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  1. #11
    Site Sponsor BeerBrewer's Avatar
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    In the not to distant past many american cars were unreliable nightmares to own and drive, but all that changed when the Japanese entered the US automobile market. They built reliable cars at a reasonable cost and the rest of the industry was forced to follow suit or go out of business. Now it seems to me that most of issues that firefiter236 is having had nothing to do with making making the trailer lite enough or strong enough. They all seem related to someone not having the time to complete their task, they lacked adequate training or frankly they just didn't care. I understand that they have to keep costs down, but having lots of stripped screws, unattached drawer slides, water leaking thru unsealed holes is just unacceptable.

  2. #12
    Seasoned Camper phonemannn's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BeerBrewer View Post
    In the not to distant past many american cars were unreliable nightmares to own and drive, but all that changed when the Japanese entered the US automobile market. They built reliable cars at a reasonable cost and the rest of the industry was forced to follow suit or go out of business. Now it seems to me that most of issues that firefiter236 is having had nothing to do with making making the trailer lite enough or strong enough. They all seem related to someone not having the time to complete their task, they lacked adequate training or frankly they just didn't care. I understand that they have to keep costs down, but having lots of stripped screws, unattached drawer slides, water leaking thru unsealed holes is just unacceptable.
    I agree, My 311BHS, 2018 has zero build issues. Zero. It is hit or miss....just the greased brakes....
    I get the stripped screws, there is practically nothing to screw to! The same with the drawer slides.. Leaking water is the number one destroyer of RV's. Well, accidents...Collisions..
    Last edited by phonemannn; 03-10-2019 at 11:29 AM.
    2017 F350 Lariat, Dual rear wheels
    2017 GD 311BHS

  3. #13
    Seasoned Camper phonemannn's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by phonemannn View Post
    I agree, My 311BHS, 2018 has zero build issues. Zero. It is hit or miss....just the greased brakes....
    I get the stripped screws, there is practically nothing to screw to! The same with the drawer slides.. Leaking water is the number one destroyer of RV's. Well, accidents...Collisions..
    There should be lemon laws for RV's.
    2017 F350 Lariat, Dual rear wheels
    2017 GD 311BHS

  4. #14
    Site Sponsor BeerBrewer's Avatar
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    In absence of a RV Lemon Law we've got to rely on the internet and forums like this one. I'd be willing to bet that someone in Grand Design is reading these posts and probably cringing.

  5. #15
    Big Traveler JCZhome's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BeerBrewer View Post
    Are these issues typical of a Transcend? My wife and I were planning to purchase our first travel trailer, a Transcend 26RLS literally within the next week or two. Now I'm VERY concerned.....VERY!!!

    Our original plan was to purchase a "new-ish" used trailer, like a 2600RB or 2670MK and do a thorough walk trough/testing of the TT with the seller. Then I figured that we'd deal with the misc issues our selves as they turned up, just we do with the house. We'd already looked at a couple used trailers and none passed initial inspection. That was the plan until we saw the 26RLS at an RV show a couple months ago. Now I'm afraid I may be back to square the original plan.

    As you can tell I'm new to RVing, but shouldn't a lot of these issues have been picked up by dealer? Doesn't Grand Design inspect the trailers before they leave their factory? It sounds to me like Grand Design should replace this trailer with a brand new one! Sadly, I'm guessing that firefiter236 has a better chance of getting struck by lightning than he does at seeing a new trailer.

    Lastly, I'd like to thank firefiter236 for making the original and subsequent posts. Please keep us informed how this situation progressed. I for one will watch this thread closely!
    If you do not have a lot of experience with RVs then I would suggest having the unit that you want to buy (the exact unit, not "one just like it") inspected by a certified RV Inspector prior to signing the contract (purchase agreement). You can put down a refundable deposit but do not sign a contract until after the inspection and all repairs are completed.

    You would be surprised what these guys are finding on new RVs of all types, makes and models. And while it's not common to find a list of issues like this on a Grand Design, it does happen once in a great while. Seeing some of the things these guys are finding on other popular makes, it makes me happy that I have a Grand Design. I bought my Momentum before I became certified....just a good call based on my research and due diligence two years ago.

    Some believe that an RV inspection is pricey but what's your piece of mind worth? If they find just three or four minor issues or a list of issues, you can be sure that they'll all be addressed within a few days if you haven't signed a contract yet. But once you sign that contract, they'll have your rig for weeks or even months....so that's another plus to getting it inspected before you sign that contract. A legitimate dealership does not have a problem with you sending in your own certified RV inspector and they will provide full hook ups for the inspector to absolutly test everything. He or she will spend 6-8 hours going over the RV and then several more hours putting a multi-page report together that will include photos of any issue they find. It's a very comprehensive report and people are always suprised at the detail of the report. It comes directly to you.....the inspector is working for you, not for the dealership.

    Dealerships will tell you "oh we've already had our inspector do a xxx multi-point inspection and there's nothing wrong with it" or "it's a new unit....there's nothing wrong with it". These dealerships tell the inspectors the same thing "go ahead but you're wasting your time....you'll not find anything wrong with it....we've already done a PDI on it" and they're always surprised when the buyer comes back at them with the inspection report in hand with photos. They jump on it immediatly and I would suggest not moving forward on the purchase until absolutely everything is corrected on the list and to negotiate the purchase price further to help offset your cost of the inspection (that they should have found!).

    To find an inspector click on this link.... https://nrvia.org/locate/
    Last edited by JCZhome; 03-10-2019 at 01:25 PM.
    SOLD my 2017 Momentum 376TH being pulled by a 2014 Ford F-350 Lariat, FX-4, Crew Cab, Longbed, Dually. Not pulling the 5er, catch me on my 2013 CVO Harley Ultra Classic.

    Map = states that we've stayed at least one night in our RV.

    http://visitedstatesmap.com/image/AR...TNTXUTWYsm.jpg

  6. #16
    Site Team WhittleBurner's Avatar
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    Even a lemon law probably wouldn't help. The lemon laws are only when the factory can't fix the problems that a consumer has. With the way GD takes care of the consumers would negate the lemon law.
    Marcy & Gary
    2014 Grand Design - Reflection 303RLS
    2022 GMC 3500 Denali Duramax Longbed SRW
    2015 GMC Denali 3500 - Retired
    2003 F350 - retired
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    We're in trouble now, the dog are bloggin'!
    https://3dogsandatrailer.wordpress.com/


  7. #17
    Seasoned Camper phonemannn's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by WhittleBurner View Post
    Even a lemon law probably wouldn't help. The lemon laws are only when the factory can't fix the problems that a consumer has. With the way GD takes care of the consumers would negate the lemon law.
    Agree, but since the introduction of the auto lemon law, the quality has improved greatly. If the consumer held RV builders feet to the fire like they did on Autos, we would get a better product out the door, without the return issues we have. IMO.
    2017 F350 Lariat, Dual rear wheels
    2017 GD 311BHS

  8. #18
    Big Traveler
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    Most rvs are of adequate design and use decent, not great materials. Appliances and such are just what's available and relatively cheap. Yes there are some cheap materials used. Suspension comes to mind. But IMHO the biggest problem in the RV industry is the "Don't give a s#%t" attitude of the workers on the line. When it comes to assembly, the companies are as much to blame because they foster this attitude. If our trailers were assembled with a modicum of care we'd have far fewer troubles. I have had tens of thousands of dollars worth of warranty work done on my trailer. Almost every issue has been due to builder error. I thank my lucky stars that GDRV has been willing to fix it under warranty. Quite frankly, I think GDRV would have been money ahead to just give me a new trailer, They certainly haven't made money on this one!

  9. #19
    Seasoned Camper phonemannn's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chiefblueman View Post
    Most rvs are of adequate design and use decent, not great materials. Appliances and such are just what's available and relatively cheap. Yes there are some cheap materials used. Suspension comes to mind. But IMHO the biggest problem in the RV industry is the "Don't give a s#%t" attitude of the workers on the line. When it comes to assembly, the companies are as much to blame because they foster this attitude. If our trailers were assembled with a modicum of care we'd have far fewer troubles. I have had tens of thousands of dollars worth of warranty work done on my trailer. Almost every issue has been due to builder error. I thank my lucky stars that GDRV has been willing to fix it under warranty. Quite frankly, I think GDRV would have been money ahead to just give me a new trailer, They certainly haven't made money on this one!
    IMO this issue^^^with quality, comes first design, training how to assemble per designs, and paying worker adequately to want to assemble the finished product per plans. Like said the consumer needs to hold them to a higher standard, they can rise to the challenge if they were motivated. By correct plans, no screw should only go into styro foam or 1/4 luan. Or just air. Needs adequate backing planned out on initial plans.
    Last edited by phonemannn; 03-10-2019 at 03:36 PM.
    2017 F350 Lariat, Dual rear wheels
    2017 GD 311BHS

  10. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by BeerBrewer View Post
    Are these issues typical of a Transcend?!
    The issue with ALL RV's is that there's no strict requirements for construction. Most guidelines are safety related. Unlike autos that're built mostly by robots, RV's are hand made. Unlike home building where you have inspections for every facet, RV's only have a so called PDI where you have to wonder if it's really more than a check list and not an actual function list. If MFG's really did a PDI then the dealer wouldn't have to.
    All the above reinforces the idea that you can have two identical model 28MKS sitting side by side on the dealers lot and one could have hardly any problems and the one next to it could be like the OP's.
    You pretty much roll the dice when buying RV's. It also helps if you're fairly handy. Being able to diagnose problems and fix them yourself actually makes ownership less stressful. Nothing worse than having to take your RV to the dealer and having it sit there for weeks to get something fixed that only takes a few hours to fix. Many times repairing things yourself can be done in less time than it takes to drive back and forth to the dealer.
    Like someone once said on another RV forum. "I bought an RV kit to take home and finish"
    Last edited by goducks14; 03-11-2019 at 10:21 AM.

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