off switches, manual windows, manual MCD shades and round dials for the dash.
 
Two of the biggest issues, for me, have been horrific non-standardized wiring and poor fastener usage.
I can sympathize with this. I really, really despise the excessive use of self-tapping screws everywhere.

When done to automotive standards, not only will wiring be the same on each coach, it’ll also be a lot easier to find a problem...if one even occurs. When is the last time any of us have had a wiring/electronic problem with our cars/trucks in the last 7 model years? I’ve had about 10 very sophisticated cars and trucks since 2010 and have had ZERO Issues. If Ford, Chevy, BMW, and Mercedes can do it...why can’t the RV industry?
Because Ford, GM, BMW, Mercedes and VW sell hundreds of thousands of cars per year, just in the US. The RV industry as a whole sells maybe 100,000 units per year combined, of which Class A Motorhomes are maybe only a few percent. For Newmar or any other company to invest in the kinds of tooling and resources necessary to build RVs to standards of automotive vehicles, your RV would cost a lot, lot more. The automotive industry is able to do this because of their economies of scale. It’s much easier to lower the tooling cost per unit to a palatable number when you’re selling 12,000 units/month of just a single model in your lineup. Don’t forget that whenever they do a model refresh in the automotive industry, some of the tooling has to be scrapped and they have to reinvest in new tooling. So are you willing to pay 40%-60% more for your RV?

As to the AV system, don’t get me started. But, most of the problems in the NEWMARS are caused because they have NO idea how to do it...SIMPLY.
I’m sure its not that they don’t know how to do it. It’s probably much more expensive, or they’ve not invested the time and resources to experimenting with it enough. Newmar in my opinion takes the same philosophy as Apple when it comes to RVs. To be clear upfront, I’m not comparing the quality of an Apple product to the quality of a Newmar product, I’m saying their philosophy when it comes to innovation seems similar and that philosophy is essentially “we don’t care about being first. we care about doing it better than everyone else”. Assuming that’s right, then 9/10 times that means your innovations will come later, when the kinks have been worked out and the product is ready for prime time. Speaking generically, many companies make the mistake of trying to be first to market and end up producing a dumpster fire of a product, often going under because of that rush to market.

You don’t just slap 4 TVs into a small space and patch them all together and then stuff a bunch of splinters and wires behind a cabinet and hope that they don’t have a problem.
Actually, you do because the market is willing to buy it that way. I get that you want more out of it. I think I lot of us, myself included would welcome some tech improvements but I’d also caution to be careful what you wish for. The KISS principal is real. Multiplex might eliminate a lot of wiring but it can also make troubleshooting much more difficult when there are problems, and lets not kid ourselves and assume there won’t be any problems.

I think the one thing Newmar could easily do here is just create some standard conduits throughout their units to make all of the wiring much more accessible. That would allow you to make whatever adjustments you want, pull wires, run new ones, etc. It could also have the benefit of standardizing the wiring and eliminating the excessive number of fasteners. IMO, if they make it easier for you to change then you can decide whether or not its important enough for you to put in the work and deal with the issues that ensue and at that point, if you don’t want to put in the work or pay someone else to, it can’t be that important to you.

The ridiculous issue with a hundred screws breaking or falling out...I’ll leave alone. Flat out unacceptable, but I can’t see how Entegras are constructed, so maybe they will have problems too.
Yeah, I don’t really have a counterpoint to this. They could do some things better here. Snap Rivets come to mind. Predrilled holes where needed with countersunk, stainless steel screws also seem better. I really, really do not like the excessive number of self-tapping screws used.

Yes, there ‘ARE’ certain things like Electronic Start ignitions that have mechanics jumping off bridges. However, our dashes ARE electronic, so why not make them have multiple capabilities and put nice, large monitors that are commensurate with the caliber of the competition? It doesn’t cost that much more.
This part I agree with wholeheartedly. A good, modern infotainment system is not hard, its not terribly expensive and there’s really not much of an excuse for the lackluster tech currently being installed in the dash, even on the high lines. It’s all pretty terrible when there are a lot of really good, off the shelf units that could be used instead and just plugged right in.

I guess I should stop. I know some people hate, or even fear, technology and I get it. But, I do enjoy learning the technology and making it WORK FOR ME. So, I put in the effort to do it right when I have the chance...and get mad when it’s done incorrectly to the point of turning people off, rather than help them.
As a software developer, I don’t fear technology. I embrace it - for the right use cases. I’m no fan of smart homes or Alexas as I think they make our society dumber, more lazy and they provide an avenue for corporations to gather private data about their customers. If you think that’s not happening, you are absolutely deluding yourself. I could go on an entire rant about this, but I am resisting the urge.
I’m all about learning technology too, that way I understand its risks and much of the technology I see doesn’t actually improve much in the grand scheme of things. But, if you do enjoy learning technology and making it work for you, then what better way to do that then to rip out the existing and put in the new, and work through the problems you encounter, posting here on this great forum all along the way.
 
The funny thing is with cars these days is it’s all about tech. Cars don’t advertise chassis, braking, IFS, or most anything auto. They sell based on tech, Bluetooth, phone integration, car play, mitigation systems, etc. it’s almost embarrassing for any car enthusiast. No one knows the HP of their car anymore.
That’s because there’s not much left to do to a car to improve it besides giving it more HP or improving the fuel economy. People don’t care so much about HP because honestly, when are you going to use 500HP in real life? It’s great for track days and every other day, you’re using a 10th of that to haul yourself to the grocery story or work or wherever. People do care about fuel economy as that touches the wallet and so those have started to climb, but much of that innovation was spurred by regulation, not the car makers desire to improve their product.

Meanwhile, infotainment units in cars were abysmal for years until CarPlay and Android Auto came along and really, they are the only reason it has improved at all. It wasn’t innovation by automakers, it was innovation by tech companies that made that possible and now automakers are licensing that tech from Apple and Google for every unit sold.

When it comes to all of those safety features like adaptive cruise control, Blind Spot Monitoring, airbags galore, every maker’s version of OnStar and more, the automakers didn’t do any of that in the spirit of innovation, they did it because it was a regulatory requirement. The whole reason you can’t buy a car without a screen in the dash today is because all cars are required to have a backup camera, which requires a screen. Automakers just decided well, if we have to put a screen in, we might as well make it useful for more than one thing and hence, the touchscreen infotainment system that is now ubiquitous everywhere is born.

Trust me, if automakers could still sell you the garbage cans they were selling back in 2002 without running afoul of regulations, they absolutely would.
 
For us, glass dashes, computerized light switches and similar high-end technology are unnecessary and simply introduce additional failure points into the system.
Oh man, the glass dash. Cool? Yeah its neat. BUT, come with me down a little hypothetical road. You’re moving down the road at a reasonable speed and all of a sudden, your glass dash goes dark. Just plain turns off. You now have zero instrumentation. There are no analog gauges for you to fallback to. Did anyone else notice this? It’s 100% completely possible and I am confident it will happen to someone at some point. You no longer have any information about your speed, fluid levels, temperatures, gear, engine load - you’re flying blind.

So now you’ve got to limp yourself to the nearest service center. Hope you had a good idea of your fuel and DEF levels before things hit the fan. With an analog gauge, that’s almost (ALMOST) impossible.

The glass dash is a neat little gimmick. For some things though, I really want my analog gauges back. My Jeep has analog gauges for fuel, speed, tach and temp. The absolute most critical pieces of info for getting between A & B safety. In between those gauges is a smaller screen that I can configure to show additional information. Some cars even put a little nav screen in there which I think is cool. I think that’s the happy medium. That screen can go dark and I’ll be peeved, but I won’t be flying blind.
 
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NIRVC is telling me that while Newmar is switching to Villa there is a desire by Newmar to move to residential furniture so it is easier to get repaired. I am not sure how that will work as RV furniture is pretty unique and does not conform to anything I have seen in retail stores.
They would almost certainly have to make a deal with a residential furniture maker. As @TJ&LadyDi mentioned, the pilot and co/pilot chairs would still be too unique to be replaced by any residential off the shelf unit, though it would be funny to see a couple of lazyboys in place of them. The booths would also be problematic.

I’m still of the mind that Newmar could do it themselves 100x better. 25 guys cranking out furniture all day long and they’d be fine and it would last. They might not even need that many people. If they can build a star foundation, they can certainly build all the furniture framing they need and they’ve already got the upholstery skillsets, just need a few more folks but none of those skills would be difficult to find in Amish country.
 
Neal, You are absolutely correct. Technoligy on our DS is far behind what should have been available in 2018. Even our 2015 Cherokee has far more including adaptive cruse, blind spot sensors, lane control, etc, Entegra was on our short list and we visited their factory as well as Newmar prior to deciding when we bought our 2018 DS. Entegra offers many more features as standard as compared to Newmar on comparable models. They just would not let you make the changes that Newmar offers. It was pretty much this is the way it comes. While we chose our DS over Entegra, I would again look at Entegra when we are in the market again.
I’m not dismissing and agree it probably should have been available on a 2018 DS, but...almost all of those options became available on the 2019 DS...as options. I’d offer that some of them should have been standard but it all comes down to the numbers that Newmar is seeing. I can’t expect them to take a haircut on their margin to give me something for nothing.

It’s a similar complaint to probably what purchasers of a 2014 Cherokee said after the 2015 Cherokee came out and had some new features and options the 2014 owner would have wanted. I know I bought a 2019 Cherokee and the 2021 Cherokee is going to have an updated Infotainment system with a larger screen and OTA updates. I certainly wish I could have gotten that in my 2019. It was technically feasible to do back then but for whatever reason, UConnect 5 wasn’t ready for prime time then, so I’ve got UConnect 4.8 and inferior hardware.

Same complaint as a computer purchaser. Purchase 2020 MacBook. 2021 MacBook comes out and its got better hardware and options. So is the nature of technology. It changes daily and you’ll never be able to get from manufacturer the item that some vendor released today because the integration cycle into a product takes a minimum of 6 months, usually much more.
 
I enjoy my Newmar Ventana for the reasons you describe @TJ&LadyDi but it shouldn't be that way. I should enjoy and trust any vehicle purchased current to the current industry in this time. I shouldn't be thankful I have manual on/off switches, manual windows, manual MCD shades and round dials for the dash.
I think I am seeing where you are coming from, @Neal; a "vehicle" vs a small house with wheels. If we have the same expectations of both, then I suppose technology becomes an important factor.

In our case, we don't consider the motorhome a "vehicle." It is a small home that happens to have wheels, engine, etc. so we can move it from place to place. The vast majority of the time in the MH is spent in "home" mode. The "motor" part is a day or two getting to our next "home" stop. Technology is far less important to us in "home mode."

LadyDi just got a new 2020 Lincoln Nautilus and it has every high-tech bell and whistle I could ever imagine. It even talks to you and listens for your commands. The dang thing will even parallel-park itself! In that situation, we have no problem with technology as it serves a, seemingly at least, useful purpose. The only issue I see there is that every year model has to "one-up" the previous year, primarily (IMHO) as a marketing tool. Since we tend to keep our vehicles for several years, technology upgrades for marketing purposes really doesn't work.

Just a little "dinosaur perspective."

TJ
 
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I should enjoy and trust any vehicle purchased current to the current industry in this time. I shouldn't be thankful I have manual on/off switches, manual windows, manual MCD shades and round dials for the dash.
Idk. Seems I can find a bunch of other posts where @Neal enjoys the effort he put into “making the coach his”, learning about its systems and how it works. You don’t have to be thankful to manual switches, windows, or shades. 2019 Dutchstars introduced a power drivers-side window (power windows in the sidewall would be cool but imagine the labor in replacing them if/when they break!). Power shades have been an option for quite a while now and are nothing new. You don’t even need a new coach for that. Would you want square dials on your dash instead of round? What shape would you like? I’m sure that 3D printer can crank out any shape you might like!

I don’t know what The opposite of a manual on/off switch is though. Isn’t manual the inherent nature of any binary switch?

@Neal it seems to me your biggest gripe is the infotainment and the dash. I’m with you there and am biding my time for the release of the 10.1-inch Pioneer DMH-WT8600NEX or 11-inch Alpine iLX-f411. Both include CarPlay and Android Auto and fit into a single DIN slot, floating out from the dash making them installable on any vehicle. With a few adapters, you can make either one play nicely with your side and rear view cameras as well. I don’t know if they would play well with the 360 cams, probably not.
 
Because Ford, GM, BMW, Mercedes and VW sell hundreds of thousands of cars per year, just in the US. The RV industry as a whole sells maybe 100,000 units per year combined, of which Class A Motorhomes are maybe only a few percent. For Newmar or any other company to invest in the kinds of tooling and resources necessary to build RVs to standards of automotive vehicles, your RV would cost a lot, lot more. The automotive industry is able to do this because of their economies of scale. It’s much easier to lower the tooling cost per unit to a palatable number when you’re selling 12,000 units/month of just a single model in your lineup. Don’t forget that whenever they do a model refresh in the automotive industry, some of the tooling has to be scrapped and they have to reinvest in new tooling.

I hear this "excuse" often and I can see both sides of this. We can debate every single item of this ongoing discussion and have polar opposite sides, I can take either side. But let me just oppose this statement and let's discuss the opposite of this. Auto manufacturers yes produce exponentially more vehicles which means they have to take more time to ensure it's right before it goes to production. Now let's take a RV or boat where they make 5 PER YEAR, yes, an extreme, but let's look at the opposite of A LOT to A FEW produced to make this point. Hand made items, remember those? Wouldn't less production (or couldn't less production) yield a higher quality result due to having more time to review the production carefully? If you're not throwing 30,000 items down an assembly line but only a fraction of that, couldn't Q/A be able to actually have an impact? I would think as a result of this concept that a RV manufacturer making less has the power to make it better. The problem comes in when a company tries to over produce, they should be making X but they are instead producing 2X. You get the point. The moral is I'm not giving any company a bye because they are not as big as GM, BMW, Honda. Compare to Tesla if you want to put it in a closer comparison.
 

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