2019page=2 Grand Design Imagine XLS reviews

Grand Design means Poor Execution. Ours had the following defects: Underbelly heater duct was too short and not inserted into the floor. No underbelly heat meant our pipes froze on our first fall trip. Sawdust leaking out of every crevice everywhere. They never cleaned up as they were building it. Also wood screws, and enough spare parts under the cabinets to install a second TV antenna. Kinked hot water pipe. Electric tongue jack wired thru unprotected holes in steel frame. Combined with the fuse failing to blow, there were sparks and burn marks where the wires wore thru. Poor paint job. The frame and stairs were rusting before the first season was over. Surging water pump. 6 months to replace a recalled and faulty Chinese made propane pressure control valve. Undersized battery dead within 2 years. Cheap Chinese made Westlake tires wore out at 7,000 miles. A defective toilet valve flooded the bathroom and there is no way to turn water off just at the toilet. You have to turn off the water to everything. There are no shut off valves to any of the sinks or the toilet. But there was a loose fitting elbow drain under the shower. Show less

Roof blew off last year on 2019. Warranty basically gave us the middle finger. GD certified repair facility said it was a manufacturer defect. $12,000. 00 REPLACEMENT. Next trip out it blew a tire, granted these tires looked brand new. Ripped off the siding on the trailer. Then the outside shower blew a plastic POS pressure water fitting and flooded the entire underneath storage compartment. Had this been a fitting NOT to the outside shower, it would have flooded the ENTIRE INSIDE OF THE RV. I suppose that will be next?!!! This trailer is GARBAGE AND THE WARRANTY IS USELESS. Show less

We are only selling this unit because we bought a park model in our current RV Park. This unit is truly a "couples coach". The opposing slides in the living area gives ample room to move around. Having a separate bedroom from the living area made it very comfortable. The storage in this unit is very good. Overall, we absolutely loved this unit. Show less

We were so excited about getting a Grand Design product, but our excitement quickly turned to disappointment. The quality and customer service are just not there. Little things started failing almost at once. We did get some of the issues patched up before warranty expired, but more problems followed. To start with: Drawers were put in crooked and won’t stay closed during travel. Cabinet doors were hinged incorrectly and didn’t latch. Handles on cabinetry have metal burrs that cut hands. Shades bottom bars fall off shades constantly. Currently experimenting with packing tape to hold them. Theater seating controls on one side stopped working. Listed, but not repaired under warranty. Basement doors warped to the point of no longer sealing. Warranty gave us new doors, but did not cover installation. Leak in awning directly over doorway; listed, but not repaired by warranty. Pieces of decorative trim missing in middle of run. After warranty expired: Lights failed on awning and entrance. Plastic wood print paper that covers cabinets and doors fraying from normal use. We have contacted Grand Design concerning quality issues , but got no response This is not our first travel trailer and had no issues with previous one (Forest River). After two years we are considering a new trailer, and it DEFINITELY will not be a Grand Design! I would not recommend a Grand Design based based on our experience. Show less

The was used three times after I spent $3,000 on renovations. New queen mattresses, 60 lb propane tanks, winter underbelly, etc. this trailer is better than new. I am 75 and I Don t feel safe driving it. A new one costs $47,000 plus Show less

We’ve had only great moments enjoying the fantastic floor plan ideally for a couple, however we have four people sleeping. Since our purchase, we had minor issues and with the help and amazing customer service from Grand Design everything was repaired and problems solved Show less

LIKES: Love the floor plan for just me, my wife and one other (two if they are small children). Knew the space limitations when we bought it, so no issues there. At 6’3” the residential queen bed was a must and is not common in sub-20 foot trailers. Also has enough headroom! Tows easily with 1/2 ton. DISLIKES: The non-ducted AC can’t keep up with the radiant heat coming through the dark nose cap at the front during sunny days, while at the same time keeping the back chilly. The nose cap continues to fade in spite of washing/waxing with RV polish 3 times per year. Won’t buy another with a dark colored exterior. The rain gutters only keep up with light rain. Our left side gutter was apparently installed incorrectly and causes a leak inside the wall that comes out on the floor under the bathroom cabinet when it rains hard or steady. There is no leak unless it rains, so I know its not plumbing related. Have been told by dealer that structural LEAKS AREN’T COVERED by any warranty, even though we opted for the Lifetime coverage. If we don’t sell or trade it in, I will likely remove the gutter and fill attachment holes with putty, or just fill the gutter with eternabond, overlapping onto the roof. Doing nothing will likely result in delamination of siding over time, not to mention mold and mildew in the wall. Overall, I can’t recommend this model due to issues listed. Show less

This trailer is great if you are going to spend just a week or so on vacation. We, unfortunately, needed it to live in ours while waiting for our home to be rebuilt after the fires here in Oregon. The cabinets began to peel within the first few months and it looks absolutely awful. The silverware drawer broke in the first month we had it. Now it only opens halfway and there are only 3 drawers. The back bunks are great, 2 people can sleep in the bottom bed, but you can't sit up and it can be very claustrophobic. I don't mind MRIs, but get anxious on the inside. The hot water heater barely heats the water and 3 RV repair people said it couldn't be fixed. It was an issue with these RVs. My daughter got a Jayflight and it is holding up beautifully after 10 months. Her shower is really hot when all ours would do is spit out lukewarm water at best. I have to heat water for dishes in the winter. The shower itself is fine, but the shower "door" is pretty flimsy. The RV itself does heat up well and it stays cool, which is a huge blessing since we have had 114 degree days and the rv has stayed cool. Our RV does stay cooler than my daughter's, but in all fairness, her RV shades ours in the worst part of the day. It's the peeling woodwork I seriously do not understand. And the floors after a while are just icky. They are textured so always feel gross on your bare feet no matter how much you scrub them. People who have seen our paneling have been shocked at how bad it looks. We have tried to restain them, but that looked even worse. Makes you feel like you are living in a dump. I may just have to remove them, sand them, and paint them it's so bad. Our doors to the outside are holding up better than my daughter's RV. But she has 4 border collies in her RV and it's holding up nicely and looks very nice on the inside. Our RV is probably more sturdy than my daughters, but hers has more room and cost quite a bit less. It has a light and airy feeling, where ours has dark paneling that was supposed to look elegant but is peeling, exposing tan wood underneath. We picked this for one reason which is a big one - there are doors to the rooms and the bathroom separates the back bedroom from the living space. I have an 88-year-old mother who is in that room. We do love the recliners, but the heater in them never really worked. I sleep in one at night while my husband sleeps in the bed under the bunks in the bunk area. It's too claustrophobic for two adults. This is not something you'd take if you have adults or larger children. The speakers never worked right sort of cut in and out and also turned on like it was possessed until we just unplugged the entire radio. We just had to compromise for those doors, now I wish I'd not been so fixated on the doors. And for the price, I think they could have added a slide to the back bunk room. Again my daughter's is holding up better, has 2 slides and longer. Show less

We wanted a smaller RV and liked the look and amenities of the Grand Design Imagine 19RLS. The salesman said that it was built by the same manufacturer of larger luxury fifth wheel trailers. We trusted him thinking this would be a quality trailer. We were wrong to think this. Our first time out (a one night trip), the air conditioner couldn’t keep this small, no slides, trailer cool. Took it in and dealer said it was working as it should. We assumed the AC must be undersized for the trailer but Grand Design wouldn’t do anything about it. Our second trip was a 2 week trip from SW Colorado to Montana. After a couple of nights, the water heater stopped working and the underbelly liner fell off while we were driving dragging as we drove. That exposed the fact that no insulation had ever been installed even though it was advertised as having an insulated heated underbelly. We spent the next day waiting on a mobile RV repair company to temporarily reattach the underbelly cover. We spent another day trying to find a RV service company to replace the hot water heating control unit so we could have hot water. We had to CB pay out of pocket but did get reimbursed but it used up two days of vacation. Then, while traveling down a busy highway, we noticed from our side mirrors that the weatherstripping on the both sides of outside front trim had come loose and was flapping like bird wings! Embarrassing. During the trip, one of the glass panes on the upper storage cabinet doors cracked and when we got home another glass pane fell out of the door. The sealant used didn’t hold the pane in and we hypothesized that that was the cause of the cracked window, too. Grand Design refused to pay for the these even though it was during the one year warranty period. Since then, at least a fourth of the cabinet door glass sealant has fallen off so this was definitely a factory defect. Never had that issue with our previous Cougar RV which we had for ten years! Another issue, the sliding door to the bathroom won’t close completely due to it not being installed level. Fast forward to the following spring, when preparing for a multi day trip, we de-winterrized the trailer and hooked up the water. Water began pouring out of connections in the pass through storage and under the sink. The connections had not been properly connected with proper connectors — only stuck together with adhesive —which obviously deteriorated during the winter. Water was pouring out of the underbelly. Even though this was an obvious factory defect, Grand Design refused to pay for the repair since it was over the one year warranty period. We recently took a weekend trip and the air conditioner would work for a few hours and then start blowing warm air. We took it back to the dealer and they finally discovered that the air conditioner had been installed without sealing the baffles allowing outside air instead of return air from the trailer causing the AC to freeze up. Again, a factory defect but Grand Design would not pay for the repair. Also, the placement of the AC and no ductwork causes the dinette/bed to be too cold while the area of the Murphy bed is too warm —a design issue. We bought this trailer brand new and owned it for a year and a half, it looks cute but the lack of quality in the workmanship and lack of responsibility shown by Grand Design for said workmanship means we will never purchase another Grand Design product. Show less

We bought it 2nd hand. Very few hours on it. 1st time out the roof started lifting. The membrane looks like a dome tent in the wind. Trim on the top has come off on the entire side, blew out a tire. We arent even home yet. Ready to sell and go back to tenting. Show less