Grand Design vs Montana

[LSmith6749]

Would appreciate any advice form 5th wheel owners. About to buy our first RV 5th Wheel and have it narrowed down to a 38' Grand Design Solitude or a 37' Montana Luxury Model.

Looking for praise and or complaints for each or both.

Thanks in advance

[LSmith6749]

I appreciate everyone's reply to this post. All were very helpful.... especially " goducks10 " .

We bought a 2018 365RL Vilano by Vanleigh.

Once again, thanks to all who responded!

[oakmandan]

We sell the Solitude where I work, very nice 5th wheel.

[WTP-GC]

We just picked up our Grand Design Reflection, so we certainly can't speak to the long term quality of the unit. We chose this unit due to the floor plan and based on excellent customer experiences we read online for Grand Design (including the GD owner's forum that's reference earlier). Right off the bat, I found a few issues, but nothing notable. I'm the type that will spend a few dollars and time to fix an issue long before I drag it to the dealer for warranty repair, so the couple issues I found are of no real consequence.

We bought this unit from a large RV dealer that carries more brands and models that you could even imagine exists. However, when I was having a totally offline conversation with a service tech at this dealer, just trying to pick his brain, he said that Grand Design has the lowest number of warranty claims in their shop than any of the other brands. In fact, he was in the process of procuring a new GD Solitude for himself. In his words, the ratio is like 1 to 15 (GD vs. Forest River brands) in terms of what he sees come through the shop.

For the record, Montana (and others) do not have a floor plan that suited us. We started by finding the floor plan we wanted, then tried to select the best manufacturer. We had it narrowed down between GD and Jayco, and we're happy with our choice.

[jimandlaurie]

We have a 2013 Montana 3750fl... we know owners of both the Solitude and Montana FL's, and compared comments good and bad . We plan to upgrade and have stepped into both rigs and explored and " got the feel" in regards of our comfort, It is a matter of individual choice ,but given the features and comfort of the layout for us,. we are giving the Montana our blessing

[TxGearhead]

I think the RV's are very close to each other. I would lean maybe towards Grand Design based on forum stories of better customer service.
The dealer is the deal breaker. There is a huge dealer in Texas that has stores in Katy, League City, Willis, Mesquite,and El Paso. They are good at sales but my experience is they are incompetent at service. If you get a decent price from them, plan on terrible service under warranty. After warranty I found a long established RV service only shop to repair mine.
Just me, but for the money you spend on a new 5th you can get a used better heavier built DRV, Landmark, etc. That's my next move, if there is one.

[Aridon]

Very happy thus far with our Grand Design. The owner forum is an amazing resource.

[john_bet]

We had an '05 Montana model 2955 for 12 years. Traded it last May for a GS model 337RLS. This my thoughts. Each have the same Lippert frame, each have close to the same stove, frig, water pump, water heater, microwave,furnace,electrical distribution system,leveling system and put together on a fast assembly line by humans. The dealer and the company behind the dealer will make a difference in how you like either one. Pick the one you think suites you best and go. Good Luck.

[Flintstones]

We just bought a Grand Design Solitude 375RES, after four bunkhouse fifth wheels, we were ready for a rear living room unit.
Very happy with the unit, fit and finish is excellent, the appliances, furniture, lighting, and overall build quality is excellent. On the outside the decals, the roofing, and again the fit and finish is excellent. Lots of personalized service from our dealer as well as calls from the factory rep during the buying process, and after as well.

I like being part of the "Grand Design Family", lots of positive feedback on many rv sites about excellent customer care/service after the sale be it a Solitude, a Reflection, a Momentum, or Imagine.

Not so sure this can be said of Montana, part of Keystone, owned by Thor. There was a nightmare of a thread about a Montana a while ago and another currently about an Avalanche by Keystone.

[dpgllg]

We purchased a Grand Design Reflection 5th wheel last year and we love it.

Issues so far:

Bathroom door required some adjusting to get it to stay latched. Fixed myself.

Discovered factory installed battery disconnect does not kill power to everything. Battery drained very quickly in storage. Fixed by adding my own disconnect to kill all power.

Discovered that rear of 5th wheel is inaccesible when the passanger side slide is in. Our fault as we fell in love with the floor plan while all slides were out. Just never thought about putting the slides in. The only time it is a problem is when we overnight I must park where putting out that one slide is not an issue. This is why the battery draining was an issue and required a seperate disconnect.

The Reflection is step below the Solutide but as I said my wife and I have been very happy with our purchase.

Dave

[cummins2014]

BB_TX wrote:
Montana Owners have a very active forum just for those owners. Most owners are very happy with theirs. And, of course, some have had some issues. Great people and good place to ask questions and get help. My Montana has been as trouble free as I could have ever hoped for. But it is s 2007 model (bought new in July 2007) so not necessarily representative of new ones. Montana has been the #1 selling 5er for 16 years so you are likely to get more comments, good and bad, about it than any other brand.

Can’t speak for the Solitude.

That about sums it up for me also. bought my Montana in the fall of 2007 ,a 2008 model. Couldn't be happier with it.

[goducks10]

I'd look an Vanleigh.

[topjimmy]

Either one is a good choice in the early years (2012) of the Solitude I did not like them because they "cheaped" out on way too many things compared to Montana like pin boxes, suspensions, only 10inch frames, cheap Tv's/sound systems,no rear cap,no central vac system,or ceiling fans etc.... but since Winnebago bought them out they have stepped it up and now I think it is a toss up Cool thing about Montana is that they have like 25 floor plans something for everybody but anyway pick a floor plan you like GD Solitude or Montana Legacy and buy from a good Dealer and Enjoy ,I have had 3 Montana's and all of them have been good 5er's my friend has a GD Solitude he likes his too with very little issues

[Splashers3]

We have friends in our local RV Club that HAD a Montana Front Living model and after a year they got rid of it.

We also had a friend with one of the bigger Solitude models and she loved it! We was full timing in it.

To the OP, Good Luck with your decision. We are expecting to pick up our 2019 Cedar Creek Hathaway Edition, with several bells & Whistles, in about 3 weeks.

[WE-C-USA]

Grand Design Owners have a very active forum just for those owners. Most owners are very happy with theirs. And, of course, some have had some issues. Great people and good place to ask questions and get help. My Grand Design Reflection has been as trouble free as I could have ever hoped for.

https://www.granddesignowners.com/forum/forum.php