Becoming irritated

[brianf40]

Ive had my new reflection out twice so far and have a warranty repair list a mile long. I did not expect this with a 50,000$ fifth wheel! I did not have nearly as many with my 20,000$ travel trailer i traded in. Very irritated right now!!!

[steve gravelle]

Brian, you did the right thing in contacting GD about the seals and you were praising the dealer for being proactive on that. You are right, there can be lots of issues including window leaks, but my advice would be to visit with your dealer and see how they propose to solve your issues. Grand Design Customer Service could be your next avenue. Sharing irritation with us is fine, many of us have been there, but courteous assertive requests should be properly received and solved. Please keep us posted!

[jeffdawgfan]

Odd how some trailers have so many issues. Other than the brakes have had no issues at all. A few little fit an trim issues I corrected but that is all.

[D2Reid]

... courteous assertive requests should be properly received and solved. Please keep us posted!

+1 on what Steve said. GD has been quite willing to work with me on my nit picky little things. I have had no major issues that truly required a trip to the dealer.

Now my old 5th wheel was a different story. It took nearly 2 years to get the warranty items fixed. At one point the service manager tested my resolve on getting an axle repair done. (Third set of LCI axles) He told me the manufacturer wasn't paying enough for warranty work and they weren't going to do the repair unless I paid $300 for labor. I wrote the check, next time I came in they just fixed it. Extortion, absolutely. But that $300 did not pay for the repair, it bought the cooperation of the service manager the rest of the time I dealt with them. My complaints were taken a little more seriously after that.

[brianf40]

Dont get me wrong, we love our GD. Just upset at some of the things i have seen. I know GD has great customer service and i want to make sure they get properly fixed by my dealer. Some of the issues are minor except for 3-4 major. Small hairline cracks in bottom of front cap, bubble in slideout rubber roof membrane, the sloppy seal work on the roof along the rear seam (i went up and applied self leveling to the whole seam to cover small holes and where the screws were almost and some were showing), and now a leaky rear window. I hope my dealer yanks out n checks for further damage rather than just recaulking it n saying it is fixed. Small stuff includes tv blue screen issue, vent screen falls out, loose floor board in bedroom....

[Bamaman]

Sounds like some dealers need to pay closer attention to their PMI prior to a trailer being delivered. At the rates they charge Grand Design for repairs, they should be wanting to find problems--and charge the heck out of the factory. We're not talking $40 per hour labor here.

[jeffdawgfan]

Dont get me wrong, we love our GD. Just upset at some of the things i have seen. I know GD has great customer service and i want to make sure they get properly fixed by my dealer. Some of the issues are minor except for 3-4 major. Small hairline cracks in bottom of front cap, bubble in slideout rubber roof membrane, the sloppy seal work on the roof along the rear seam (i went up and applied self leveling to the whole seam to cover small holes and where the screws were almost and some were showing), and now a leaky rear window. I hope my dealer yanks out n checks for further damage rather than just recaulking it n saying it is fixed. Small stuff includes tv blue screen issue, vent screen falls out, loose floor board in bedroom....

Be careful what you wish for. My experiences with three different dealers with the different makes of RV's has not been good. "Most" of the service technicians are just guys off the street with little to no experience. On my last RV a technician named "Julio" put up my slide topper and held in place with only two screws...needless to say that did not last very long. After getting ripped off on the trip to Florida and thus requiring a brand new slide topper. I should have known when the Julio did not speak English and the supervisor spoke to him in Spanish that it was going to be a bad experience. IMO unless it is an expensive item under warranty or you do not have any home repair experience, it is better to do the repair yourself. You know its done right and you learn a little more about your RV along the way. I was quoted $720 to replace the cheap little BR fan in our 303RLS with a Maxair fan similar to what is in the kitchen area. I did my self in 1 1/2 hours and less than half the price. I know the wiring will not catch on fire (at least not my part) and that it will not leak water.

[Luv2Ski]

Odd how some trailers have so many issues. Other than the brakes have had no issues at all. A few little fit an trim issues I corrected but that is all.

It would be interesting to see what day they went through the assembly line. I hear they do a run on one model, then switch to another. A statistician could have some fun with the warranty data.

[LGSONE]

Well, this place is a wealth of information and uneasiness all mixed in one. I am due to take delivery on my 2018 2800BHS in 6 days and after reading some of these posts regarding the axles/brakes, frankly I am bit worried. Today when we were doing paperwork I mentioned my PDI checklist's, (from here), and my extreme type A personality and attention to detail. Short of hijacking this thread and this being my first post on here, what else should be scrutinized during the inspections. We are very excited to take delivery and want to be as proactive as possible.

LGSONE

[D2Reid]

...or you do not have any home repair experience, it is better to do the repair yourself.

Changes in our society. I tried and tried to teach my oldest son some basic mechanics. He kept disappearing to go play his video game. Years of battle go by. He finally tells me that he appreciates my efforts, but he'll just never get the hang of it. He tells me that his wallet is his tool chest and his credit card are his tools. I would have been upset, but my last attempt at doing a brake job on an ABS brake system was a total failure. I just didn't get the electronics.

So there a fine line between being able to do it yourself and having to have paid technicians do the work. And of course the mystery of who is a qualified tech or not. I do what I can. If I am unsure I will hire someone, if that doesn't work our I will hire someone else. Is this right? Nope, it just is.