1990-2007 Nuwa Hitchhiker Owners Manual, Review, Specs, Value
Another family-owned RV maker has gone. This one has been gone for roughly 15 years but remained open to handle warranty and other financial obligations. It seems that they finally closed their doors in 2013 after 44 years in the business.
To get any solid information on the Nuwa 5th wheel trailers, you have to go to their archives web pages. However, the information located there covers the years 1999 to 2013. Up-to-date information may not be possible at this time.
To learn more about this company and the 5th wheel trailers it made, just continue to read our article. It includes the best possible information you can read to see if buying a used Nuwa is worth the time, trouble, and expense.
The Nuwa Hitchhiker
What is The Value Of My Nuwa Hitchhiker?
This is always a difficult question to answer as the value of your Nuwa 5th wheel or other RV depends on several factors. These factors include class, style, floor plan, condition, and features.
To see what those factors do to help you get your value, you need to either go to the J.D. Power website and plug in all the details or go to a used RV website and get as close to the same model as yours and see what they are selling for.
For example, the J.D. Power website for the 2007 Nu-Wa Discover America Fifth Wheel Series M-317 LK from the Hitchhiker series is listed at a low retail value of $14,800 and a high retail value of 17,850. But that is the base price with no features, etc., added.
This value is close to the Used 2007 Nuwa Industries Fifth Wheel RV HITCHHICKER 33CKRSB over at the RV Traders’ website. The value for this model, with features, is roughly $14,000.
Obviously, we are comparing two different trailers but we have to use what we can find. You would have to add all the features, etc., for your specific model on the J.D. Power website to get a close estimate of the value of your trailer.
As an added comparison, the base value for a Hitchhiker II Fifth Wheel Series M-29 RK Prices is well under $2000.
How Does The Nuwa Hitchhiker Compare To Other Models?
On the RV Insider website, this brand was given a 4.3 out of 5 star rating with livability and floor plans getting the highest marks. Those ratings were 5.0 and 4.9 respectively. The lowest rating was 2.3 and that was for the warranty category.
Then the owners that we have come across seemed to have liked everything about this brand of 5th-wheel trailers. We can only talk about the 5th wheel trailers as the company stopped production of the Class C motorhomes in the 80s.
From that point on, they only made 5th-wheel trailers. In seeing their remarks, it seems that the Nu-Wa 5th wheel trailers were comparable to the bigger RV manufacturers and held a very loyal customer base.
It is said that the reason the company went out of business is because they made a very high-quality product that did not need a lot of repairs. That is both a sad and happy situation.
It is happy that customers received a very good 5th wheel trailer but sad that they could not compete in today’s RV market.
1990 Nuwa Hitchhiker Champagne Edition
We are not sure if the company made a 1990 Champagne model. The archives from the company list the start date for this model in 2006. Prior to that model year, the company made the Hitchhiker I & II, the Snowbird, and the Stow-a-wa.
The 1999 to 2001 models were only listed as 5th wheel. They may have made it and if they did, it would have been the top of the line model for the company. According to the company’s archive page, the 2000 Champagne model was priced between $74,000 and $76,000 before the optional equipment and features were added.
If they did make this model, they may not be for sale or they have not survived the test of time. The specs for the 1999 Champagne can be found at this link. The archives will be your best web page to go to to find any information on these trailers.
But as we said, the archives only go back to 1999. The old company web pages, which can still be found, state that the Champagne series was the most expensive and most luxurious option the company produced. If the 1990 models were in existence at the time, they would fall into that category as well.
1999 Nuwa Hitchhiker Premier
This 5th wheel model came in two versions. There was the Premier LTD., & the Premier Wide Body. The wide body seemed to have 2 gray water holding tanks. One was 38 gallons and the other 50 gallons.
It also had a black water tank that could hold 50 gallons while the fresh water holding tank held 80. The GVWR was between 6000 and 7000 pounds and came with two 7000 pound axles.
The interior height fluctuated as the kitchen was 84 inches high, the living room was 97 and the bedroom only 71 inches high. It also had a 40000 BTU furnace.
The Premier LTD. was almost a carbon copy of the Wide Body. There was almost no discrepancy between the figures listed above and the figures for this model. The fresh water tank held 100 gallons while the black and gray were the same size.
Another difference was that the LTD model only had a 35,000 BTU furnace but the axle number and weight ratings were the same. We are not sure of the value of these two models as the archive pages leave that information out.
However, J.D. Power gives a low-high retail value between $6200 & $7450 for a base price. The number of features inside will raise the value somewhat.
2003 Nuwa Hitchhiker Discover America
The archive pages do not seem to be very exhaustive as this model is missing from their list. On the other hand, the J.D. Power website does list this model and to start, it weighed around 10,000 pounds.
It also had 2 axles as well as 3 slides. Its length reached 33 feet and was 8 feet wide. The original manufacturer’s suggested retail price was $52,000 but today you will only see a fraction of that value.
It lists at $9400 for a low retail value and at $11,300 for a high retail value. What was included in your purchase were- LS models that had fiberglass end caps, scissor stabilizer jacks, and spare tire, while Deluxe models came with fiberglass exterior, oak table, bedroom TV, ceiling fan, and plank floor-kitchen.
Unfortunately, we did not find any of these models for sale at this time. They may come up and if they are as good as some owners say, they may be worth buying. Check the condition and seals, etc., to make sure it is in top shape.
Nuwa Hitchhiker Specs
This is like opening up a bean bag to count the number of beans in the bean bag chair. Even in 2001, Nu-Ma made 4 Hitchhiker models and 3 Hitchhiker 2 models. Then each one had multiple floor plans for the most part.
For the 2001 Champagne model, the specs look like this-- GVWR 18,500 pounds, hitch weight, depending on which one of the two models you bought, 2780 or 8000 pounds.
The two models were one foot apart in length, with one reaching 38 feet three inches and the other at 39 feet 3 inches. The holding tanks were 38 & 50 gallons for the grays, 50 gallons for the black, and 100 gallons for the fresh water holding tank.
Then the interior height was as reported earlier, 84 inches for the kitchen, 97 for the living room, and 71 inches for the bedroom. The exterior height reached 12 feet 1 inch.
You should use the link to the archive pages above to get the specs for all the different Hitchhiker models you want to know about. It is possible that these specs did not change that much through the years.
Nuwa Hitchhiker Weight
The weight will vary between Hitchhiker models. For example, the Hitchhiker II ‘S’ series for 2001 had 8 different floor plans and 8 different GVWR ratings. Those ratings ranged between 11,350 pounds and 13,680 pounds.
Then the Hitchhiker 2 Deluxe model had 9 floor plans and 9 different GVWR ratings. Those ratings ranged between 12,165 pounds to 14,200 pounds. Then moving up a few years to the 2005 model year, the Discover America series came in 12 floor plans and 12 different GVWR ratings.
Those weight ratings ranged between 12,800 pounds to 15,200 pounds. It is possible to list more but you get the idea that the GVWR will change with each model, model year, and floor plan.
The best thing to do is to go to the archives web page and search for the model you are interested in. Some of the archive pages are not complete. The description says that a table will follow but we found that the table did not follow all the time.
If you click on the floor plan, the only thing you get is an enlarged image of that floor plan.
Nuwa Hitchhiker 5th Wheel Reviews
We have yet to see a negative review on this brand of 5th-wheel trailers. With a very high star rating at RV Insider, the only real complaint we found was that the company seemed to not honor its warranty or provided bad customer service.
Aside from some minor issues and flaws just about every reviewer said they loved their Nu-Wa or that it was great for just two people. It was also very roomy including a walk around bed.
A few owners stated that these 5th wheel trailers were well built and that the quality was higher than some of its competitors’ models. One owner said that the 1999 model was built solid and others recommended that it was better to buy used as this brand of RV was better than buying new from other brands.
Then a review website had great things to say about this brand and its 5th-wheel models. They felt it was a very sturdy trailer with lots of luxuries inside that did not clutter the interior. It was very spacious despite all the features included.
The company also included a variety of slides. Those slides helped increase the space you could live in. All in all, it seems that this company knew how to build a 5th wheel that people wanted. A few owners lamented the fact that the company went out of business.
Buying Nuwa Hitchhiker Parts
This may be a difficult task to do. The reason we say that is because the company went out of business and stopped producing new parts or even older ones.
Depending on the feature or equipment, you can contact the component manufacturer to see if they still have parts for these older RVs. Most likely, the company did not make the slide mechanisms and other key parts like stereos, televisions, and so on.
Check the brand name and see if those companies are still manufacturing the same products and look for spare parts in those locations. If that fails, you are limited to either finding a similar trailer for sale privately and cannibalizing it for parts. Or going to the salvage yards to see if they have used parts for sale.
A last ditch effort would be to contact the RV used parts and accessories outlets you can find online. They may have some available but given the lack of production, you may have to hurry to check them out.
Send an email to them and see what they can do for you.
Download The Nuwa Hitchhiker Owners Manual
This task will be harder to do than finding any used parts for sale. These booklets are just not available at this time. The websites that came up in a simple search proved to be useless and a waste of time as the web pages either were not found anymore or they could not connect.
One RV discussion forum provided a link to the archive web pages but there are no manuals listed for the different models. One reason for this lack is that the manual would not cover all the systems inside the trailer.
You would have to look at the brand name of the different components and features and contact those companies for a manual for their components. With the company out of business, you won’t be able to find a manual for those components on their website
That link will take you to their owner's website but most of the web pages turn up a blank page when their links are clicked. It is best to contact the different brands making the specific components you need information on.
That is the best and probably only route you can take.
Finding a 2005 Nuwa Hitchhiker For Sale
This is not that difficult but it would be better to expand your search criteria. Instead of looking just for a 2005 model, look for all models. You will get better and more numerous results.
Smartrv guide.com has about 2 2005 models for sale but they have plenty of Hitchhiker models on their web pages that look just as good. RV Trader has 5 listed on its single page of Hitchhiker models for sale.
That is one place to look. Those dealers that work with both used and new RVs may have some 2005 models but they may have more of the other years on their lot.
The next place to try will be the online classified newspapers like Craigslist or your local classified ads newspapers. There will be an owner at some point ready to sell their Nu-Wa Hitchhiker 5th wheel trailer.
The price may be better when you go private than if you go to a used RV dealer or Internet website. Plus, you may be able to do some negotiating to lower the price somewhat.
Depending on the seller these 2005s may be listed for under $10,000 but the price will depend on condition, features, and more factors. It will take a little searching but you should find a Nu-Wa Hitchhiker for sale somewhere.
Some Additional Words
It seems that the Nu-Wa RV company could not handle the competition. Whatever their reason for going out of business, the RV industry and customers lost a quality RV brand.
Everywhere we looked people had nothing but praise for this brand. The company found a way to make top-quality trailers that did not break down very easily.
We are not sure about the company’s customer service or warranty work. The only information we got on that was the 2.4 rating on one of the review websites. But picking a used NU-Mar up is probably better than buying a new 5th wheel today.
