Grand Design Imagine

[TurnThePage]

https://www.granddesignrv.com/imagine-overview.php

This is their newer light line of trailers. Anybody familiar with them? I already notice they have some features that I'm not very fond of, but can be upgraded easily enough, like plastic sinks and faucets. I know they are aluminum framed except for the roof which is still wood, which doesn't bother me. But what is the floor made from? What kind of trailer frame do they have? They sport the "Extended Stay" seal just like other GD RVs. Wonder what that actually applies to? They are pretty darned light and have a couple floorplans I really like.

On a side note, how are the aluminum structures attached to the steel frames on RVs in general? Are they isolated from each other to prevent corrosion?

[Lantley]

goducks10 wrote:

Mike Up wrote:
My dealer started carrying this Grand Designs. DO NOT like this brand. Poor build quality, cheap interior treatments, and the worst none functional floorplans. I've looked mainly at 5ers, but a few TTs.

Guess others like it, otherwise they won't be in business long.

Exact opposite of what I've seen. No they're not the flashiest but who cares. GDs sales have been stellar for a startup company. I've walked thru quite a few and found the quality to be on par with everything else out there. In fact there are higher priced units that feel cheaper.
I don't get your floor plan criticism. They have the same floor plans as the rest. They all have the same. I do have a few issue with them but they're purely subjective. I don't care for the furniture, but I don't care for most RV furniture either. They are real heavy on Lippert and Furrion. But so are lots of other brands. They only have one color option for interiors. It would be nice to have another 1-2 choices like the rest of the RV market. I also don't care for the exterior looks. KInd of bland. Not looking for crazy toy hauler graphics, just a little more flair. Like I said those are subjective. I'm sure there's a new look coming in a year or two. Probably best to keep things simple at 1st.

I agree Gran Design has a very positive reputation. Post I read from owners are generally positive. GD seems to provide very good customer service

[goducks10]

Mike Up wrote:
My dealer started carrying this Grand Designs. DO NOT like this brand. Poor build quality, cheap interior treatments, and the worst none functional floorplans. I've looked mainly at 5ers, but a few TTs.

Guess others like it, otherwise they won't be in business long.

Exact opposite of what I've seen. No they're not the flashiest but who cares. GDs sales have been stellar for a startup company. I've walked thru quite a few and found the quality to be on par with everything else out there. In fact there are higher priced units that feel cheaper.
I don't get your floor plan criticism. They have the same floor plans as the rest. They all have the same. I do have a few issue with them but they're purely subjective. I don't care for the furniture, but I don't care for most RV furniture either. They are real heavy on Lippert and Furrion. But so are lots of other brands. They only have one color option for interiors. It would be nice to have another 1-2 choices like the rest of the RV market. I also don't care for the exterior looks. KInd of bland. Not looking for crazy toy hauler graphics, just a little more flair. Like I said those are subjective. I'm sure there's a new look coming in a year or two. Probably best to keep things simple at 1st.

[TurnThePage]

Mike Up wrote:
My dealer started carrying this Grand Designs. DO NOT like this brand. Poor build quality, cheap interior treatments, and the worst none functional floorplans. I've looked mainly at 5ers, but a few TTs.

Guess others like it, otherwise they won't be in business long.

When you say "build quality", what are you referring to? Materials? Workmanship? I haven't looked at their fivers or even their larger travel trailers, but I did look an Imagine model. It appeared to fit squarely in the market it was meant for. I have no problem with the materials aside from some plastic fittings here and there. Doors, cabinets, drawers all appeared square, sturdy, secure and worked as desired. I love the floor plans. They have large bathrooms, roomier bedrooms, and lots of open space in the living area compared to almost any other model in their similar weight/length class. The only real drawback is the bedroom is not accessible if the slide is in. But the bathroom is! It has a sliding door that keeps it out of the way of the slide mechanism. The TV is mounted across from the seating, not at a right angle. I saw no glaring flaws, not even any sawdust in the cracks and crevasses.

[_tiredTeacher]

Last month's Trailer Life did a spread on the Imagine.

[Mike_Up]

My dealer started carrying this Grand Designs. DO NOT like this brand. Poor build quality, cheap interior treatments, and the worst none functional floorplans. I've looked mainly at 5ers, but a few TTs.

Guess others like it, otherwise they won't be in business long.

[TurnThePage]

I agree the interiors do look a little severe. But I really like the floor plans. Couldn't find a Bullet that compared. And I'm confident that they would be easy enough to warm up with a little decorative finesse.

Still need to find out their cargo capacity too. Can't believe that's not referenced somewhere!

[temccarthy1]

Don't like the interior décor.... too cold and commercial looking. super dark cabinetry and white walls... not warm at all.. Take a look at the Bullet line of Ultralights. We have a 2014 and have had ZERO issues with it in the year we have used it.. Beautiful, luxurious interior, lots of features, with under 6000 lbs with TW of 600. And that is a 30 footer!You can get smaller with weights under 5000. Have seen only positive reviews on this forum from Bullet owners. Check them out!

[TurnThePage]

So I looked at one today. Pretty nice! It was about 25F with snow on the ground so I didn't linger. Observations: interior is nice. Fit and finish was very nice. The "drop frame" access to the forward storage is nice, easily allowing room to stow even a large generator or tall cooler. It looked like a 6cft fridge versus 8 for some of the competition, but the stainless touches looked good. Reasonably roomy front bedroom. The decals on the front had obvious overlaps, which is probably ok once I'm not looking at it. A previous poster observed that the floor is likely the typical sandwich with foam board in the middle. Couldn't argue with that, but it was firm everywhere I could test. Ground clearance is not all that great but doable. My younger self would find the ground clearance a show stopper, my older self, meh.. probably ok. I've probably forgotten a few details. Sorry.

[JoeyIVI]

My wife and I recently purchased an Imagine 2800BH and are extremely happy with it. I really like the thought that went into the design. And I must say their customer service is second to none.

[bid_time]

It says "Laminated Aluminum Framed Floor" in the brochure. That pretty much means it's the typical sandwich construction, luan glued to Styrofoam.

[TurnThePage]

Looks like that forum might be ok, but... maybe the Imagine line is still just too new.

[is_it_friday_ye]

Grand Design owners forum has all the information you probably need on their products. I joined the forum after buying our Grand Design 328M. Grand Design customer service also monitors the site.

[Tiger8r]

Purely a SWAG but the floor is probably 5/8" plywood, and the aluminum frame is set on top of the floor then all three components are through bolted together. There is probably a wooden floor frame between the floor and running framework.