While we sit here waiting for our house to sell we would like to ask your opinions about the NUWA CHAMPAGNE FIFTH WHEEL. We have traveled to Hershey and the Tampa show not to mention local rv shows but have never seen a Nuwa fifth wheel.
They are suppose to begin production again in June.
We would like to know what your thoughts are as far as construction, insulation and quality using the fifth wheel for fulltiming?
What other fulltiming fifth wheel models compare to the Nuwa Champagne?
I believe I read that the Champagne roof was rubber and would like to know what your feelings about a rubber roof are?
Im sure I will come up with more questions but would appreciate any help on these questions for now.
Thanks and please send someone to buy our house
Mel
Speedhitch said
04:33 PM Mar 21, 2009
Can't help you on the house but we have friends that own NUWA products and they are totaly satisfied with them. Most any fulltime rig will have some issues but for the most part the ones that have been around the longest speak for themselves. If you like the layouts and the price is to your liking then that is half the battle...Be sure whatever you buy has fixtures in it that will stand the test of time. Residential fixtures should be used so you will get a lifetime of use out of them. All the other appliances stand on their own merit...all makes and models of RVs have the same brands of HWH..ranges...Fridg etc. You sure see a lot of NUWA products on the road that should speak for itself...but it doesn't mean you will not have some issues with them.
The most important thing is...that you like what you live in and you take care of it so it will last you a long time.
Have a great life and make everyday an adventure
Joe and Sherri
Ken & Sarah said
07:00 PM Mar 21, 2009
Dixie, I have researched the NUWA Champaign extensively and was very close to deciding on it as our full time home. At the last RV show I toured an Excel Limited and was totally impressed. They are about the same price but the Excel seemed to have a higher quality to it. They also guarantee the unit to a -10 degrees. It seems to be an excellent unit. We are going to the factory next week to check it out.
LeslieW said
09:48 PM Mar 21, 2009
Hi Mel (Dixie),
We own at NuWa 2007 Champagne 35CKQG. We love it. If you haven’t already been there, you really should check out the NuWa Owners Forum (www.nuwaowners.org) You will find many people who would be very happy to give you a tour of their rig. The Owner’s Forum is owned by three individuals and is not controlled by the company but frequently company employees, and even the President, post responses. Traditionally NuWa didn’t have many dealers in the east so you won’t find a lot of the rigs east of the Mississippi.
NuWa uses Dow Blue Insulation, unlike the foam stuff used in many other brands and has a ventilated attic. Although we’ve traveled from Alaska to Texas, we’ve never had condensation problems. (We got traditional storm windows instead of dual pane windows.)
I think that all Rvs will have some problems, what we have been most impressed with is that NuWa has communicated with us and has stepped up to the plate to solve any problem that have arisen. I wrote a piece a few weeks ago explaining how when we visited the factory in December, as the factory was facing an indefinite shut-down, every employee we met was most focused on making sure that our rig was the best it could be.
The following is the entry I posted here on RV-Dreams on March 8, 2009:
“We love our NUWA HitchHiker Champagne. During this terrible economic time, Mike Mitchell and the NUWA employees have demonstrated incredible business ethics and honesty and have diligently supported NUWA Owners. We visited the NUWA factory for some warranty work in December, after it was announced that NUWA was closing their production facility (but that they were committed to maintaining their service facility at least until the end of 2010 to honor warranties on units sold). During our visit the production manager informed us of an additional repair item that we had never noticed, but that was covered by their warranty. As we didn't want to remain in Kansas for NUWA to handle the issue immediately, the production manager instructed us to schedule a return trip to the factory on our trip back north in the spring. (He also pointed out a worn tire that was a safety issue and recommended that we have that taken care of at a tire facility immediately.) Even as employees were looking at an imminent layoff, uniformly they were diligent and looking out for the NUWA owners. I spoke with individuals at the NUWA factory who had worked for NUWA for their entire career and individuals in town who had previously worked for NUWA suppliers, uniformly they spoke positively of NUWA quality. When so many companies are leaving their owners as orphans, NUWA stands way above the fray.
On Friday we posted a question regarding our external SeeLevel Tank Monitoring System on the NUWA Owner's Forum (which is independently owned and controlled by three owners), within two hours a NUWA employee sent us a private message suggesting that we call him directly for assistance. We are impressed with the quality of the NUWA HitchHiker product and constantly amazed at the responsiveness and support of NUWA after the sale. We're extremely happy that Mike Mitchell is brave enough to resume production in such a difficult economic time.”
Good Luck in finding your perfect rig. We’ve been extremely happy with our Champagne. (Oh, and ask my husband why we have a Champagne. We had planned to buy a Discover America and add a lot of upgrades. We drove to Chanute, KS for a tour of the factory. I saw the solid cherry wood cabinets — after adding in all our upgrades, that was the only difference between the Champagne and the Discover America – we moved on to the Champagne. It is delightful!
If you have any questions, please write to me directly.
Best,
Sunseeker (Leslie)
Tim & Robyn said
04:46 AM Mar 22, 2009
Dixie wrote:
Hi Everyone
While we sit here waiting for our house to sell we would like to ask your opinions about the NUWA CHAMPAGNE FIFTH WHEEL. We have traveled to Hershey and the Tampa show not to mention local rv shows but have never seen a Nuwa fifth wheel.
They are suppose to begin production again in June.
We would like to know what your thoughts are as far as construction, insulation and quality using the fifth wheel for fulltiming?
What other fulltiming fifth wheel models compare to the Nuwa Champagne?
I believe I read that the Champagne roof was rubber and would like to know what your feelings about a rubber roof are?
Im sure I will come up with more questions but would appreciate any help on these questions for now.
Thanks and please send someone to buy our house
Mel
We are delighted to hear that NuWa will resume production in June. NuWa is our choice for a fulltiming rig. If you haven't been to the NuWa owners' forum, I highly recommend it. NuWa does support fulltiming in their products.
My wife and I went to Tradewinds RV in Ocala last Spring to look at a couple NuWa models they had on the lot - a rear kitchen Discover America (same floorplan as the Champagne 37CKRD), and a Champagne 36LKTG. We wanted to see if the rear kitchen floorplan would work for us, and we wanted to see what the general quality level of a Champagne model was. We were pleased on both counts.
My wife's aunt has been fulltiming in a NuWa rig that is now nearly 20 years old. She has finally settled at the SKP coop in Benson, AZ. I think that speaks to quality. Also, someone asked a question of Keystone owners on RV.NET about choosing between Keystone and NuWa. The recommendation was virtually unanimous - pick NuWa.
I also saw a posting on the Heartland owners forum titled something like 'what plumbing should look like'. It had photos of the plumbing behind the wall in a NuWa... very neat and tidy, compared to the rat's nest in many other brands.
In no particular order, from what we've researched comparable rigs would include product lines from Excel, Mobile Suites, Carriage, and New Horizons. If I've left out anybody else's particular favorite please chime in.
Some Excels have fiberglass roofs. From all I've heard, rubber roofs are easier to repair, but on the other hand you need to be careful of low hanging tree branches and things like that because a rubber roof can tear.
Nuwa's new business model includes factory direct sales. Prices will be cut and fixed - no dickering. Factory prices will be the same as dealer prices, minus shipping costs... My understanding is the price is the price, kind of like what New Horizons does (New Horizons doesn't have a dealer network - all sales are factory direct, and their prices are fixed.)
Hope this helps, and I also hope more knowledgable folks will chime in....
Dixie said
06:42 AM Mar 22, 2009
I have looked at the NuWa forum and one of the things that jumped out at me was that most of the people continued to buy Nuwa as their next fifth wheel.
Leslie, did you say solid cherry wood cabinets. I thought the cabinet doors were solid cherry but the cabinet part was something else. Is that an option??
I am going to call the factory this week and have them send us out some new info.
I looked at their website and it has a ton of information on it. More than most.
Thanks for your help
Mel
Mallo said
07:39 AM Mar 22, 2009
Dixie wrote:
Hi Everyone
While we sit here waiting for our house to sell we would like to ask your opinions about the NUWA CHAMPAGNE FIFTH WHEEL. We have traveled to Hershey and the Tampa show not to mention local rv shows but have never seen a Nuwa fifth wheel.
They are suppose to begin production again in June.
We would like to know what your thoughts are as far as construction, insulation and quality using the fifth wheel for fulltiming?
What other fulltiming fifth wheel models compare to the Nuwa Champagne?
I believe I read that the Champagne roof was rubber and would like to know what your feelings about a rubber roof are?
Im sure I will come up with more questions but would appreciate any help on these questions for now.
Thanks and please send someone to buy our house
Mel
Mel,
I suspect this is the wrong place to sell your house but if folks are buying houses sing out.
We don't full time in our rig and we don't have a Champagne. What we have is the less insulated cousin of the Champagne the Hitchhiker II LS. Which we use about 40 percent of the time year round.
Rubber roofs are pretty close to an industry standard you'll find some TPO Vinyal (Which I for one like a lot) and some fibreglass (A great option just don't break it and heavy). That said I have a trailer with a rubber roof once all the pros and cons were weighed other factors became more important then the roof material. Having recently damaged the roof of my trailer the fact that rubber is so common has made the repair more straight forward so that has turned into a bit of a plus.
As for insulation this I can speak of from experience. My wife and I went for a bit over a week up to Boston. In Jan, during a cold snap. Night time temps were minus 5F to minus 9F every night we were there. Our rig is your basic Hitchhiker no artic package no double paned windows no storm windows nothing like that.
We were using one electric heater and the propane furnace to stay warm. We had no issues with condensation. We had no issues with being too cold. We had no issues with burning off too much propane. When it got down to minus 7F we had no tank issues at minus 9F we did have the up tube from the fresh water tank frost until we opened up the cabnets it sits under to get more air flow around it.
In fact when we went to head out I broke out the ladder (there had been snow storms while we were there) to make sure everything had melted off the slide out roofs only to find that no it had not there was ice and snow on all of them and the roof still had snow on it. I had expected that heat bleeding through from the trailer would of melted every thing off in the two days between storm and leaving but no I had to clear all the slides my self. (Frankly the worst part of camping in snow country was clearing the slide tops)
So that is a Hitchhiker II LS which the factory doesn't rate to as low a temp as they do the DA's and the Champagne's. Now if you plan to hit a lot of cold weather the doublepane windows would be nice they were the biggest source of heat loss in the rig.
Mallo
Kathy Doin It said
08:34 AM Mar 22, 2009
Hi Mel,
Lots of fulltiming rigs have rubber roofs. We've had two - one of them (a Carriage) was 10 years old and the roof was still in good shape.
You won't be disappointed in a NuWa - no matter what level of rig you buy. HHII up to a Champagne are great rigs. I equate it like this: HHII = Chevy. Discover America = Buick. Champagne = Cadillac. It's all about the level of upgrades you want. All three are made well.
Good luck selling the house. Hope to see you on the road.
My wife and I went to Tradewinds RV in Ocala last Spring to look at a couple NuWa models they had on the lot - a rear kitchen Discover America (same floorplan as the Champagne 37CKRD), and a Champagne 36LKTG. We wanted to see if the rear kitchen floorplan would work for us, and we wanted to see what the general quality level of a Champagne model was. We were pleased on both counts.
My wife's aunt has been fulltiming in a NuWa rig that is now nearly 20 years old. She has finally settled at the SKP coop in Benson, AZ. I think that speaks to quality. Also, someone asked a question of Keystone owners on RV.NET about choosing between Keystone and NuWa. The recommendation was virtually unanimous - pick NuWa.
I also saw a posting on the Heartland owners forum titled something like 'what plumbing should look like'. It had photos of the plumbing behind the wall in a NuWa... very neat and tidy, compared to the rat's nest in many other brands.
In no particular order, from what we've researched comparable rigs would include product lines from Excel, Mobile Suites, Carriage, and New Horizons. If I've left out anybody else's particular favorite please chime in.
Some Excels have fiberglass roofs. From all I've heard, rubber roofs are easier to repair, but on the other hand you need to be careful of low hanging tree branches and things like that because a rubber roof can tear.
Nuwa's new business model includes factory direct sales. Prices will be cut and fixed - no dickering. Factory prices will be the same as dealer prices, minus shipping costs... My understanding is the price is the price, kind of like what New Horizons does (New Horizons doesn't have a dealer network - all sales are factory direct, and their prices are fixed.)
Hope this helps, and I also hope more knowledgable folks will chime in....
Mel,
I suspect this is the wrong place to sell your house but if folks are buying houses sing out.
We don't full time in our rig and we don't have a Champagne. What we have is the less insulated cousin of the Champagne the Hitchhiker II LS. Which we use about 40 percent of the time year round.
Rubber roofs are pretty close to an industry standard you'll find some TPO Vinyal (Which I for one like a lot) and some fibreglass (A great option just don't break it and heavy). That said I have a trailer with a rubber roof once all the pros and cons were weighed other factors became more important then the roof material. Having recently damaged the roof of my trailer the fact that rubber is so common has made the repair more straight forward so that has turned into a bit of a plus.
As for insulation this I can speak of from experience. My wife and I went for a bit over a week up to Boston. In Jan, during a cold snap. Night time temps were minus 5F to minus 9F every night we were there. Our rig is your basic Hitchhiker no artic package no double paned windows no storm windows nothing like that.
We were using one electric heater and the propane furnace to stay warm. We had no issues with condensation. We had no issues with being too cold. We had no issues with burning off too much propane. When it got down to minus 7F we had no tank issues at minus 9F we did have the up tube from the fresh water tank frost until we opened up the cabnets it sits under to get more air flow around it.
In fact when we went to head out I broke out the ladder (there had been snow storms while we were there) to make sure everything had melted off the slide out roofs only to find that no it had not there was ice and snow on all of them and the roof still had snow on it. I had expected that heat bleeding through from the trailer would of melted every thing off in the two days between storm and leaving but no I had to clear all the slides my self. (Frankly the worst part of camping in snow country was clearing the slide tops)
So that is a Hitchhiker II LS which the factory doesn't rate to as low a temp as they do the DA's and the Champagne's. Now if you plan to hit a lot of cold weather the doublepane windows would be nice they were the biggest source of heat loss in the rig.
Mallo
Hi Mel,
Lots of fulltiming rigs have rubber roofs. We've had two - one of them (a Carriage) was 10 years old and the roof was still in good shape.
You won't be disappointed in a NuWa - no matter what level of rig you buy. HHII up to a Champagne are great rigs. I equate it like this: HHII = Chevy. Discover America = Buick. Champagne = Cadillac. It's all about the level of upgrades you want. All three are made well.
Good luck selling the house. Hope to see you on the road.
Kathy