YouTube Training on Coach Systems

[Neal]

Newmar - consider an extensive training series on your coaches and post on YouTube. YouTube is one of the greatest resources available to all these days and is outstanding for training. I see numerous posts on various platforms such as Facebook groups where people are extremely uneducated on how to use their coach systems. This is in big part an epic failure of dealers with their PDI's who seem to be spending too little time educating their customers but it's also that these coaches are complex and have numerous 3rd party systems that need to be understood. It took me a very long time to learn my coach and I'm thankful for peers on a community such as this where we can help one another. However, people not knowing the differences in heating systems in their coach, how to adjust electric shades, wet bay practices and tank maintenance, OASIS options such as electric vs. burner and how to heat while driving. Electrical with chassis vs. house batteries, 12V vs. 120V, the Inverter, Heat Pump vs Furnace, and requirements for Floor Heating. You could break down YouTube training sessions on each system as building blocks and then training on silverleaf, calibrating tanks for those that need to know, etc. How to level, when to extend or retract slides, the list goes on! People are asking the same questions over and over. This means your manuals are lacking, your training is lacking, your dealers are failing to train, and there are insufficient references to help your coach owners truly understand their home on the road.

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[Joe Hogan]

Newgle started out to be a great resource for folks. A good editor could make the Newgle platform a fabulous resource.

 

[sheridany]

I agree with @Neal and made the same suggestion to Marathon. They are actually rolling out short brief content on how to on YT.

 

[Rich W.]

Newgle started out to be a great resource for folks. A good editor could make the Newgle platform a fabulous resource.

I agree it has potential, and I have found some useful info there, but as a resource for Newmar owners its cumbersome, confusing, and is offered in an under utilized format. Some simple menus, and good tutorials, as the OP suggests, would greatly enhance the Newegle experience. As it is, it’s pretty much a last resort for me, when all else fails and Ive exhausted more user friendly sources.

 

[Lab00Rat]

I agree, except follow a pre-written script. Not like the current crop of walkthrough videos from Newmar that just wing it. Those are hard to watch.

Get Angie from NIRVC to do them. Her videos are spot on, full of useful information, and easy to follow.

 

[Neal]

I think techs at Newmar are the right people for this, or Megan Stoddard that does the marketing videos they've been releasing of late. This needs to be structured as mentioned, a lesson plan, and maintained.

If I was doing a PDI I would want classroom training before going to my coach. I used to fly A-10's, the systems were complex, when I got my coach I saw a resemblance. TRAINING is important. Sadly PDI's from what I'm hearing are epic failures in education. FPU's are great training but how much can you remember in that firehose and taking in the new coach glory. Videos are something you can go back and watch - a great answer to a problem I've been observing for years. Keep in mind too not everyone buys a new coach, those that buy pre-owned (private sellers) need training too.

In the end, investment in training resources would significantly reduce the workload on the call center staff at Newmar. We all know these days calling in to Newmar may require a several day wait for a callback. 4-5 years ago they answered the phone and assisted immediately.

 

[Buly]

How about someone making videos to teach Newmar employees how to do things right?

 

[Joe Hogan]

A major hurdle in producing useful Videos is that each Floorplan is unique. The Floorplans also vary between model years. System explanations and issues get very complicated, very quickly when this is taken into account. The variations will fill up complaint/frustration comments quickly.

The placement and installation of major systems can be very different between floorplans. And each coach is custom made to a certain extent due to installer variation. Having a Newmar line supervisor diagnosis issues is incredibly useful and efficient (this is from personal experience). We chased an electrical short for 18 months with variation dealer techs to no avail. Line supervisor at Newmar Service Center identified and fixed the issue in 30 minutes Shop time.

In my opinion it would be useful to step back to the system level and discuss each major system. The system's proper operation, routine maintenance and common failure points. Then an example of the installation variation between two or more popular floorplans.