jim1521 wrote:
I purchased a 2016 Grand Design Reflections 313RLTS. It's the make, model, floor plan, size, and even color that we wanted. It is in near-showroom shape (front cap has some scuffs from run in with some tree branches). Other than that it's great. I went over it with a fine tooth comb one Sunday at the dealership. Even brought my own Sherline tongue weight scale to verify numbers. There wasn't a thing wrong with it. The trailer must have been built on a Tuesday or a Wednesday because everything fits, works, slides, stops, rolls, and squats just like it's supposed to.
And I saved $21,000 by buying it instead of new. I bought it for $29,000 +++
Now the ones that might have been built on a Monday morning or a Friday afternoon may have been another story altogether, but this one of mine is built perfect.
My point is it all comes down not just to the company, but the pride in workmanship of the person signing off on that QA slip.
What QA slip? QA and QC are lip service in the RV Industry. Plenty of claims on websites and brochures is all. In my prior long winded post, that unit was a Forest River Rockwood Roo 23WS, the same as we ultimatly purchased. It was built on a Wednesday by the way. The day it arrived at the dealer they allowed me to inspect it. I brought my own ladder and a tarp.
After all those problems were discovered I had at least 5 conversations with management at the factory. The dealer generated every bit of $5000 worth of required repairs and Rockwood approved all of them. This was on a trailer with an MSRP of 32K which we were paying 19K for. I was actually going to let the dealer do these repairs. 6 weeks later without Rockwood sending the required parts and a few more conversations with factory management, I pulled the plug and demanded either a new one be built or a refund of the hand money we forked over when the order was placed.
Now we had another wait of a little less than 10 weeks and was assured by the factory that this unit would be pulled from the line and inspected in what they call a QC section division pull. Supposedly they have a group that goes to their different brand facilities and pulls a random unit for a going over. It then goes to their much advertised dedicated QC facility that in actuality sees maybe 1% of all units produced. I am probably being generous with 1%. The second unit was night and day better than the 1st so they can build a good one. It still had a few minor issues. It was built on a Friday by the way.
However they lost me for life as a customer when the water tank supports on the 2nd unit failed on the way home after purchase. I had the PDI tech leave it 2/3 full to see how the trailer pulled. Forest River him hawed, pawned it off on Lippert under the component clause, and frame warranty. Lippert would not give a definitive answer as to when they would send a factory tech to the dealership. They wanted us to drop it off at dealer and when their tech was in the area would repair the supports at their convienence. An open ended proposition and Rockwood washed their hands of it. I ended up breaking out the MIG and steel and correcting that issue myself. I added a 2nd tank at the time and doubled the water capacity.
As far as Grand Design I have looked over a good number of their units at shows and on dealer lots and can not see the over and above build quality, fit and finish. I see a lot of the out the door, slap them together mentality on their product also. I have read and have heard first hand from a friend who owns a GD 5er, the support after the sale is outstanding. Forest Rivers support after the sale is more about pawning it off on suppliers and vendors hoping that you give up due to frustration, and just go away. By then the warranty clock has hopefully expired.
Too many geezers, self appointed moderators, experts, and disappearing posts for me. Enjoy. How many times can the same thing be rehashed over and over?
