Grand Junction vs Forest River

[nanc]

We had just about had made up our minds that we were going to purchase a Forest River Cardinal to full time in.  Well, yesterday we looked at a Grand Junction and now we are undecided.  It was great!  I'd like to hear comments on either one of them form anyone who has either of them.  Thanks.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The Grand Junction is a lovely looking trailer. My only reservation would be that it is a Dutchman. Dutchman specializes in low priced trailers and I would worry that they have merely put fancy clothes on their low end frame and body. And that it was built by the same workers whose work standards are attuned to high production rates and low end quality rather than a luxury class RV. I could be all wet about that, but that would worry me.

You don't see many Grand Junctions, but you see a lot of Cardinals and folks are mostly very happy with them.

 

[nanc]

Thanks for the info. I thought the Grand Junction was made by thor.?????

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Thor is a holding company that owns several RV manufacturers. Dutchman is one of their operating companies, as is Keystone, Airstream, Damon, Chateau, Skamper and others. Dutchman is focused on great value,which translates to lots of eye candy at a low price.

The address and phone number for Grand Junction is the same as for the Dutchman Company, so I assume it is still being manufactured in a Dutchmen plant by Dutchman employees and under Dutchman management.

I have no  data that says there is anything wrong with a Grand junction, but experience suggests to me that a Chevy in fancy trim is not in any sense a Cadillac, if you get my drift.  You might make the same argument about the Cardinal because Forest River has low end models as well as mid and higher ones. I think that Forest River has more lines with higher quality images than Dutchman, but it's all subjective. 

Don't let me scare you off if you really like the Grand Junction. But if the Grand Junction appears to be giving you a lot more stuff for a lower price, you should wonder what they left  out to pay for the other stuff you are getting, cause there is no free lunch. If the price and features are comparable, then this is not a concern.

 

[campdiva]

We just bought a GJ- 35TMS and love it.  It was our first 5th wheel and I did what I thought was alot of research. 
I personally decided that all campers were similar and it's a bells and whistle game.    I think it's all a matter of what is important to you. 

Go with what feels good to you.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The problem is that  they all look similar and they do in fact largely have the same appliances. And many people are not sufficiently expert to discern differences in materials and workmanship. But if you spend a lot of time around RVs and do any work on them yourself, you begin to see there are many differences beyond the superficial. These may or may not make much difference to you and in fact, in casual weekend usage they may not make much difference in the entire time you own the RV. So yes, in that sense, most RVs may indeed be much the same and paying top dollar for top quality may be a waste of money.The question is, will you own the RV long enough to care?