Trailer Life - Grand Design gets gold

[FlatBroke]

Amazing such a new entry gets this award. Kinda wonder about this? Guess I'll have to look at one even though I'm not in the market.

[HighSpeedAlumin]

I'll agree with a lot of the above posts. My grand design is not perfect but it was right for us. The interior/exterior looks clean and not cheap. The insulation works well. 28 degrees outside and didn't need the propane furnace! I've had several warranty issues and GD has taken care of the problems promptly with no hassle. We have been in our unit >150 days this year and 7000 miles traveled and the warranty issues were all manufacturer issues they should have caught at the dealership or factory, But the issues were repaired promptly by local repair shops. For example, the dealership overfilled the propane tanks and oil got in the regulator, but GD took care of it easily. We bought our unit in May and pray the next big trip goes as smooth as the last. Cheers!

[doug1193]

Remember, The TL award is the Reader's Choice Award.

[topjimmy]

Nobody said they were not any good..Take it easy Coach-man,some us said they were just lacking some things compared to the competition (I will not list them all again) but that does not make them Bad 5er's, my friends are happy with their GD's and they do have good customer service and that is nice but most of us just want more "Bang for the Buck"than GD offers and I think they will in time as Folks on GD's Owners Forum are asking for those improvements as well so you can quit YELLING Now O.K.?:R

Coach-man wrote:
Gran Design NEVER stated or claimed to be the most perfect RV manufacturer! They claimed to be one of the best Customer Service manufacturers!! Any, I repeat ANY RV is going to have "issues" weather it is a $30K unit or a $230K unit, what really matters is how the company treats its customers! Yes everyone is entightled to their opinions, but to read some of these posts is enlightening! Almost, "well we did not buy one so of course they can not be any good ..."! Grand Design are what they claim to be, a Great Customer Service company!!!

[Coach-man]

Gran Design NEVER stated or claimed to be the most perfect RV manufacturer! They claimed to be one of the best Customer Service manufacturers!! Any, I repeat ANY RV is going to have "issues" weather it is a $30K unit or a $230K unit, what really matters is how the company treats its customers! Yes everyone is entightled to their opinions, but to read some of these posts is enlightening! Almost, "well we did not buy one so of course they can not be any good ..."! Grand Design are what they claim to be, a Great Customer Service company!!!

[wilber1]

A year and a half in, we have been happy with ours. Not perfect of course. Materials and components are pretty standard for the price range. Some components could definitely be better but like every other manufacturer they are shooting for a price point. Fit and finish on ours was excellent and along with the layout and how its size matched our camping style and truck capacity made it our choice.

Grand Design's response to any problems we have had has been excellent, In our experience they do return phone calls and follow things up. They also seem to be quite receptive to making changes as a result of feedback from the owners forum. Costs permitting of course.

goducks 10's last comment is right on though. We accept quality control from RV manufacturers that we would never accept from a motor vehicle or any other manufacturer. But if they were built that well, most of us couldn't afford them.

[roadking59]

minnow wrote:
I own one and it's OK. Great customer service on a couple of issues I've had. They sent parts directly to my home. Using better quality components and more attention to construction would of alleviated them needing to send me parts in the first place. However for what it cost, it's a pretty good fifth wheel.

Looking at the T.L. list of "Gold" there are several other categories I saw of winners that I wouldn't be caught dead patronizing. So that list of their's needs to seen for what it is.

I concur...The electronics and some corner cutting bring the quality down a notch...But their service is hard to beat...Hope they can keep it up.

[pcm1959]

I find TL magazine to be very "glossy". I quit subscribing to it many years ago finding it mostly advertisements and very little in-depth info.
I find it interesting that you will find full page ads for product lines either just before or just after the featured article. All the car magazines do the same thing. Do you really think the magazines are going to be very critical of the featured items when manufactures spend $$$$$ advertising that product in their magazines? I don't.
This is not to say that GD is not a decent product, in fact, most on the forums rave about theirs AND the customer service they receive. That's great!!!
BUT, GD always has full page ads in TL magazine, too.

[goducks10]

On the flip side Keystone won 11 Circle of Quality Awards. Some will say Keystone is horrible and others say they're great. I think with any brand out there it's a **** shoot. And it's a sign of the lack of QC in the RV industry. It's too bad that you have to be proud of how warranty work gets done as opposed to never having to have it done.

http://www.rvbusiness.com/2015/12/keystone-honored-with-11-quality-circle-awards/

[colliehauler]

minnow wrote:
I own one and it's OK. Great customer service on a couple of issues I've had. They sent parts directly to my home. Using better quality components and more attention to construction would of alleviated them needing to send me parts in the first place. However for what it cost, it's a pretty good fifth wheel.

Looking at the T.L. list of "Gold" there are several other categories I saw of winners that I wouldn't be caught dead patronizing. So that list of their's needs to seen for what it is.

Like I said earlier it just means the most people responded for that item, not that it's the best. I agree several categories I would not purchase as well.

I feel the true mark of a good RV is when people are still happy with it ten years down the road.

[minnow]

I own one and it's OK. Great customer service on a couple of issues I've had. They sent parts directly to my home. Using better quality components and more attention to construction would of alleviated them needing to send me parts in the first place. However for what it cost, it's a pretty good fifth wheel.

Looking at the T.L. list of "Gold" there are several other categories I saw of winners that I wouldn't be caught dead patronizing. So that list of their's needs to seen for what it is.

[ol_Bombero-JC]

Gsport wrote:
I love how the ones that DON'T own one has so much to say. Everything they say is second hand as far as I'm concerned. I've had my Solitude for almost three years and couldn't be happier. We just got back from a two month, 10,113 mile, 38 state road trip. My biggest problem, I broke off the foot pedal on the toilet. And now snow birding in Arizona till April.
I surely wouldn't be bad mouthing the other brands just because I didn't have one.

The grand design of "things":

Owners/lurkers may or may not "bad mouth", but for sure.....
Trailer Life is *NOT* going to "bad mouth" *ANY brand!..:S

Don't have one, and TL's award (or whatever) wouldn't influence my decision whether to purchase (any brand) or not.

Hope that those are happy - stay happy.
Hope those that have problems - get them resolved to their satisfaction!..:C

~

[Coach-man]

Read the threads, ALL manufacturers have issues, some more than others! The point is what happens to you the consumer after you have spent your money? Grand Design has demonstrated over and over again, that they care about the people who have spent their money on a Grand Design product! Weather you like or dislike a particular feature is not the issue. That is your choice, but at least here on this topic Grand Design deserves the accolades given!

[alboy]

I doubt most owners would complain if the Mfgs would step up and look after the customer, as it would appear GD does.Great service goes a long way in my book.

[goducks10]

Just go read the GD owners forum. There's 1st hand knowledge there. They have just as many or just as few issues as the rest. Depends on who is replying at the time the question about quality is asked.