Grand Designs vs ORV

[NickInCO]

Has anyone owned both? The Monentum 21G/23G floor plans but look extremely appealing for their size. I just wonder if the quality is there.

[wprather]

Originally Posted by NickInCO

Has anyone owned both? The Monentum 21G/23G floor plans but look extremely appealing for their size. I just wonder if the quality is there.

When I was looking to buy my outdoors RV I considered grand design as well. I had gone through many other brands and concluded that grand design was one of the top brands from a quality perspective. However in the end I decided that outdoors RV was a higher level of design quality.

I have never owned a grand design. When I walked inside of them they just did not feel as quality built.

My outdoors RV is a 2020 trailer and has had very little problems. However I accept the fact that all trailers are going to have problems! So just expect it and be prepared to fix the problems yourself if they are small.

I know many people that do consider grand design a cut above most of the other brands. For what it’s worth. I personally don’t think the actual manufacturing of any of these trailers is high-quality given they are all made by hand.

My final selection of outdoors RV Came down to the relationship that I felt I would have with the factory after I talked to them. However lately the factory has moved in a direction to make it harder for people to have a direct relationship with them, so that is something to keep in mind.

[YoungSteven]

Agree with above- but don't forget that Grand Design is now owned by that tiny conglomerate named Winnebago.
I'll stick with our ORV 5er. We're always doing improvements on it but the build from the factory was superior to other brands.

[varmonter]

We looked at gd when researching. We almost
Bought a reflection series trailer from our local
Dealer. We sold the sticks an bricks and are full
Timing. We hauled our 11 yr old trade in across
The US (no orv dealers in the east.) To Co.
We got a better deal on our orv than our
Local dealer gave us with the reflection.
Quality is a subjective thing. I feel its a tad
Better in orv.. I came away from our grand design
Excursion thinking this thing is going to fall
Apart quickly. Weve had a few small mfg issues
With or orv (valances falling off the wall due to
Not putting the screw in the right place)
Stupid stuf i can fix myself. Time will tell.
Weve only had it 3 weeks. But weve put 1000 mi
On it. Ours is a backcountry series.
100 gal fresh water is great . Gd had half that.
The gd trailer had 2 Ac which was nice.
The orv has 2 solar panels which is nice because
The onan genset is a bit obnoxious to run.
I see many more GD going down the road and in the
Campgrounds than i do arctic fox and outdoor rv combined. Not sure what that means other than
There are more if them ..

[Cumminsfan]

Either brand will be a crap shoot. Between the two I'd just pick the one that feels right inside.

[Gammel]

Varmonter and I were separated at birth. Our dinette valence fell off on the first trip and the slideout quit due to a bad ground. 18 months later and 10K miles and my only complaint is the tank monitor and the Thetford toilet. The GDs do look nice but we got an ORV because we like to boondock and nothing else comes close in that department.

[Vintage465]

We have friends that purchased a new in 2017 Grand Design 29' trailer. Compared to ORV or Northwood, the Grand Design was down a notch or two in "flavorful goodies". No spare tire cover, no propane tank cover, 5 gallon propane tanks, incandescent lights most everywhere, Lippert products sprinkled about(I dislike Lippert as a whole). But having said all that, they lived in it full time from 2017 to 2020 and it held up fine. They weren't bombing down the road in it, they trailer parked it. I assume most of my whining above has been upgraded with the exception of Lippert components(yes, I know ORV uses some Lippert gunk). For me it also comes down to the "Elkhart Indiana" stuff vs the Out West smaller manufacturers. I thinks we're better off with ORV.......not that they're perfect....................