Grand Design Disappointment

[Cumminsfan]

Jayco and Northwood MFG both list the same MSRP for their units. Meaning I can go into any dealer and the MSRP will be the same. I'm not sure if any others do.
You can actually go to Jayco's site and build your own like you would on a Ford or GM site.

[918jeeper]

Originally Posted by CarolynanBob

Take at look at the Vanliegh Vilano (Tiffen). Great design and workmanship. Yes all have some issues. Vanliegh customer service is OUTSTANDING.

I looked at those at a local RV show the other day and was very impressed with how solid they were! They are made by the Tiffin family and built them with the same materials and quality as their motorhomes and they were at a decent price. $67 k for a 2018 32 foot model. All real wood cabinets and trim, Central air, electric dump valves, etc. I almost bought one but owe too much on my pretty turd.

[jks]

Originally Posted by jimcumminsw

We have a CEDAR CREEK a Forest River product and only had a couple of small issue which were fixed at the Frog Rally! These were fixed by the manufacture in less than 2 hours. This is our third 5ER and it by far is the best unit we have ever own. The manufacturer's repenstitives who you can contact go out of their way to resolve any quality issues you may have.

Would I buy another CEDAR CREEK from Forest River again, YES!

I read this forum mostly and sometimes post on Forest River. I have a Cedar Creek and am happy with it. 2nd year of ownership. Got to go the rally or factory to get major things fixed. Dealers are the weak links.

[wtgjr1]

My wife and I have a 2017 GD Reflection 303RLS in Oct 2016 and we really like it. We based our purchase on the Warranty and many reviews from many RVer sites. All are going to have problems and they are no more than a "house" on wheels getting beat to death on our lousy highways. Understand your concern but this is just our experience so far.

[Bob_C]

Should have bought a Forest River product.....I was able to find a Rockwood 5er, 1 year old, and paid $24,000.....had 1 issue...fixed it myself....torn heater duct...has been across country twice and north to south, and I live in it 5 month a year.....known what your look'n at when you buy goes a long ways, and I'll bet I'm just as comfortable as those that have the $100,000 units .....I don't feel the need to impress my neighbors or fellow campers.....

[Top_Speed1]

Fore some, it progresses by each of your RV purchases, and you grow or want more conveniences and/or luxuries. Through the years stepping up and now looking back at those advancements, it's funny to say but yes, I can do without the new luxuries, but do I want to? He(( NO! Auto-level is worth it's weight in gold. So is auto awnings and on-demand hot water etc etc... and in my case, Solar to keep my big battery banks up during boondocking outings.

AND! Not out to impress my neighbor whom I'm likely to never see again, just out to impress myself! Get what fits you and your wife/ family.

[jeck]

An update to Grand Designs terrible build quality.

I just had a friend send me a list of everything wrong with his 2017 GD 376. His brother in law purchased the exact same model and is having similar issues with it as well. So it is factory wide, and not just limited to one unit.

Here is a photo below of the rear window that completely fell out of his unit. As he was traveling across the country, he stopped for the night and went into sleep only to see his window was gone!!

Shower faucet was leaking behind the wall into their bedroom. He had to remove the wall paneling to get to the leak and fix it. The also caused his floor to soften and is permanent.

His front large tv broke 5 months in.

His blue accent lights come on at random and the switch broke to turn them off.

His brakes completely failed on the same cross country trip as when his window fell out. He only could stop with his truck brakes.
His steps to his bedroom are coming loose
His antena was put on backwards
His front cap LED lights have faded from blue to white
The garage vents aren't venting and is getting fuel fumes inside the trailer.

He was an Air-conditioning technician, and he opened up the panel to see the unit and found the block off plates where the ducts are was done in a way that the ac was sucking up cold air right where it was coming out that should have been going into the cabin ducts.


He is thinking of printing a large sticker with all of his issues and putting on the back of his unit until he can get something done about this from Grand Design.


I was heavily considering a Grand Design and actually had a deal on a 395 in Alabama. It fell apart after I showed up after my 12 hour drive and the dealer wanted $8k more out of me when I got there. After fuming about it for an hour, I asked for my keys to my trade and drove home, canceling the deal.

I still was searching for another one. I went to an rv show and a dealership that had one. Both of those units had caulking missing on the roof and sides where I could see water was actively getting inside the unit!

Like I mentioned, Ray Clark(who is the Rep for Grand Design) and whom he met last month at our local dealership, hasn't returned both of his voicemails and calls that he has made to him.....and that was 15 days ago.

As always, once a higher up from an rv company finds out about issues you have, you never hear from them, or can get any help getting things fixed. It's a, "You're on your own" mindset.


I have learned this first hand in my own experience with my Dutchman trailer having to hire an attorney to get a replacement unit for my lemon. I'm having the exact water leaking issues with the one year new replacement trailer I was given.

Ducthman is Keystone. The Keystone owners formed Grand Design. So your getting the same terrible build quality.

I'm seeing more and more that the RV industry is a throw it together and watch it fall apart industry.

[Cumminsfan]

Thats why I'll never buy anything from the Elkhart crowd.

[918jeeper]

I wonder if this is a common Grand Design problem?

[Cumminsfan]

Originally Posted by 918jeeper

I wonder if this is a common Grand Design problem?

Is that the new hatchback model?

[Oldelevatorman]

Things really aren't going to get any better as far as quality control goes, it seem to me. There isn't a brand out there that hasn't had problems. We almost bought a Grand Design, then we thought we wanted a Vilano, they're new but have had tons of problems too. The GD dealer had a Landmark and we liked that better than the others by far. We've had our Landmark since March and traveled the country on horrible roads and it's held up well except for one shock where the mounts weren't lined up. Had to have a new mount welded on and waiting to get reimbursed from Heartland. All the small stuff we've been able to fix ourselves. Pretty happy and we're full timing. Seen about a dozen other Landmark owners on the road and they're happy as well. It's a crap shoot for sure, good luck. We also looked at KZ Durango and Jayco. Liked Jayco Designer but it wasn't warranted for full time use. Never looked at the Montanas but have heard good and bad about them and the Riverstone had just come to our area but we'd already decided.

[jdpm]

I would not buy one for the simple fact that they are using Lippert axles/bearings which I have heard to be very problematic. In addition, I can't believe they still don't offer the "quiet air" ducting a/c system that is becoming more and more common. Finally, in comparison to similar units like a Silver Creek CC, they are very over priced.

[Brad W]

Interesting discussion. In the time I've been looking at various RV types, the one thing I've learned for sure is every brand has a horror story out there on the internet somewhere. Not discounting OP's experience, just noting it is clearly an imperfect industry

Before this discussion I got the sense GD was at least a little better than average.

Wife and I just looked at a GD 375RES just today and frankly it seem pretty solid. We opened a lot of drawers, cupboards, hatches, etc. the steps are superior to most others we've seen, they are more stable when on them. The kitchen area was really nice with lots of storage space.

Overall I walked away impressed and feeling good about our direction. I've looked at floorplans for the Northwoods and ORV's and the GD 375 suits us over anything the others offer

[Gigattime]

We bought a new 2016, 350M at the end of April last year (2016). We spent approximately 40 nights and over 2400 miles on it last summer both locally (weekends) and traveling on east coast.

This year we've added another 3800 miles and 38 nights so far. We took it to Kansas from Cincinnati, then to Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan before coming back to Ohio. Labor Day weekend we took it back up from Cincinnati to Lake Erie.

Over 6000 miles in a year and a half and our Momentum has performed well. No major issues except for 2 things with Lippert components - leaking seals that can caused the greased brakes which is a known issue and the other issue was a failed in line breaker ($12 part) on the Lippert Level Up System that caused my landing gear to stop working. Lippert was very responsive and great in helping troubleshoot as was Grand Design.

I would have no reservations in looking at Grand Design Units. Ours is a very solid unit.