Grand Design Quality

Being happy with your purchase doesn't make it built any better than anyone elses. It seems like the tolerance limits keep getting pushed higher. What used to be a few problems and owner satisfaction was still high, now it seems you can have a multitude of issues and still be satisfied.
Does having the MFG handle the issues better make the RV better?

Ralph Cramden wrote:

goducks10 wrote:
If you thoroughly read the forum you'll see they're built like everything else out of Indiana.

Correct, lots of posts like this.

"I just purchased a 2019 Reflection 303 RLS. I thought I did my homework on this trailer. I studied all the web sites, I looked at these trailers in person, I read literature, and I did a search for "best 5th wheels". Everything pointed to a Reflection trailer. So, I bought one. I have had this trailer for a little over a 2 months now, and I am already having problems. The bathroom floor squeaks so bad it's hard to believe GD hasn't come up with a design change. The propane hose running into the bottom of the kitchen slide is run in such a fashion that it has been pinched (almost flat) between the kitchen slide mounting bolt and the frame of the trailer. And, I just noticed a problem with the linoleum in the kitchen where the kitchen slide has made contact with the floor. Again, I have only had this trailer 2 months and I am experiencing problems Oh, I've had the trailer out one time. I can't get an appointment with my dealer until November, and, they are 2 hours away. Very disappointing."

You can go to the Forest River forum, the Jayco forum, Heartland, Keystone, or any and get the same posts. Just take out Grand Design and insert whatever brand you wish. You can line 5 of the same floorplan up on the lot built on the same day and they they'll range from Perfect to Lemon. Or simply drink the Koolaid.

If you read the actual thread on the other forum that this was posted on, you'll find that the OP is quite happy with his GD purchase and the support he's received from the factory. Again, keeping it in context, the above post can't be truly considered without reading the followup.

All I can say there sure is a lot of them on the roads and in campgrounds. So they must be doing something right or have a really good sales force

That's the great thing about having choices. We don't all have to settle for the same thing.

I've heard a lot of great things about Cedar Creek's, and I was seriously considering them. Granted, I saw first hand a relatively small sample size (one dealer), but the ones I saw I was underwhelmed and quite frankly disappointed and left scratching my head.

I have heard nothing but great service from the factory. Can't remember the Amish guy's name near the factory, but he gets super high praise on FRF. I know even the factory turns to him for help. He knows those things inside and out.

Mike

In response to Walaby's comment about CC controls....our 2019 Hathaway has individual controls....we also have the touch screen, but just about all functions are controlled from the individual switches....not the touch screen.

Our first CC, was a 2009 Silverback wide body - 102".

We own this second CC due to the EXCELLENT service we received from the factory on more than one occasion. They have served us well on our new rig - providing us some additional accessories free of charge.

We have seen some Solitude models - they were nice, but we knew the sure thing that we were getting from the factory support with Cedar Creek. WE love our current model floor plan.

The OP was interested in Reflections. Big difference between the Reflection and the Solitude. Our Reflection came with an Atwood Helium fridge. The fridge has been OK but Atwood was bought out by Dometic and the Helium fridges are the only Atwood product they no longer support, so it is an orphan. The other appliances are pretty much standard for the price range. The Furion TV died after a couple of years and an LG sits in its place. Very few problems with the coach itself.

We looked at every brand of 5er TH we could find and decided Grand Design was the way to go. We both felt GD was slightly better build quality and I knew their customer service was exceptional. We found a Momentum floor plan that worked for us and haven’t regretted it at all. We’ve had it just over a year and no warranty work.

Me Again wrote:
All the vendor products that go in them are the same same. Chris

I don't necessarily agree with this. For example, the furniture (couch/theater seating) in the Cardinal's, in my opinion was of lesser quality. I couldn't tell the brand, but they were definitely NOT Thomas Paine, which is what is in GD. I bought Thomas Paine furniture for my TT and in my opinion, is the most comfortable and well made RV furniture I've found.

The fridge in the Cardinal was some brand (began with a K) that I've never heard of. It is a commercial fridge. The fridge in the GD is a Samsung fridge. Now, I can't comment about the quality of Samsung's fridge, but at least I recognized the name. Have no clue who FR uses for theirs.

The Cardinals and Cedar Creeks also have various little nits that bug me. For example, the control panels for all their stuff is a single touch panel, that I've read is prone to failure. At least with GD, the individual controls are separate and if one fails, the entire control panel isn't impacted.

Just small examples that, to me, make a difference.

Mike

I'm sorry I must have missed it where cedar creek and cardinal offer a 101" wide body the same as GD. for the same price there are some key pieces missing.

Cardinal must have really taken a dive in the last couple years since we sold ours and left the Cardinal forum. Before we bought the Big Horn in May of 2016 we looked at everything out there. They are all pretty much the same, put together in hours not days or weeks. All the vendor products that go in them are the same same. Chris