Buying new RV

[Leon T]

Having owned 4 new travel trailers/5th wheels over the years I second the GD nomination. Had issues with the other 3 trailers (Fleetwood, Jayco and Gulf Stream) that I had to go back to the dealer for multiple times, and one had to go back to the factory for a bad floor (they made me haul it to Riverside, CA from Tucson, AZ for repairs).

I have only had a few issues with the GD. One guy at the factory did lie to me and said he was going to send me a part that he never sent. I followed up a few weeks later and was told by a different person "You have to go to the dealership for that part. We don't send out parts." I ended up buying the part on Amazon. But I had a decal that started spider-webbing under warranty, ignored it, then asked for a replacement when my trailer was out of warranty and they sent me a new decal, which I appreciated.

We've been RV'ing for 30 years and overall, the GD is the best product we've owned with the best service. Even with the factory rep lying to me about the part, it's still heads and tails above any of the others I've had to deal with over the years.

We looked at Montanas and Heartlands the last few times we bought new, and my opinion is that they are both very overrated (not the layout, but the overall quality, price for what you get, etc.) FWIW.

[z71Silverado]

If you are wanting to do an extended stay or go full time... Grand Design does welcome this and does not void your warranty for doing so.

All 3 Thor products you mentioned have the limited and structural warranty voided if the RVs are used for business, rental, residential, commercial, or disaster relief purposes, or any purposes other than recreational travel and family camping.

Keystone's Alpine - Page 16 on PDF (Page 10) https://www.keystonerv.com/media/914...anual-2019.pdf

Heartland's Bighorn & Big Country - Page 8 PDF (Page 6) https://heartlandrvs.com/pdf/2019-owners-manual.pdf

Grand Design's Solitude - Page 26 PDF (Page 24) https://www.granddesignrv.com/sites/...al-01.2018.pdf

Any recreational vehicle used for rental, business, commercial, residential (the residential limitation shall
not apply to the Big Horn, Big Country, or Landmark brands), extended living, disaster relief purposes, any
purposes other than recreational travel and family camping, or any recreational vehicle titled or registered in the
name of a business entity;

[z71Silverado]

The Grand Design factory does a really nice job of standing behind their products, often, even after they're out of warranty. I would suggest that anything a salesman or dealership tells you to verify and confirm it with actual owners here or on FB.

I get the list of RV recalls every week and I can tell you that Keystone and Heartland has more recalls than Grand Design. Some RV mfgs. are on that list every couple of weeks for various models but I believe (if my memory serves me right) GD has only been on the list three times this past year and it was for small issues.

I do not work for Grand Design, a dealership or any other RV related business but we are full timers and have been all over the nation and ocean to ocean (literally). GD builds a very nice product in the price range.

This is great to hear. I am also researching full timing in a FW. I have found more good than bad with GD.

[cleazenby]

Any recreational vehicle used for rental, business, commercial, residential (the residential limitation shall
not apply to the Big Horn, Big Country, or Landmark brands), extended living, disaster relief purposes, any
purposes other than recreational travel and family camping, or any recreational vehicle titled or registered in the
name of a business entity;

How did I miss that? Thank you...

[WileyS]

We have decided on the Solitude 373FB. We signed the papers last night. We are very excited to start this next phase in our lives. Thanks for all the suggestions and recommendations. I made a spreadsheet up with many of the attributes that I read about and went through each coach with a fine tooth comb. The salesmen and sales managers, were probably sick of seeing us, but we were not going to make an uninformed decision.

Thanks again!
Wiley and Shelley

[Heavy Half Ton]

Any recreational vehicle used for rental, business, commercial, residential (the residential limitation shall
not apply to the Big Horn, Big Country, or Landmark brands), extended living, disaster relief purposes, any
purposes other than recreational travel and family camping, or any recreational vehicle titled or registered in the
name of a business entity;

Not a lawdog, what is the difference between residential and extended living? Seems like a mighty fine line.

[z71Silverado]

How exciting, Congrats!

[bertschb]

We have decided on the Solitude 373FB.

Good choice @WileyS

The 373FB is a great floor plan. We ordered ours last month and can't wait for it to arrive!

[kevinpo]

Wiley and Shelley,
Beautiful choice! Congratulations. Be sure to post some pictures when you can.

Regards,
Kevin