Grand Design Solitude

[ford_truck_guy]

My buddy is getting out of his TT and taking the leap into the dark side... He is really liking the Solitude, and planned to put a down payment over the next few days . .

I have not paid much attention to the quality on here, what is the take on them now????

We looked with them on Saturday, and I liked what I saw... BUT didn't really get into the deep depths of the RV......

[Hammerboy]

TXiceman wrote:
Seems that the original trailers were pretty good and the customer service was great and they fixed problem. Later on, the QC and service started to suffer. I do not know how things have gone since Winnebago bought them.

Ken

When a company is new it's easy to offer top notch service when there are only a few of them out there. Fast forward a few years when there are many times more units out there and the popularity grows the top notch service is almost always unsustainable. Often companies continue to reaps the rewards of past reputations - good or bad.

Dan

[GDS-3950BH]

jdb7566 wrote:
IMO, quality control is lacking at Grand Design. My last GD product was a 2019 Solitude S-Class. I had a number of issues due to quality control and dumped the trailer. Garbage tangled up in a slide mechanism, fried wiring to the refer, and the list goes on. These items were covered under warranty, but I fulltime.

Same experience here with a 2020 Solitude 3950BH, and we don't fulltime, I could only imagine the headaches if we did so. We dumped it after a season of use.

It spent months either at dealer of factory due to frame and running gear related issues, and had so many other issues it would take an hour to list. For a year and a half I chased leaks in plumbing and body, dicor and caulk was a must have along with lots of sharkbites. Things would fall apart while sitting in the yard. One time we found the microwave and it's cabinet on the floor that happened while the rig sat for 2 months, the whole mess was held up by 3 stripped screws and a few misplaced staples. The power connector burnt to a crisp due to loose lugs almost taking the whole thing with it, would have been good if it did..

It was by far the worst purchase made out of 5 trailers or 5ers over the course of 18 years, including a previous Grand Design product. Absolute junk at inflated prices. Better customer service my ass. If you buy one carry lots of tools, you'll need them.

[TXiceman]

Seems that the original trailers were pretty good and the customer service was great and they fixed problem. Later on, the QC and service started to suffer. I do not know how things have gone since Winnebago bought them.

Ken

[work2much]

Our 2020 Solitude 2930RL has had issues. Nothing I couldn't fix myself but I pack a lot of tools. Bad wiring, trim and cabinet panels falling off, door hardware, leaking PEX piping, heater ducts with leaks... If we had to drag it to a dealer for every issue I'm not sure how many nights we would have slept in it over the last year.

Honestly I don't know if things are any better with other manufacturers in the price range of the mainline manufacturers.

In the nexts 2-5 years we are going to pull the plug on a New Horizons and have a bigger role in the manufacture of our FT home and hopefully a trailer built by a company not 100% driven by profit via the number of units they can pump out...

[jdb7566]

IMO, quality control is lacking at Grand Design. My last GD product was a 2019 Solitude S-Class. I had a number of issues due to quality control and dumped the trailer. Garbage tangled up in a slide mechanism, fried wiring to the refer, and the list goes on. These items were covered under warranty, but I fulltime.

[Walaby]

Have had my GD Reflection for two years now. Only small issues I fixed myself.

Drawer under TV. Drawer slide failed (too much weight). Replaced myself.
Schwintek slide controller failure. Lippert sent me a new one free of charge.

They do use the same components as everyone else, so nothing better or worse there in my opinion.

Mike

[Ron3rd]

We love our new to us 2018 Solitude 310GK. Go to the Grand Design forum at mygrandrv.com for real info, good and bad, not the usual bs you get here how all rvs are junk and basically the same. None are perfect but this would be the last forum I would go for advice on Grand Design.

[Second_Chance]

topjimmy wrote:
Go for it they are no better or worse than any other brand out there like was said same workers as other companies same appliances pretty much the same construction YADA YADA YADA just do a good P.D.I and cross your Fingers i have had a friend that has 2 of them a early one 2012 and a newer one and he said since Winnabego bought them The Customer service like they had before is Gone ....SHOCKER

We have owned a "pre-Winnebago" and a "post-Winnebago." Winnebago is not involved in the day-to-day operations of Grand Design and we have not found the very good customer service to have changed at all with the acquisition. BTW, the Winnebago acquisition of Grand Design happened in 2016...

Rob

[Michelle_S]

They got good marks for Customer Service when they first started, I've read that has good down since the buy out by Winnebago.
Friends a few sites down from us at our Winter Park have a 2015 or '16 Solitude and have had nothing but issues, three for four ACs, leak in the slide wall that required pulling the slide to re-build the floor. Seems Mobile Service is there numerous times each season. BUT we all know that can happen with any brand.

[topjimmy]

Go for it they are no better or worse than any other brand out there like was said same workers as other companies same appliances pretty much the same construction YADA YADA YADA just do a good P.D.I and cross your Fingers i have had a friend that has 2 of them a early one 2012 and a newer one and he said since Winnabego bought them The Customer service like they had before is Gone ....SHOCKER

[Second_Chance]

We have been full-time in a Solitude since February of last year. Prior to that, we were full-time in a Grand Design Reflection fifth wheel for 4-1/2 years. We like the brand and they have lived up to their reputation for customer service on more than one occasion. That said, the build is not that much different that any other mid-price-point towable RV. They all use the same appliances and components made by a few manufacturers (refrigerators, furnaces, ACs, etc.) and the only issues we've had with either of our GD RVs were with those vendor-supplied components. GD quickly stepped up to the plate and remedied the situation.

There is a very good forum of/for Grand Design RV owners where your friend can get a lot of feedback (if he's not already on it). Google "my grand rv."

Rob