Disappointed with my new GD

[1carguy]

I just brought home my new Reflection 31MB and over the weekend I started getting acquainted with all the new gadgets. On the surface, GD seemed like a higher quality RV than most comparably priced trailers, so I was pleased with my choice.
I filled the water tank and found the water pump would take a long time to shut off and often came on by itself. I saw water dripping under the basement storage so I removed the covers to take a look. Wow, what a mess under there. The wiring looked like a rats nest, heater ducts not fastened, TV cable connections broken, and at least 6 water hose connections were leaking. I searched the forum and found dozens of posts about leaking water systems in GD RVs. Apparently they are using water hoses, clamps, and fittings that aren't compatible. They are using Pex system hoses, fittings, and clamps and fastening them to braided flexible hoses. The size of the flex hose is larger and won't seal properly to a Pex fitting. I also heard that GD is well aware of this but hasn't done anything about it. Many owners have totally re-plumbed their entire trailer! My dealer won't do that and neither will I so I'm just going to try to remove the Pex clamps that are leaking and install SS fuel injection clamps and hope that this solves the problem.
Needless to say, I'm not happy that GD would knowingly build an RV with substandard materials and poor workmanship. If you own or buy a GD trailer, keep and eye on all of the hose connections behind the Nautilus control panel because a slow water leak can cause serious damage after time.

[NB Canada]

I haven’t had an opportunity yet to go over my plumbing in my Imagine but it will be my first job

Going to open every panel and use the pump like you did to see if it runs when it shouldn’t

At least now you know and will have peace of mind to know you fixed it yourself


2021 Imagine 2400 BH
2018 GMC Sierra 4x4 crew

[Jorge Blanco]

Hello 1carguy, check the sink traps and shower trap I had to hand tighten mine cause they were dripping water. My shower door was not closing so I had to fix that too. Some molding were also loose so I glued those in place I now keep a bottle of glue in the tt just in case. I did not want to take it back to the dealer that would have been a 1 hour drive so did it myself.

[1carguy]

I totally expected to fix a few things on the trailer once I took a close look at everything, and I'm okay with that. But when I saw the all the plumbing leaks and found out WHY it happened, it really ticked me off that GD would continue to put this water system together like that. They aren't any better than any of the RV manufacturers out there. Eventually poor quality issues will catch up to them.
I'm going to fix these things myself rather than haul it to the dealer.

[bfs673]

Needless to say, I'm not happy that GD would knowingly build an RV with substandard materials and poor workmanship. If you own or buy a GD trailer, keep and eye on all of the hose connections behind the Nautilus control panel because a slow water leak can cause serious damage after time.

I feel your frustrations and have had my own. The only thing that makes you feel worse, is knowing that all manufactures do this. It's crazy to me the installers wouldn't take a bit more pride in the routing of wires/hoses. GD should absolutely know by now their water hoses are creating issues (this has been discussed for years on this forum).

I guess I've decided that I like the floorplan, so I'll fix the trailer myself!
I think this spring I may investigate replacing the water lines and connectors, adding a manifold with shutoffs and whatever else I can get to. I'd prefer to do as much work as possible without removing the corrugated plastic (Coroplast?) from the bottom of the trailer. We'll see how deep down the rabbit hole I want to go.

Good luck with your trailer, and hope you fund more joy and comfort than frustration

[Buckskin]

1carguy, sorry to hear that GD quality seems to have gone straight to ~~~~. So much for their end of line multi quality check points. Seems like their quality has gone down quite a bit since being purchased by Winnebago. Bought 2018 Imagine 2250RK and had a few quality issues but nothing like you have found. Most of mind had to do with furnace heater duct works torn or loose. You might what to turn on furnace and take paper towel and hold in front of each outlet. Also remove panel by air handler and take a look; had to tape torn air duct hoses there. The duct hose for basement was just hanging from air handler and not routed through hole in floor to heat basement.
It is a shame quality seems to be thing of the past for GD.

[D2Reid]

But when I saw the all the plumbing leaks and found out WHY it happened, it really ticked me off that GD would continue to put this water system together like that. They aren't any better than any of the RV manufacturers out there.

Welcome the world of RV'ing. It's not always good. I am sorry you are having problems. In my experience it's not been that GD builds a much better RV, it's that they try hard to make things right. Of course, try hard is always a bit subjective. I have had good luck with them, others have not, but most that I read about do if they are patient enough and not too frustrated from the get go.

Our first big 5th wheel, a different brand, the first time I was sipping an adult beverage outside in my lawn chair and my wife went to take her fist shower in our new RV I got to see a cool water fall coming out of the side skirting. You should have seen the scene where I was yelling at her to turn the water off and she was yelling at me that she still had soap in her hair....

It's good that you understand the problem and are able to fix it. Many do not know anything about tools. 10th year of full timing, approaching our 4th year in a GD momentum, it's time for me to go replace some flickering lights.

Safe Travels.

[RV Sailor]

Sorry to hear of your frustrations.

I knew going in there would be “ fixes” . Un
Unlike our 35 foot sailboat the quality isn’t there, course it costs 1/10 as much.

I imaged our new GD would be built a little better than other builders, but what drew me to them was the better customer service, support that I heard and saw from other manufacturers. I find that to be true already.

Work through your issues so you can begin to enjoy it.

[Chad1383]

IMO GD is not better built than others. I found their customer service to be very good but as far as fit and finish I was dissapointed on my last TT in how some things were assembled. The GD was my first trailer and I bought and paid more money at the time thinking I was paying for quality, not the case. Everyone in RV game uses the same suppliers etc, at the end of the day it becomes how fast they push their workers to pump out these units. I have seen you tube videos on a number of different manufacturers build process and when I see them all rushing around at light speed it doesn't maker me impressed, it makes me shake my head and wonder how you can build a quality unit that fast.

No one likes the house vs RV comparison but I just built a new house. One builder who pumps out lots of houses told me 5 months, a custom home builder told me 10-12 months. When I asked why so long he told me "The details take me a long time to get done to my satisfaction". I really respected that mindset and hired him, paid more but I know my house is far better than the guy who was building 100-150 houses per year VS the guy who is building 10-15.

[CMeth54]

I just brought home my new Reflection 31MB and over the weekend I started getting acquainted with all the new gadgets. On the surface, GD seemed like a higher quality RV than most comparably priced trailers, so I was pleased with my choice.
I filled the water tank and found the water pump would take a long time to shut off and often came on by itself. I saw water dripping under the basement storage so I removed the covers to take a look. Wow, what a mess under there. The wiring looked like a rats nest, heater ducts not fastened, TV cable connections broken, and at least 6 water hose connections were leaking. I searched the forum and found dozens of posts about leaking water systems in GD RVs. Apparently they are using water hoses, clamps, and fittings that aren't compatible. They are using Pex system hoses, fittings, and clamps and fastening them to braided flexible hoses. The size of the flex hose is larger and won't seal properly to a Pex fitting. I also heard that GD is well aware of this but hasn't done anything about it. Many owners have totally re-plumbed their entire trailer! My dealer won't do that and neither will I so I'm just going to try to remove the Pex clamps that are leaking and install SS fuel injection clamps and hope that this solves the problem.
Needless to say, I'm not happy that GD would knowingly build an RV with substandard materials and poor workmanship. If you own or buy a GD trailer, keep and eye on all of the hose connections behind the Nautilus control panel because a slow water leak can cause serious damage after time.

I haven't purchased my TT yet and now I'm beginning to get a little gun shy! What the hell happened to this great PDI that GD is supposed to have on site at their plant??? I've read that when you make a purchase of a pre-owned RV you should hire an independent inspector to go through it. This might be a good thing to do for a new RV as well before taking delivery????