Imagine 2800BH owners

[yobigal]

My brother is looking at this trailer and I was wondering for those owners of the 2800BH what is your likes and dislikes.


Thanks.

 

[JetTech]

Negatives:
Furnace vent locations are not well thought out and heat distribution due to the system design and vent placement leaves much to be desired.
There is one circuit for the outlets. This means the system overloading if you are trying to use two appliances simultaneously (all outlets are daisy chained to one gfci outlet).
No grand design product at this trim level and up, should come with inferior quality/reputation tires.
This trailer should have had a receiver installed from the factory on the rear.
I wish it had more ground clearance.
Our buying experience was not good and our initial ownership experience with a Gd product has been bad to put it nicely. Had the factory and selling dealer actually accomplished the Pdi, we wouldn’t have the issues we found.
We still like our trailer and hope that the issues we found and have experienced isn’t a trend but just a “rough spot”.

 

[JetTech]

Likes:

Clean, modern interior that balances between light and dark. It’s simple and elegant at the same time. It’s a good looking trailer inside and outside.
Even though we’ve had a lot of issues, Gd customer service has been exceptional which is a huge plus and one of the reasons we chose this brand.

 

[mhaasser]

We have had our 2800BH for three Seasons now. It is great. I love how much space there is when the slide is out. The TV is in a great location, when I let anyone turn it on. I am 6 foot 5 and Wife is tall as well. So my kids are not short. Daughter is 5 foot 9 and Son is no 5 foot 11. No complaint about he Bunks from them. The mattress survived on night of camping then we replaced it with a residential Queen, that was the first upgrade. Our trailer was very clean from the start. We had it into the dealer twice. We updated the axles early on as our 19 had the remnants from 2018s and did not the the 4400 pound and our payload was useless, but now we are good. The second time in was a leak from the Air Conditioner when there was a heavy driving rain. Turned out one of the screws was not sealed from the roof properly. There has been small little items that I have fix/improved on since I am pretty handy. I did not like how the master barn door stop was implemented. I put my own in the track and I like that much better. What was there was popped out on a long travel day so I improved it. It did last three seasons though. I would not hesitate in recommending this trailer.

 

[baileyre3]

We find the 2800 to be a fantastic trailer. Its absolutely perfect for our current stage in life with 2 elementary aged children (and 3 large dogs...). Ours is a 2020 model built pre-covid. No idea how my experience would compare to a '21 model, so YMMV.

Positives:
- We absolutely love the layout. I don't think we've seen a better layout for our family
- TONS of storage space. So much space in fact, that we often over pack (which I suppose could also go on the negatives list...).
- Kiddos love having private bunk areas
- IMO, GD made really smart design decisions throughout the trailer. They kept costs/weight down where they could, and they upgraded things where it made sense. Most things (not all...) are pretty well thought out
- Overall decent quality for the price. It's still an RV, and is subject to the generally not-great build quality of the entire industry, but the Imagine line stands out as a significant jump forward when compared to competitors (we looked at a LOT of trailers, before settling on this one).
- For us, we find that the trailer works exactly as we hoped it would. Any small issues that we didn't like could easily be corrected with some simple mods.

Negatives (nothing big, mainly just nit-picky type items):
- Furnace is too loud in the master bedroom. This is a function of where the furnace is at, and I don't think there's much that can be done about it. This is probably my biggest complaint.
- A tad too long (of course, we knew this when we bought it). We do a lot of camping on federal/state lands, and sites that are longer than 30' are hard to find. This limits our choices a bit, and requires a lot more planning
- Wood veneer on the interior is super thin, and we found could easily be scraped off. Some good matching touch up paint helps to hide any of the blemishes that we have, though
- Exterior and interior lights are super bright. We installed some dimmers, which I feel is necessary
- Wish the dinette had some thicker cushions (but maybe that's just a function of my old butt). Kiddo bunk mattress are way too thin also. Of course, the master mattress was also thrown away and replaced the moment we brought the trailer home...
- Outdoor kitchen is just okay. I like the idea of it, but I think they didn't quite execute the way I would have liked it done (cooktop is kinda crappy, among other things). This required some mods to get it where I want it

Hope that helps a bit,
-Rob

 

[baileyre3]

JetTech, you have some interesting comments. I'll throw my $0.02 at it:

Negatives:
Furnace vent locations are not well thought out and heat distribution due to the system design and vent placement leaves much to be desired. Completely disagree with you here. We've had zero problems with heat (or A/C) distribution throughout the trailer. The only issue we've noticed is that the kids bunk areas can get a little chillier at night when they keep their curtains closed. But only by about 4 degrees or so.
There is one circuit for the outlets. This means the system overloading if you are trying to use two appliances simultaneously (all outlets are daisy chained to one gfci outlet). True, but this same setup is present on 98% of similar trailers. We've owned 4 trailers now, all with that same electrical setup, and we've never once had an issue with overloading. In fact, I rather like this setup, because it makes it way easier for me to wire in my inverter system despite the fact that I have 50amp service.
No grand design product at this trim level and up, should come with inferior quality/reputation tires. I find myself disagreeing with you again here. Most issues with westlake tires are associated with running on the edge of load/speed rating, or pressure (or a combination of those). My westlakes are E-range with a rated load of 2833 lbs. This is almost 30% higher than the rated capacity of the axles, and more than 60% higher than the GVWR of the trailer. We haven't had any issue with them in more than 10k miles of towing.
This trailer should have had a receiver installed from the factory on the rear. Again, I disagree. It can certainly be added to a 2800BH, but I think they made the right call in not installing it from the factory. Not all Imagines can accommodate a rear receiver, so this would be a model-specific addition (not ideal for the factory). It would add weight and cost for something that many people won't use (myself included). I'm glad they didn't install one.
I wish it had more ground clearance. Extra ground clearance is always good, but its also a balance with the overall height of the trailer. I find the 2800BH has plenty of ground clearance. We take it on some pretty gnarly trails in CO, and have never had a problem boondocking where we want.
Our buying experience was not good and our initial ownership experience with a Gd product has been bad to put it nicely. Had the factory and selling dealer actually accomplished the Pdi, we wouldn’t have the issues we found. True, dealers always suck at PDI's, and often the factory misses things when doing theirs. Not trying to be a jerk, but this is also partly your own fault, too. You should be right there doing a PDI with the dealer before you accept the trailer. I've found that ANY issues we had with ours (during the PDI, and afterwards) have been fixed quickly and professionally through GD customer service. This is our 4th trailer, but 1st GD. I've found that the level of customer service with GD completely blows away the competition. I've personally been very happy with all that. Maybe your experience was different due to the covid-issue?
We still like our trailer and hope that the issues we found and have experienced isn’t a trend but just a “rough spot”.

Hopefully nothing I said came off as rude (certainly not intended), just trying to highlight out a different point of view. Happy camping!

 

[Tgunter5]

JetTech, you have some interesting comments. I'll throw my $0.02 at it:



Hopefully nothing I said came off as rude (certainly not intended), just trying to highlight out a different point of view. Happy camping!

Very well said. Being new to RV'ing, we don't have much to compare to but with this being our second RV, we will probably never own anything other than GD. We have been very satisfied with the product while we haven't had the pleasure of dealing with customer service with any issues, I have read and heard that they are wwwaaayyy above par in this department. I'm sorry your experience has been less than stellar.

 

[yobigal]

Thanks for all the inputs. They are definitely helpful.

 

[JetTech]

JetTech, you have some interesting comments. I'll throw my $0.02 at it:



Hopefully nothing I said came off as rude (certainly not intended), just trying to highlight out a different point of view. Happy camping!

In answer to your opinions on my comments.

First: the heating/furnace location/vent location is a widely documented issue on this floor plan along with the 2400. For you this may work out, but i prefer to have even heating throughout my trailer including where our children sleep which is in the bunk area/aft end of the trailer. Putting a small vent behind a shoe storage area is just plain stupid... not only do the shoes block flow, but that "run" of vent hose is long which means not enough flow how it is. The shortest run of hose goes directly to he side which points at the thermostat, which means that you get to much flow of hot air in one spot (yes im aware how this thermostat uses the sensor in the ac unit to moniter temps etc..this is sloppy engineering in my professional opinion. Not installing a vent pointing at the middle of the trailer (from the kitchen towards the couch/theatre seating/bathroom door) isnt exactly logical either (this is if you care for even air distribution). Either way, maybe your trailer works differently then ours (super hot up front and cold in the rear which requires a space heater to even out temps in the rear). I digress.

Two: We too have had a different travel trailer and im sure that one too had a "daisy chained circuit running through one GFCI outlet". We didnt have the need to run a space heater in that one due to a logically designed/properly functioning furnace/heat system. In our current GD trailer, the sloppy furnace/heat distribution system forces us to use a space heater. Plug one of those in your trailer, then start your coffee maker (we have a french press as well for those boondocking trips), or have your spouse run a hair dryer and see how your circuit handles it. It will pop the circuit breaker. My preference would be two circuits for the outlets in order to allow the end-user to use multiple appliances as needed/desired. Just because "all travel trailers are built like this", doesnt make it okay and or acceptable.

Three: The westlake tires reputation in the industry speaks for themselves regardless of my opinion. To me, putting this brand of tires on a GD Imagine or higher trim trailer is like buying a bmw and getting "vegan leather" in the interior. However to your point, i too am going to run them along with tpms on them and obviously properly inflated. I hope i do not end up regretting this decision.

Four: This was my opinion and your response is your opinion...each to their own. At this price point, a receiver is common and alot of folks use them for bikes, storage racks, genny racks etc. I had one welded on mine for my bike rack. Not installing one from the factory is a cost cutting item (similar to having one electrical outlet circuit vs two)

Five: I came from an Outdoors Rv product which is designed for offroad/offgrid type camping. THe balance was never an issue even in high wind situations. Look at alot of folks with this trailer or the 2400 and they look to lift for boondocking type camping, and or are looking for additional clearance when they upgrade their shackles. I personally hope to slightly lift it when i instally my morryde shackle upgrade (having a 3inchs above the tires when the trailer is loaded doesnt exactly leave me feeling confident in dealing with uneven surfaces etc. The one positive thing about having the trailer sit lower is that utilizing the outdoor kitchen is at a more comfortable height.

Six: So this opinion of yours comes across a bit offensive/aggressive considering your assumptions and accusations without fully knowing the context of my comment. FYI, we did do a pdi on the day that we bought the trailer. We had a 18+ item list of defects ranging from the threshold strip under the rear stairs sticking up because some idiot left two of the three screws out, to the forward door frame having three finishing nails sticking out through the side due to some "special" individual at the factory not properly installing the door frame. Oh and every position light cover minus one, had cracks in them...not sure if this is a quality issue or a installation issue. Rear entry screen door being scratched and damaged, trim not having enough finish staples holding them in place...etc. The fun doesnt stop here..... when i got the trailer home and had a receiver installed, i decided to investigate the bulging underbelly insulation and had a stabilizer jack almost hit my face when it fell out from where someone at the factory forgot it in there during manufacturing. Things that make you go hmmmmm.
On our first trip out (shakedown trip), i found the converter not working at all, and luckily caught it fast enough without killing my two batterys. I spent a few hours troubleshooting this with GD tech support on the line. I dont think that any new GD product owner should be spending their weekend using a volt meter to shoot wires while at a campsite etc trying to figure out why such a critical component isnt working. Oh and our rear grey tank dump valve has the incorrect length or incorrect installation/routing of cable because without using a one hand to pull the cable handle and the other hand holding the handle bracket, its impossible to dump the rear grey tank (the dealer tech was using two hands and still had issues). Lubing was of no help.. the issue was a five inch radius bend in the cable installation from the factory which prohibited the cable from actuating freely. There are even more items im not mentioning on here but i digress. We did our pdi, the factory did not, neither did the dealer period. These issues are of no fault of ours, more like a bunch of pdi marketing bs on Gd's side. By the way, when the door assembly showed up to replace the one that had finish nails sticking 3 inchs, GD didnt bother even sending the graphics that are supposed to be on that door even though they were ordered..they didnt even send the correct drawer guide rails for the large cabinet drawer under the oven that has one side completely poppping off the rails on our trailer..now you tell me if Gd is dropping the ball or what.

Even with all these issues we are excited to use our trailer and hopefully enjoy it for many years. However if every trip means more issues found or components not working....i can gurantee you this, i will never purchase a GD product again. I believed their marketing slogans regarding factory pdi's and the dealer pdi at delivery to verify any missed issues by the factory. The fact that this important process was "pencil whipped" on my trailer by both the factory and dealer has left a lack of trust in the brand. This is all based off of my experience and nothing else. The trailer we bought looks like it has a msrp of 44k, the trailer we bought has the quality control issues of a sub 20k trailer...Gd should be embarassed that this even left the factory.

 

[yobigal]

Again I want to thank everybody for their inputs. After looking at different models again they decided to go with the 2910bh.

 

[baileyre3]

Dang dude, apparently I touched a nerve. Thanks for the dissertation.

Again, wasn’t trying to be insulting at all, and I’m certainly disappointed that you took it that way. You have your opinion, and (unlike in our modern political environment) I believe you’re entitled to it. Was just pointing out that some of us have completely different opinions and expectations. Was just trying to show the OP a different point of view to help them make a decision.

Again, happy camping!
-Rob

 

[baileyre3]

Congrats to them! The 2910 looks like a fantastic layout. Might have gone that direction if it was available at the time we were looking.

-Rob

 

[JetTech]

Dang dude, apparently I touched a nerve. Thanks for the dissertation.

Again, wasn’t trying to be insulting at all, and I’m certainly disappointed that you took it that way. You have your opinion, and (unlike in our modern political environment) I believe you’re entitled to it. Was just pointing out that some of us have completely different opinions and expectations. Was just trying to show the OP a different point of view to help them make a decision.

Again, happy camping!
-Rob

Yes you touched many nerve endings....i need a hug now, and an award. Not sure for what, but an award for something would be nice.... just joking. Yes the OP is entitled to various opinions and insights. My experience isnt shared by most im sure otherwise GD wouldnt have the rep they largely do. However, my experience so far has been a realistic view of what can happen on even a GD product that is touted as having such high quality build, PDI inhouse, and the rest of their marketing campaign slogans. Im a bit upset that my trailer has had the issues we've found so far and that they should have been caught during a PDI process if GD actually accomplished one as they state on their website

"100% PDI Inspection | We put every Grand Design unit through a series of quality inspection gates during the manufacturing process. Once completed, the unit undergoes a comprehensive final finish inspection. From here, most manufacturers ship their units on to the dealer for retail sale. Not Grand Design…Every one of our units are shipped to a separate PDI (Pre-Delivery Inspection) facility where they are again put through a 250+ point inspection. It is only after this that we deem a unit ready to ship to our dealers"

I CALL BULLSH*T on this ^

Oh and so far, dealing like a broker between the dealer who is repairing all the issues and GD in order to make sure that parts are ordered, parts are sent, etc....is ridiculous. Anyways, enough of my rant, Happy camping to you as well Rob.
To the OP, I hope the trailer treats your family well! Im sure you will enjoy it if its nothing compared to ours in regards to issues. They are a good looking trailer with a nice/comfy floorplan which works well for families with a couple of kids, pets etc.

 

[Callahan4]

I have the 2018 and I to have a heat distribution problem but not a deal breaker but sucks. Ac not a problem with us as it stays cool. We did replace all the mattresses they sucked but most camper ones do. Didn’t like the door windows as they didn’t match the other windows so got some LCI ones with built in blinds. New shower head. I do have a problem with baggage doors bowing but the new models are thicker with slam latches. We do love it not a lot of problems with it but dealer had to replace all the stability jacks as they would self retract. Water leak behind the rear spray port. Water leak under the shower one time. But all good.


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[RV Sailor]

Overall we are very happy with ours. Yes there are minor flaws and the PDI was able to catch some, but for goodness sake I can only compare it to our 35 foot sailboat. Similar size , quality control of the sailboat is excellent.

I didn’t have unrealistic expectations our GD would have very few quality control issues....it’s 1/10 the cost of the sailboat and quite economically priced for what you get IMHO. Going into the purchase I was able to differentiate between the dealer hype vs what was realistic to expect, so I can get exercised about the dealer deficiencies.

I bought GD because the manufacturer stood by the issues and has good customer service in my dealings with them.I never expected anything from the dealer except the best price and to prep it for delivery. I did our PDI thoroughly with them and the little issues we found were taken care of immediately. I will not take it to the dealer for warranty work if necessary as GD has already shown the willingness to approve repairs by our own registered technician.

Go into your purchase with REALISTIC expectations. You won’t feel it necessary to rant the negative. Your buying an inexpensive trailer. It’s not a house, a sailboat, or a car. It’s a box on wheels which is like a moving earthquake at times.
Go into the purchase with the expectation that YOU will have to be handy and fix things like screw pops and blackouts.
Go into the purchase understanding that you think it should be made a certain way but others want it designed differently.
Go into the purchase expecting to make modifications to your own tastes and liking.

Like I said I had no perfection illusions about what I was buying. Hell it was half the price of the tow vehicle.