2018 and 2019 Reflection 303RLS, New to the forum.

[Radcolt]

We looked at a new 2021 303RLS and fell in love with it, but unfortunately it is outside our budget of what we want to spend. I am currently looking at a 2018 303RLS from a private a seller. They are out of town this week, but I plan to go look at it this weekend. Single owner and has been stored in a climate controlled pole barn. It is priced on the low side in my opinion. The second camper is a 2019 303RLS that was a single owner trade in at an RV dealer that is about an hour away. The pictures the dealer sent to me look like a brand new hardly used fifth wheel in my opinion. Both campers have 2nd ACs, 4 door refrigerator, auto leveling, etc. The 2019 has awning covers on the slide outs.

My question is has anyone bought used before and what is your experience. I bought a new Sabre Forest River Bunk House fifth wheel special order in 2014 and we had a few issues all fixed under warranty. We also bought a new Merhow 3 horse trailer with living quarters in 2017 and never had an issue. I am a little leery of buying a trade in just because you do not know how well it was taken care of. I guess you can say the same about the private seller as well.

Any advice or opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[Johnww]

We purchased our 303 RLS when it was 5 months old. The original owner made one trip with the trailer and decided a motor home would suit their needs better. He also added Slide out toppers. Our experience has been very favorable. Grand Design transferred the remainder of the one year warranty over to us and we had one minor claim where Grand Design shipped the part directly to me and i installed it. Our local Grand Design dealer made it clear that unless we purchased a trailer from them we would be put in the back of a never ending line for service work. I have never had a need to return to this dealership. The dealership we purchased out 303 from was 1,100 miles away and was outstanding. The dealer, primarily a high end motorhome dealership, did not handle the Grand Design brand but they provided a complete walk through and let us stay in their onsite campground for 3 nights while we oriented ourselves to our new 5th wheel. Really a great experience for a RV newbie. I say don' t be concerned about buying a used unit unless there are obvious signs of neglect or abuse.
Good luck.

[geotex1]

There are two widely held opinions: a used unit has had the bugs worked out, or you're inheriting someone else's headache. The absolutely best thing you can do buying used if inexperienced is to hire an independent technician to inspect the unit. If there is not one available in the needed timeframe, find that experienced friend of a friend that has been camping in campers for awhile to go through it with you. I don't fear buying used at all, and have bought campers, trailers, and vehicles used after my discerning inspection. If absolutely desperate and no help available, download the pre-delivery inspection checklists here and go through the items with the units. Also, with the dealer option, negotiate a warranty term in the deal.

[Tigger1]

Any advice or opinions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

From your description both sound good. Couple of thoughts. If you’re new to RVing take someone with you who has experience. Second, if you’re able get on the roof of both and do a “thorough“ check of all sealant. Can’t emphasize enough about proper roof maintenance. If you buy private you may want to look for a good repair shop or mobile RV repair service in your area in case they’re needed in the future. Taking it to a dealer may have long wait times.

[Canyonlight]

We may have purchased the very first used GDRV that hit the market in the spring of 2014. We were looking to buy a new 337 from our local dealer. Our daughter said "check Craigslist" which at that time I had never done. Well, low and behold, there was a one time used 303 for sale by a private party about 400 miles from us......the only used GDRV in the whole country on Craigslist. The add had no pictures and only a short description of the unit and about $3000 worth of dealer/customer add ons including a brand new hitch.

I called the number (a land line) and talked with the owner who explained the whole story behind buying it and more importantly why selling after one trip. I won't go into all the details but after a couple more conversations we made a deal over the phone with just a few pictures sent via his wife's smart phone.

I knew of GDRVs warranty policy to transfer the one year warranty which we did use at a different local dealer to address a few minor things along with having the fridge replaced. GDRV was spectacular to work with then and to this day for us and many folks. Our local dealer whom we did not buy the new 337 from.....not so much !

The key to me is to have conversations with the owner to get the real story. If the conversation is not truly honest it is time to walk. After many decades of buying and selling big ticket items one learns to conduct effective due diligence. The big place to start......why selling ? I want real clean units taken care of from day one.......not re-conditioned. Non-smoking is important to us and generally if pets, one needs to learn about this to your satisfaction. Talk about warranty work.....what was or needs to be done and why ? What work did the owner/others perform and needs to be considered and why ? Any damage ? What add ons done by the dealer and owner ? Can I get the paper work (or copies) from original sale when new and all other paperwork since then along with all manuals. This is a way to not only have a complete documented history but a way to verify things discussed.

We really like our 303 to this day. While we are looking at other GDRVs to change to, we have not found just that right "bowl of porridge" yet. I suspect we will make the move next year. It may be a new one this time unless that super nice, well optioned, well priced used unit comes along.

Dan

[Radcolt]

Thanks for the information. Unfortunately, I was ready to set out to the dealer this morning to look at the 2019 and it sold last night unbeknownst to the salesman I spoke to on the phone. The private seller had a call just before me and that person is coming to look at it on Saturday so I may be out of luck on the 2018 also.

I do know one thing, my next purchase will be a Grand Design. Their fit and finish is way above Jayco, Keystone, Forest River, etc. I also really like the 303RLS. I have a Pullrite 2700 auto slider hitch from when I pulled my Palomino Forest River Sabre that I sold a few years ago. I kept it in case I ever decided to buy a fifth wheel again. The capture plate was for a rotoflex kingpin which is too big for the Lippert. I am pretty confident I will eventually find a 303RLS that I went ahead and ordered the capture plate for the Lippert. I just need to keep looking.

[Tigger1]

Thanks for the information. I just need to keep looking.

That’s too bad but I really think the best time to buy is Fall or Winter. RV sales new or used are hot right now. I had a stranger approach me at my driveway recently wanting to know if I would sell our unit. Same thing happened to another couple in our camp group a month back.

[Radcolt]

We purchased our 303 RLS when it was 5 months old. The original owner made one trip with the trailer and decided a motor home would suit their needs better. He also added Slide out toppers. Our experience has been very favorable. Grand Design transferred the remainder of the one year warranty over to us and we had one minor claim where Grand Design shipped the part directly to me and i installed it. Our local Grand Design dealer made it clear that unless we purchased a trailer from them we would be put in the back of a never ending line for service work. I have never had a need to return to this dealership. The dealership we purchased out 303 from was 1,100 miles away and was outstanding. The dealer, primarily a high end motorhome dealership, did not handle the Grand Design brand but they provided a complete walk through and let us stay in their onsite campground for 3 nights while we oriented ourselves to our new 5th wheel. Really a great experience for a RV newbie. I say don' t be concerned about buying a used unit unless there are obvious signs of neglect or abuse.
Good luck.

Sounds like our local dealer. I thought they changed ownership since they joined a larger RV network. They have a big sign that says “Buy local so you can get your warranty work done here”. They would always tell us it would be 3-6 months to do work on our Forest River we bought elsewhere for $3000 cheaper.

They pulled a bait and switch on us this week. They have a new 2020 Reflection 29RS we looked at with a sale price on their website for $39,998. This is about $5000 less than any other place I could find online. Well the sale price did not include the added options and dealer prep. The actual price was $45,000. To me, that is just being plan dishonest. It turns out we liked the 303RLS due to the pantry and bigger refrigerator. Needless to say I will be taking my business elsewhere if we decide to purchase new.

[Canadiansteelman]

We have a 2018 303RLS and we have really like it. Been trouble free other than replacing the screen for the levelling system. They covered it under warranty with an updated design.

[Radcolt]

Okay, I was able to find a new 2021 GD Reflection 303RLS with all the options we want except for the second AC. I am lucky to have a local mobile RV repairman who can add one if we determine one unit doesn’t keep it cool. I was doing reviews on the dealership location we would be purchasing and reviews were 3.5 out of 5 stars. They are a national outfit so they sell a lot of campers in multiple states. Not sure if I should be worried about this or not. Price has been set and I made sure there are no hidden charges. Dealer is about 6 hours from me. I could wait for one coming off the line and have it shipped to another dealer location with better reviews. Our local dealer is $6000 above their price and they will put you on the back of the list for any warranty repairs (months). The dealer We plan to purchase from does a 1.5 hour inspection. I have owned a fifth wheel in the recent past and have general knowledge of what to look for, but I know you can not always find everything during the inspection.

Any advice and thoughts would be appreciated.