Just came upon this brand of TT. I see that they are part of Winnebago Industries but not much else.Anyone have any info on these? Own one or know someone? There is a dealer about 3 hrs away so I'd like to know if it would be worth the drive to check them out. Thanks

We have a grand design reflection FW and have been very happy with it's quality. They say customer service is excellent but I haven't had to use it. Check out their owners forum.

Grand Designs manufacturer support is outstanding, as I am familiar with it knowing about a friends Grand Design 5th wheel that had to be returned to the factory twice for axle, leveler, and frame issues, and once they sent people to his location since he was close to them.If warranty service is your concern you're still going to be at the dealers mercy and schedule. I have talked with Grand Design owners who told me they have an agreement with dealers that the Grand Design buyer comes first. Since most dealers also carry other brands, I have to call BS on those claims. One would think other manufacturers associated with a dealer would have a huge hissy if one of their dealers was providing different levels of warranty service to another brand. I know that the dealer where we purchased our Rockwood from, who also hawks Grand Design, you're going to wait weeks if not months for an appointment and the actual work may take just as long. All buyers are treated equally.All of that said I looked over my friends closely, and have looked at many on lots and at shows. I see no difference in materials, workmanship, and methods from a lot of other brands. Plenty of loose trim, sloppy cuts, spaghetti wiring, sloppy work in general. And like most others lots of Lippert...maybe more than average.I would not get brand fixated. I would find a floorplan we wanted, then the manufacturers who made it or similar, then look at different brands. Then look at different units of the same model/floorplan. Units can pop out of those factory doors an hour apart. The first could be almost perfect, the second an absolute joke and a POS. I would steer away from ordering from the factory....I found that to be a huge crapshoot as to what you get handed, or what they attempt to hand to you. If I cant see the unit I am actually buying, I am not buying, so ordering can become a months long process, as in 6-8-10 months, especially when you refuse to purchase the one that arrives with your name on it because its a POS. I could write a 10000 word essay on how that works.

Ralph Cramden wrote:All of that said I looked over my friends closely, and have looked at many on lots and at shows. I see no difference in materials, workmanship, and methods from a lot of other brands. Plenty of loose trim, sloppy cuts, spaghetti wiring, sloppy work in general. And like most others lots of Lippert...maybe more than average.And I'm going to call BS on this - I'll go as far to say big pile of BS... We went to several dealerships and then to a RV show where several vendors like Jayco and Grand Design were present. The difference in materials used and fit and finish were very obvious. There is no loose trim, spaghetti wiring or crappy fit and finish. Coming from a Coleman Travel Trailer, I have a lot of experience with these issues. Most units I went into smelled like formaldehyde. Jayco Eagle was on our short list. We ended up buying the Grand Design as it was vastly superior to the Jayco . I can go into it in the summer heat, after it's been closed up awhile and notice that its significantly cooler. It has a new car like smell - still does. And yes, you can call them out on the Lippert frame, but talking with the people on the Grand Design Owners Forum, I was convinced that if I did have an issue, it would be corrected to my satisfaction. These issues it seems are molehills made into mountains. Problems reported on other forums are't corroborated by actual people who own the product. I've owned my GD 303 RLS fifth Wheel since the beginning of the year and have used it several times. There is nothing that is broken, needs to be fixed or isn't working as designed.But like I have said, you need to go into the Imagine and see it for yourself. compare it to what you have seen and have been into. Join the GD owners forum - there is a specific area for Imagine owners. You will be able to get good information on there - no one says things like everything out there is junk. If you listen to people on here, you will just forget about RVing and buy a pontoon boat - can't say many negative things about a pontoon boat...IMO, It will be worth your time to drive there.

I have some friends that have 29-ish foot Imagine by Grand Design. They've live in it full time for 3 years now and have had little in the way of issues. What I noticed about the Grand Design is the general "lower feel" when it comes to some standard features. 5 gallon propane tanks and not 7 gallon. No spare tire cover. No propane tank cover. Tons of Lippert. Plastic sink.....though mine had a plastic sink too. Also to my knowledge, the wall thickness is 1-1/2" I think and not 2" like Outdoor RV. I didn't notice any workmanship issues with their trailer. At least nothing that really stood out.

We have a GD Reflection 303rls 5th wheel and are very impressed. We have had Keystone and Forest River and I feel the quality is much better. My only problem has been with the co-axial cable for the television and there were too many connections for my Playmaker to work correctly so I had to run another cable for it.

Grand Design Imagine TT | Good Sam Community

28 Replies

DB_Cooper
Explorer
Oct 30, 2018
We liked Outdoors and I would prefer to buy from a local manufacturer here in Oregon. We bought the GD because they were more willing to make deal. It wasn't an apples to apples comparison because the GD was and '18 and the Outdoors was a '19 but there should not have been a $9k difference between similar bunkhouse models. The GDs have to be shipped across the country to get to Oregon.
dmatt
Explorer
Oct 30, 2018
That's your opinion. I find it very engaging and helpful.
goducks10
Explorer
Oct 30, 2018
dmatt wrote:
TBammer wrote:
Whats the reputation of Arctic Fox?

Artic Fox is made by Northwood mfg., a small company in Oregon. They make a quality, 4 season trailer. They make their own frames and suspension. Their owners are very happy with them and loyal. It is difficult to find many used ones. Can you have a problem with one....of course, they are made by humans after all. However, you rarely see the major issues with these that you find on the major brands, like delamination, crappy build that leads to issues over time, roof leaks, etc.

Here is a link to an owner's forum: http://www.irv2.com/forums/f289/

That forms deader than a door nail.
Try here. You can read for free. $20 gets you in the door.
https://www.nroa2003.com/forum/index.php?routestring=forum

Neither forum are anyway near as popular as the GD forum.
dmatt
Explorer
Oct 30, 2018
TBammer wrote:
Whats the reputation of Arctic Fox?

Artic Fox is made by Northwood mfg., a small company in Oregon. They make a quality, 4 season trailer. They make their own frames and suspension. Their owners are very happy with them and loyal. It is difficult to find many used ones. Can you have a problem with one....of course, they are made by humans after all. However, you rarely see the major issues with these that you find on the major brands, like delamination, crappy build that leads to issues over time, roof leaks, etc.

Here is a link to an owner's forum: http://www.irv2.com/forums/f289/
TBammer
Explorer
Oct 30, 2018
Whats the reputation of Arctic Fox?
DB_Cooper
Explorer
Oct 29, 2018
We just purchased an'18 GD Imagine and are pretty impressed with how it's finished inside and out. We like the fact that heat ducts are built into the cabinets and not the floor. I'm not a huge fan of the 1k payload and a few minor issues but love the heated recliners. I don't know how I survived all these years camping without heated recliners. Napping is going to be my new hobby.
HuckleberryHunt
Explorer
Oct 28, 2018
goducks10 wrote:

Your last statement isn't true, it's just opinion.
I've had the same support owning my Northwood Fox.
I needed an issue fixed early on and all I had to do was call NW and talk directly to one of the service guys. I've called several times during ownership and always talked directly to tech or service guys.
I've had NW send me a replacement water pump when mine failed almost two year into ownership.
You can get the same personal service from ORV as well. I think you statement really only pertains to the big MFG's.
Unless you've owned RV's from all the MFG then you can't know about customer service from them. Reading on the net isn't always a good indication of events.

We purchased an ORV last summer expecting good customer service. I've made two calls to the factory about warranty issues, both during business hours, both unanswered and went to voice mail. I left messages each time and never got a return call.
Some people have good experience, some people don't. There's no guarantee until you have to deal with it personally. I like my ORV TT, but am less than pleased with the lack of response from the company. FWIW.
goducks10
Explorer
Oct 28, 2018
RinconVTR wrote:
I own a GD Imagine 2800BH.

GD products are no better or worse than others, using the same **** components and fastest assembly techniques and tricks used across the entire RV industry. This is an RV industry issue, not one brand name or another.

The difference in Grand Design is the design layout, color schemes, and CUSTOMER SUPPORT.

There is no other company that supports owners AFTER the purchase as GD does and continues to do. 2nd to none. For that reason alone, I will always recommend Grand Design and not think twice about buying another Grand Design product.

Your last statement isn't true, it's just opinion.
I've had the same support owning my Northwood Fox.
I needed an issue fixed early on and all I had to do was call NW and talk directly to one of the service guys. I've called several times during ownership and always talked directly to tech or service guys.
I've had NW send me a replacement water pump when mine failed almost two year into ownership.
You can get the same personal service from ORV as well. I think you statement really only pertains to the big MFG's.
Unless you've owned RV's from all the MFG then you can't know about customer service from them. Reading on the net isn't always a good indication of events.
Ralph_Cramden
Explorer II
Oct 28, 2018
RinconVTR wrote:
CUSTOMER SUPPORT.

There is no other company that supports owners AFTER the purchase as GD does and continues to do. 2nd to none. For that reason alone, I will always recommend Grand Design and not think twice about buying another Grand Design product.

True, but when those guys started Keystone it was that way for awhile there also, then along came Thor. They bailed eventually, and started Grand Design. It did not take long and along comes Winnebago. As they gain market share, and if they can keep gaining on it, that great customer support could very well go by the wayside, so I would not bet the farm on it continuing forever.

Sooner or later there will be an economic bump, probably sooner rather than later, and the players in the RV Industry with the smaller market share are going to be the first to go down. The RV Industry will be where the fallout happens first as it always has when the economy burps. The ones that come out of the dust when it happens, will be making changes to everything just to survive, and they'll be cutting costs anywhere possible to survive.

Thor and Forest River have around 80+% market share, all the others including Winnebago / Grand Design are scrambling for the crumbs.
RinconVTR
Explorer
Oct 27, 2018
I own a GD Imagine 2800BH.

GD products are no better or worse than others, using the same **** components and fastest assembly techniques and tricks used across the entire RV industry. This is an RV industry issue, not one brand name or another.

The difference in Grand Design is the design layout, color schemes, and CUSTOMER SUPPORT.

There is no other company that supports owners AFTER the purchase as GD does and continues to do. 2nd to none. For that reason alone, I will always recommend Grand Design and not think twice about buying another Grand Design product.