Grand Design Imagine 18RBE

[tlilly01]

Comments, advice, help ... we are planning to buy our first TT and very interested in the Grand Design Imagine 18RBE. We will be retired this summer and mostly local-ish travel; but also using on our Christmas tree farm as a warm spot. Please give any tips or advice as we are diligently searching for the right TT for us!!

[FT4NOW]

Goto an RV dealer that sells Grand Design and find the model you want and sit/walk around in it for a bit and try to imagine any other things you would be doing to make sure you really like that floor plan.

Once you decide on a floor plan, you should ask the dealer if they have the weight sheet available for that model so you can choose your tow vehicle properly. If you already have a tow vehicle this will help you determine if the trailer is a good match.

There is plenty of other advice available once you actually get the trailer. Dont be afraid to negotiate price, 30% off MSRP +/- 5% is about average on what people will end up paying.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Skiddy]

Welcome. The Imagine XLS 18RBE is, I think, maybe a discontinued product. Nothing wrong with that. I think it is dealer stock only, so your dealer may be motivated to sell. I like the dinette on the curb side, nice to view your own site if you are using campsites. The bath is virtually the same as our 2150RB, which has also been discontinued.
Assume it has 30A service and if it has an AC unit should be easy to cool. Same for the furnace.
One thing I would caution is the actual performance of the Arctic Package, as GDRV calls it. might be suitable for a heavy frost day in the Florida panhandle, but unless you skirt it and dump tons of heat at it, your warm spot might be not much more than an ice fishing shack, ie no running water or holding tanks that will not freeze solid at your Xmas tree farm - assuming it is in Michigan. Good luck!

[huntr70]

Never heard of that model....

[Pawsitive Camping Life]

Comments, advice, help ... we are planning to buy our first TT and very interested in the Grand Design Imagine 18RBE. We will be retired this summer and mostly local-ish travel; but also using on our Christmas tree farm as a warm spot. Please give any tips or advice as we are diligently searching for the right TT for us!!

There are 18 new ones as of just now on RV Trader. See link https://www.rvtrader.com/New-Grand-D...003&radius=any

[huntr70]

There are 18 new ones as of just now on RV Trader. See link https://www.rvtrader.com/New-Grand-D...003&radius=any

That is a "one off" floorplan that they built and took to shows.

Never made it into full production.

[Pawsitive Camping Life]

That is a "one off" floorplan that they built and took to shows.

Never made it into full production.

Good to know! Didn't realize the did that.

[Dadeo6472]

We bought a very lightly "used" 2019 Imagine XLS 18RBE three weeks ago. We camped a nite to test it out and the weather got well below freezing. Then it stayed that cold for over a week, with temps dropping down below 20 each night and just above freezing during the days. I left the heat and hotwater on as it sat next to our house. There was no freezing pipes. I tested each night and morning. Then I filled the propane before we came south and found we'd burned 4 gallons over that cold week. I don't know if that's good or bad.

We've been traveling on and off since. We like what we got. The Murphy bed means we have a couch to sit on when inside in addition to a dinette. It's a simple uncomplicated layout without slides with plenty of room for the two of us. And we are pretty big folks. If this was a one off design that GD did for a short year, they did it well. We'd planned on going to Alaska and I wanted a smaller RV with some cold weather protection. I wanted dual axles for improved ride and increased margin for safety. We were seriously looking at a Jayco model that was lighter, but not cold resistant. I also did not like what i saw underneath the Jayco (and others) at the show. It had a light textile material under the frame and there were already tears showing. Another thing, the way that the Jayco threw up mud while underway made this textile a mess. I learned that going to an RV show in Syracuse NY allows customers to see what salt and mud does to the underside of each RV because dealers don't clean underneath for the show. There was mud and sallt on them all. The GDs were one of the few that had any protection below the frame -- nice and sealed.

I wish GD installed 12 volt outlets in addition to AC outlets. We will be doing some boondocking without AC. I have a C-Pap. I can get a 12 volt adaptor for the C-PAP, but what do I plug it into???? Its easy to add a battery and I can recharge from a generator or the truck (while traveling).... but running wire and drilling the 12 volt circuit is a pain.

The only complaint we have about the design is that the toilet is obvious when anyone leaves the bath door open. But its a big bathroom and the door slides easily closed. I will be adding magnetic closures to all the drawers. The large one in the bathroom opens while underway and I have no idea how to adjust it.

[Houndbb]

We bought a very lightly "used" 2019 Imagine XLS 18RBE three weeks ago. We camped a nite to test it out and the weather got well below freezing. Then it stayed that cold for over a week, with temps dropping down below 20 each night and just above freezing during the days. I left the heat and hotwater on as it sat next to our house. There was no freezing pipes. I tested each night and morning. Then I filled the propane before we came south and found we'd burned 4 gallons over that cold week. I don't know if that's good or bad.

We've been traveling on and off since. We like what we got. The Murphy bed means we have a couch to sit on when inside in addition to a dinette. It's a simple uncomplicated layout without slides with plenty of room for the two of us. And we are pretty big folks. If this was a one off design that GD did for a short year, they did it well. We'd planned on going to Alaska and I wanted a smaller RV with some cold weather protection. I wanted dual axles for improved ride and increased margin for safety. We were seriously looking at a Jayco model that was lighter, but not cold resistant. I also did not like what i saw underneath the Jayco (and others) at the show. It had a light textile material under the frame and there were already tears showing. Another thing, the way that the Jayco threw up mud while underway made this textile a mess. I learned that going to an RV show in Syracuse NY allows customers to see what salt and mud does to the underside of each RV because dealers don't clean underneath for the show. There was mud and sallt on them all. The GDs were one of the few that had any protection below the frame -- nice and sealed.

I wish GD installed 12 volt outlets in addition to AC outlets. We will be doing some boondocking without AC. I have a C-Pap. I can get a 12 volt adaptor for the C-PAP, but what do I plug it into???? Its easy to add a battery and I can recharge from a generator or the truck (while traveling).... but running wire and drilling the 12 volt circuit is a pain.

The only complaint we have about the design is that the toilet is obvious when anyone leaves the bath door open. But its a big bathroom and the door slides easily closed. I will be adding magnetic closures to all the drawers. The large one in the bathroom opens while underway and I have no idea how to adjust it.

Doug and Patti,

Glad to hear you’re satisfied with your trailer. You’ll be far better off in terms of heating and routine maintenance without a slide out. I think 4lbs of LP for a week’s worth of heat is pretty good. Last year, we brought our trailer home and dewinterized mid-April. One week later, we had overnight lows in the low 20s. To keep the water from freezing for a week we went through one tank. Heat loss due to slide, I’m thinking. We went off last year for two weeks and only did laundry once while we were out. Are you happy with the amount of storage you have?
N

[Dadeo6472]

Doug and Patti,

Glad to hear you’re satisfied with your trailer. You’ll be far better off in terms of heating and routine maintenance without a slide out. I think 4lbs of LP for a week’s worth of heat is pretty good. Last year, we brought our trailer home and dewinterized mid-April. One week later, we had overnight lows in the low 20s. To keep the water from freezing for a week we went through one tank. Heat loss due to slide, I’m thinking. We went off last year for two weeks and only did laundry once while we were out. Are you happy with the amount of storage you have?
N

Because I anticipated that we'd be doing cold weather camping we upgraded to larger propane tanks. So far storage hasn't been an issue. The thing is full of hidden storage, like the big area under one dinette bench, the drawer under the oven, and the drawers under the bed. I will remove the hanging rods from the closets that are each side of the bed and install shelves. A couple of retirees out camping don't have much need for hanging up dress shirts and dresses!

There are drawers under the bed too, but we realized they are not accessible when the bed's down. The pass thru is smaller than on some other TTs we looked at, but big enough for everything I can imagine we'd use.

The biggest surprise is the folding mattress GD put on the Murphy bed. The bed is not a traditional Murphy, it hinges about 18 inches from the head to accomodate the sloped front wall. So the mattress folds there. It seems to be two mattresses sewn together. Maybe because the mattress folds GD realized that it would be hard to find a replacement mattress, but the one that GD used is one of the most comfortable I've slept on. No, I am not kidding! We will NOT be replacing or adding foam topper.

The only nit we have is the self opening drawers while underway.