GRAND DESIGN Complaints

The contact owns a 2018 Grand Design Reflection RV. The contact stated stated after starting the RV, he noticed that there was fire coming out of the refrigerator compartment. The contact was able to extinguish the fire with 3 fire extinguishers, fire hoses, and with the assistance of the fire department. A fire department report was filed. A police report was filed, but the police report information was not available. The contact sustained a scraped left knee while exiting the RV, but did not seek medical assistance. The RV was towed to the contact's residence. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed that the VIN was included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V038000 (Equipment). Additionally, the manufacturer sent a field technician to the contact's residence, where the RV was inspected but the cause of the failure could not be determined. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 10,000.

Bent axle that caused tire to bent. There was no accident because unit was delivered to the service before fitting separated. In this case there was a recall of grand design reflection and momentum NHTSA Recall No. 23V-455 but not imagine. No warning signs were displayed. The issue was noticed at the Rv General , Huntley , IL service department. The issue is severe- it could cause separation of tire which could cause loss of control, injury or death. The unit is located at RV General, Huntley, IL. The recall says” axles may not have been tightened properly. As a result, a fitting could separate and damage the pin that locks the axle nut in place. If the axle nut comes loose, the spindle and wheel could separate from the trailer. A wheel separation could cause a loss of control and increase the risk of injury or a crash. Additionally, a wheel that separates could also hit another person or vehicle.” This recall did not include imagine 2800BH model

This 2022 grand design solitude was used on one 200 mile trip other than going to the dealer for repairs and it has upper deck frame flex because it keeps shearing off the screws on the front filon. The frame flexes so much even empty that when it’s sitting on the front jacks the passenger side storage door is locked good , but when you put the weight on the truck 5th wheel to travel down the road, the door doesn’t stay locked and opens. The passenger side wall is sagged down, pulling away from the camper and the floor is sag down also on that side and screws are pushing through the floors. There’s a huge list of things wrong with this camper. Those are just a few. It is not safe for the roads.

-Black tank 43gal capacity leaking after loud "bang" followed a second later by a thud (turned my head to look and saw the travel trailer underbelly enclosure fall/sag about two inches instantly, then after a few moments sewage water began pouring out from multiple locations (I have a video of it leaking). -It is suspected that the straps holding the black tank to the trailer frame snapped, the tank then dropped onto the underbelly enclosure, and somehow cracked along the way. -Called Grand Design RV and opened a case for it immediately (I was stuck at a Dalhart, TX RV park (my tow vehicle broke down and it took a month to get a mechanic to fix it). Called around 15 RV repair shops, service dealerships, mobile RV repair guys, and even plumbers. Most of them said they would not be willing to work on this type of issue due to hazmat (can you blame them?) and the few that did could not get me in for 3+ months out. The Grand Design solution was to "get it to your local GD dealer service center" which I had already made a May 29th service appointment for other warranty concerns back in January. Trailer is still at Windish RV Longmont, CO as I type this on 6-19-2024. -MAJOR health and safety concern. Towing trailer home I was terrified the black tank would give way going down the interstate and highways, which could easily lead to injuries or death for anybody on the road in my wake, at least a [XXX] hazmat situation... -The furnace is ducted to the underbelly and basement storage bays (4 season camper). A few days after this initial incident the overnight low dropped to 39F, so I had no choice but to activate the furnace. The fumes were so foul that not only did I end up vomiting throughout the night, but my poor labradoodle did as well. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

-Fresh water tank 54gal capacity leaking after being filled, began as a small leak and over time has become decently extreme (but only leaks when trailer is in motion/traveling down road). It is now to the point that when I followed behind travel trailer in another vehicle, I had to use my windshield wipers for the first 30 minutes due to the amount of water spray coming up from road. When the leaking issue first started, it would stop leaking after about 1/4 of the tank had emptied, now it continues until about 3/4th of the tank has emptied! -Issue started after picking up trailer from initial repair visit after purchase (Adventure RV Cheyenne, WY now Blue Compass RV Cheyenne, WY had trailer for over 10 months!). -Trailer is currently at Windish RV Longmont, CO for warranty inspection/repair for this issue and others. -Water leaking like this creates an unecessary safety and visibility risk to motorists traveling behind this travel trailer (even at a great following distance). This is especially dangerous to motorcycles, as when I followed my own trailer it was sunny and 80F out, so you would not expect that kind of water spray back on the interstate.

-Stabilizer leveling powered scissor jacks front and rear collapsed during first trip ever; at a level campsite (Lippert LCI brand) on brand new travel trailer. -Rear stabilizer failed the worst, with the metal arms deforming so much that the jack could not be retracted fully via power or manual with backup tool and best arm strength (in shape [XXX] at the time). -Called dealership (Adventure RV Cheyenne, WY now Blue Compass RV Cheyenne, WY) and was told it would probably not be covered under warranty, but they would need to inspect it in person and then submit claim to Grand Design RV and Lippert LCI. -Searched for LCI MODEL # 337199 and best price was on Amazon (figured I could relax after at least knowing how much I was potentially going to have to shell out to replace these out of pocket). Reading the reviews (some with photos) showed a TON of these have failed just like mine (manufacturing defect, or metal quality defect suspected), so it is a decently common issue. I have attached screenshots I took that evening of these reviews and photos. -Dealership service said the claim was denied by Grand Design. I pushed back hard, showed them the screen shots of the other failures, and told them to contact Lippert. -Dealership gave me different answers, but basically front unit was not replaced or repaired because the failure was not yet significant enough to keep the jacks from fully retracting (or at least within an inch of fully retracting. The rear unit was replaced with what to me looks to be a used replacement (motor housing cover cracked and faded, sticker with serial and model number faded and barely attached). -This is a major safety concern because I was only able to retract the rears up enough to get maybe 4" of ground clearance. The feet kept scraping on dips in highway the entire trip home. Could have easily got caught and ripped the whole unit from trailer, creating a major safety hazard for anybody on the road behind me. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U

-Entry door of travel trailer opens during travel even with both deadbolt & handle locks in locked positions. -This could allow items inside travel trailer to be sucked out onto roadway. That could lead to property damage, injuries, & even death to myself, my passengers, & any other vehicle on the same roadway as me. Potentially making impact with road signs, other vehicles, bicyclists, or even pedestrians on side of roadway. This has also allowed diesel exhaust soot to be sucked inside the travel trailer, coating the ENTIRE interior. Created slip/fall hazard (I nearly fell) as it made the vinyl flooring incredibly slick. Harmful to health (covered the toilet seats, furniture, cookware, etc. I had to clean EVERY surface of the trailer interior to prevent harm to myself & my labradoodle (began to lick himself to remove soot picked up from interior surfaces). Multiple albuterol inhalations required during cleanup due to my asthma. -Multiple occurrences even after multiple dealership service visits. Issue first appeared within 100mi. of purchasing travel trailer brand new. -Adventure RV Cheyenne, WY (Blue Compass) verified issue & replaced under warranty entire entry door. -I contacted Grand Design to open a complaint ticket. I requested permission to have trailer inspected and issue resolved at Windish RV in Longmont, CO as the Cheyenne dealership was incompetent, dishonest, & failed to fix this. Windish RV was fantastic, but Grand Design refused to authorize further action for the issue. Windish RV suggested I should upgrade the door handle to a high quality replacement, as the factory handles are mostly plastic junk & same keys as every other trailer (not very secure). On my own dime I replaced the handle for $300+ labor with USA made RV Lock V4. -Appears door frame is separating from trailer wall, trailer currently at Windish RV for another repair attempt.

-Baggage compartment doors, when latched securely and locked with key, would open during travel down the highway at random. Luckily no cargo was lost (I take turns very slowly and noticed flapping baggage doors in my side view mirrors pretty quickly). This has happened on multiple occasions, and continued to happen after multiple dealership service visits that supposedly rectified the issue. This issue first appeared within 100 miles of purchasing this travel trailer brand new. -Yes, Adventure RV of Cheyenne, WY (now Blue Compass) verified the issue and eventually replaced under warranty the baggage door latches, and then after issue persisted and I complained, replaced the baggage doors entirely. -The issue persisted, contacted Grand Design corporate to open a complaint ticket. I requested permission to have trailer inspected and issue resolved at Windish RV in Longmont, CO as the Cheyenne dealership was incompetent and dishonest. Windish RV was fantastic, but Grand Design refused to authorize anything else for the baggage doors issue. Windish RV suggested I should upgrade the latches/locks to a high quality replacement, as the factory latches are mostly plastic junk, all the locks are keyed the same, and issues with them are almost guaranteed. On my own dime I replaced all of the baggage door latches with RV Lock (Utah, USA small business) replacement handles and locks (nearly $500 plus labor). This resolved the issue (around 5k mi since install). This was very expensive and time consuming but the safety and peace of mind is priceless. If items from the open baggage compartments fell out onto the roadway it could have caused massive property damage, injuries, and loss of life to my occupants and anybody else on the same road at the same time as me. -I can provide the warranty repair attempts documentation at a later date, as that paperwork is currently inside the trailer at a repair facility for other issues currently.

Potential frame failure. First noticed [XXX]. Grand Design contacted, but no appointment due to "Customer Care Center" being moved. Referred to Royal RV in Middlebury, IN. Appt. set for Mid May. No concern by GD that we would be traveling 1500 miles. Visual inspection @ Royal RV suggested potential frame failure. Appt. set for June 18th for full inspection. Both Grand Design {case# XXX} and Lippert Components {case# XXX) where notified of the situation and offered opportunity to visit Royal RV while the RV was there. During the time before returning to Royal RV a YouTube video was discovered showing the same RV as ours with the exact same issues had been shared with GD on March 28th, 2018. RV returned to Royal RV XXX, 2022. Their inspection identified broken welds same area as shown on the above mentioned video. After much effort, Lippert arrived XXX 2022 to make repairs. Lippert Tech noted that delamination under bedroom slide was most likely caused by broken welds but he could not correct. Contacted Grand Design but could not schedule an appointment due to "rally appointments". Appointment set for our return in May, 2023. No concern by Grand Design on our 3000 mile round trip. RV returned to Grand Design on XXX, 2023. Very little detail on what corrective action taken other than to repeat "your frame flex" problem corrected. Much more detail on the bedroom slide issue. A section of the outside wall removed as well as the complete slide to repair broken welds. We picked up RV approx. on XXX. Reviewed Work Order #XXXXX. Again no details on the frame failure only the Flex Issue. Spoke with the Customer Care mgr. to relay our disappointment with Grand Design and Lippert to feel no responsibility for endangering lives on the highway. Out of pocket expense for us $3821.00. Our ins. company, National General, denied our claim (claim# XXX) due to their determination the failure was a mfg. defect. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

After removing the factory installed refrigerator to install a warranty replacement unit, I discovered that the aluminum housing of the refrigerator was coming in contact with two 120v electrical outlets and the corresponding wiring. Excess movement of the refrigerator while towing caused chafing of the wiring and resulted in one of the punch down type electrical outlets breaking. The side of the refrigerator also suffered significant damage, clearly demonstrating the potential for a short circuit event. The broken outlet also has the potential for electrocution while plugging/unplugging the RV’s microwave. I did create a YouTube video and shared the link with Grand Design. I also shared the video on Grand Design’s owner forum and have been contacted by other owners who have encountered the same issue. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)