Hello from Wisconsin!

[Kluger]

Hi all, We're moving up from our 2007 Keystone Montana Mountaineer 32PHD to a 2021 Grand Design Solitude 310GK-R (on order). With the kids getting older and not travelling with us much anymore we're looking forward to trading in the rear bunkhouse for a rear living room with all those windows. My sister & brother-in-law picked up a Grand Design Reflection after their previous camper succumbed to an acute case of falling pine tree in 2019. We were impressed with the build quality and feature list on the Grand Design line, much like we were with the Mountaineer in 2007.

My first modification will be to upgrade to a Reese Goose Box. I've got a quote from the dealer which isn't unreasonable for the labor (surprise) but seems pretty steep on the parts markup. I would rather not be swapping this out in the parking lot on delivery date myself and I don't have a fifth wheel hitch in the truck now (2020 F350 6.7 SRW CC L. I'd also have to scrounge up a larger torque wrench to do it properly. I'm still double-checking exactly which parts are included in the quote, maybe it isn't as outrageous as it first looked and I can let the dealer do it - and warranty it.

We hope to plan a Route 66 trip, if not this summer, then next. It's a good excuse to visit one of our kids in California.


Dan & Connie
SE Wisconsin

 

[WhittleBurner]

Welcome to the group! Rear lounge floorplans are great , you'll enjoy traveling in the 310.

 

[50ST8R]

Hi all, We're moving up from our 2007 Keystone Montana Mountaineer 32PHD to a 2021 Grand Design Solitude 310GK-R (on order). With the kids getting older and not travelling with us much anymore we're looking forward to trading in the rear bunkhouse for a rear living room with all those windows. My sister & brother-in-law picked up a Grand Design Reflection after their previous camper succumbed to an acute case of falling pine tree in 2019. We were impressed with the build quality and feature list on the Grand Design line, much like we were with the Mountaineer in 2007.

My first modification will be to upgrade to a Reese Goose Box. I've got a quote from the dealer which isn't unreasonable for the labor (surprise) but seems pretty steep on the parts markup. I would rather not be swapping this out in the parking lot on delivery date myself and I don't have a fifth wheel hitch in the truck now (2020 F350 6.7 SRW CC L. I'd also have to scrounge up a larger torque wrench to do it properly. I'm still double-checking exactly which parts are included in the quote, maybe it isn't as outrageous as it first looked and I can let the dealer do it - and warranty it.

We hope to plan a Route 66 trip, if not this summer, then next. It's a good excuse to visit one of our kids in California.


Dan & Connie
SE Wisconsin

Hello from in the neighborhood. We got our Reflection 320 MKS in October and did a three week run to check things out before needing for the winter. Finished solar panels on top and ready for Wisconsin parks to open in May


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Kevin & Deb. 2021 Reflection 320 MKS
2018 Ford F-350 Diesel SRW Platinum

 

[Cannon07]

Welcome from Georgia.

 

[RoJoSo]

Welcome from PA, Enjoy the journey.

 

[50ST8R]

Hi all, We're moving up from our 2007 Keystone Montana Mountaineer 32PHD to a 2021 Grand Design Solitude 310GK-R (on order). With the kids getting older and not travelling with us much anymore we're looking forward to trading in the rear bunkhouse for a rear living room with all those windows. My sister & brother-in-law picked up a Grand Design Reflection after their previous camper succumbed to an acute case of falling pine tree in 2019. We were impressed with the build quality and feature list on the Grand Design line, much like we were with the Mountaineer in 2007.

My first modification will be to upgrade to a Reese Goose Box. I've got a quote from the dealer which isn't unreasonable for the labor (surprise) but seems pretty steep on the parts markup. I would rather not be swapping this out in the parking lot on delivery date myself and I don't have a fifth wheel hitch in the truck now (2020 F350 6.7 SRW CC L. I'd also have to scrounge up a larger torque wrench to do it properly. I'm still double-checking exactly which parts are included in the quote, maybe it isn't as outrageous as it first looked and I can let the dealer do it - and warranty it.

We hope to plan a Route 66 trip, if not this summer, then next. It's a good excuse to visit one of our kids in California.


Dan & Connie
SE Wisconsin

Quick question? Are you buying from Burlington RV? If so, keep on them, the work is okay but they haven’t figured out timelines yet and COVID missed them up further. They have done most everything we asked but not necessarily promptly.


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Kevin & Deb. 2021 Reflection 320 MKS
2018 Ford F-350 Diesel SRW Platinum

 

[el Rojo]

Welcome from Texas! Glad you're here.

Red

 

[Kluger]

Quick question? Are you buying from Burlington RV? If so, keep on them, the work is okay but they haven’t figured out timelines yet and COVID missed them up further. They have done most everything we asked but not necessarily promptly.


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Kevin & Deb. 2021 Reflection 320 MKS
2018 Ford F-350 Diesel SRW Platinum

Yes, we are buying from Burlington, where we also bought the 2007 Mountaineer. We've had mixed results with the service department. When we first got the 2007 Mountaineer, there was a significant leak that showed up on our first outing. While we weren't happy about the leak, they bent over backwards to make the repairs, even replacing things that probably didn't need to be replaced and completing some of the work at our home so we didn't have to bring it back to them a 2nd time due to some late parts arrival. And there were no more leaks for the 14 years we owned it.

After that though - had 4 tires, brakes and bearing work done on it. A while after we got it back, I was looking at the tires and realized that the two on the left side were a different brand than the two on the right. They were exactly the same tread and other than the brand, exactly the same. Further study revealed that the left side were about a year old, based on the date code. Not unreasonable for tires to work their way through distribution, etc. However, the right side tires were 2 years old. Apparently the manufacturer (Chinese) had changed hands in the intervening year. Two years is on the old side for "new" tires, especially without informing us and possibly a discount.

Then two years ago we camping near Stevens Point when the derecho went through. The trailer had very minor damage, basically the dome over the bathroom was broken. My sister's camper in the next site was totaled along with numerous other campers and vehicles in the campground, but that's a tale for another time. Anyhow, Burlington wouldn't be able to look at it for four to six weeks, needed two weeks to do an estimate, and probably another month or more to get insurance approval, parts and complete the work - in other words, the rest of the season. I called New Gen RV on 50 and there response was "If you can get it here today we can have you an estimate by tomorrow and probably complete the repairs within two weeks." Guess who got the job?

We did check other dealers in the area, but had kind of homed in on the Grand Design which didn't leave too many choices. We went out to General RV in Huntley but were turned off by the sales guy who had been selling jewelry a few weeks before and didn't have answers for most of the many questions we had - and worse - didn't make much effort to find someone who did. The business manager who came by to talk about what he could do 'if we signed today' also didn't impress us. Back to Burlington RV. The salesperson was very knowledgeable about the trailer & camping in general, and immediately grabbed someone even more knowledgeable when I had a few questions she couldn't answer. Then when I stumped the 2nd person, he got on the phone to engineering at Grand Design and got the answer to my question. Again, Burlington's sales side was great. On to service (sigh). We got a quote for them to put the goosebox on as noted in my first post. According to them the price from etrailer that I got is lower than their cost - by over $500. I know they need some markup but this just sounds too steep, and they weren't willing to work with us on it in spite of us dropping somewhere around $80k on a new trailer. Now I'm leaning towards buying the hitch myself and letting them put it on. Just leaves a bad taste. Sorry about the long post, just had to rant a bit!

Cheers, everyone!

 

[50ST8R]

Understand the rant. We got caught up in their closure last fall because of a staff testing positive. The service manager we had the best information from is now gone. They preached to us that service was a concern they were addressing but we haven’t seen the needle in the proper way yet. May just see about getting mobile service to do annual maintenance if we are “on the road”.


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Kevin & Deb. 2021 Reflection 320 MKS
2018 Ford F-350 Diesel SRW Platinum

 

[thegreenblade]

Yes, we are buying from Burlington, where we also bought the 2007 Mountaineer. We've had mixed results with the service department. When we first got the 2007 Mountaineer, there was a significant leak that showed up on our first outing. While we weren't happy about the leak, they bent over backwards to make the repairs, even replacing things that probably didn't need to be replaced and completing some of the work at our home so we didn't have to bring it back to them a 2nd time due to some late parts arrival. And there were no more leaks for the 14 years we owned it.

After that though - had 4 tires, brakes and bearing work done on it. A while after we got it back, I was looking at the tires and realized that the two on the left side were a different brand than the two on the right. They were exactly the same tread and other than the brand, exactly the same. Further study revealed that the left side were about a year old, based on the date code. Not unreasonable for tires to work their way through distribution, etc. However, the right side tires were 2 years old. Apparently the manufacturer (Chinese) had changed hands in the intervening year. Two years is on the old side for "new" tires, especially without informing us and possibly a discount.

Then two years ago we camping near Stevens Point when the derecho went through. The trailer had very minor damage, basically the dome over the bathroom was broken. My sister's camper in the next site was totaled along with numerous other campers and vehicles in the campground, but that's a tale for another time. Anyhow, Burlington wouldn't be able to look at it for four to six weeks, needed two weeks to do an estimate, and probably another month or more to get insurance approval, parts and complete the work - in other words, the rest of the season. I called New Gen RV on 50 and there response was "If you can get it here today we can have you an estimate by tomorrow and probably complete the repairs within two weeks." Guess who got the job?

We did check other dealers in the area, but had kind of homed in on the Grand Design which didn't leave too many choices. We went out to General RV in Huntley but were turned off by the sales guy who had been selling jewelry a few weeks before and didn't have answers for most of the many questions we had - and worse - didn't make much effort to find someone who did. The business manager who came by to talk about what he could do 'if we signed today' also didn't impress us. Back to Burlington RV. The salesperson was very knowledgeable about the trailer & camping in general, and immediately grabbed someone even more knowledgeable when I had a few questions she couldn't answer. Then when I stumped the 2nd person, he got on the phone to engineering at Grand Design and got the answer to my question. Again, Burlington's sales side was great. On to service (sigh). We got a quote for them to put the goosebox on as noted in my first post. According to them the price from etrailer that I got is lower than their cost - by over $500. I know they need some markup but this just sounds too steep, and they weren't willing to work with us on it in spite of us dropping somewhere around $80k on a new trailer. Now I'm leaning towards buying the hitch myself and letting them put it on. Just leaves a bad taste. Sorry about the long post, just had to rant a bit!

Cheers, everyone!

Do you think Burlington RV
monitors this site? I’m afraid to post my stories. I bought an extended service plan with them and I probably won’t use them. I need to try and get a refund.


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[Gpo1958]

We were interested in a Reflection 300rbts that Burlington RV had up there last year. We were poking our way around the rig and the salesman gave us the "If you buy it today....." line. My wife couldn't get out of there fast enough. We had a much better experience at General RV in Huntley. The salesman wasn't the most knowledgeable, but he didn't try to B.S. us and found people or resources with the answers we needed. Still haven't bought though, so my review is limited.