A little discouraged!

[Long Ride]

Sounds to me like you are all being a bit too kind. PDI should have caught most if not all of those issues...I mean really....NO BRAKES. Whats with that?

We're still contemplating the purchase of a GD 27RL but if the dealer needs to do 2 or 3 PDI's then I for one would be happy to pay for a few hours extra vs the gas and time to return it early for service, not to mention the loss of confidence issue.

[J&G garage]

Lippert recommends adjusting the brakes after 3000 miles. Initially drum brakes will wear faster until the shoes become seated/worn in so maybe the first adjustment should be a little sooner. With delivery from the factory to the dealer and towing from the dealer to our home our 29 had almost 3000 miles on it and it was time to adjust the brakes. Maybe mention it the service department when you pick up a new trailer. Sometimes a little proactiveness (is that a word?) goes a long way.

Jim

[Ciaran1]

Mine has about 1800 miles on it and the brakes need adjustment.

[Kunuc1]

Lippert recommends 5 "clicks" on the brake adjustment wheel to get the brake pad to slightly rub when spinning the tire, while jacked up off the ground. Mine took about 9 clicks to even get the brake pad to slightly rub the drum. Guess that explains why I had zero brakes upon taking delivery of my new unit. Delivery from Indiana to my dealer would have been aprox. 1900 miles. I really believe this is something the dealer should be adjusting before letting the customer take the new unit off the lot. Not only is it a safety concern but its very tough on the tow vehicles brakes if the tv is doing 99% of the braking with 10000+ lbs behind you.

[J&G garage]

Mine has about 1800 miles on it and the brakes need adjustment.

That's what I meant when I wrote that initially drum brakes will wear faster. Once they bed in you should be able to go longer between adjustments. Unless you have your controller gain too high of course.

[Rodney]

Kunuc1,

I totally get what you are saying. I have had my share of issues with my 2015 303RLS also. First let me say that so far, all has been repaired under warranty. I am not bashing this company at all and I did extensive research prior to purchasing and decided that of all the choices out there, this was the one for us. With that said however i have pulled it to the dealer 6 times since buying in January. And, that is with doing a 5 page P.D.I myself that I printed off of the internet prior to paying for the unit to which i found several repairs. I find it hard to believe that the factory does any sort of P.D.I prior to sending it to the dealer where they are supposed to do a P.D.I as well. So let me share a few items that i found that people need to watch out for when purchasing.
1) My kitchen table was rubbing the island when slide was in. Dealer had GD make a special table that would fit like its supposed too.
2) Living room slide was leaving black scuff marks on floor when going in and out. Took it to dealer twice before that problem was corrected. Ended up a part needed to be replaced on bottom of slide.
3) Carpet coming loose in storage compartments. Dealer glued back down.
4) Back cap delaminating. Dealer had to completely remove entire rear of unit and replace with new cap.
5) Gray tank leaking into underbelly. Dealer had to replace valve.
6) Daylight coming thru bedroom slide. Dealer re caulked seals.
7) Shower pouring water onto bathroom floor. Took dealer 2 times to finally get shower caulked properly.
8) At dealer now for A/C replacement.
9) At dealer now due to back window not opening. Happened when they replaced the rear cap.
10)At dealer now for sofa bed cushion dropping below bed frame when in open position.
11) Several other small items not worth mentioning

Now, even with that list we love the unit. I just am extremely uncomfortable to go to far from home because i am waiting on something else to go wrong. I hope to have all the bugs worked out on this trip to the dealer. Trying to hold out faith that i made a smart decision with this purchase. I hope this company isn't growing to fast and they keep up the customer service.

Rodney

[Kunuc1]

Rodney
Thanks for sharing that post. I also want to be clear that we love our unit as well & this is definetly NOT a post to bash GD as they have been great as far as covering the warranty issues. I guess my post is more about the confidence in the unit being rattled as "Ciaran" put it so well in an earlier reply to my post. The cosmetic/small type issues aren't something we get concerned about at all, but when u get the major issues of a non operational furnace, non operational fridge & no brakes & the flooded basement those are the type of issues that can really change your vacation or weekend out in the unit pretty quick.
Much like u, I hope quality control hasn't been compromised with such RAPID company growth!

[Long Ride]

Rodney
......The cosmetic/small type issues aren't something we get concerned about at all, but when u get the major issues of a non operational furnace, non operational fridge & no brakes & the flooded basement those are the type of issues that can really change your vacation or weekend out in the unit pretty quick.
Much like u, I hope quality control hasn't been compromised with such RAPID company growth!

I hope GD is watching this thread because it is clear they have a lot at stake (reputation and loyal customers) which can change just as quickly. It also sounds like they have stood behind the product but loss of quality control will quickly turn a new buyer (us) off very quickly. We too have shopped for (1) quality and reliability, (2) factory support, (3) dealer knowledge and support, and (4) a family of satisfied owners. GD is our choice within the year but without some attention to what is clearly a quality control issue we may have to continue shopping. Hope that doesn't become the case.

[J&G garage]

I'm curious...what percentage of Grand Design trailers actually have serious issues after leaving the factory? How many of those issues are the fault of vendor components? How many of those issues are the fault of independently owned dealerships. How does that compare to other manufacturers in the price range?

[LCBoyer]

All RV manufacturers have some problems. I heard a guy with a million dollar bus conversion complaining because his furnace failed twice. My experience with GD customer service has been the best of any manufacture I've dealt with