Norcold 2118X design defects & Grand Design Momentum 376THS defects

[Fish Forever]

Anyone know of a recall on these “refrigerators” that don’t keep food cold & freezers that ice up but can’t freeze water in ice cube trays?
We are waiting on a new door flap to replace the bent one. I expect the new flap will bend just like the original flap because the design of this refrigerator door is defective. That’s if it ever comes to our Clear Creek RV dealership in WA state. We bought a new Momentum 376THS in May 2020. It’s August 29, 2021 and we are still waiting for a refrigerator that functions.
Immediately upon using our new RV in 2020, we found nine major problems with our allegedly “top of the line” 5th wheel.
There can’t be any QC at Grand Design. Ridiculous. No sealant on the shower stall. Fireplace non-functional. Refrigerator wouldn’t cool but produced a steady supply of water that drained down the back wall, missing the poorly designed drip tray, into the bottom produce & meat drawers out onto the floor. Missing window and door screens. Main door wouldn’t close because it wasn’t hung properly & pull down steps improperly installed. Dent in a side compartment prevented door from closing completely. Trim along wall panels and cabinets popped off after the 30 mile trip from the dealership to our home.
Fireplace replaced entirely and did not work - sending the same error message code E 3 that the original one sent when we turned it on.
Grand Design & Norcold should be ashamed, embarrassed and held responsible for putting such a terrible product on the market.

 

[NB Canada]

Norcold 2118X design defects & Grand Design Momentum 376THS defects

Anyone know of a recall on these “refrigerators” that don’t keep food cold & freezers that ice up but can’t freeze water in ice cube trays?
We are waiting on a new door flap to replace the bent one. I expect the new flap will bend just like the original flap because the design of this refrigerator door is defective. That’s if it ever comes to our Clear Creek RV dealership in WA state. We bought a new Momentum 376THS in May 2020. It’s August 29, 2021 and we are still waiting for a refrigerator that functions.
Immediately upon using our new RV in 2020, we found nine major problems with our allegedly “top of the line” 5th wheel.
There can’t be any QC at Grand Design. Ridiculous. No sealant on the shower stall. Fireplace non-functional. Refrigerator wouldn’t cool but produced a steady supply of water that drained down the back wall, missing the poorly designed drip tray, into the bottom produce & meat drawers out onto the floor. Missing window and door screens. Main door wouldn’t close because it wasn’t hung properly & pull down steps improperly installed. Dent in a side compartment prevented door from closing completely. Trim along wall panels and cabinets popped off after the 30 mile trip from the dealership to our home.
Fireplace replaced entirely and did not work - sending the same error message code E 3 that the original one sent when we turned it on.
Grand Design & Norcold should be ashamed, embarrassed and held responsible for putting such a terrible product on the market.

Ummm. First welcome to the forum

Recalls can be found with one quick call to GD with your vin


Btw. Where did you ever come up with the idea Grand Design is “top of the line”?

There are many better but more expensive trailers

2021 Imagine 2400 BH
2018 GMC Sierra 4x4 crew

 

[Hoopy Frood]

More expensive doesn't necessarily equate to better quality. Sometimes more expensive just means they cost more money.

 

[Redapple63]

Hoopy, while I will not speak to the condition upon leaving the factory, we can certainly speak to the responsibility of the dealership in preparing a unit as well as a good solid PDI. Many people are excited when they buy and really just want to get their new rig home so they can play in it. If the dealer was really attentive you should have zero problems when you go to pick up, unfortunately, that is rarely the case. So that makes a really good PDI important. Run everything make sure it works and don’t take delivery until it is all good. If problems are identified that can be fixed immediately make them do it, if there are larger issues then don’t take delivery. I know, lots of PDI’s and sometimes problems don’t manifest until later, or it seems to work until you really use it, like your refer. Cooled, so it is working, until you actually use it and realize it really isn’t, or subpar. It is unfortunate, but that leaves us, the consumer holding the bag. I am very sorry for your difficulties and hope you can get them worked out.

 

[Hoopy Frood]

Oh, I absolutely agree. Our PDI on our previous 5th wheel took nearly all day, by the time all the little problems were taken care of. There weren't a lot of them
and they were completely fixed before any money changed hands. However some things, like the refrigerator working properly, can be tough to determine without
a lot of time. And some things are simply not noticed, or don't appear right away. You do the best you can, and then you hope for the best.

But my comment was simply addressing the thought that more money will buy you a better trailer. That's no guarantee. We met a lady with a DRV Elite Suite 5th
wheel, and it was a really fancy rig, and very large dollars. But it was so poorly assembled she had to take it back to the factory to get it all done correctly. She
was a very unhappy camper.

 

[geotex1]

Welcome. Unfortunately, it seems you may be new to camper ownership. Your problems are common amongst all brands. Do realize your two biggest complaints are over appliances GD has no control over, and it is well known throughout this cultural subset that RV appliances are underwhelming. More expensive does not equate to higher quality. I can introduce you to a healthy list of Recreation by Design,, DRV, and Luxe owners with issues just as I can from GD direct competitors like Alliance and the mass produced high-lines of the big brands.

The fit and finish issues are all items covered by your warranty, and you could have refused the rig at PDI till it met your satisfaction if they bothered you so pointedly. Also note depending on what shower you have, some are not to be sealed at certain locations to allow condensation to drain versus being trapped.

I truly appreciate your frustration, and you are in an unfortunate situation due to unprecedented demand and shortage of parts, materials and appliances out of everyone's control. So every remedy takes 3-4x longer. I am now 7 mos in waiting on replacement awnings from Carefree, which maybe I'll see in the Fall.

 

[Redapple63]

Oh, I absolutely agree. Our PDI on our previous 5th wheel took nearly all day, by the time all the little problems were taken care of. There weren't a lot of them
and they were completely fixed before any money changed hands. However some things, like the refrigerator working properly, can be tough to determine without
a lot of time. And some things are simply not noticed, or don't appear right away. You do the best you can, and then you hope for the best.

But my comment was simply addressing the thought that more money will buy you a better trailer. That's no guarantee. We met a lady with a DRV Elite Suite 5th
wheel, and it was a really fancy rig, and very large dollars. But it was so poorly assembled she had to take it back to the factory to get it all done correctly. She
was a very unhappy camper.

Absolutely agreed, more money does not always equate to better. Every brand has their issues and lemons.

 

[Fish Forever]

Residential style refrigerators for a Momentum 376THS

Thanks no thanks Canada for the smarty pants reply. Several dealers who sold multiple lines of RVs all represented Grand Design as a high quality, top of the line product. So that’s how I did not come “up with the idea”. As for the rest of your responses about thoroughly inspecting the product properly, I did not bring my towel and wouldn’t want to take a shower in the dealership parking lot. Or fill the refer and wait 4-6(?) hours to see how it performed. Our PDI did reveal multiple issues that day which were flagged for warranty work. Hindsight tells me we should have refused the unit. Didn’t have hindsight in the present. That’s why hindsight is so clear. I realize GD doesn’t make the refer (hence my citation to the Norcold model number in my post.) I have read multiple posts talking about problems with Norcold - and we have had prior problems with Dometic RV appliances in the past.

Since no one has a fix for the refer problem which I think is a design defect, does anyone on this forum have an opinion on replacing the “Nevercold” with a residential-style refrigerator suitable for a 5th wheel?

Pros? Cons? Suggestions on brands to consider for the replacement?

Thank you in advance for non-judgmental, constructive replies.

Ummm. First welcome to the forum

Recalls can be found with one quick call to GD with your vin


Btw. Where did you ever come up with the idea Grand Design is “top of the line”?

There are many better but more expensive trailers

2021 Imagine 2400 BH
2018 GMC Sierra 4x4 crew

 

[NB Canada]

Thanks no thanks Canada for the smarty pants reply. Several dealers who sold multiple lines of RVs all represented Grand Design as a high quality, top of the line product. So that’s how I did not come “up with the idea”. As for the rest of your responses about thoroughly inspecting the product properly, I did not bring my towel and wouldn’t want to take a shower in the dealership parking lot. Or fill the refer and wait 4-6(?) hours to see how it performed. Our PDI did reveal multiple issues that day which were flagged for warranty work. Hindsight tells me we should have refused the unit. Didn’t have hindsight in the present. That’s why hindsight is so clear. I realize GD doesn’t make the refer (hence my citation to the Norcold model number in my post.) I have read multiple posts talking about problems with Norcold - and we have had prior problems with Dometic RV appliances in the past.

Since no one has a fix for the refer problem which I think is a design defect, does anyone on this forum have an opinion on replacing the “Nevercold” with a residential-style refrigerator suitable for a 5th wheel?

Pros? Cons? Suggestions on brands to consider for the replacement?

Thank you in advance for non-judgmental, constructive replies.

Well goodluck. Have fun camping

My PDI was 15 minutes at most and my trailer has been almost perfect. Just small insignificant items
My dealer did a great job getting my unit ready

Later


2021 Imagine 2400 BH
2018 GMC Sierra 4x4 crew

 

[Redapple63]

I will say this, for the prices they charge (I saw between 3200 and 4300 bucks for the Norcold 2118) one would expect a much higher quality unit. I could by one sweet residential unit for 4200 bucks!

 

[Redapple63]

Fish,

First, I neglected to welcome you! Glad to have you here!

Second, lots of discussion on replacing 2-way fridges with residential. It does require some planning, and it does impact other systems depending on how you use your rig. If you boondock or dry camp a lot, you may need to look into solar, inverter and Lithium Ion Phosphate batteries which are far superior to flooded style but very spendy.

If you primarily stay in rv parks with full hookups would be a much simpler approach.

Lots of threads here on that subject if you do a search for residential refrigerator swap.

Again, welcome!

 

[KamFlyer]

Since no one has a fix for the refer problem which I think is a design defect, does anyone on this forum have an opinion on replacing the “Nevercold” with a residential-style refrigerator suitable for a 5th wheel?

Pros? Cons? Suggestions on brands to consider for the replacement?

Thank you in advance for non-judgmental, constructive replies.

We had the exact issues you did with the Norcold along with crazy high propane usage. Fought it for our first year, neither Norcold nor GD would own up to the issues. Finally, after our one year warranty was up, we replaced ours with an LG counter depth unit. You can see what we did here > https://rctravels.rmcd.ca/p/residential-fridge.html.