Future Grand Design Owner

[Gamaru]

Hello, all! My husband hopes to retire next year and we are seriously doing our homework in the hopes of hitting the open road in an RV. We have never owned an RV before, but have been in camps with friends who have done this for years. They have been very helpful with providing insights and lessons learned. We will be renting a camper a number of times to test the waters for ourselves. I have a few questions on topics that I am exploring for the first time and would appreciate input from some of you seasoned RVer's. I invite you to respond to one or all of my questions. Thank you, in advance, and I hope to explore our beautiful country in my new, used GDRV! To make ownership of a GDRV more affordable, we are planning to purchase a 1-3 year-old GDRV.

1. After lots of research, I feel rather confident that purchasing a GDRV is a wise and solid investment. Although there will always be people who have bad experiences, most of what I have read about GDRV construction, reliability, customer service and customer satisfaction has been overwhelmingly positive. We are leaning toward purchasing one of the smaller fifth wheels. Two particular reasons for this is that we have been told that towing a fifth wheel is easier than hauling a TT in that your vehicle has more control of the camper, not nearly as much sway (we plan to purchase a RAM 2500). They also tend to provide more head room which I need because of my husband's height. With that being said, my questions are:
a) what are the pros and cons of owning a GDRV vs. another brand?
b) have you been happy with the responsiveness and professionalism of their customer service department?
c) if you've filed a claim did they honor the repair/replacement of any and all covered parts and was their response time quick?

2) With regard to purchasing an extended warranty, I seem to get mixed results. Some say not to bother, others say it's well worth the money if you get an all inclusive policy (exclusionary coverage) also known as a platinum policy with some providers. I know these types of policies can be costly, but I also know the cost of repairs on campers when something big goes wrong can cost an arm and a leg. I've been exploring the various coverage options with the following providers:

a) Good Sam Extended Service Plan
b) American Guardian Warranty Services (USA Travel Care)
c) America's RV Warranty

Please share your experiences with any of these providers (assuming the part(s) that failed are actually covered by your plan). Provide pros and cons. Last, do you personally own an extended warranty with another company? If so, who and why did you choose them?

3) Is one A/C unit in a 35' or smaller GDRV 5th wheel sufficient to keep the trailer cool on hot summer days (90+ degrees) if you keep your shades closed? Will it run non-stop in this type of heat? Does the added height of a second A/C unit in a 5th wheel significantly decrease your access to local roads and clearing underpasses? Any suggestions of how to make one A/C unit sufficient for the entire trailer?

Again, thank you for taking the time to read this rather lengthy post and for sharing your thoughts. I look forward to reading the responses.

[bertschb]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

1a - IMO, Grand Design does a great job with innovative floor plans and has better than average customer service but the build quality and components used are similar to any other brand in the same price range.
1b - I've only used their customer service department twice. Once while coordinating with them to get MORryde IS installed on our ordered Solitude prior to shipping and the other time to get replacement LED ceiling lights that failed. Both times their customer service was fantastic.
1c- yes (see 1b)

2- Save your money and don't buy an extended warranty. If you do a search, you'll find many threads on the subject.

3- If you plan to camp in 90+ degree heat, you need a second A/C unit. As for how long an A/C runs, this depends on whether or not you are parked in the shade, the orientation of your RV to the sun, whether or not you can deploy your awnings, etc, etc, etc. The additional height of a second A/C unit won't affect access to local roads.

Suggestions to make one A/C unit work? Park in the shade. Camp where the temps don't exceed 85. Use portable fans. Orient your RV so the awnings face south. Add slide toppers. Wear light clothing.

Shade makes a huge difference. It's 95 here right now but we have great tree cover with tons of shade. Our bedroom A/C has been on since mid morning. The main A/C kicks on for a few minutes every 30-45 minutes or so. If we had no shade, both A/C units would have been running all afternoon and into the evening.

Oh, one more thing. If you have a single A/C unit, it will be located in the main living area. It will create quite a bit of noise while operating. If you have two A/C units, you can run the bedroom A/C during the day which makes it quieter in the living area and then switch to the living room A/C at night so you can sleep.

[Gamaru]

Hi, Brian! Thanks for all your useful input. I appreciate you taking the time to respond. I wouldn’t necessarily seek to camp in 90+degrees, but I live in VA. Even in the mountains here, it gets hot in the summer, yet there are so many fun things to do like river rafting and tubing. I’ll keep your suggestions for keeping the camper cool in mind.

[Second Chance]

Brian gave good advice... I'll just add/augment one thing and add one more:

First, as @bertschb said, there have been numerous posts on the topic of so-called "extended warranties." My wife found a very good description of extended service plans a while back (they are not warranties, but rather insurance policies with lots of fine print). They are another form of legalized gambling. The company is betting that nothing breaks that would cause them to pay out more than you paid for the policy; you're betting it will. As in all forms of legalized gambling, the house usually wins. Otherwise, these companies wouldn't be in business or make a profit.

Dave Ramsey and Clark Howard have commented on these plans many times, too. The standard seems to be that 80% of extended service plan revenue goes toward commissions and marketing. Only 20% goes toward paying for actual repairs, which means most people are getting a really bad deal. We prefer to set money aside regularly (earning interest) and pay for repairs as they come up.

Second, I would not use the term "investment" in relation to purchasing an RV. Unlike houses (most of the time), RVs are depreciating assets. They loose a significant percentage of their value the minute they are driven off the dealer's lot and continue to depreciate for the rest of their lifespan. We are in a very unusual market situation right now, though. During the pandemic, everyone thought it was a great idea to run out and buy an RV. Coupled with the component supply chain issues, shortages and demand have resulted in surprising price increases for both new and used RVs. This means that, if you bought an RV just before all this started to happen, you could probably sell it right now for near what you paid for it. This will not hold. We're already starting to see an increase in listings for "lightly" or "never-used" RVs being sold by neophytes who either realized that RVing is a bit more work than they bargained for or they bit off more than they could chew financially - especially if the pandemic affected their employment or business income.

That said, Grand Design is one of the best companies in the industry to deal with. We are on our second Grand Design fifth wheel (likely our last RV as we will age out of the full-time RV lifestyle before this RV wears out). We would not have purchased a second GD unit had our first experience not been positive.

Rob

[FT4NOW]

Agree with what's been said. On a side note, might want to consider a 3500, same ride unloaded and very similar in cost. A 2500 will limit you on 5th wheels. Some 5th wheels really need a dually, best bet is to really decide on which h RV and then determine which truck is best.

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[bertschb]

On a side note, might want to consider a 3500, same ride unloaded and very similar in cost. A 2500 will limit you on 5th wheels. Some 5th wheels really need a dually, best bet is to really decide on which h RV and then determine which truck is best.

yes, yes, YES! I was going to say the same thing in my reply but forgot.

[huntr70]

Regarding comments/questions 1 a,b, and c.......really doesn't matter if you are planning on buying pre-owned.

[Ynot4me2]

I agree with everyone's comments. I've had a few repairs done under warranty and there was never any issues with GD. I also strongly recommend going straight to a 350 or 3500. That way, when you do decide (not if), the tv won't be the deciding factor.
Renting prior to buying is not a bad idea. A little costly but worth it. You'll really discover if it's for you and also what options, features, layout you like and dislike. Like rig size, dinette side orientation...

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[Gamaru]

Thank you for your input @Second Chance. I will definitely read through all the posts on extended warranties. Based on your input and the input I’ve gotten on this site and from friends who camp, sounds like the best thing to do is to put money aside monthly for repairs so most, if not all the money, is there when you need it. As for an investment, I probably didn’t choose the best word. I meant to say, based on my research, it looks like GDRV’s are a good solid choice. Lots of happy GDRV owners. As for the truck, absolutely! I won’t be purchasing the truck until we decide on the RV and, yes, I know that the dually may be necessary. My post was getting very long so I didn’t go into that aspect. Thanks again for your input 😊

[Gamaru]

Yes, thank you @bertschb. That makes total sense. I was planning on making a decision on a truck after we decide on an RV.