Long Post Warning...
I retired the first of October last year. Wife and I looked at every camper we had access to, looking for a Full-Timers camper and finally settled on Grand Design (a first for us). The floor plan we liked the best was the 382WB-R.
We ordered our Solitude last year and waited 12+ weeks to get it. We did a PDI and gave them a list and left it with the dealer to go all thru the list and the camper. I give them a 'C' grade as they did not fix some of the things on the list I gave them and missed some obvious things that they should have caught.
We have had our Solitude about 3 months, now.
This is our 7th RV (2nd Fifth Wheel), so I planned on spending about 2 months going thru everything. It's winter and we have the time... I parked the Solitude in our driveway, where it has remained for the 3 months. I opened every area (except the belly) and compartment and examined everything within. This way if anything goes bad, I will know where things are.
And... It was good I did this, as the list of the things I found is significant. This camper, by far, had more issues than any previous camper. I will also say that this is the most complex camper of the 7, though the Cardinal was really nice and had literally no issues.
I know that the RV industry is like many other businesses in the pandemic; they lost key people early on and had to hire what they could get when they needed them back. They should have doubled up on the quality folks to watch all these newbies, but obviously not. But, what do I know... GD shipped a bunch of issues in a VERY expensive HIGH END fifth wheel... to the customer... me... and didn't think twice about it.
My dealer is swamped with spring RV stuff. No chance of getting this to them and getting it back in a timely manner. I will note that I FIXED everything on this list except for the rubber hose/plastic fittings. The rubber hose/plastic fittings issue irritates me. It wouldn't be so bad had they used brass fittings.
I am a DIY everything kind of guy. I have built a couple homes myself. I know wood working and build cabinets, I weld (aluminum and steel). I worked as an electrician for 5 years. I owned an Air Conditioning service company in the 80's for almost 10 years. And... I have been OCD about things being right for a long time. I expected issues, but I got more than I expected.
So, here is my list, in the order I encountered them...
1 - Side Compartment Door does not latch/lock, there was a 1/4-inch gap between the striker plate and the latch. They sucked the frame down with a screw. This one was on the original PDI list and they did not address it. I decided to fix it myself.
2 - Barn door bottom guides were apart and loose on the floor. We put real rollers and added other fixes we read here.
3 - Sewer hose storage pipe was hard to use, as it was behind the lower cowling. I lowered that end about 3-inch.
4 - 12 volt rope light soldering issues on 3 lights that did not work or flickered while on.
5 - Lights over the dining table and the kitchen bar are useless. Went to 10 watt led's with a matching base.
6 - No way to turn off the wine refrigerator except to unbolt it and slide it out to unplug it or to turn off the GFI circuit, which has several things on it. I added a 20 amp light switch above it, easily accessible from the sink tray drawer front.
7 - Vacuum under bed, was a lot of sawdust. I figure it was left by the guys that built the bed. More on this later. See more below.
8 - Multiple cabinet doors not even close to lined up, will not stay latched.
9 - Perfect place above the TV, for a sound bar... has no way to run wires up there or even into the cabinets left/right of the TV.
10 - Two drawers by TV were loose in the frame. Rear supports for drawer guide not screwed in place.
11 - Washer/Dryer receptacles sloppy loose in wall spacer mount.
12 - Auto-Level is tilted to the passenger side slightly and the nose is about 11-inch high. Reset Auto-Level.
13 - TV Loose in Televator. Screws not fully secured. TV tilted when raised.
14 - Two 120v Breakers not marked correctly.
15 - Pantry shelves smaller than the area. If the shelf is slid to the side, the other side will fall thru. Made new shelves (at about half the weight) to fit the space. One Pantry shelf wall track not at the same height as the other 3 (off by 1/4-inch). Allowed shelves to rock.
16 - Island sink plumbing routed poorly, such that they had to mount the moveable wall forward. Trash can no longer fits.
17 - Many plumbing drain fitting nuts very loose.
18 - Small wiring for rear view camera burnt/melted in wall behind camera mount. Sharp aluminum where they drilled into wall and left it like that.
19 - TV/Antenna/Satellite not documented. Traced out all wires and marked them.
20 - All Grease fittings were loose (not screwed in all the way) where suspension springs are attached to frame. Others, as part of the suspension, were tight.
21 - GD or Dealer (looks like dealer, but GD did not say) cut 2 holes in the under-belly. Tape fell off. All insulation (in that 4' section) was wet.
22 - Black vinyl sticker to right of door on bottom section, looks like a 4 year old did it... full of bubbles.
23 - No external propane quick connect, like on virtually all other GD offerings.
24 - All but one of the screws in bottom track of shower were not caulked or the caulk applied poorly.
25 - Screws in bottom of headboard weren't screwed into a stud and were pulled out of wall.
26 - Chest at end of the bed can't go out/in without jamming. Ball bearings on floor from drawer guides (not designed to handle weight). See more below.
27 - One of the 5 12V auto-reset breakers (front compartment, under a small black plastic cover) had no nut on the bolt to hook it to the 12V bus. Other 4 were correct.
28 - They used cheap/thin rubber hoses for pressurized water. In some cases, no reason for it, except to make it easy for installers.
29 - They used plastic fittings on the PEX water lines. This sucks. No easy way to replace the fittings without replacing the PEX pipe as well. How much did they save (probably $100). Consensus from the community is these hose connections WILL leak and there is a bunch of them. And, I know GD is aware of the issue, as it has been in the forums for a good while.
30 - Almost all of the compartment locks were loose. It looks like the dealer loosed some of them up to make them catch the striker plates when the door is closed. I tightened up all of them and fixed the latching issue correctly.
31 - Kitchen Island collapsing issue posted by several other members. See more below
Continuing in the next 2 posts...
I retired the first of October last year. Wife and I looked at every camper we had access to, looking for a Full-Timers camper and finally settled on Grand Design (a first for us). The floor plan we liked the best was the 382WB-R.
We ordered our Solitude last year and waited 12+ weeks to get it. We did a PDI and gave them a list and left it with the dealer to go all thru the list and the camper. I give them a 'C' grade as they did not fix some of the things on the list I gave them and missed some obvious things that they should have caught.
We have had our Solitude about 3 months, now.
This is our 7th RV (2nd Fifth Wheel), so I planned on spending about 2 months going thru everything. It's winter and we have the time... I parked the Solitude in our driveway, where it has remained for the 3 months. I opened every area (except the belly) and compartment and examined everything within. This way if anything goes bad, I will know where things are.
And... It was good I did this, as the list of the things I found is significant. This camper, by far, had more issues than any previous camper. I will also say that this is the most complex camper of the 7, though the Cardinal was really nice and had literally no issues.
I know that the RV industry is like many other businesses in the pandemic; they lost key people early on and had to hire what they could get when they needed them back. They should have doubled up on the quality folks to watch all these newbies, but obviously not. But, what do I know... GD shipped a bunch of issues in a VERY expensive HIGH END fifth wheel... to the customer... me... and didn't think twice about it.
My dealer is swamped with spring RV stuff. No chance of getting this to them and getting it back in a timely manner. I will note that I FIXED everything on this list except for the rubber hose/plastic fittings. The rubber hose/plastic fittings issue irritates me. It wouldn't be so bad had they used brass fittings.
I am a DIY everything kind of guy. I have built a couple homes myself. I know wood working and build cabinets, I weld (aluminum and steel). I worked as an electrician for 5 years. I owned an Air Conditioning service company in the 80's for almost 10 years. And... I have been OCD about things being right for a long time. I expected issues, but I got more than I expected.
So, here is my list, in the order I encountered them...
1 - Side Compartment Door does not latch/lock, there was a 1/4-inch gap between the striker plate and the latch. They sucked the frame down with a screw. This one was on the original PDI list and they did not address it. I decided to fix it myself.
2 - Barn door bottom guides were apart and loose on the floor. We put real rollers and added other fixes we read here.
3 - Sewer hose storage pipe was hard to use, as it was behind the lower cowling. I lowered that end about 3-inch.
4 - 12 volt rope light soldering issues on 3 lights that did not work or flickered while on.
5 - Lights over the dining table and the kitchen bar are useless. Went to 10 watt led's with a matching base.
6 - No way to turn off the wine refrigerator except to unbolt it and slide it out to unplug it or to turn off the GFI circuit, which has several things on it. I added a 20 amp light switch above it, easily accessible from the sink tray drawer front.
7 - Vacuum under bed, was a lot of sawdust. I figure it was left by the guys that built the bed. More on this later. See more below.
8 - Multiple cabinet doors not even close to lined up, will not stay latched.
9 - Perfect place above the TV, for a sound bar... has no way to run wires up there or even into the cabinets left/right of the TV.
10 - Two drawers by TV were loose in the frame. Rear supports for drawer guide not screwed in place.
11 - Washer/Dryer receptacles sloppy loose in wall spacer mount.
12 - Auto-Level is tilted to the passenger side slightly and the nose is about 11-inch high. Reset Auto-Level.
13 - TV Loose in Televator. Screws not fully secured. TV tilted when raised.
14 - Two 120v Breakers not marked correctly.
15 - Pantry shelves smaller than the area. If the shelf is slid to the side, the other side will fall thru. Made new shelves (at about half the weight) to fit the space. One Pantry shelf wall track not at the same height as the other 3 (off by 1/4-inch). Allowed shelves to rock.
16 - Island sink plumbing routed poorly, such that they had to mount the moveable wall forward. Trash can no longer fits.
17 - Many plumbing drain fitting nuts very loose.
18 - Small wiring for rear view camera burnt/melted in wall behind camera mount. Sharp aluminum where they drilled into wall and left it like that.
19 - TV/Antenna/Satellite not documented. Traced out all wires and marked them.
20 - All Grease fittings were loose (not screwed in all the way) where suspension springs are attached to frame. Others, as part of the suspension, were tight.
21 - GD or Dealer (looks like dealer, but GD did not say) cut 2 holes in the under-belly. Tape fell off. All insulation (in that 4' section) was wet.
22 - Black vinyl sticker to right of door on bottom section, looks like a 4 year old did it... full of bubbles.
23 - No external propane quick connect, like on virtually all other GD offerings.
24 - All but one of the screws in bottom track of shower were not caulked or the caulk applied poorly.
25 - Screws in bottom of headboard weren't screwed into a stud and were pulled out of wall.
26 - Chest at end of the bed can't go out/in without jamming. Ball bearings on floor from drawer guides (not designed to handle weight). See more below.
27 - One of the 5 12V auto-reset breakers (front compartment, under a small black plastic cover) had no nut on the bolt to hook it to the 12V bus. Other 4 were correct.
28 - They used cheap/thin rubber hoses for pressurized water. In some cases, no reason for it, except to make it easy for installers.
29 - They used plastic fittings on the PEX water lines. This sucks. No easy way to replace the fittings without replacing the PEX pipe as well. How much did they save (probably $100). Consensus from the community is these hose connections WILL leak and there is a bunch of them. And, I know GD is aware of the issue, as it has been in the forums for a good while.
30 - Almost all of the compartment locks were loose. It looks like the dealer loosed some of them up to make them catch the striker plates when the door is closed. I tightened up all of them and fixed the latching issue correctly.
31 - Kitchen Island collapsing issue posted by several other members. See more below
Continuing in the next 2 posts...
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