Grand Design quality?

[kencol]

We purchased a Grand Design Reflection 5th wheel in May. We liked the looks of the unit and the floor plan is just what we were looking for. The sales person really talked up Grand Design (naturally, that's his job), so we read the review written by Trailer Life Magazine and were convinced that we were purchasing a quality RV.

However, our experience with this unit has been very disappointing. We have taken it out on 5 trips this summer and something quit working on every trip. On two of our last three trips we had to terminate the trip prematurely because of breakdowns--converter went out on one trip, slide-out on the other. The other problems were not major--shower door broken, tank monitor panel went out, and fire place quit working--and these were promptly taken care of by the dealership service department.

We are now worried that we have purchased a poor quality RV. Our salesman spoke with their GD representative, who recommended that we contact GD Customer Service. So, I did that, and the fellow I talked with didn't seem concerned at all about the problems and said none of them have anything to do with the quality of the RV because the components are all manufactured by different companies. I was not encouraged by that because he implied that GD quality is good, but the components used to build it might not be--not GD's problem?

What we would like to know is if other owners are having similar problems, or of we just happened to get a problematic unit that will be okay in the long run. We need to make a decision whether to ride it out or trade this thing off ASAP to get rid of it.

[offtohavasu]

The problem is you're not having problems with GD quality, but rather component quality. And unfortunately, those components are used unilaterally in the industry. For example, next time you're on the lot, take a look at the components that are out in the open. Count how many use a Norcold refrigerator, Dometic A/C, suburban stove/water heater/furnace. Let's not even count how many components are made by Lippert. What you're getting with GD is in the support after the purchase and how they deal with component failures.

GD does seem to monitor issues from component manufacturers. For example, there were a lot of Atwood refrigerator issues and they left them (while they were still being made) and went to Norcold. They got rid of the Kantleak system and went to the Nautilus.

[LCBoyer]

Most trailer manufactures use same components, there aren't a lot to choose from. My experience with Grand Design customer service has always been positive

[TucsonJim]

I was in manufacturing (missiles) for over 30 years. Grand Design and my company have a lot in common. We both design and assemble the end product. But approximately 70-80% of the end product is an assembly of parts from sub-tier suppliers. The majority of our failures are driven by components that are provided by these sub-tier suppliers. If I had a gyroscope in a missile fail repeatedly, there were very few alternative suppliers I could switch to. Grand Design is in the same boat. Supplier selection is driven mainly by price, but quality history plays an important part too. Since Grand Design came into business in 2013, they have changed suppliers of major components several times. A good example of this would be that they no longer offer the Atwood refrigerators which had a very high initial failure rate.

Since all the key RV manufacturers use the same component suppliers, the customer of one manufacturer will see many of the same failures as the customer of another manufacturer. The key difference is how those manufacturers respond to defects. I've owned towable RVs from Skyline, Keystone, R-Vision and Grand Design. The customer service, warranty repairs, out of warranty support and technical advice offered by Grand Design is second to none. In fact, when I owned my Keystone Cougar, I could not even obtain a valid phone number for customer support. With my Grand Design, I can pick up the phone and get anyone from customer service to the owners.

Unfortunately I lost my Grand Design Reflection fifth wheel last month when our truck caught on fire and took out the RV with it. We had a clean slate and looked at all our options to replace the rig. We even considered purchasing a motor home. But every time we weighed the pros and cons, Grand Design always came back to the top of our list. And the reason was because they really do care about doing the right thing. So, our new Grand Design trailer will be delivered early next month. Will things break and fail? Yes they will. But I can count on GD to make sure they are fixed correctly.

Jim

[Rclbud]

I just had a few items go bad (screen door at garage, hydraulic lift screen went out/blank, and missing a pin for the garage bed), called Grand Design Customer service and they are over night mailing them to me ! Easier than going back to the dealer.

To me, its not that there are issues - all complex items like RV's and Boats have issues and things fail in the beginning - But GD shows real character in how they deal with the issues. Hopefully I will be saying the same thing after the first year !

[North Country]

We have had our Reflection for a year now. Just finished 5 weeks in the Rockies. Lot of hard use on rough roads, boon docking mostly, and we have not had one thing break down. The only repairs I've had to make we're "self inflicted".

[LCBoyer]

We've had our 379 almost 2 years. Put a lot of miles on it. Haven't had much trouble at all. Grand Design replaced circuit breaker and shower door tracks at the rally for free

[kencol]

The problem is you're not having problems with GD quality, but rather component quality. And unfortunately, those components are used unilaterally in the industry. For example, next time you're on the lot, take a look at the components that are out in the open. Count how many use a Norcold refrigerator, Dometic A/C, suburban stove/water heater/furnace. Let's not even count how many components are made by Lippert. What you're getting with GD is in the support after the purchase and how they deal with component failures.

GD does seem to monitor issues from component manufacturers. For example, there were a lot of Atwood refrigerator issues and they left them (while they were still being made) and went to Norcold. They got rid of the Kantleak system and went to the Nautilus.

Thanks for your input. Helpful and encouraging re. GD

[kencol]

Most trailer manufactures use same components, there aren't a lot to choose from. My experience with Grand Design customer service has always been positive

Thanks for your input. Encouraging re. GD

[kencol]

Sorry about your loss Jim, hope your insurance came through for you. Thank you for the encouraging input re. GD.