Thor/Heartland buys out DRV

[Travlingman]

Heartland buys DRV

Wonder what the changes will be?

[Cummins12V98]

I pulled into Rolling Retreats the day Thor announced the sale. I drove from NW WA to to Elk City, OK to order a MS/Elite from Alicia since she has a stellar record on the Mobile suites Forum. She is not worried and thinks it will be a plus for the DRV product.

After owning our 07.5 36SB3 for just over 3 years and full timing the whole time we decided to come up with a order based on our very detailed specifications. Alicia was great, everytime they said they could not do something she did not give up and we finally came up with the RV we want to own for the next 10 years or ???

[ricatic]

neal10a wrote:

kakampers wrote:

justme wrote:
Let me guess who the brand loyalists are 😉

Pretty much everyone who likes what they own...:)

Yes, most RV's are great as well as those who build them. However, brand loyalists get extreme like the Hitler Youth Movement. As far as the beloved Landmark, I don't think they are any better or worse than any other 5th wheel in their price point. As far as Heartland is concerned, I don't think they provide any better service than most other manufacturers. So please stop the salse pitch and promotions, we have all heard them before.

Yes...you can "think" as you do but there are some other facts about Heartland Service that you may have glossed over...no sales pitch but here are a couple of document able fact:

Heartland recognizes the industry wide fact that dealership ethics and quality when it comes to service and warranty are not where they should be. Heartland will allow any owner to take his RV to any qualified dealership they choose if the dealership they were using proves to be below standards. This has been reported many times here by Heartland Owners. Heartland only require notification from the owner and the dealer so they know who is going to be billing for the repair.

While this fact may not satisfy some of the more adamant Heartland bashers, it has been well documented here and elsewhere that Heartland will ship parts to an owner, no charge when within warranty period, to install.No, they do not pay owner labor but that has not stopped many satisfied Heartland owners to do small repairs themselves.

I have not heard of other manufacturers that extend those above mentioned courtesies. Maybe there is one out there somewhere...

Heartland's exemplary service to owners has been well documented on many sites.Remember, all service calls start with an owner contacting the dealer or Heartland directly. The demeanor and presentation of the owner makes a huge difference on how the person being contacted reacts to the caller. Too many owners forget that it pays to be nice, respectful and to present the request in a courteous fashion...it may not be fair...but it a fact...and many of the unhappy owners failed to recognize this...

Regards

[lynndiwagon]

Neal, just curious, why would you use that particular comparison example in your above post?

[RustyJC]

The frame DRV Luxury Suites specifies for the Mobile & Elite Suites is a 15" tall triple stacked rectangular box-section frame. It consists of 2 each 6"x2" sections and 1 each 3"x2" section - details HERE. In over 10 years of ownership of 2 Mobile Suites (a 2004 36RE3 and our current 2014.5 38RSSA), we've never had any structural problems; the frame design is one of the primary reasons we own a DRV Mobile Suites.

To each his own, I suppose.....

Rusty

[kakampers]

TXiceman wrote:

kakampers wrote:

TXiceman wrote:
1/8" gap in the crown molding is totally unacceptable. Our 2013 HH Champagne has no gaps and it does not have a Lippert frame.

Ken

Our Landmark has no gaps either...but does have a Lippert frame as does the DRV...your point?

Sloppy trim work is not acceptable from any manufacturer, especially the ones claiming to be full-time units. we have looked at the Big Horn and Landmark units and were not impressed with the overall quality.

Sloppy welds which I have seen on many Lippert frames are generally an indication of poor quality frames.

My point is gaps in trim or welding is not acceptable. NuWa tried Lippert frames for a short time and had lots of problems and went back to the Young's Welding he had used in the past.

Ken

That's funny...one of the first dealers we looked at years ago carried Nuwa....we looked at several on the lot. Trim laying on the floor, cabinet edges unfinished, etc. Never looked at the frames...we'd seen enough inside and left....guess they all can have a bad day or two...

[The_Mad_Norsky]

kakampers wrote:

The Mad Norsky wrote:
Lippert frame. Well, there are other brands.

Good luck with that...they are getting fewer and fewer...;)

Problem with RV's, if we care to be honest and admit it, is that quality is generally lacking in almost all of them, no matter the manufacturer.

However, this does not excuse the seeming industry standard now of going through a frame supplier with known quality issues.

I can think offhand of at least five that still do make their own frames. So that helps narrow my search down for a new fiver.

[TXiceman]

kakampers wrote:

TXiceman wrote:
1/8" gap in the crown molding is totally unacceptable. Our 2013 HH Champagne has no gaps and it does not have a Lippert frame.

Ken

Our Landmark has no gaps either...but does have a Lippert frame as does the DRV...your point?

Sloppy trim work is not acceptable from any manufacturer, especially the ones claiming to be full-time units. we have looked at the Big Horn and Landmark units and were not impressed with the overall quality.

Sloppy welds which I have seen on many Lippert frames are generally an indication of poor quality frames.

My point is gaps in trim or welding is not acceptable. NuWa tried Lippert frames for a short time and had lots of problems and went back to the Young's Welding he had used in the past.

Ken

[kakampers]

The Mad Norsky wrote:

kakampers wrote:

TXiceman wrote:
1/8" gap in the crown molding is totally unacceptable. Our 2013 HH Champagne has no gaps and it does not have a Lippert frame.

Ken

Our Landmark has no gaps either...but does have a Lippert frame as does the DRV...your point?

Gee, and here I was gonna go look at the Landmark. Nice looking fiver with a lot more features than I had imagined.

Lippert frame. Well, there are other brands.

Good luck with that...they are getting fewer and fewer...;)

[willutfid]

We'd heard good things about Heartland before purchasing our 2013 Landmark - but unlike some others posting here, we had TERRIBLE experiences dealing with Heartland customer service. For that reason, I'm not sure we'd purchase another Thor/Heartland product.

[The_Mad_Norsky]

kakampers wrote:

TXiceman wrote:
1/8" gap in the crown molding is totally unacceptable. Our 2013 HH Champagne has no gaps and it does not have a Lippert frame.

Ken

Our Landmark has no gaps either...but does have a Lippert frame as does the DRV...your point?

Gee, and here I was gonna go look at the Landmark. Nice looking fiver with a lot more features than I had imagined.

Lippert frame. Well, there are other brands.

[kakampers]

Ford Man wrote:

kakampers wrote:

Ford Man wrote:
I had someone comment on my Chocolate Full Body Paint Landmark one time. You can polish a "Turd all you want to but you still have a Turd".

Sorry you had so many small issues with your Landmark...but our 2013 has been the complete opposite...good luck with your next purchase.

I think we bought these Landmarks about the same time.

We did...

[Ford_Man]

kakampers wrote:

Ford Man wrote:
I had someone comment on my Chocolate Full Body Paint Landmark one time. You can polish a "Turd all you want to but you still have a Turd".

Sorry you had so many small issues with your Landmark...but our 2013 has been the complete opposite...good luck with your next purchase.

I think we bought these Landmarks about the same time.

[kakampers]

Ford Man wrote:
I had someone comment on my Chocolate Full Body Paint Landmark one time. You can polish a "Turd all you want to but you still have a Turd".

Sorry you had so many small issues with your Landmark...but our 2013 has been the complete opposite...good luck with your next purchase.

[Ford_Man]

I had someone comment on my Chocolate Full Body Paint Landmark one time. You can polish a "Turd all you want to but you still have a Turd".

[Ford_Man]

ChopperBill wrote:

Ford Man wrote:

roadking59 wrote:
I will ever buy another Heartland product.

Me either. Too many little problems.

Keep mentioning "little" problems. What are they? Day night shade string broke? Door hinge loose? Faucet leaking? Light bulb burn out? Let's here it.

Well the list is so long it would take me for ever to type it on here. But a few things like others mentioned were crown molding cut at a 90 and came loose, skirt around the wheel cracked last winter it was still under warranty, trim on the from shrunk up and had to be repainted, dining room table fell apart, when u put the kitchen slide out in the refrigerator would go off and kick a breaker (I read on line what the problem was with that floorplan and had to tell the dealer how to fix it), bedroom slide wood at the floor came off i fixed myself, water leaks at all faucets when new, remote never did work right to operate exterior items with, 3 upper doors fell off, I keep thinking of things and know I have missed alot. Had a huge list during the initial PDI. I have owned 3 Montanas and the quality of the Montana is much better than the Landmark. Trading back for a new Montana Legacy soon.