Grand Design what a disappointment

**Canyonlight** · 09-18-2020, 11:26 AM

Originally Posted by Brewhedd

Some folks have a lot of issues or issues they believe should not have appeared, which can be a negative experience after spending thousands. Then again some folks are positive when they have serious problems. Some folks are loyal to GD regardless, which is fine. Personally, I believe people buying should know they can be stepping into a lot of headaches. I will continue to make that known through my own experience which imo could be valuable information to someone. In this industry a lot of manufacturers "puff" about how well their RV's are built, not always reality.

Well said. You may recall that months ago I shared in one of your posts that folks need to be aware of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Heck there are many of us long timers (Carol and I included) who had a number of issues with our RVs too. We posted many posts and threads on our consternation/concerns/suggestions/etc. Folks can jump into the transporter and go back in time and read these posts.

I think the distinction is to share feedback written in a way consistent with the original objectives of the forum (still pertinent today) to do so in a manner which helps "to improve the RV product, the RV manufacturers, and the RV experience."

A partnership, if you will, to improve the preceding along with build positive relationships.

Dan

**Brewhedd** · 09-18-2020, 01:26 PM

Originally Posted by Canyonlight

Well said. You may recall that months ago I shared in one of your posts that folks need to be aware of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Heck there are many of us long timers (Carol and I included) who had a number of issues with our RVs too. We posted many posts and threads on our consternation/concerns/suggestions/etc. Folks can jump into the transporter and go back in time and read these posts.

I think the distinction is to share feedback written in a way consistent with the original objectives of the forum (still pertinent today) to do so in a manner which helps "to improve the RV product, the RV manufacturers, and the RV experience."

A partnership, if you will, to improve the preceding along with build positive relationships.

Dan

Thanks. I agree with you. It is difficult to hide my disgust sometimes due to my experience. It has actually shocked me to see the type and amount of problems I have had and continue to have. Some problems will never be fixed because it would require making walls plumb plus removing and reinstalling. I hope another buyer never has to go through the same experience.

**WhittleBurner** · 09-18-2020, 04:29 PM

Originally Posted by Brewhedd

Thanks. I agree with you. It is difficult to hide my disgust sometimes due to my experience. It has actually shocked me to see the type and amount of problems I have had and continue to have. Some problems will never be fixed because it would require making walls plumb plus removing and reinstalling. I hope another buyer never has to go through the same experience.

It really is a shame with the amount of problems that you have had. Yours is one of those that should have been taken back. It is not right what you have gone through but I am still glad that most trailers do a lot better than what you have been through. Almost every trailer will have some problems but not the amount or complex problems as you have.

**Riverrunner** · 09-23-2020, 03:44 PM

I finally got someone to come work on our rig and it was good timing too. The night before the repair guy was coming out we had some awesome thunderstorms for about 5 hours which is unusual for Oregon. Anyway in the storms the wife says "uh, you might want to come look at the shower. We seem to have a rain shower feature now." LOL The skylight was leaking like a sieve. Literally pouring. Thank goodness it was in the shower. Turns out the screws were tightened too much and you can see a crack in the plastic at every screw. So one more thing to add to the list. Stuff happens. Repair guy sealing the crack with silicone so we are ok for the time being.

The issue with the refer is a bad valve so that is easy to fix.

I have tried to email the contact taking care of our claim at GD but the emails keep getting kicked back so I'm guessing that person is no longer there. I emailed customer service since I figured I have a reference number they should get back to me but so far GD has gone silent. I need to call again as get a hold of someone but other things keep getting in the way.

We are not mad or anything and knew going into it we'd have issues so as long as it gets resolved we'll be fine. Just takes time. We love the rig and are happy with it. it's homey and comfortable. Of course we've only been living in since May and so wintering in it in Oregon could be interesting. haha.

**Cman18** · 09-24-2020, 02:37 PM

Originally Posted by Doodles

Hello all,

We love the design and look of our Imagine but...

What to do when your new Imagine XLS 22MLE has major issues and Grand Design won't even reply?

One of the main reason we decided to buy a Grand Design was all the good things we had heard and seen about their quality and customer service. We have a growing list if issues with our Imagine, 2 are major problems:

1. Our roof membrane is loose and bulged/ballooned up in multiple spots. One section of the roof decking is not attached to the rafter.
2. The slide out has 2 big holes in the floor. We discover this issue after going down our 1st dirt road in Iowa(white dust!). The entire interior was covered in a thick layer of dust and this was our first trip!

Initially Grand Design replied to us, it took 3 weeks but they did get back to us. After going over the issues with them they requested photos. We sent them photos that day 2 weeks later they replied they never got them. We resent them again and also the a Google Photos share link if for some reason the photos attached to the email were not getting through, that was July 15th. We have not heard from them since. We have sent 20 emails requesting assistance asking why they are not replying, made multiple calls to them told the person we need to speak with is available only to get that persons voice mail.

We just recently watched YouTube video of a couple having issues with the new Grand Design 5th wheel and Grand Design flew a tech out to Alaska and fixed all their issues and even gave them some money! We can't get a reply to an email or voice mail???

Here are some photos of the slide out problem. The inside photos are with the slide all the way out and the photo of the underside are with the slide closed:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Bdo61gSZukh6hVS87

It would be nice to no why Grand Design will not communicate with us...

I finally had enough and sold my Grand Design Imagine. Before buying my second travel trailer I spent a lot of time researching to find what I thought would be a well built quality product. Everything I read pointed to Grand Design.
What a mistake. Two years of problems before everything was finally fixed and working properly. Many phone calls and trips to the dealer and many many phone calls to Grand Design. Sometimes customer service was great other times I had to go up the chain to get results. It was all very frustrating and time consuming.
My biggest disappointment is the lack of quality overall of the unit. It just made it not fun anymore so we sold it.
We really miss heading out in our RV and don’t know what we are going to do in the future however I know Grand Design won’t be a part of whatever we decide to do.

**ajg617** · 09-24-2020, 06:37 PM

Originally Posted by Cman18

I finally had enough and sold my Grand Design Imagine. Before buying my second travel trailer I spent a lot of time researching to find what I thought would be a well built quality product. Everything I read pointed to Grand Design.
What a mistake. Two years of problems before everything was finally fixed and working properly. Many phone calls and trips to the dealer and many many phone calls to Grand Design. Sometimes customer service was great other times I had to go up the chain to get results. It was all very frustrating and time consuming.
My biggest disappointment is the lack of quality overall of the unit. It just made it not fun anymore so we sold it.
We really miss heading out in our RV and don’t know what we are going to do in the future however I know Grand Design won’t be a part of whatever we decide to do.

I get that it is frustrating but I'm looking at the number of folks satisfied vs. the number that complain about quality. I bought an Oldsmobile diesel in 1980 and spent more than the price of the car on repairs within 3 years. I was invited on to Hugh Downs 20/20 show to air my grievances. I received a check from GM for EVERY expense including oil changes a week later. I swore I would never buy another GM product. 5 kids later and 3 Suburbans sat in my driveway over years. Look at Boeing. You want quality control? Might want to see if your flying on a Dreamliner or Max next flight. It happens to every manufacturer. No manufacturer is perfect. No product is perfect. As I sit here contemplating an order for a GD, I am concerned - but I would be regardless of what company I bought an RV from, and I've done that before. But the percentage of satisfied folks does seem to be much higher than unsatisfied. And that's the bottom line.

**RustyCas** · 09-25-2020, 07:23 AM

I’m not sure if other manufacturers have dedicated forums, but I expect you’ll see as many or more “bad experiences” on those sites. Right now it’s partly due to the unprecedented demand - they are building 50-100% more units a month than a year ago. We were at Maumelle Park (Little Rock) recently and we saw a bunch of GD units of all sizes, many of them new. Maybe because there’s a very reputable dealer down the road?

Our refrigerator ran exactly one day, in our driveway at home, before failing on our first day of camping. It’s been back at the “very reputable“ dealer we bought it from for a week now - we’ll see how it turns out. But they did send a tech to the campground the next morning. And when we got locked out of our trailer the next day, I called our salesman and he had someone come and unlock it for us (about a 45 min drive). I assume that dealers who treat their customers well (or badly), probably also treat their suppliers well (or badly), and that may affect how GD works with you when there’s a problem. It would be interesting to correlate “bad experiences with GD” with the reputations of the dealer involved.

**minnow101** · 09-25-2020, 07:54 AM

Yes most (if not all) manufacturers have dedicated forums and or FB groups and you are 100% correct in that every one of those platforms will have unhappy owners.
However when the manufacturer builds its reputation on service and “taking care of the customer” after the sale and miserably fails to do so, it’s hard not feel that one has been the victim of a bait and switch scheme.