We've made our decision. I think.

[Alpena Jeff]

My bride and I are recently retired. We live in the north of Michigan and totally enjoy the 3 seasons.
The 4th season...not so much.
We are new to RVing but have spent countless hours online. I'm confident that I know what we want, I think, no I'm sure.
I dropped into Lazy Days today for about 5 hours. Yea, it's 1500 miles from home but was in the neighborHood.
There is a 5'er in our future, I've seen the GD series online and was intrigued. When we met in person today I was ready to buy, but we are a year away.
We prefer to purchase a lightly used so not to take the hit. Reflection has my attention and I do visit Florida a few times each year.
Any feedback on GD support and Lazy Days for service before and after sale? I'm a retired corporate sales guy so have no tolerance for uneducated no product knowledge sales folks.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Scott and Jan]

You will not go wrong with a Reflection. We've had ours for 9 months now, and Love it!! Good luck finding a used one, They are only in their 2nd model year and I don't think too many people are willing to give theirs up yet.
I know a couple people with not good service with LazyDays after the sale (not on Grand Design products though). I would recommend a smaller family dealer if had a choice, but you might have to take what you can get for a used unit.
Good luck on your search and on waiting a year, we were supposed to do that too, didn't make it one month after finding Reflection. Couldn't wait. As I said Love it, and no regrets!

 

[dchrist1733]

I saw a used Reflection advertised on the Facebook Grand Design page. Don't know any of the details but you could check it out if interested.

 

[Alpena Jeff]

Thanks for the quick reply all. We do have a couple dealers in Michigan. I'm just down here for a few days visiting mom. I'll check out my local dealers down the road. Again we are a year or more out so maybe some lightly used may become available. The wife has committed to helping out at church for at least another year.

 

[Cate&Rob]

I would echo Scott and Jan's perspective on our Reflection, Lazy Days (we spent a few days in their attached campground and got to talk with several unhappy campers waiting for service, including one with a Grand Design) and a preference for a smaller dealer. Although, if you are shopping used, warranty service is not a factor. If you are looking towards the used market, from Michigan, you might want to look across the border. Your dollars currently go 20% further over here .

Rob

 

[Alpena Jeff]

Thanks for chiming in Rob. Are there any challenges such as duties, taxes to be aware of?
I have been lurking on RVForun for some time now and the knowledge shared on these sites is priceless for us rookies. I hope some day I will have accumulated enough smarts to contribute.

 

[Cate&Rob]

It would take some research to understand the Canada to US transition. You would essentially be "bringing it home" since the RV was built in the US so I doubt that any duties would be payable. We have a significant sales tax of 13%, but you might be able to avoid that since you would not be licensing the unit in Canada.

Rob

 

[Steve and Cill]

Welcome to the forum Jeff! I think if you read through this forum you will find that the majority of the owners here feel that the customer support we get from Grand Design is second to none. Good luck with your search for a Reflection, you will not be disappointed.

Steve

BTW, love Alpena, hate the mosquitos!

 

[Alpena Jeff]

Understanding the benefits of the "light" models what am I losing if anything noteworthy? Where does the weight reduction come from? It seams most if not all manufactures have a "light" series.
We newbies appreciate you seasoned folks more than you know. Thanks for the help!

 

[Bamaman]

I tried to buy my 2015 Reflection at home, however they didn't shoot me a straight deal on front end. Ended up buying 250 miies away due to the dealer hustling and changing a pending order to my specs--3 week delivery. An $8-$9K savings speaks.

My 323BHS is going to spend its life in the North Georgia Mountains with side trips to Stone Mountain, Lake Lanier Islands and possibly Disneyworld.

Whenever you decide to buy, you might want to special order your trailer to match your needs. I just suggest you pay close attention to your tow vehicle, and make sure you have more truck than you really need.

 

[apulido]

Steve, when here about Alpena I think back when I was in the USAF for an exercise called Ridge Runner.

 

[Phansen404]

Jeff - check with General RV. We bought ours from there and have had great luck with them. They are very knowledgeable and helpful about their product. Check out their used GD's. If you are on facebook, check out the GD owners group, there have been a couple up for sale on their or you could post your needs.

 

[Alpena Jeff]

Jeff - check with General RV. We bought ours from there and have had great luck with them. They are very knowledgeable and helpful about their product. Check out their used GD's. If you are on facebook, check out the GD owners group, there have been a couple up for sale on their or you could post your needs.

Ah yes my new mid Michigan friends. I don't do Facebook but wifey does. Again...until Judy feels comfortable leaving her part time gig helping out our local church we will not be buying.
That said, I'm ready, retired and did I mention ready to move forward. But I should probably wait for her, right? ��
Very familiar with the dealership you mentioned. I will stop in once the weather breaks.
Thanks again for the help.
Any feedback on the "lights" question I posted earlier? Curious is all on where the weight reduction comes from..

 

[Canyonlight]

Alpena Jeff--we were fortunate to find and buy our 303 from a private party. We were ready to buy a new 337 but ran across this on craigslist after looking there and on RVtrader for a few days. The transferable 1 year warranty (maybe the only one in the industry) was important to our decision and could not be happier ! RVtrader has a few GDRVs listed......check it out.

Dan

 

[Alpena Jeff]

Crap...shouldn't have done that. I am ready to buy but momma is the string on my balloon. Over the years she has been right 97% of the time.
RVTrader is evil!
Waiting. I think....

 

[Canyonlight]

Good thing for GDRV and the 3% ! Listening to momma is always a good idea, though !

Dan

 

[ANGChief]

Welcome to fellow Alpena resident!

My bride and I are recently retired. We live in the north of Michigan and totally enjoy the 3 seasons.
The 4th season...not so much.
We are new to RVing but have spent countless hours online. I'm confident that I know what we want, I think, no I'm sure.
I dropped into Lazy Days today for about 5 hours. Yea, it's 1500 miles from home but was in the neighborHood.
There is a 5'er in our future, I've seen the GD series online and was intrigued. When we met in person today I was ready to buy, but we are a year away.
We prefer to purchase a lightly used so not to take the hit. Reflection has my attention and I do visit Florida a few times each year.
Any feedback on GD support and Lazy Days for service before and after sale? I'm a retired corporate sales guy so have no tolerance for uneducated no product knowledge sales folks.
Thanks in advance.

Alpena is my hometown!! Welcome! We joined the Grand Design world when we traded our Cardinal 5th Wheel and Forest River R Pod for our 2015 Reflection in November. Haven't had it out, but can't wait to try. We currently live in Southeastern Lower Michigan. Welcome! We purchased our RV from General RV in Mt. Clemens.

 

[GeoSue]

I think your decision on a Grand Design is a good one. We are very happy with our 2014 303 . As far a Lazy Days you might get a good deal on a unit but the service depart is awful ! Any minor repair will turn into days of waiting.
We now have any service done at Tradewinds RV in Ocala Fl. Their service department is small but you get the job done correctly with personal service.
Good Luck

 

[TucsonJim]

I agree with the comments about Lazy Days service department. they are the worst I've ever dealt with. Inept work, long waits, and rude employees. However, they did have excellent sales and financing folks. I did find out that the service manager I was dealing with at the Tucson location was fired, so maybe there is hope.

 

[Scott and Jan]

Geosue, I agree completely about the service at Tradewinds RV. Ours is there now getting a few small warranty items taken care of. We've bought both our campers there also, completely satisfied. Good, small, family run business.