Dutchmen vs Grand Design

We have just ordered a Grand Design Reflection 303. I have called GD with a many questions and they made sure they called me back before the end of the day. Everyone that I have talked to answered all my ?'s plus and gave me their number and email and told me any other Questions just call us back. When I have emailed them they made sure to answer me back. Good Luck on whatever decision you make!

Very pleased with our GD Momentum. Would not hesitate to recommend them to others.

We looked at the Denali and the GD Reflection 337. We bought the Reflection and have camped 4 nights in in so far. We are pleased with the unit and the service people seem to be getting on the owners forum.

GD is in the process of making travel trailers, should be out this fall I believe.

With our current problems with the customer service with Dutchmen / Keystone I will never buy another. Grand Design is a customer of ours (non Rv related) and I would love for them to make a bumper pull trailer because they really are trying to build them the right way!

I've had my GD Solitude for over a year now. With over 7000 miles so far and totally pleased with it..

I don't know anything about Grand Design but I do know about Dutchmen. I would stay far away from the Dutchmen product. I once owned a Dutchmen Colorado. Worst piece of junk I ever saw. It took me 4 years to get all the defects out of it. My dealer did not like to deal with Dutchmen because he had to wait up to 6 months for payment on warranty work. This dealer no longer handles Dutchmen products.

I cannot speak to Grand Design. However, I would suggest you do your homework about customer satisfaction, or lack thereof, of the
Dutchmen brand. You might want to Google the owners group forums.

I have had several issues with my Dutchmen Denali 5r, and IMHO the customer service with Dutchmen has been less than satisfactory. It should be noted that the management of Keystone has recently taken over the customer service component of Dutchmen, some folks think that is a good thing, but it has not been much of a help to me.

Sorry to be negative, but I feel compelled to suggest you check out the Dutchmen product carefully. Whatever you do, enjoy your purchase!

We retired in January, and purchased a Grand Design Reflection 337RLS in February. While we were waiting on the FW to be delivered, I received several phone calls and e-mails from Grand Design management on the progress of the build and the expected delivery date. After it was delivered, I was put in contact with the manager of the Reflection line to see if we had any suggestions on features or design changes. The management of Grand Design are very involved with their customers either directly or through the owner's forum (which they don't run).

We're heading out for a 3-4 month road trip of about 10,000 miles next month. On the few trips we've taken so far, the FW held up beautifully.

Hi Frederick,

I recently retired and we are now full time in a Grand Design Solitude 379FL. I cannot speak to the Dutchmen brand, as I have only seen units at an RV show.

The quality of GD appears to be very good. I have had direct contact on a number of occasions with Scott Brouse with GD, who works in a management capacity of some sort on the shop floor. We met at the Austin RV show, and he spent at least 4 hours with us ensuring that we understood all aspects of the design, construction, warranty, etc. Was very honest and frank, which was refreshing - definitely not a sales type person. He helped prioritize our unit through production, so that it was delivered just in time for our transitional needs.

My understanding is that the owners are very accessible to their customers. They are the former founders and owners of Keystone (largest RV mfg I believe), and leveraged their experiences there into the design of the GD models. They left the new owners of Keystone as soon as contractually able, dismayed at the decline in quality under the new ownership.

By all accounts their customer service is outstanding, but after one month we have not had a single issue. I did just notice that the USB charging station (a 12 volt cigarette style plug plus 2 USB ports specifically for charging your other devices) is not apparently working. Will look into this, time permitting.

I encourage you to go to the GD website at www.granddesignrv.com and the owners forum at http://www.granddesignowners.com/forum/forum.php

Considering many people only post about problems, I think you will be encouraged by the tone of the owners forum. For what it is worth, we purchased from Crestview RV in Buda, TX. This was a great experience and I spent 3 days living in the RV at the dealership's RV park (for no charge) after purchase to ensure that all was well. It was.

With respect to the warranty issues raised:
Yes, the warranty remains valid for full timers. You do not have to return to the dealer that you purchased the unit from, but Mr. Brouse was frank when he told us that one would probably get higher priority at the initial dealership. One thing that I liked was that GD is a one stop warranty point, so no matter what fails on the RV they take care of it promptly without having to deal with other manufacturers.

Obviously my experience has been a good one so far. Good luck on your RV and congratulations on retirement. I thought I would be bored, but I most definitely am not!

Tom

Grand design has hyd slides on main slides...would be my first choice.