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Thread: Is It Worth It?

  1. #1
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    Is It Worth It?

    Hello to all!

    So, we are in the process of determining exactly what we want in a Solitude 380FL. However, as I read through posts, I am totally questioning whether or not to even go with GD. From visits to RV shows and dealerships, the quality of GD RVs was still above other ones we have seen. Yet, many comments in these forums seem to indicate considerable problems. Is this common for any brand of RV? While it may be blasphemy here, does anyone recommend a different RV?

    Many thanks to all the wonderful members here.

    v/r

    TexSol20

  2. #2
    Long Hauler geotex1's Avatar
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    Visit every single RV forum on the internet and what you find is the culmination of complaints. Unfortunately, that's modern human society - kudos are rare but criticism is plentiful.

    That said, most of these boards have a member count you can see. For instance this one is 23,316 members as of right this moment. Now give GD a call and ask them how many units are produced in a production year, and you'll arrive at there are a lot more units on the roads full of happy campers. Are there problems - sure. Does every brand have problems - absolutely. If you read enough here, you will find we talk about this subject every so often - usually with the surge of fresh interest such as beginning and end of season, after the big RV shows.

    So, if it helps you any as a data point, my wife and I have owned 2 Fleetwood products from new, 3 Forest River products from new, a Jayco from new and we purchased our first 5er with Grand Design new last Fall. We had been shopping 2 years and had arrived at our floorplan early-on and compared it in the FR Cardinal Luxury, in the two high-ends of Jayco, in HR's Open Range line, in the Keystone Montana, and ultimately selected GD... GD checked the majority of the boxes in our must-have list.
    Rob & Nikki + Cloverfield
    2020 Grand Design Solitude S-Class 3350RL
    2015 RAM 3500 Longhorn Laramie Crew Cab, Long Bed, 4x4 Dually Cummins/AISIN

    Mountains of Pennsylvania

  3. #3
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    Geotex1,

    This helps immensely, thank you.

  4. #4
    Site Team Second Chance's Avatar
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    Our first Grand Design RV was a 2016 Reflection fifth wheel. We had a few issues with it over almost 5 years - and Grand Design took good care of us. When we bought a new fifth wheel, it was also a Grand Design.

    Forum hint: when replying to a particular user (as you did with @geotex1 above), use the "Reply With Quote" function. That person will get a notification and everyone else will know to whom you are responding.

    Rob
    U.S. Army Retired
    2012 F350 DRW CC LB Lariat PS 6.7
    2020 Solitude 310GK-R, MORryde IS, disc brakes,
    Sailun LRG tires, solar, DP windows, W/D
    (Previously in a Reflection 337RLS)
    Full time since 08/2015

  5. #5
    Seasoned Camper
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    Quote Originally Posted by TexSol20 View Post
    Hello to all!

    So, we are in the process of determining exactly what we want in a Solitude 380FL. However, as I read through posts, I am totally questioning whether or not to even go with GD. From visits to RV shows and dealerships, the quality of GD RVs was still above other ones we have seen. Yet, many comments in these forums seem to indicate considerable problems. Is this common for any brand of RV? While it may be blasphemy here, does anyone recommend a different RV?

    Many thanks to all the wonderful members here.

    v/r

    TexSol20
    People are more likely to leave a negative commit than a positive one. I've own other brands and will never go back. We currently own a GD 337 and love it so far. The build quality is great. Let me tell you this, if you don't own a tool box, don't buy a RV. I've had to fix minor things but I also understand that it is a house on wheels. I carry most of my tools with me when i travel and i am still able to crawl around the camper to fix things. I'm not going to take my RV to the dealer unless its something major.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Second Chance View Post
    Our first Grand Design RV was a 2016 Reflection fifth wheel. We had a few issues with it over almost 5 years - and Grand Design took good care of us. When we bought a new fifth wheel, it was also a Grand Design.

    Forum hint: when replying to a particular user (as you did with @geotex1 above), use the "Reply With Quote" function. That person will get a notification and everyone else will know to whom you are responding.

    Rob
    Hey Rob, how do you like your 310? We are going to upgrade in a few years from our 337 to something a little bigger and I've been looking at the 310 and the 2930. Is it harder to cool?

  7. #7
    Seasoned Camper
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    We just purchased a 2020 Grand Design Transcend Xplor 221RB. Pulled it 700 miles on the first trip and no issues. Fit and finish is ok. I would have no problems recommending Grand Design.

    We have owned other brands and in my opinion the Grand Design products seem to be better thought out from an inside design prospective.

  8. #8
    Seasoned Camper
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    I had two Open Range products before our 395M and they had their own sets of issues. My brother in law owns an RV repair shop a couple hundred miles from here and he has worked on everything from Puma to Prevost. All have issues now and then like anything else. I have been nothing but impressed with Grand Design themselves and their willingness to go the extra mile on the minor issues I have had. The commitment to customer service alone makes me a lifetime owner of their products.
    John and Denise; Houma, LA
    2017 Momentum 395M
    2016 Chevrolet K3500 DRW Diesel

  9. #9
    Site Sponsor
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    Quote Originally Posted by Maximus216 View Post
    People are more likely to leave a negative commit than a positive one. I've own other brands and will never go back. We currently own a GD 337 and love it so far. The build quality is great. Let me tell you this, if you don't own a tool box, don't buy a RV. I've had to fix minor things but I also understand that it is a house on wheels. I carry most of my tools with me when i travel and i am still able to crawl around the camper to fix things. I'm not going to take my RV to the dealer unless its something major.
    This is spot on Maximus. We owned (3) and were heavily involved in a Winnebago club. The common knowledge in the club was it took a year to get the bugs out of a new RV.

    Texsol20, what makes Grand Design stand apart from other manufacturers is the customer service will send parts to you directly from the items you wish to fix saving you a trip to the dealer. Most of us like doing it ourselves, some people either can't or don't want to.

    Hope this helps Red
    Location - Wherever the road takes us...Full-timers
    2015 Momentum 380
    2019 Ram Dually

  10. #10
    Site Team Second Chance's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Maximus216 View Post
    Hey Rob, how do you like your 310? We are going to upgrade in a few years from our 337 to something a little bigger and I've been looking at the 310 and the 2930. Is it harder to cool?
    We really like our 310 - especially the residential fridge (with solar and LiFePO4 batteries), dual pane windows and auto-leveling (which we didn't have on our 2016 Reflection 337). The only downside is storage and CCC - actually a bit less than the 337. We have to be careful about traveling with a full fresh water tank... and we don't load a bunch of stuff for full-timers, either. With the dual pane windows and two Coleman Mach 15K ACs, it's easier to cool than the 337 was, and I don't have to keep Reflectix in the windows (which my wife hated). Laura loves the larger kitchen and more counter space. Contrary to what others have said, the new Furrion oven is heads and shoulders above the Atwood in the Reflection. She bakes all kinds of things in it without any issues, now. One of the biggest improvements we made was having a washer and dryer installed (driven by the pandemic and not wanting to frequent laundromats as we had the previous 4 yrs 9 mos).

    Rob
    Last edited by Second Chance; 07-02-2020 at 12:22 PM.
    U.S. Army Retired
    2012 F350 DRW CC LB Lariat PS 6.7
    2020 Solitude 310GK-R, MORryde IS, disc brakes,
    Sailun LRG tires, solar, DP windows, W/D
    (Previously in a Reflection 337RLS)
    Full time since 08/2015

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