Who makes, and stands behind, the best trailer?

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There are stories about every manufacturer being crappy - just search Dutchman Forums or Forest River forums or heartland forums etc . Etc without a doubt there are always the 1% that is major league messed up, trailer, truck, microwave oven . Nothing is perfect but realistically money talks in this case.

i have a keystone product 2015 Voltage there is some real crap on it - lousy cover for sewer line $5 fault water pump warranty but ive been treated very very well crappy trim broken awning  just my opinion but they all suck its just varying degrees and luck, ever buy a truck built on a Friday lol 
 
Happy Biker said:
I have a 2013 Keystone Raptor toy hauler.    I would not recommended Keystone as a manufacturer who stands behind their products.  During the first year Keystone covered all the items that I returned the trailer for without question.  But, when the trailer was two years old we had a catastrophic frame failure.  The frame failure was caused when the welds attaching two cross members to the frame broke loose and the the frame buckled under one equalizer bracket.  The frame failure ruined two tires,  both axels,  four spring assemblies, shackles and bolts.  Keystone paid to repair the frame and re weld the cross members but nothing else.  It cost me nearly $5000 to make the repairs caused by the frame failure.  I contacted Lippert who supplied the chassis, but they blamed Keystone.  After over three months working with Keystone they refuse to help further and they told me I was just luck they help as much as the did.  Do not buy a Keystone product if you expect good customer service.

Have you contacted your insurance company?  That damage may be covered by them.

I had an inside dual tire blowout and it destroyed the wiring harness going to the main control panel of my coach.  $12,000 to repair it and AAA covered the whole thing.

So it's worth a call to the insurance company to see if they will help.
 
Steveblond posted "There are stories about every manufacturer being crappy - just search Dutchman Forums or Forest River forums or heartland forums etc . Etc "

I don't know Steve, after checking out the Northwood forum seemed like they were a fairly content lot.
Northwood was the "critics pick" here on this question whereas, in an admittedly small sampling, Keystone fared not so well.

I am still inclined to think if I had the money and desire a Northwood product is where I would start my search.

Course Airstream did well too, but.............
;)

Oak
 
who owns Airstream? Thor Industries - who owns Voltage - Dutchmen - who owns Dutchmen? Thor Industries . Who makes Raptor - Keystone who owns Keystone - Thor lol
its a numbers game - yes Northwood makes a great product not arguing that but if they make 1000 units a year and get back 1% and Thor makes 100,000 units a year and gets back 1% big difference. I'm just saying and I'm not Sure what happened with the Raptor but that's a HUGE failure i wonder if we got the whole story cause there is always 3 sides remember - your side, my side, - and the truth lol (just being a s*** disturber ) lol  i would buy a Northwood Rv if they made what i wanted


http://www2.thorindustries.com/operating-entities
 
We bought a new AF this year. Had a '08 Komfort prior.  Our first trip in it is where we noticed all sorts of small things that we didn't notice when we were looking at it at the dealers. For the most part these small things can be attributed to poor workmanship.  Thinking we should buy the extended warranty now.
 
Thinking we should buy the extended warranty now.

That's another can of worms, so please SEARCH here (and elsewhere) on 'extended warranty' for experience and comments.

IMO, an extended warranty is rarely worthwhile for any trailer. There aren't enough high dollar repairs that would be covered to justify the price. You would probably need to have both fridge and a/c units all fail within the contract period to break even. Hardly anything that could be called "poor workmanship" is going to be a covered repair.
 
As others have noted, Jayco and Grand Designs are the two that stand out to me based on the experiences of friends.

While the manufacturer role is important, it's also critical to buy from a dealer that will work with you and stand behind the product.
 
"While the manufacturer role is important, it's also critical to buy from a dealer that will work with you and stand behind the product."

i think the dealer is almost more important as they are the ones pushing, the dealer that i have now has been awesome this time around, but, a few years ago they were the worst - so bad i almost didn't buy from this time as i had a bitter taste  from before, so i switched dealers and they were worse. The dealership can make or break the entire experience
 
Maybe the reason northwood is still good because they haven't blown production up to service all the needs of everyone..the are still a small production producer ...yes..qc has gone down a bit but I have seen threads where folks have spent 500K on a class A and I cannot believe the problems..

We looked at a lot of trailers before we bought..AF are plain..which I like..but as soon as you walk in to one, you can feel the difference. I dragged out AF through mighty rough stuff this summer..the last time it did this with another rig, I was fixing the damage for awhile..with the AF..nada..

What is interesting is that AF (and group) tend to buy another.. when we end up in the states, I want to  look at others..I have a liking for a 5K..

I also think AFs are underrated.. which is not an issue for me when I go to buy another :)

But floor plan is key... you have to like what you have bought or , regardless of quality, you are not going to be happy.  As well, you should have a sufficient TV to do the job.
 
We have had a Grand Design Reflection for almost a year and so far there have been no issues. I follow a Face Book page of Grand Design owners and they have had amazing stories to tell about wonderful customer service when issues come up. In fact the Face Book page is monitored by management from Grand Design and they regularly interact with owners and offer to call them to help with a problem. When dealer issues arise they have sent mobil repairmen to handle a problem. Its been interesting to say the least and I am very happy I purchased a Grand Design RV.
 
Hammster said:
I've been wondering the same thing. Service after the sale is more important to me than anything up front. Lance seems to have a good reputation so we are leaning in that direction.
We used to have Road Ranger trailers and even when they were several years old we could get good service from them if we felt it was a design or workmanship defect. Sadly they are no longer around.

Glad to know that Road Ranger improved before they went bottom up.  Back in the 70s I was in the service department of a Road Ranger trailer dealer.  I have never seen a RV put together as poorly  as those were. And it was not just one but every one we had to open up the skin on (usually for hail damage jobs).  Very light wood in the walls (and full of knots), staples completely missing their target (not just few but hundreds) and no insulation - just a piece of cardboard under the interior paneling used to represent insulation. The sales guys were hesitant to sell these things but we also had Holiday Rambler and the price difference was just too much for some folks so they chose the Road Ranger.  The boss said just to sell them at cost plus $100 because we would make it up on warranty repairs - which we did until the boss just told them to take us off their dealership lists after our one year deal expired.
 
I'm impressed with Northwood, Oliver, and recently, Outdoors RV.

For the acronym challenged like me, boys, please write out the words. I guess AF means Arctic Fox? Made by Northwood? When I see AF, I think Air Force, even though I'm a U.S. Navy Vietnam vet. Old ways...

Anyway, I am so glad someone started this very basic but extremely important thread! This is very helpful. From my research over several years, even if I could afford Airstream, I wouldn't buy one now after all the research I've done.
 
I'll add a vote for Northwood (Arctic Fox, Desert Fox, Nash).  VERY solid.


With that said, there do not appear to be any units from any manufacturer that don't suffer from fit and finish issues.  They are all built for a price, and the market is fierce, with many brands going under, or being bought up by larger ones.  Expect to find a number of workmanship issues in anything.  In many cases, these can be fixed retroactively by the owner.  However, it is not practical for the owner to retroactively install a better floor, better chassis, better walls, and so on.  My feeling is that Northwood puts a lot of quality in the structure, where it counts.


Frank.
 
The wife an I are still newbies - two years since we purchased our first travel trailer. In another thread, I have described the issues we are now experiencing with water intrusion. Ours is a 2008 Puma 20QB by Palomino. Tearing things apart to get to - and repair - the water damage, I am simply astounded at the way this thing was constructed.

It's no wonder that, when you see most accidents involving RV's, they're decimated beyond recognition (wind storms, too); they're put together with STAPLES. Here's something I found that really amazed me - and perhaps they all do this:

Apparently, the frame is assembled and the subfloor and flooring are installed. Then the wall systems are installed ON TOP OF the flooring. I had to remove some old carpeting in the course of my repair. I could not believe that the carpet was installed beneath the walls. In my opinion, BEYOND "cheap". Then there are the "non-standard" wood dimensions - 1.5" x 1" studs and 2.5" x 1.5" joists. So lots of ripping required before I can begin repairs.

My bet is that the vast majority of RV's are constructed in much the same fashion.
 
After 3 years of research, touching, probing and fondling (the 5th wheels) I settled on a Northwoods product, the Artic Fox line.  Or so I thought. For what I wanted in terms of quality but not glitz, the AF was the right blend of materials, construction, and Cabinetry. BUT, the pin weight was pushing it for my cummins Ram 2500.

Then I found Grand Design. The Reflection line hit all the same points as AF, and the 303RLS was the perfect floorplan (For Us). Once the 2016s came with auto leveling, it was a no brainer. As an engineer, I see little thing here and there that indicate someone really thought things through. For example, the split basement door at the water, and leveling controls on the street side - I won't be hitting my head!

I have yet to test the customer service they are famed for... everything works fine! 

My 2 cents
Jeff
 
loki, that Grand Design looks like a quality trailer. Now, I've added it to my list!
 
I don't think you could go wrong with any Grand Design unit.  I've had my Solitude for almost three years now, and couldn't be happier.
 
I just saw a grand design website and love them going to rv sho this weekend to look.If anyone has one ,how do you like it?kicking around some retirement options and have looked at mobile suites ,Like them too.i love the front living room one but know I would have to trade my f 150 to a 350. I like the trailor model also
 
lokikutsch said:
After 3 years of research, touching, probing and fondling (the 5th wheels) I settled on a Northwoods product, the Artic Fox line.  Or so I thought. For what I wanted in terms of quality but not glitz, the AF was the right blend of materials, construction, and Cabinetry. BUT, the pin weight was pushing it for my cummins Ram 2500.

Then I found Grand Design. The Reflection line hit all the same points as AF, and the 303RLS was the perfect floorplan (For Us). Once the 2016s came with auto leveling, it was a no brainer. As an engineer, I see little thing here and there that indicate someone really thought things through. For example, the split basement door at the water, and leveling controls on the street side - I won't be hitting my head!

I have yet to test the customer service they are famed for... everything works fine! 

My 2 cents
Jeff
how much over are you on your Gvwr? If you have a 2014 2500 Cummins - the MAX payload i could find is 2400lbs minus 1660 dry weight another 250 hitch only leave 450 lbs for drive + pass with no gear at all and with that hugh front storage the pin weight has to be closer to 2000lbs i a have a friend looking at a GD 5er and hes maxed out on his F350
 
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