NEWMAR Complaints

The contact owns a 2018 Newmar Ventana 3715 RV built on a 2019 Freightliner XC-R Chassis. The contact stated that the tail lights, the driver's side brake light, and the driver's side turn signal light had failed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the secondary fuse harness was installed under NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V00H000(Electrical System, Exterior Lighting); however, the failure persisted. The dealer determined that the rear-mounted Power Distribution Module (PDM) needed to be replaced; however, the repair was not covered under the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 33,970.

The driver's side wiper arm became loose and travelled around the driver's side front corner of the vehicle where it became stuck and motionless. The incident occurred during a rainstorm as I was passing a semi on I-95 going about 60 mph. The driver's vision was dangerously obscured by rain on that side of the windshield as it was not being removed by the stuck wiper blade. Passenger assistance was needed to avoid an accident while getting into a safer position to address the problem. I have read on the IRV2 Newmar Owner's Forum that this is not the first time such an incident has occurred. Evidently, the bolts that hold the wider arms in their correct position have a tendency to loosen causing the arm to travel to the side of the motorhome and become inoperable. A more effective mounting strategy would make operation of the wipers more reliable and the motorhome safer to drive in a rainstorm.

The dash displaying the instrument panel is bubbling up and it prevents you from reading your instruments. The glare it causes is dangerous. Hearing from other customers that own the same RV tells me this is a common issue and there should be a recall.

The area on the dash where you read all the gauges is delaminating. This is a hazard as the gauges are hard to see and affected

The BrakeSync valve is located too close to the turbo charger. In hot weather and slow traffic or high engine load as when climbing long grades enough heat builds up to cause the high pressure hose from the air supply tank to the regulator valve to blow.

The Advancetrac error light comes on and then the ABS system error lights and the cruse control stops functioning

The Freightliner instrument cluster (ICU) screen delaminates and makes it difficult to read the gauges. This issue appears to happen with a lot of 2019 models. Freighter refuses to assist and the cost is $5700 for the cluster + labor.

I experienced unintended collision braking with dash warnings flashing. I was trying to accelerate from a side street onto a two-lane state highway. The motorhome came to a complete stop after getting up to about 30-35 MPH. After an extraordinarily long minute or so I was able to accelerate a second time and the motorhome did unintended braking a second time! It was very scary because I was blocking a busy highway in one direction, and I was not sure what to do. I finally turned the engine off, turned the ignition key on, and waited to make sure the engine and dash system completely rebooted before starting the engine (this is what I normally do). I was then able to accelerate up to speed. The vehicles behind me had to brake hard to avoid running into my motorhome during the collision braking, they then had a challenging time passing me safely due to my generous size, and my stress level was extremely high. By coincidence I was taking the motorhome to be serviced for other items that morning. While on my way to the dealership a CMS Fault warning was displayed for the first time. I safely stopped the motorhome at a rest stop and restarted the engine. This turned the CMS Fault warning off. The Newmar dealer is to diagnosis the problem with Newmar's technical support. I have not picked up my motorhome as of July 5, 2024, so I do not know if the CMS Fault is fixed. I did not get any warnings before the unintended braking, only the CMS Fault warning afterwards. I do not know what fault codes the dealership may have read in the CMS control module, and I do not know if the dealership has replaced or adjusted any components at this time.

Window Adhesive Failure Adhesive failure may cause the vent portion of the window to detach, increasing the risk of a crash or injury. NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V571000 Manufacturer Newmar Corporation Components EQUIPMENT, STRUCTURE Had to purchase 4 windows from Newmar For the window failures in NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V571000. Newmar denied the recall claim. This problem goes well beyond 2108 models all the way to 2016 models. Newmar is just trying to mitigate their costs by lying and denying claims. Remedy: I want reimbursement for the cost of the 4 replacement windows.

The Motorhome is equipped with a computer controlled Comfort Drive steering system ( also known as ReAX-C and other names) that is supposed to keep the vehicle going straight at all times with low steering efforts in side winds, pot holes or against the crown of the road. The Comfort Drive is supposed offer consistent steering feel and allow the driver to concentrate on driving with reduced fatigue. This system appears to only be working part of the time - and that is only when driving on a perfectly flat road with little or no wind. On a recent 4,000 mile cross country trip on Interstate highways in this vehicle with crowned roads, pot holes, construction zones and windy conditions it was a literal “white knuckle” fight to maintain steering in my lane. It was very dangerous situation every day never knowing when a gust of wind was going to blow the vehicle off the road or into another lane. I had to fight every minute to try keep this vehicle under control. I had a previous motorhome with a Comfort Drive system that was totally under control at all times. However, I have been told that this current model has a brand new totally redesigned Comfort Drive system. I have been to the Spartan Factory Service in Charlotte, MI on two separate occasions to have this Comfort Drive fixed. The first time they test drove it and said it was fine. The second time they said they used a test machine and it showed “ no faults” so it is fine. They stated they buy the “Comfort Drive” from ZF- TRW and they simply install it per Newmar request. They said it is not of their manufacture and they don’t really know much about it. I also called Newmar to see if they could help, but they say they have nothing to do with the Spartan Chassis, I need to talk to Spartan. It is “not fine”. I feel this is a serious safety situation waiting for a serious accident waiting to happen.