Hello. Our names are Mike and Karla and we have a problem. We are addicted to buying RVs. Admitting you have a problem is the hardest step, right? It’s a bad sign when we can’t answer a simple question such as, “how many motorhomes have you owned”? We’ve been RVing since 2012 and we’re buying number 6…or is it 7? I’m not sure. In any case, I’ll talk a bit about the new RV we picked up in March and then attempt to rationalize why we buy and sell them so often.

Our New Aire 3541

The new unit is a 2020 Newmar New Aire 3541. That may sound awfully familiar to regular readers of this blog as our last purchase was a 2019 Newmar New Aire 3341. What are the differences? There are only 2 (really 1) that matter: a bigger bed (king vs queen) and a bigger engine (8.9 liter vs. 6.7 liter). Had the bigger engine been available in 2019 we would not be upgrading now. Is the upgrade cost worth it for just a bigger engine? For us, yes. And apparently for a number of New Aire owners on the IRV2 forums the answer is also yes.

The 2020 New Aire 3541 is 2 feet longer than our prior New Aire. In addition to the bigger bed, we also have a longer couch (84″ vs 74″) and more overall storage space. Given the additional storage we opted to order our 2020 with a washer and dryer, which we omitted in the 2019. We upgraded from the standard Whirlpool microwave/convection oven  to the GE Profile Adavantium which we had in our Essex. The Whirlpool in our prior New Aire did not heat as quickly and never seemed to get to temperatures over 400 degrees. We also upgraded the floor tiles to a King Aire ceramic tile that looks like long wooden planks in lieu of the shiny standard New Aire tile.

Our New Aire 3541 at its first campground. This model is just under 36 feet in length

One question needs answering: why did you purchase a 30,000 pound motorhome with a pickup truck engine in the first place? We talk about why here. In short, now that we live in a stick-and-brick house we didn’t need a 45’ RV for 4 months of travel per year and we couldn’t find an RV storage lot in our area that can handle an RV over 40’. We like the Newmar product and we wanted to keep the length below 35’ given our desire to camp in national, state and provincial parks that often have a length limit of 35’. That left us (as of 2019) with a 33’ New Aire.

In retrospect we would have done nothing different. We spent the summer of 2019 in Atlantic Canada, staying predominantly in National Parks where a 33’ motorhome was a perfect fit. While I knew the 6.7 liter ISB engine would be woefully inadequate going up hills, I figured I would just deal with it. But I forgot that intensity of the engine brake (which is used to control a diesel motorhome’s speed going down a long, steep hill) is a function of horsepower; meaning, a smaller engine will provide less engine braking than a larger engine.

I wrote about our harrowing descent of the 13% grade Cabot Trail here.

Here’s our list of motorhomes owned since we started (apparently we’re buying #7):

2012 Tiffin Allego Open Road 32 (gas class A) – owned 2 months; about 3,000 miles

We started out not knowing if RVing was for us, never having owned anything larger than a tent. So shelling out big bucks for a diesel pusher was out of the question given we may hate the entire lifestyle. So I’m fine starting with a gas unit, finding we do indeed like RVing but hate driving a gasser and then upgrading to a diesel pusher 2012 Tiffin Phaeton. We took our 32 foot Tiffin Allegro Open Road on one trip to the Rocky Mountain region and traded it for the 36 foot Phaeton during that trip. The Allegro was very affected by heavy winds and felt like it was being pushed off the road by passing tractor trailers. The Phaeton weighed at least 10,000 lbs more and was much more stable in winds and traffic.The Allegro’s engine was very loud and you sit right over it while the Phaeton and other diesels we’ve owned have their engine at the rear of the coach, so it is much less noisy while driving.

2012 Tiffin Phaeton 36 (diesel class A) – owned 3 years; about 35,000 miles

Why trade the Phaeton for the 40 foot 2015 Newmar Dutch Star after 3 years of use? A combination of problems the dealer couldn’t fix (leaky windshield, slides not working, batteries not charging) and wanting a bigger, more powerful RV with a tag axle. So I’m ok with that transaction. We traveled to New England, the West Coast, and throughout the Mountain Time Zone with the Phaeton.

2015 Newmar Dutch Star 40 (diesel class A) – owned 2 years; about 30,000 miles

We loved the Dutch Star. The tag axle makes the ride even more stable and smooth. We took it on our 5 month trip to Alaska, South Dakota’s Badlands, Montana and numerous trips to the east coast to visit family.

2017 Winnebago Navion 25 (diesel class C) – owned 3 months; about 1,500 miles

Out of this whole list I feel we made only one mistake: the failed attempt to downsize to the 25’ Winnebago Navion. Not only did we dislike living in the Navion, we traded in an RV we loved and that had few problems (the Dutch Star). During our one and only trip in the Navion to New Mexico and Arizona, we made the decision to sell our house and go full-time. And I don’t think many couples are full-timing in a 25’ class C, hence the 45 foot 2016 Newmar Essex. Had we never bought the Navion and then decided to go full-time, we simply would have kept the Dutch Star and never bought the Essex.

2016 Newmar Essex 45 (diesel class A) – owned 2 years; about 25,000 miles

We already laid out the reasons for selling the Essex (no longer full-timing), although I do somewhat regret it. I loved driving the Essex, but the floor plan when closed was one of the worst we have seen, with a climb over couches required to reach the bathroom or kitchen. It was a leftover model, as apparently nobody else liked the floor plan either, and we did buy it at a “screaming deal” (as described by our salesperson). Having said that, the 12’ shorter New Aire was the perfect choice for 35’ restricted National Park campgrounds in Canada.

2019 Newmar New Aire 33 (diesel class A) – owned 10 months; about 5,000 miles

In the 2019 33 foot Newmar New Aire, we took the trip to the Canadian Maritime Provinces: Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick and New England’s Maine and Vermont in summer/fall 2019 before dropping it off at our dealer in Colorado for trade in.

2020 Newmar New Aire 35 (diesel class A)

We picked up our 2020 New Aire from the Newmar factory in March 2020 and are currently on our first trip, a 7 week tour of Southwest Colorado. In the short time we have used it we have determined that the engine has sufficient power for the RV’s weight and towing our Jeep. It’s nice to have the king bed rather than the queen. This New Aire has plenty of storage for multi-month trips.

The one thing we are disappointed about is the engine brake. Despite having the larger engine than the 33 foot model, it appears that Newmar has had Freightliner keep the engine brake the same as the old model. Our current New Aire has the exact same engine we had in the Dutch Star, which had a high and low exhaust brake (high uses a greater number of cylinders of the engine than low for exhaust braking). This New Aire only has what was the low level brake.

There have been a couple of other minor issues with the 2020 New Aire, mostly electrical. 1) When we raise the night shade next to the passenger seat while parked at a site, the steps retract and the alarm sounds as if you turned the key while the jacks are down.  2) Several time we have arrived at a site, parked and shut off the engine and gone outside and hooked up the electric only to have the reverse lights and reverse beeping begin sounding. The beeping stops once we go back inside and cycle through ACC/ON/OFF again. 3) Oasis was not being turned on/off through Silverleaf button, but that resolved by resetting Silverleaf. 4) Adaptive Cruise control sometimes gets stuck thinking there is a car too close when there is not- ie a car was in front and slowed to exit onto a ramp, adaptive cruise control continues to beep and show on the dash that the car is too close in front of you until some combination of buttons on the steering wheel clears it. This has continued beeping for miles before clearing. 5) Dash A/C is not working. The final problem is with the included tire pressure monitoring system. It displays incorrect temperatures and pressures (such as 401 degrees). Newmar is aware of the TPMS problem and has the vendor, Valor, working to correct this.