2021 Solitude 375 RES and GD quality concerns

[jbwilliams25]

Is there a lemon law for RVs? if so i'd return it or see a lawyer, those kind of defects are uncalled for for any RV.

I remember back in the day, the big three were putting out cars that barely lasted 100k miles until the Japanese automakers started importing quality cars. I believe that might help this industry, some foreign competition with quality stuff like Toyota. Imagine a Toyota Rv? Not funny, but something needs to be done. My 2006 Keystone Outback gave me trouble for about six months, but not near as problematic as this one. The Solitude is at the dealership for warranty work. We’re full timing so doing the hotel thing for a couple of weeks. GD does have good warranty and customer service though.

[SSROSS]

As far as the Lemon Law goes you need to check with your state, I live in Washington state and our Lemon Law applies to motor homes and travel trailers. You can also contact you states Attorney General’s office and file a complaint there too. There is also the Better Business Bureau, I have seen several complaints on there about Grand Design where they intervened and helped the owner get satisfaction. Hope you get satisfaction, I have been dealing with them on my cracked frame and it has been a bit of a problem. Their service rep has been sending me on several wild goose chases. I finally contacted Lippert direct and so far they have been working with me. Good luck

[willapark]

IdahoRyan, we purchased our 375RES in January. Running gas heat puts the temperature to 135+ degrees in bathroom sink cabinet similar to your problem. Did they put a heat shield in or how did they fix the problem? Dealer sees no reason for this and GD said not aware of a common problem with our model. Heat does come out of bedroom heat vent.

[jbwilliams25]

IdahoRyan, we purchased our 375RES in January. Running gas heat puts the temperature to 135+ degrees in bathroom sink cabinet similar to your problem. Did they put a heat shield in or how did they fix the problem? Dealer sees no reason for this and GD said not aware of a common problem with our model. Heat does come out of bedroom heat vent.

I put everything in writing with pictures and most things were completed. I asked them to check the ductwork as I thought the bedroom duct had fallen off even though I was getting heat. To me it made sense that this contributed to the heat in the bathroom. The dealership put a rectangular panel over the hole underneath the sink. I don’t know if they did anything else. Before I turned it in for repairs, I removed the access panel in the forward storage bay to access my water heater. The electric side stopped working. I vacuumed wood shavings and plugged in the central vacuum plug that was falling out. Then I saw my wife’s feet as she was in the kitchen, standing in front of the breaker panel. Then I discovered that the storage compartment heat, also heats underneath the bathroom and freely goes into the kitchen. So the area is not sealed like a residential home. Someone told me the heater forced air unit is underneath the bathroom. So, maybe it sends heat from that point throughout the non- vented parts of the coach. I hope this helps. Blessings to y’all.

[wireslv]

Did they put a heat shield in or how did they fix the problem?

I had this same issue in my 375RES.

To find the source of the hot air, I removed the vent cover in the bedroom wall, then removed the screws holding it to the wall. After that I pulled it out of the wall and disconnected the flex vent tubing. Once I could see in the hole (behind the overheating bathroom cabinet) I found that there was a metal transition duct attached to the floor with only a single screw. There was a large gap around most of the transition because only one screw in a corner allows the rest of it to move away from the floor and the hot air to leak out.

To fix it, I removed the one screw using a manual screwdriver (small hands needed) to completely free the transition duct. Then I used one inch 3M VHB tape and put a strip around the entire transition flange and stuck it back down to the floor. I foil taped the flex tape to back onto the round wall duct and reinstalled it.

That fixed the problem and the bathroom cabinet now stays cool. The fix has held up through an entire full-time winter so I believe it is permanent.

VHB is good stuff. If possible clean the areas to be adhered with rubbing alcohol before applying the tape. And apply as much pressure as possible to the duct flange when you stick it down to activate the bond.

[jbwilliams25]

Thank you for the ideas. I’m back to the forum today because I got my bearings packed for the first time and they found my right rear rotor ground away down to an eighth of an inch on the interior side and all the rest had 60% of brake life left in them. Turns out it left the factory with the one brake pad installed backwards. Metal on metal since I ordered it. I’m full timing and The Lord was with us. Glad there was no fire.

[jbwilliams25]

I have an appointment back at the factory June 5, 2022. My thermostat only registers up to 99 degrees. We’ll see what happens.

[House_of_Henniker]

We had an opportunity such as yourself to upgrade from a 303 reflection to a solitude. We looked at a 3330Re at our local dealership. They wanted more than I wanted to spend. I went online and found one for almost 20 grand less, about 5 hours away.
I called them, we talked, made arrangements and were on our way to owning a new solitude. something wasn't feeling right. I cant explain it. Talked to my wife and we made the 5 hour ride to look at our new solitude we were supposed to take delivery on in a couple of weeks.
My wife and I walked through the entire camper, we found so much wrong with this unit, I can't believe it was a new unit.
Come to find out, that unit was at the carlise rv show. It was destroyed.
Salesman asked , well, how a bout it. I looked at him and said no way. His smile quickly disappeared.

Long story short, they had another 3330 and we bought it for a little more money. It was a better unit, had solar and a few other upgrades.

My point here is not to shame anyone, or disrespect anyone, but hopefully someone who is looking at a new unit and finds things wrong, they will know its ok to turn that unit down. Do not settle if you feel your not getting what you want. even if they claim they are going to fix it.
We were told that, oh, we will take care of all those things. Ya, no.....
I hope for your sake all is working out for you. Again, I am not trying to shame or disrespect.

Brian

[jbwilliams25]

Thanks Brian, I’m glad you had the presence of mind to do that. I ordered our unit from the factory in June 2021. When it arrived, it was beautiful inside and out except for a drawer or two that were repaired before we left the lot. We even spent the night in the unit to shake it down. The owner of the dealership told us to check out everything before we left. Seems like nothing happened until the highway shook it loose. May 1, 2023, we had the bearings packed and found that one of the disk brake pads had been installed backwards. Metal to metal contact for thousands of miles. The Lord blessed us because there was 1/8th of an inch on that side of the rotor. It seems that it never ends. This trip has been interrupted and we’re waiting for an answer from Grand Design.

[msutoad]

Is there a lemon law for RVs? if so i'd return it or see a lawyer, those kind of defects are uncalled for for any RV.

Might be worth an e-mail to the CEO Don Clark. [email protected]
I might take your first (original) post and send that to him, along with your post of the "rain storm", with links to the water videos. I can tell you he does read this mail, and in many cases same day he receives it (I know from EXP). This might be the right time to ring that bell with him.

I can say that GD has done me right with a bunch of stuff, and I am so sorry you have these issues with a new unit. Certainly not what you/we would expect for this kind of money and new right. Some stuff happens totally get it, but your list is way more than what I would say was typical (I am no expert either).

Hope you get squared up sooner than later!