Grand Design vs Keystone?

All I can tell you is I have a 2010 keystone outback and we’ve been happy with it. It’s had its problems but I don’t think anymore than the rest of them. Most of the problems have been either
my fault or ordinary wear and tear. A couple have been manufacturing defects but that’s about it.

We bought our GD when they were the new kid on the block. GD built its reputation on outstanding service after the sale. When Winnebago bought them GD had explosive growth and introduced new models and product lines. But anecdotal stories seem to indicate the older ones were better built. You can temper that by saying there are many more GD's on the road now and people are more vocal about issues they have posting to social media. I'd buy another GD in a heartbeat and my brother is looking at a GD Solitude.

doghouseman wrote:
From my research it looks like all the good RVs are made on the west coast, but I really need to pick up one on the east coast.

So, i have narrowed down to Grand Design and Keystone. Seems like Grand Design could be "all show and no go" as they say. Keystone seems to make a lot of options, but I am really looking for the best quality.

Any recommendations? Or something high quality on the east coast?

Not sure what you mean by "all the good RVs are made on the West Coast".
There are only a handful of RV brands made out here, with Northwoods Manufacturing, Outdoor RV and maybe Lazy Daze motorhomes being known for the best quality. The other few West Coast RV factories just crank out copies of what's made in Indiana.

I don't know of any other high quality RVs made out here.

Just MY Opinion from reading notes from folks here - - The Grand Design folks are FAR SUPERIOR after the sale than the Keystone folks..

Depends on level of unit. Keystone Montana, Cougar, and a few others are held in high reguard, some others,,,,, not so much. Jayco has a loyal following as does K-Z.
As much as the original build, manufacturer support is what can make the difference, and all I mentioned generally are seen as better than most.

A.B.C. (Anything But Cougar)

We ordered a 2016 Montana with the options we wanted and it has never been back to the dealer. Was it well built or were we lucky. This was the second Keystone unit we have bought new and the first one had no issues either. I would buy another Keystone.

We were 4 yrs. 9 mos. full-time in our Reflection (GD) fifth wheel. Put 36,000 miles on it. We had a few issues, but all were with vendor supplied components like the frig. Grand Design really stepped up to the plate when it came to the few warranty issues and treated us more than fairly. We were happy enough that we ordered a new Solitude this winter and took delivery the end of February (great timing, eh?). The list of warranty issues included a cracked sewer line cap (probably from a rock in transit), and an auto-switching propane regulator with a non-functional indicator. Both were replaced by our dealership immediately. Though we're stuck in one place for a while now with the pandemic, we're really happy with the build quality and materials in the new Solitude and can't wait to hit the road again.

Rob

I've had multiple positive experiences with GD customer service. One was a fix for an out of warranty issue. They have a forum where company officials interact with posters and answer questions and help solve issues. I don't think that their purchase by Winnebago has had a negative impact. My advice is to go with them.

I can’t agree with you on this one ford truck guy. I had to contact them twice. One was a question that only they could answer. One, the one that really mattered, was about bogus charges from the dealer I bought it from. The charges were about $400.00. They apologized profusely and within four hours I had an apology from the owner of the dealership and within 24 hours I had my money back. I was very impressed with how they handled the whole thing.
Maybe I just got lucky.