Blog Comments

  1. thompsk7's Avatar
    Chris, I think anyone that can afford an RV by Grand Design should be glad to pay the small fee, it a lot less than the fuel it takes to move the unit. Thanks for a great site.
  2. Eaglehead's Avatar
    I agree with you Chris. I was in the home construction and remodeling business for over 25 years and was licensed in California and Arkansas and I can say without hesitation it is appalling what the RV industry can and is getting away with. WE, as RV owner's are paying huge amounts of money for what is supposed to be a lifestyle of comfort and not have the stress of everyday life just to end up with something that creates discomfort and stress. Do the math and see for yourself how much we are paying per square foot for campers compared to houses. I know houses don't roll down bumpy roads which is all the more reason that RV's should be designed and built to a higher standard but they are not. I do believe that GD has a great attitude but the jury is out on whether they listen and act on what we as owners are reporting. I can promise you that if I ever did anything in construction as lame as they ( meaning all RV mfg's) do I would have lost my license and my ability to make a living.
  3. G&Jcamping's Avatar
    Thank you for this input Chris, this may be one of the best posts I have read on any forum. My wife and I also have been camping for years and have progressed from tents to pop-ups to TT’s and now our Solitude. Like Chris, we have been in more units then I care to count. We love the shows!!! Once we decided on upgrading to a 5ther we must have looked at 30 different models from ALL the big boys in a two month period but not one had “all” the items on our wish list. We were looking at a Montana high country when the salesman said hey, we just got the new GD in and I think it has everything on your check list. It did and we absolutely loved it

    I also agree with Chris completely that these are huge investments. We saved a long time to get this unit and the truck to tow it with knowing it was a long term adventure. With the money we spend we should demand that everything works as it was designed too. The whole point of this investment is to relax and have some piece of mind away from the rat race!

    We have only had our rig out a couple of times and like many, we have had a couple of issues, nothing major—more annoyances than anything. I agree the GD and there products are not perfect but IMHO they are heads and shoulders above the others in their efforts to get there. Without question they are heading in the right directions and one of the reasons I believe is there willingness to listen to US!!

    The bonus for us after buying our GD was this forum. The information passed on is wonderful. Manuals are great but there is nuttn better than a good ole “been there done that” from someone. I was new to 5thing a month ago and I can’t tell you all the great tips I have already put to use!!!
  4. 2hams's Avatar
    Sad to hear about the issues. Hopefully this will get fed back through the Quality Assurance folks and steps will be taken to preclude such items in the future.

    I know that we expect a lot from our 'little houses' that we bounce down the roads at 60 to 65 mph. That shake rattle and roll has to be tough. We have been fortunate so far, we found a screw that had gone through one of the blind strings - and this is something that you would find only after working the blinds up and down 3 or 4 times.

    I would never buy the first model year of a new car or truck, and would NEVER try the first release of a piece of software (unless I was the author). We were so impressed with Grand Design, and the company attitude that we took the chance. I agree with the above comment that GD is trying to build something better than the competition.

    It would be interesting to know what percentage of units have problems. I would expect folks without problems tend not to post them, and the reverse.
  5. Justaguy's Avatar
    Uh-oh. Dang, I hate to hear this. We are in our 38th night and just started our 7000 mile trip. Right now, we are staying the night at Tom Sawyers RV park in West Memphis. We have had zero issues with our 337. No refer, no tires, no lights, nothing! The Atwood thermostats are a little funky and weird working but nothing has happen yet. I keep holding my breath for when our list of problems begin. I would sure like to hear how this goes, Jim. Please keep us updated. Now, if I can get this refueling thing worked out, I will be fine.........
  6. TucsonJim's Avatar
    I've developed a rather lengthy list of issues on my Reflection 337 also. Right now, we are 2000 miles into a 10K summer journey. For the most part, the rig is holding up okay, but I'm starting to see the exact same kinds of quality problems that I saw with my last Keystone Cougar FW. The refrigerator doesn't work on electric, which caused all of our food to go bad. Fortunately, we were able to get the reefer to work on gas. We replaced all the food, and hopefully, it will continue to run on gas until we can get hope to get it repaired in October.

    I'm also dealing with lots of workmanship issues. There are electrical outlets that are falling out and trim pieces falling off. The most disturbing thing I'm encountering now are cabinet faces starting to wrinkle and shrink. I was led to believe that all the cabinets were stained wood, but actually, many of the pieces are wood covered with contact paper. The paper is coming loose, looks very cheap, and it will be very extensive work to fix them.

    I'll keep adding to my list, and when I get home, I'll start dealing with my dealer who so far has proven to be totally inept in completing repairs.
  7. Glazier's Avatar
    That is some list. We do commercial glass work, I can tell you for certain a list like that doesn't exist on my projects. If we get a punch list with over 10 items on a large scale project, heads are going to roll. You must start with quality workers to produce a quality product. Attention to detail in the construction phase is key, quality can't be inspected in after the product is put together..
  8. ACDW-Ottawa's Avatar
    Hi Chris!


    I agree completely with your statement and would like to add some additional feedback about the RV industry as I have learned about it since my 1st 5th Wheel trailer I purchased in 2010 which I traded In for a GD 5ver Solitude (last Nov2013) based on the hype from Bill Fenech and his co-owners; however, I have been let down by their assembly line quality and inferior sourced parts.


    While I believe their could be some additional design changes crucial to the viability of the product (ie move the exterior outlet to prevent the door from hitting the outlet cover and damaging the door graphics or worse) they certainly have added so many new and unique features ( such as the pull out computer desk and the large Pantry (every Woman's dream)) to make it a fantastic RV. But here is an issue that frustrate the owners like us. The (hydraulic tube) is installed incorrectly here and throughout the trailer as under the bed. The closed end must be installed pointing up to ensure the internal seal does not dry up. This is such a basic installation issue, one wonders who is installing theses parts and where is the Quality insurance? There are similarly repeated issues throughout the RV.


    I actually called Bill Fenech to escalate the issues (fridge, windows, premature rust, broken parts, leaks, etc) with my trailer and wow! Did everything start coming together after that. I will still have to have repairs done at the factory as only a per of them can be done here locally.


    I am pleasantly surprised how fast Grand Design reacted to send me the require parts and pay my out of pocket expenses for the mobile RV Tech (within 10 days). From speaking to my friends, there is no other RV company providing this level of service.


    My wife and I do LOVE our Solitude 359RL and we still believe we made the right decision to go with Grand Design RV even though they are a new company and especially because they are a new company. I believe in GD's philosophy and was very impressed with speaking to Roger Fenech. I really do believe he is sincere about building an RV that is better than the competition. GD is learning and I hope that GD will provided some free upgrades to correct issues in the earlier RVs


    I also have a similar list of issues with my trailer that I may list at a future time.


    Please feel free to PM me.
  9. Bret and Linda's Avatar
    Chris,

    The information regarding the TV in the basement was worth every cent! I too appreciate all your work on the site, keep up the Good Work and Thanks
  10. mandolin57's Avatar
    Chris, I agree completely with you regarding the google ads and all of the crap material you have to wade through on most blogs and I appreciate $1 a month not to have to continually x out of things I don't want to see or that have an opportunity to corupt my laptop. It's worth every penny. I'm sure the amount of time you have put into this is incredible as well, so thanks very much for a place we can get good feedback as well as encouragement and help from other owners. It's great!
  11. Jeff K's Avatar
    Chris, we think you have put together a great forum and have no problem paying the annual fee. The amount of time youve obviously put towards the site is greatly appreciated. Thank you. As first time owners, We have gotten so much valuable information from other GD owners.

    One of the things I really like is, of course no ads, they can be very annoying! Also I like that people are being honest about likes and dislikes with their 5th wheels and GD is paying close attention, offering solutions to some problems, contacting owners as a result of the forum and hopefully making notes for future builds.

    Anyway, thanks again to you for your commitment and to other members for sharing mishaps, solutions and overall knowledge with us newbies!
  12. Navigator's Avatar

    Thanks Chris for providing us with this great site for the owners of Grand Design RVs! We spent 10 years on the Montana Owners site and learned a lot. I'm thrilled that we have this site to ask questions and share information.

    Kathy
  13. TucsonJim's Avatar
    Chris - When I first joined, I missed your post that this board was not owned and operated by Grand Design. My thoughts were "why on earth should I pay to read about the Grand Design product?"

    I like the process you've put in place, and I agree with your logic above. $1/month is cheap information, and I'm all for it.

    Jim

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