Coachmen Nova or Beyond first hand experience?

[rpq002]

Hi all. Looking for our first class B and interested in any advice/comments from Coachmen Nova or Beyond owners. Particularly interested in implementation and reliability of electrical, mechanical, and plumbing systems. Opinion of overall build quality? Thanks in advance!

[@Michael]

I bought a Crossfit (now called Beyond) in 2018, have no regrets, and would buy another if I were in the market.

The Transit chassis has been trouble free.

Coachmen cabinets are high quality, well designed and built.

I've had issues with non-Coachmen appliances (Novakool fridge, Truma Combi hot water heater/furnace).

[dmb496]

This group has a LARGE number of owners, and you'll likely get more than a few responses.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/cgbnop

[MN1]

Originally Posted by @Michael

I bought a Crossfit (now called Beyond) in 2018, have no regrets, and would buy another if I were in the market.

The Transit chassis has been trouble free.

Coachmen cabinets are high quality, well designed and built.

I've had issues with non-Coachmen appliances (Novakool fridge, Truma Combi hot water heater/furnace).

Yes, love my Crossfit/Beyond. Early builds seem to have less trouble w electrical. Mine has basic AGM battery, genny, and propane. Ease of repair/service on the road as well, given the Ford chassis.

[Jhv2]

We viewed, drove, studied, questioned, rented Class B vans for two years before deciding to buy a Cochmen Nova. My short comparison, with focus on Gas powered / Lithium-based coaches, is as follows (overall build best- worst):

Gretch are excellent in all areas, but you have to spend $$$ and they are diesel.

Midwest Automotive Designs / American Coach are also very close to the Gretch quality for less $. Most are also Mercedes, but some are Fords (a tiny bit of Rams). However their dealer network is slim and our attempt at correspondence with the company was not answered.

Pleasure way. Great overall quality. Lithium currently lags other's capacity - Dealer network is slim in US.

--- Coachmen (see below)

Winnebago Travato is of similar design to Coachmen, and has the best Lithium battery system, but are overpriced -- pay for brand not quality.

Roadtreks have a great history, and the best floorpans, and an amazing amount of storage but their Lithium battery system is outdated and cumbersome.

Every sample we looked at from Thor industries (Ethos, Thor, Jayco) had quality problems; sometime parts literally falling off when viewing them in the showroom. (We did not look at Airstream as they were all diesel.)

Now as to Coachmen. No one, really, no one has better quality cabinetry, there is no real comparison short of custom made. As to over all build quality, Gretch,MAD/AC had them beat but IMHO not worth the extra $. For lithium; Coachmen has the 2nd or 1st best designed systems. If pleasure way had the Lithium design of Coachmen or Travato I might have gone that way. One great feature of Coachment Lithium Models is that batteries, fresh and black are all inside. Leaving only gray (with heating pads) out in the elements. While is is near impossible for a van to be "well" insulated. I don’t believe anyone has better insulation (sound and temp) than Coachmen (although MAD/AC would not respond to us about it.)

The real differentiator is the Dealer support is amazing. Nick Recchio (the head of CM class B's) Answers questions on YouTube, comes to Rallies, gives out his email address, and his staff is just as available. As an example; I saw Nick climb a ladder and zip tie a customer's awning, because there was a recall for a deployment defect. - Not a Coachmen recall, an awning company recall. That is service! As the previous post mentions there are some wonderful Facebook Nova groups (if your into that) who will attest to my ravings about customer service and also provide valuable assistance to issues you may have.

I hope this helps, but my best advice is to check them out yourself, even if it means travel, and spend a good deal of time looking underneath and behind the all the "shiny" bits.

[Sea.in.SD]

WOW Jhv!!!!!
Finally . . . a comparison based on quality, not as you say “the shiny bits “. Bravo and thanks for making my decision to go Coachmen!!!!!
~ Sea in San Diego

[JoeM]

I have a Coachmen Nova RB for the last 3 years. Only a couple of issues. One was the relay that controlled the disconnect went bad. Easy cheap fix. Coachmen no longer uses that particular brand of part. Had the recall on the CareFree awning. Local dealer did a repair on it, but did not complete the job properly. I attended the annual Coachmen rally in Elkhart, IN this year and the repair techs there fixed it properly. Incidentally Coachmen has repair techs at the rally and will fix problems for free if you van is less than two model years old. If you get a Nova, it is a good idea to make an annual rally. Nick who runs the B Division is there to help with problems and meets with the "B" people during the rally. There is also lectures that are very applicable to RV life style. Not to mention the food is great and the camaraderie within the "B" community is good. We love the van. The Li3 system works great. It will run the air conditioner for at least 6 to 8 hours depending on outside temperature and humidity. Van construction is great, we have had no issues with any of the electrical or plumbing systems other that what I mentioned earlier. Cabinets are well made, Amish quality made with real hardwood and good joinery. Beds are quite comfortable. I have added several mods to my van that are now standard on newer models (New GPS, permanent rear camera).

You really can't go wrong with the Nova and the Ram platform. We are averaging 16 to 17 miles per gallon fully loaded (2 people, one dog, full water tank, full gas tank and food and clothing). Good luck.

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by JoeM

I have a Coachmen Nova RB for the last 3 years. Only a couple of issues. One was the relay that controlled the disconnect went bad. Easy cheap fix. Coachmen no longer uses that particular brand of part. Had the recall on the CareFree awning. Local dealer did a repair on it, but did not complete the job properly. I attended the annual Coachmen rally in Elkhart, IN this year and the repair techs there fixed it properly. Incidentally Coachmen has repair techs at the rally and will fix problems for free if you van is less than two model years old. If you get a Nova, it is a good idea to make an annual rally. Nick who runs the B Division is there to help with problems and meets with the "B" people during the rally. There is also lectures that are very applicable to RV life style. Not to mention the food is great and the camaraderie within the "B" community is good. We love the van. The Li3 system works great. It will run the air conditioner for at least 6 to 8 hours depending on outside temperature and humidity. Van construction is great, we have had no issues with any of the electrical or plumbing systems other that what I mentioned earlier. Cabinets are well made, Amish quality made with real hardwood and good joinery. Beds are quite comfortable. I have added several mods to my van that are now standard on newer models (New GPS, permanent rear camera).

You really can't go wrong with the Nova and the Ram platform. We are averaging 16 to 17 miles per gallon fully loaded (2 people, one dog, full water tank, full gas tank and food and clothing). Good luck.

What brand disconnect was it?

[JoeM]

Part brand was Trombetta. I found an exact replacement on Amazon for $25.00. No problem since I replaced it.

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by JoeM

Part brand was Trombetta. I found an exact replacement on Amazon for $25.00. No problem since I replaced it.

Thank you, I am little surprised they didn’t use a latching relay like this one from Intellitec or a BlueSea one. https://www.amazon.com/INTELLITEC-01...8&gad_source=1 or a better one from BlusSea https://www.bluesea.com/products/762..._-_12V_DC_500A