A little discouraged!

[Kunuc1]

Had 2 previous shakedown weekends in our Reflection 29RS & thought we would work out all the bugs before our current 10 day trip to the coast of Washington state. First 2 weekends out we discovered a few concerns & had them addressed with J.D. at GD warranty/service dept. The Atwood furnace wouldn't stay lit & it needed a heat shield put in by a Rv tech once we received it from GD 2 weeks later. (Had to use portable heaters along with fireplace till repaired) Also received the coach with virtually zero brakes which had never been adjusted (at dealer pdi or factory) but luckily J.D. stepped up & covered the brakes.
Second wknd out we discovered our Haier TV was no longer functioning due to a cold solder on the circuit board, (which was covered by warranty when we got back from our wknd.) That same wknd we also discovered a significant shower leak onto the bathroom floor as there was no silicone caulk at the base of the shower where the glass meets the base. Then Sunday morning we were packing up to leave & I opened basement storage door & found the area flooded. After removing access panel I crawled into some very tight quarters & found a brass t water valve/connection had come loose & was leaking water for hours apparently. Big cleanup,but luckily didn't seem to harm any of the electrical & the only upside was it was fresh water & not black water leak!!!
So hoping we had worked out all the bugs close to home we decided to venture out for our current 10 day vacation/road trip to Anacortes Wa. The wife filled the fridge with groceries & we headed out. Got in to our site kind of late but were excited about our first full day of vacation the next morning...
Well the next morning we slept in but when we opened the fridge we discovered our just purchased fridge contents were lukewarm!!!!
My wife kind of lost it a bit....Not so much from the cost of the just purchased groceries but more from the consecutive issues on our new $50k Reflection in just 3 outings.
We went out & re purchased some groceries & crammed what we could into the mini outside beverage fridge & grabbed some ICE for our shiny new Atwood Helium "Ice chest".
I phoned the Atwood technical service center & spoke to a support tech named Jeff. Really nice guy & we tried to phone diagnose the issue, but all we were able to rule out was that it wasn't any of the fuses behind the fridge or the VERY common heating element failure, as the fridge was still operating but just not cooling below 55f. So he recommended getting to the nearest Atwood dealer. So we drove 20 miles to Burlington Wa. Camping World. Spoke with a service rep there & he said they stock NO parts for Atwood fridges & parts or parts diagrams aren't even available in their Camping World computer system as they're too new. He said even if they were able to diagnose the fridge part that has failed, it would take a week or two to get parts which wasn't going to help us while on vacation.
So filling the fridge daily with ice was the only choice for the next nine days. .
So trying to make a lousy situation better I decided it might help to lift the wife's spirits by grabbing some takeout Chinese & a nice bottle of red & picked up a "chick flick" dvd that I'd agree to even watch with her. .
So poured a couple of glasses of wine & sat down with our plates in front of our "NEW" tv. Plugged in the dvd &....... Yep! U guessed it... Furrion dvd player shot!!!
#%~< #%{=+%,!!!!!
Screen totally pixelated/frozen & not watchable. Tried at least 6 more original dvd's (not copies) from our own collection, all with the same result!
So were just a "bit" dejected!
We still love our unit & understand there is gonna be some small bugs. But after only 3 outings in our new Reflection it gets you a bit frustrated.
The staff at GD have been great to say the least. Just don't really want to start every Monday morning after camping talking to them or my dealer (4 hours away)
Summer is short! Vacations are even shorter!!!
We just want to try & enjoy this unit without becoming best friends with my RV tech.

[pg_rider]

How discouraging... As a prospective Grand Design buyer I'm beyond nervous about spending $70k on what could turn out to be a nonstop headache. I know other brands have rampant problems as well but my goodness...

I thought GD was betting their company's future on taking the approach of higher quality but it's hard to see that. It's great that they're trying to be responsive after the fact but the reality is these problems shouldn't occur in the first place.

I sure hope you're past the "infant mortality" stage of ownership! Good luck!!!

[Brent M]

It shouldn't be happening that much. The components need to be vetted more. I hope GD is considering changes.

Brent

[Lingerlonger]

I'd be discouraged too, Kunuc1. Hang in there.

Am curious though, would the fridge not work properly on propane?

My fridge failed (on electric) before the first trip this year, but it would work fine on propane.
I thought it was probably the heating element (Atwood Helium), but the dealer claims it was just a blown fuse in the control panel. We'll see.
I intend to check it before I leave the dealer's lot. (150 miles roundtrip).

Good luck.

K

[Kunuc1]

Lingerlonger...
Issue with the fridge was present on both propane & electric. The Atwood tech thought maybe an airflow problem or possibly a faulty thermistor but couldn't b certain without extensive diagnostics that were not possible without a RV tech looking into it.

[Ciaran1]

We do feel your pain. Our 337 is only 2 months old, we have spent a total of 5 nights in it. The dealer has had it almost as long as we have. It is currently in the shop again for a bedroom slide that has not worked consistantly since day one and the Brakes need adjusting already. Two weeks and still awaiting a resolution. Fixed a number of issues myself : replaced the fireplace, replaced the Furrion stereo head unit, replaced the propane line strap under the kitchen slide, will replace the kitchen faucet with a residential unit as soon as I get it back (low water flow)and recaulked the shower. Jerry at GD has been great about sending us the parts we needed and we do very much appreciate GD's attempts to make things right. Not inpressed with the dealer. Takes forever to get things done and they do not communicate well. Our confidence in our unit has been shaken and we are always waiting for the next shoe to drop. Makes it hard to relax when you head out. The fridge issue makes me nervous, so far ours has been OK but we've only been out a few days. Very frustrating, never had these type problems with our two previous campers.

[Kunuc1]

Ciaran1
I think you said it well with your comment about your "confidence being shaken"
I really hope after these early issues are resolved that we can get that "confidence" back & not waiting for that "other shoe to drop" feeling while out camping in the unit.

[Ciaran1]

Kunucc1, thanks for the kind words. We are experienced enough to know the potential pitfalls of a new RV. Been there, done that. Not down on GD quality but trying to remain upbeat. I am somewhat alarmed at the dealer network situation and I wish GD had a "drop-in" capability at the plant to handle persistant problems that a dealer can't or won't handle in a timely manner. I would gladley make the trip to Indiana to get my slide issue fixed once and for all and be done with it. My previous units were built by Airstream and Northwood and both had "drop-in" capability and services. Had to use the Airstream facility in Ohio once, but came away with all concerns fixed and ready to go. It was very satisfying to have the experts look at and fix it. No problems after that. Warranty claims and cost are a big deal in any industry. GD is going to have to address this issue sooner than later.

[RVMode]

Kunuc1, I can also feel some of your pain. Our Solitude 369RL is a whole month old and we have had a few issues ourselves, but I haven't lost faith in the GD service. I know there are going to be some issues, but I expected more from the service department at the dealership. We had a great experience with the purchase of our fifth wheel and we did alot of research on the GD products before hand, so we went straight to the GD service department once we got no satisfaction from the dealer. We've had nothing but good experiences with them so far and we expect it to continue. We could tell they were into their customer service. We didn't have the issues you're having, and I hope when they're taken care of you can look back and say "Remember that trip..."?
Good luck and remember to keep the GD Faith.

[Kunuc1]

Thanks RVMode
Haven't lost faith in GD yet. They have always been good to us as far as warranty coverage issues. We just want to get one trip under our belt without a "major issue" would rather b dealing with the occasional burnt out light bulb or loose screw type issues. Lol
Btw seems like a pretty common theme on this forum about dealerships being "awesome" before & during the purchase & then non existent when time for service on a warranty issue.
Thanks for the laugh with your comment "remember that trip" I'm sure one day soon when we put these issues behind us that we will laugh about filling the Atwood with ice daily. Almost like tenting again! Lol