I absolutely agree “used” is the way to go, but as you note, tracking down a used Northstar or a Northern Light for that matter is like hunting for a unicorn. We searched for three years while continuing to use the 04 Hallmark that we bought used and are now getting ready to sell. And we searched almost the entire United States and Northstar dealers. A couple of times used ones sold while I was literally on the phone with the owner. The few that didn’t sell quickly had water damage and I was not in the mood to do a major rebuilt.
Over that time the Northstar sales manager and I emailed back and forth several times and I also spoke with him on the phone. We ended up buying new when dealers restocked in the winter. It was either that or wait 6 months.
And yeah, we have a lot of stuff on it we would never have wanted like that huge hail damage prone ceiling vent over the bed, a microwave, and a lot of other options. On the other hand, I also found quite a difference in selling price between dealers, so we got everything for what one dealer wanted for strippers. Again, the price you pay is the price you pay and everyone says they got a good deal when they buy, so we are no exception there.
As I said earlier, our Northstar is not perfect. We hate the cassette toilet. It may be great when you are in the West, but here in the East try hitting that little hole at your campsite when it’s time to dump (and we don’t have the vast wilderness of the West) is a mess waiting to happen. All-in-all I think Northstars are very reasonable choices at their price point.
So soon we will be in Minnesota, then the Oshkosh air show before winding our way up into New Hanpshire and Maine for summer/early fall.
Hope to see you on the road,
Steve
Steve and Andra
2012 F350 6.2 gasser SRW LB
Fab Fours front and rear in case we run into a rhino
2019 Northstar Laredo SC
