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  1. #1
    aziegler21
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    New Owner 308BHTS...Help, multiple warranty issues!

    We just purchased a 2016 Reflection 308BHTS. Purchased in Mid March and picked up on March 29th. We knew when we picked it up that we would not be camping until the first week in May. We picked up and did our walk through which only took about 45 minutes. We moved up from a Fleetwood Niagara (high walled pop-up) and wanted the perfect travel trailer. After looking for 2 years the decision was made to go with the Reflection. We initially hooked everything up in the driveway just days prior to leaving for our maiden voyage, went to hook up water to test the sinks and immediately had a huge leak behind the water connection and dumping control panel. Water was seeping into the bedroom floor and found out after having it at the dealership that the elbow connection was broken. Replaced while we waited and back home we went. Mind you we are an hour from the dealership driving through the middle of Kansas City to get to the dealership. Got back home, ran water fine, tried to get hot water to work. Would work on gas but not electric. Talked to a tech from the dealership and was advised that we may not be letting it sit long enough to get hot. We have an Atwood 6 water heater. No lights would ever come on, on the panel inside of heater panel. So decided to head off on our trip hoping that we would let it sit long enough once it was parked. Went to Bennett Spring in Lebanon, MO which is a favorite place of ours. Our 5 day trip was nothing but problem after problem. By the end of the trip this is the list of things that were wrong.

    USB port in front bedroom did not work--found out the wires were hooked up backwards

    Hot water heater would work on gas but not electric--the main control panel in the unit had to be replaced

    LOTS of water in the front bedroom in multiple areas--no sealant around top of both bedroom windows and missing sealant on roof--tech resealed all areas
    (the water caused the wallpaper to begin to peel and the nails visible in the trim to look rusty. carpet on both sides of bed were soaked with water)--tech said he resealed all areas and water tested to ensure no more leakage. Repaired paper and replaced trim.

    Small hole in floor that was present when we got it--someone specialized had to come in pop up the area and seal the underneath of the floor

    Pantry door would not close flush, very noticeable--tech said hinges were not put on correctly at all

    Drawers in bunk room would slide open during travel--tech adjusted drawer holds

    Toy bunk would not close flush to wall--tech replaced on slides and put in additional clips to hold flush to wall

    Sink not placed in island centered--tech removed sink and resealed it in center of opening

    PVC pipe/pea trap leaked(had a container under the sink/went to pack things up to leave and pulled out contained and it was full of water)--tech resealed plumbing under the sink

    shower knobs completely stripped so the shower plus no hot water was basically unusable on this trip--my 5 year old had to take a shower in the shower house resulting in his finger to get caught in the heavy metal door, broken fingers/ trip to the ER/ placed in a cast for 4 weeks. (this was the icing on the cake)

    I understand that the first trip will result in a shakedown with problems. My concern is this brand new camper on our first trip had this many issues. My biggest concern being the water and all of the leaks. I was guaranteed a ready to go camper that would have a 150 point inspection before leaving the factory and another 150 point inspection before we pulled off the lot. I am now assured that all of the problems are fixed, but what do I do at this point. Should I contact Grand Design? I feel like I am bringing home a "lemon". I know that the dealership has went over it with a fine tooth comb now, but what issues am I going to deal with 10 years down the road from these problems. Found out from the dealership that this particular camper was special ordered for a customer and their financing didn't go through so it was available for us. The dealership stated that they don't do their 150 point inspection until they have a contract finalized on the camper. This dealership had the camper for two weeks knowing we were picking it up on March 29th. No full inspection was ever done. Please any advice is welcomed. My husband and I love our camper but we were ready to give it away after this first trip. The dealership has had it for three weeks and now they have notified me that everything is finished and it is ready to be picked up. What would you do in our position?

    Angela Z.

  2. #2
    Seasoned Camper Dan the man's Avatar
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    Sorry to hear about your problems with your new 308. I would contact GD and let them know all the problems your having or repost to the tech section. We picked our 308 up in November and so far just minor issues, drawers opening, leaky black tank valve, trim strip loose, electric outlet loose in kitchen island. Sounds like maybe your was put together on a Monday. I am sure GD will go above and beyond to make it right. Thats what makes them better than all the other manufacturers. Hang in there and good luck.
    Dan, Marcia, Emilee, Tanner, Zac
    2020 Chevy 3500 HD Crew 6.6L Duramax
    2020 Grand Design Reflection 303 RLS

  3. #3
    Left The Driveway
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    Angela - We had a similar experience on our 308BHTS. A mind blowing amount of issues all of which I thought should have been caught as part of a basic quality control system. We had leaking pipes, leaking tanks, drains that did not drain, fridges that would not run on propane, doors that popped open while driving, ETC. I fixed most of the things myself just so I did not have to wait 2 months to get into the dealer to get things resolved.

    The kicker for me was we had a fire on the trailer at the rear-stabilizer jack right where my kids sleep. The rocker switch melted and lit on fire. I did call GD on this issue and they were open to discuss it with me. So much so while I was on the phone with them they ran down to the factory floor to ask a tech if a fuse is installed on those circuits. The tech confirmed that NO FUSE is present between the battery and the jacks. I figured when I got the issue fixed by the dealer they would actually install fuses .. WRONG.. GD did not approve installing fuses. I am installing my own fuses on these circuits to insure this never happens again. I believe at some point someone is going to loose a trailer, if not a life due to a fire on the 308BHTS trailer. These rocker switches and jacks are exposed to water, dirt, snow, ETC while driving and are made of plastic and are not sealed. Our's failed on our third or fourth trip in Colorado which is much drier than most places.

    Recommend anyone with a 308BHTS look at these circuits and investigate fusing them or putting a disconnect switch on them so when not utilizing the jacks they can be disconnected from the batteries.

  4. #4
    Seasoned Camper Dan the man's Avatar
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    Good to know. Thanks for the info.
    Dan, Marcia, Emilee, Tanner, Zac
    2020 Chevy 3500 HD Crew 6.6L Duramax
    2020 Grand Design Reflection 303 RLS

  5. #5
    Seasoned Camper JustinThyme's Avatar
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    Sorry to hear of your problems Angela. I agree that these items should have been resolved before final delivery. I cant stress how important it is when buying an RV new or used to not take the guided tour. I showed up with my own check list, multi tool screw driver and flashlight and did my own inspection. They looked at me a bit funny as they expected just a quick once over and guided tour of how to operate things. The tech giving me my PDI tried to rush me m, saying he had to do another. I told him to go right ahead but I was not accepting delivery until I was satisfied. I took a full 4 hours inside and out and located some of the same issues you noted with missing sealant and drawers not working etc. I gave them my punch list and told them to call when it was all done and that upon return I wanted the water connected as well to test the water heater and make sure all the lines and valves were leak free and operating correctly. There will still be little items you will find as time goes by. Start a list and call it in toward the end of the season unless the problems are show stoppers of course.

    As for the rocker switch that is a bit unnerving. The stabilizers and landing gear on my 323 BHS are fused with inline fuses right after the battery connection. Both are still live even after you pull the disconnect. The only way to kill the is to either pull the fuse or physically disconnect the battery connections.
    2015 Reflection 323 BHS #589
    Still working Electrical Engineer
    Rob, Maureen, Dakota, Jacob and Murphy the Lab
    JustinThyme (Just In Time) is a forum handle

  6. #6
    Setting Up Camp
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    Angela, I'm with you. We took delivery on our 308 BHTS in April. While our issues were not as bad as yours, they were there. Our water heater would not work on gas, in fact the wiring caught fire the first time I turned it on. I don't believe it was checked by anyone before delivery.
    My bigger issue with GD is there appears to be very little attention to detail, from the interior doors that don't match each other to the raw wood showing under the dinette seat cushions. They claim Amish craftsmanship but, I'm not convinced.
    Don't get me wrong, we love the camper but, in 4 years when we upgrade to the fifth wheel we will consider other brands.

  7. #7
    Fireside Member
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    Sorry to hear of all the issues with the 308 BHTS others have too it seems the 308 has issues more so vs. other models. Thanks for all the items listed we need to check on ours and especially the Fuses for Stabilizers. Here is our two cents worth so far. We took delivery of ours in June 2016. after trading in 10 year old Forrest River Sierra. (Which is no better or worse Quality than the G.D I might add) It took the dealer over a week to allow us to pick up our new GD after we bought it. We went threw the Pre-delivery Tour (even after owning 4 other Campers all bought new over the last 20 plus years!) On our First trip with the GD we had the bedroom Slide not to close properly making a very loud thump upon opening and closing.We took it to the dealer who kept it for a week. The day we dropped it off to dealer we had turned the gas on to Fridge assuming dealer would plug in to electric as our dealer in the past years always did. Dealer did not plug in to power at all so all of our food spoiled in fridge (Just after the first trip with the GD for our annual Walleye Charter Fishing trip with Walleye still in freezer).We spent three weeks and hundreds getting Oder out and loosing our Walleys!.... with Oder still in freezer! We assumed battery went dead causing fridge to stop working from many others observations posted here. On our second trip we found out number one gas tank did not work for the any of the gas in the camper no Stove in or outside kitchen,no water heater and fridge not cold inside much after our arrival. So we switched to 2nd full tank got all to work ,fridge,Water Heater,outside grill,and oven/Stove . The number 1 gas tanks was/is full of gas! So the issue was in fact gas not flowing from tank 1 and the power issue of battery running down with no power at dealer.

    We found out last two times when removing outside gray/black water cap before pulling any of the tank valve handles gray water comes gushing out all over you and camp site! Thank God it was not black water! Also gray water tank valve is loose which may be the reason not sure? (Dealer was made aware of that the day our camper went from first trip) We found the Dinette seat and recliner seat separation wall came loose this trip.( Quality built STAPLES pulling out!) We found (Quality built sticky Paper) coming off inside entry door trim at base where factory had no glue on it ...LOL. One small part of our Commode seat is broken. The Smell from Commode comes in bedroom and coach when flushing commode with lid up or closed! We bought the optional Back up camera with dealer installing it before we took delivery to find its on all the time and will not work when backing up! None of the slides are flush upon closing except the kitchen slide. So far we like the layout of the Camper. It pulls nice. We are not a fan of GD so far at all. Most of this I could fix but since it costs by far more than any other TT of same design and size they can do all the first time repairs. This camper will not last five years in my opinion. Its no where near the quality G.D/Dealer claim its is so far. No better built than our old one with exception it new and more updated and not being able to reach the bathroom fan that they want us to spend more $$ to upgrade it!. We have all this to present back to the dealer this fall when it goes back there to live its life at the dealer. The dealer for us is new as the GD with one matched equal to the other so far in quality! We miss our old dealer who does not carry GD. Our old dealer was sad to see us take delivery of a GD as well. One thing in GD favor is they do seem to care about the product/ Coach well compared to others we have had. We expect more issues and loose money to get rid of GD as soon as another season starts with more issues.We are prepared to take the loss next season if this great quality coach continues with more issues. Never bought a camper with out little things that needs fixed yet but GD is by far a leader in that area so far. Hate to rant but we feel the frustrations of others here too. If we had issues worse as some of GD owners had on this site we would just turn it over for Professional help.About the same cost/loss as switching to a different camper with GD and dealer expenses tied up like ours!

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