Grand Design 5th Wheel reviews

I used to own a trailer dealership and I have hauled every size trailer. This trailer hauls and travels great. It has been a great trailer. I had a bad fridge but it was replaced. The only disappointment is the rust on the powder coated Lippert frame. Show less

Rv was assembled in a hurry. Very poor and sloppy workmanship. End result is missing parts, things falling apart. Excess frame flex/failure. Wrong bolts, missing bolts, bad welds, suspension failure, bad frame design, things falling apart. Serious safety issues. To many corners were cut to make a profit and sacrifices safety. Show less

We purchased the GD in 2022 for long term travel. We have stayed in the 5th wheel for 4 months at a time and love the floor plan. It is perfect for a couple during extended camping. Grand Design was highly sought after before 2020 and was highly rated. During our first year of ownership we found trim falling off, entry door not lining up, water leakage around lights on ceiling and a piece of plastic lodged into the rear ac. Things you would not have found during a 6 hour walk through. Warranty has been less than stellar and support has been minimal from GD. We cringe every time we hear of recalls and are hoping we are not the 1% ending up with frame damage and being denied. At this point we love our fifth wheel but have no confidence in the GD models. Our previous RV was a Keystone Toy Hauler 2012 and was built much better than the GD. I will not own another GD model. Show less

The floor plan is similar to other rigs with the opposing slides. This maximizes the living area and kitchen. Design wise the kitchen slide is large and on a Shwintek system. We have had this replaced under warranty. Would like to have lights over the island, for some reason this unit does not have them. The rig tows very well, and storage is good. Show less

We like that there is a large bathroom with plenty of cabinets. Love the wet bar area for more storage but we rarely use the sink. The layout was well executed. The under storage is more than plenty. Should have been made with higher weighted axel better yet should have added an axel due to long back overhang that will drag on any uneven surfaces. Has been a big issue. The company can’t give their wiring semantics bc they don’t follow any set policy. Warranty was an absolute joke. Things (stove, water heater, trim drawers) started breaking 1 week after the warranty ended. The extended warranty was not able to be utilized either. Fine print! The cost has been marked up high and the quality degraded on these 5th wheel. This is really a 60,000. at most 5th wheel. If you pay 100,000. You should get good quality. The company that makes these things seriously lacks integrity. Would we buy same brand? Probably not. There is too much of a monopoly in the RV industry. People are being taken advantage of. Show less

This RV checks almost all the boxes if you need a toy hauler but still camp in conventional campgrounds as it’s still under 40’. This is the trailer for you. Good kitchen storage , kitchen is cramped with more than 2 people in it at once. Limited space for eating but good couch layout for watching TV. Big master bedroom and good size shower and great half bath in the garage for the kids. Small outside storage gotta get creative but still works. This trailer has had the least amount of problems out of my previous Dutchman and Forest River trailers. Would purchase again. Show less

I feel Grand Design is the best quality trailer on the market. Where other companies use particle board, Grand Design uses plywood. The quality is apparent when walking into a Grand Design vs any other brand in the same price range. I was really surprised by the “livability”. Truly, with this model you feel like you haven’t left home. The kitchen island is such a nice feature. It makes the kitchen design so user friendly, especially if you have people or pets in your trailer while you are trying to cook. The couch, theatre chairs, and big screen TV make it perfect for relaxing and entertaining. There’s so much space in the pantry, you rarely have to visit the store while you’re traveling. As far as driving and towing, it’s a very easy travel to tow. We use our Ford F150. None of my female friends will drive their trailer leaving their husbands to have to do all the driving. I not only drive, but can back up and park this trailer. The only complaint I have is the “support”. Happy Daze RV will keep your RV for half the year before they finally get around to addressing the issue. I hear that most of the dealerships are the same—very frustrating. Otherwise, the 295RL is super user friendly and a very well made, reliable trailer. Show less

This trailer has helped me fulfill many dreams. We were the second owners for this trailer and were lucky to find a shorter trailer. We enjoy camping in state and national parks which cannot accommodate the larger trailers (35' +). We made a trip to Yellowstone, two trips to New England, one along the Gulf Coast, and many long weekends in Texas. The trailer pulls like a dream, and we would not be selling if it were not for health issues. I would love for someone to take this trailer and experience all the wonders I have. Show less

I knew nothing about RV's and less about towing one. This unit has impressive quality. The interior colors are walnut which we liked better than the new "pickled" white new unit have. We lived in it full time for a year. The floor plan gives the most room. The opposing slides open to make the kitchen, dining area and living area very open. The two heated/massage recliners are directly across from the televator TV. The unit has a RV refrigerator(18') so a little small but it can run on propane or electric (or solar). This makes a big difference when boondocking as you can use electric when the sun is charging the 6 100Ah batteries. Or save the batteries to run your AC's in the evening and put the fridge on propane. The park has "iffy" power the solar with compensate. The park only has 30 amp, no problem the solar will compensate. The "Nautilus" plumbing system is super user friendly and making switching between wet and dry camping (or just road days) easy. The lippert leveling system is also easy to use. And the instruction are on the side opening cargo door so you can actually read it without doing the limbo (think Montana). Fully loaded at 15,000 lbs this unit pulls great. All the extras help make it easy to tow with minimal bucking and sway. I pulled with a 2022 GMC 3500 Duramax Diesel (also for sale with purchase of RV) and climbed every hill with ease and the exhaust brake and towing systems controlled the load on the steepest downhills. Awsome. Show less

Review of My 2023 Grand Design Solitude 378MBS: Buyer Beware I purchased my 2023 Grand Design Solitude 378MBS in February 2023 from General RV in Huntley, Illinois. Initially, I noticed minor issues like trim pieces falling off the slides, which I considered typical for an RV. However, by May 2023, significant problems began to surface. My bedroom door frame came completely unhinged from the passenger side wall, and the front bedroom slide started rubbing the floor, leaving wood shavings behind after each trip. I naively thought these issues were normal. As summer approached, I noticed excessive rust on the frame and treated it with Rust-Oleum. Later in 2023, the mid-deck screws began to self-tap out of the passenger side wall. I screwed them back in, again thinking this was normal. By January 2024, my entire slide mechanism failed. When I contacted Grand Design's warranty department, they dismissed my claim. However, a mobile tech in Camp Verde, Arizona, confirmed the motor wasn’t installed properly from the factory and that my bedframe was falling apart. While the tech replaced the slide rails and motors under warranty, I have yet to be reimbursed for the labor expense, despite providing receipts. In March 2024, while traveling from Camp Verde, Arizona, to Mississippi, I lost my roof on the highway. The front membrane separated from the front cap despite my regular maintenance and inspections. Grand Design's warranty department initially gave me the runaround, requesting details down to the brand of lap-sealant used on the roof. It wasn’t until I posted pictures on their social media page that I received a response. Jessica from their social media department helped cover the roof repair under warranty, and I had a Flex Armor roof installed in June 2024. However, I am still waiting to be fully reimbursed for my nearly $1,000 hotel stay during the repair. At the end of June 2024, I discovered a Facebook page discussing Frame Flex and Failure. Upon investigating my Solitude, I found symptoms of frame flex, including front slide failure, roof delamination, and interior damage. Testing revealed over a half-inch deflection of the mid-deck. Further inspection showed that two of the three lag bolts on the passenger side were loose, and the bolts used were the wrong size—3/8 instead of 1/2 inch. Despite notifying Grand Design and requesting an SRT unit to meet me in South Dakota, I was told my unit was safe to tow. After discovering the lag bolt issue, I lost all faith in Grand Design. Lippert, the chassis designer, failed to properly coat the frame, leading to excessive rust far beyond what should be expected in a 2023 model. Despite my efforts to maintain the frame, the rust continues to spread, suggesting a very thin layer of paint was applied over an already rusting frame from the factory. To make matters worse, my front slide is beginning to fail again. There is a crack down the side wall internally, directly underneath the slide, and it makes a lot of cracking sounds when pushing the slide in and out. When the slide is fully retracted, it rubs along the floor, exacerbating the damage. An SRT unit is scheduled to come out in August, but given the numerous negative reports, I have little faith in their ability to address the root cause. I paid over $131,000 for this RV and strongly advise others to reconsider all their options before purchasing a product from Grand Design. Show less