Are You Happy With Your BigHorn & Heartland?

[John_n_Genny]

So my wife and I are getting ready to buy a new 5th wheel. We have outgrown our 23 foot trailer and as I recently retired, we are looking forward to doing more RV'ing. We have narrowed down our choices to 3 particular brands/models. The Keystone Montana 3160RL, Grand Design Reflection (337RLS), and Bighorn 3160 Elite. We have done a bit of homework and been scouring the reports from RVreviews.net. Seems that the Grand Design Reflection has made a name for itself concerning quality and customer service, rating 5 out of 5 stars with 553 out of 600 total points, rating superior in all categories. Probably that's why Winnebago just bought them out a few days ago The Montana is still known for being the premier 5th wheel for Keystone, although from what I've read, their quality has declined in the last few years.

Which brings us to Heartland and BigHorn. Although we like the amenities that the BH offers, we are still not sure about Heartlands quality and customer service. Here is what RVreviews had to say:

"And therein lies a problem –a lineup that grows like an unchecked virus often results in a steady decline of quality control and owner satisfaction, and this seems to be happening here, with just over 50% of owners now saying they would recommend a Heartland –down from over 70% several years ago. Poor customer service and difficulty having warranties honored are the most common reasons given. Dealers we spoke to also referred to Heartland as “average” and “Nothing to get excited about” and almost all expressed frustration getting approval from the factory for routine warranty work, finding Heartland annoyingly bureaucratic at best and downright argumentative or unresponsive at worst. Problems with product run the gamut, with reports of leaking sinks, fixtures and slide-outs, electrical outlets falling out of walls, fading exterior paint, hydraulic failures, improperly hung doors, and trim pieces installed (apparently) with a nailer set to the wrong PSI, resulting in trim falling off or barely affixed. How anyone can work their way around an RV, mounting trim and not realize (or care) that it’s not secure, we can’t begin to imagine. And who the heck is inspecting this unit and giving it a green light to head out to a dealership? So what’s the consensus? We’re not sure. Heartland is a big conundrum for us. They win lots of awards (including Reader’s Choice awards presented not by biased dealers or organizations but actual owners!) and sell huge volumes of product –and it’s good looking and amenity laden product, too. But there’s no denying that we hear more complaints (and some of these are downright venomous) from Heartland owners than any other manufacturer. And now you’re expecting us to rate them. Lovely."

It seems that Heartland is trying to address the customer service issues, but that's one of the reasons I'm posting to ask that question, "Have they?". Heartland did say they were trying to address the customer service and quality issues, but anyone can "talk the talk"

 

[cookie]

Hello John_n_Jenny and welcome to this great forum. A great recourse for Heartland product owners. And of course those that are interested in Heartland products.

It look like you are doing the right thing by taking care of your homework and research on RVs.

Being a two time owner of Heartland Bighorns I might be a little biased because they have both been nearly trouble free and the problems that I did have were no trouble getting them repaired. For me Heartland has given great customer service.

I try to be realistic about any purchase I make, and the RV industry as a whole could use a little better quality.
Along the same line, if there is someone working for Heartland or Jayco, or choose a manufacturer and that person moves on to another RV builder that persons pride, or lack of, goes with that employee. So I would expect quality to be mostly the same across all brands.

So that brings me to customer service. There are some people that think if a screw falls out and there is a misaligned cabinet door they have the worst thing ever built so things like that show up on reviews as a really bad experience.
Everyone expects top quality and rightfully so but the real world experiences say that things will and do happen. There are those that do have major problems and have their coach at the dealer for extended periods. I hear this about most all manufacturers. This is not the norm but it does happen.
Get if fixed and move on.

Like I said earlier I think that Heartland Customer Service is great. Others may disagree, but based on my dealings that is how I feel.
People with good experiences never post that experience on line but if there is a problem that's all you hear.

The Heartland Owners Club is another great thing to consider. We are now at the Heartland Owner North American Rally here in Las Vegas, Nevada. So when you get your new Bighorn be sure to check out the Heartland Owners Club. There are rallys all across the country as well as in Canada.

Those are just some of my thoughts and feelings about Heartland products. We are on our second Bighorn and if there is another RV in our future I know what it will be. A Heartland product.

Peace
Dave

 

[TravelTiger]

Go with what you think you can live with.

Winnebago was approached by Grand Design, as GD was looking for a capital investment partner. Which means they needed money. If they really walk the walk on service and quality, now they are owned by someone with money, and now money talks. I would expect changes in how GD does business, because what they did before wasn't self-sustaining.

One of the pluses of Heartland not mentioned by the review is the Owners Club and Owners forum. The owners forum is a great place to find fixes and diagnose issues, so you don't have to go back to a dealer for repair. Many times, this forum helps someone with an issue, they make a call to Heartland and Heartland ships a part direct to the owner, for simple self-repair. I don't know if other manufacturers truly have owner support for other owners like Heartland does. Heartland also has a paid staff position, Director of Owner Interests, (Jim Beletti) who runs the owners club and tours the country, and he is directly involved with owners on a daily basis... traveling in his Heartland RV. Who else does that?


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[SNOKING]

We purchased a 2017 BH3575el in May and DW sold the house in August to a lady in the next chair at a beauty salon, so we moved aboard! Love it!

Montana 3160, no access to refrig with slides in. Crossed it off the list.

Reflection, small refrig, no rear cap (including on the Solitude models). Never was on the list.

We wanted a King bed also and the larger rectangular shower. Started thinking at a BH3270RS, then smaller shower moved us up to the 3575 for the larger shower.

Chris

 

[Garypowell]

We are on our second big horn and have just left the factory after another round of repairs......but I will stick with Heartland. There are always going to be problems....what other manufacturer fixes their coach a year after the warranty is over.....can't beat it!

Something else that has been mentioned is I would try my best to find a coach you like that is already built....not special order. My unofficial count seems to indicate more unhappiness with a coach when they special ordered it. It seems like they believe it was built specially for them.....when it was just another coach that came down the line. Plus when you wait months for your coach it seems people hook up and drive away quickly.....not doing a good inspection.

When you pick one on the lot it seems people take more time to look it over. Anxious for the sale the dealership seems to fix things quicker.

One other thing I often tell people is that owning an RV is like having a part time job......there is always something to fix.....or take care of.

Good luck!

 

[wdk450]

My Bighorn was built 8 years ago, and I am sure many factors have changed over the years. I will just give what I consider my best advice about buying ANY large 5th wheel RV: Immediately get the MorRyde Independent suspension and disk brakes package. Besides eliminating the possible failure parts of springs, equalizers, shackles and bolts, the MorRyde install also includes adding a beefy steel box between the I beams at the axle points. Many owners also consider the conventional electric brakes not up to the task of stopping 16,000 pounds of trailer. This will cost you $7-8K extra but will be a vast improvement that you will probably never take note of, as we do not appreciate things that do not fail.

 

[sgtbigb]

I have had three Bighorns and one Landmark, I must say that my 2016 Bighorn is a better unit than my 2011 Landmark.

 

[JohnDar]

To answer the question, as posed...Yes. Sure, it isn't perfect, but I've looked at many and wouldn't trade for them.


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[Bobby A]

I was a skeptic like you are, I went to a lot of RV shows, talked to a lot of people, went on factory tours and lurked on a lot of forums like this one. We had a Montana Big Sky and loved the unit. We were getting ready to retire and needed something with a little more storage as we were going full time. We decided on Heartland Bighorn cause we loved the floor plan, we ordered our unit and got everything we wanted on it, we went to the factory as it was being built and watched it roll off the line, I had tears in my eyes like it was my first born kid being born. The first year we did have some issues but Heartland stood behind there product every time we needed them. We have been full time living in our unit 24/7 for going on 7 years now, we still love our Bighorn and Heartland and if and when we buy another 5th wheel, you bet cha, it will be another Heartland product. Good luck with your search, Heartland is a good company but be careful on what dealership you choose, they can make a happy experience go real sour real quick. This forum is second to none !! Its the best period !!

 

[AAdams]

IMHO, Short answer is not really. The floor plan and concept is great. The warranty process was difficult and really sucked. Now that I am out of warranty things (furniture ) is falling apart. I doubt I will buy another Heartland if we can ever afford another trailer. The Forum is great and so are the people on it.

Alan

 

[mslater]

i have a 2014 3585 in florida we use 6 months during the winter was bought in elkhart and taken to a campground in daytona so it has 1200 miles on it. we have had to the fix the dinning chairs 3\8" particle board bottoms...most of the upper cabinet hinges have had to be repaired the fasteners pull out due to the strong opening springs. the kitchen sink dropped down due to long of screws used in the mounting clips breaking the glue bond between wood and counter.have a on going leak in gray water above colorplast that i can't locate . only leaks when about full so must be on top, so i leave gate valve open ....have had lots of trouble with fridge working properly had it rebuilt twice under extended warranty, finally got rid of it and replaced with a residential samsung .the led light under awning only lasted about 10 hours before staring to fail...front bedroom ac failed and replaced under extended warranty.one plumbing leak behind udc wall.most all the drain joints leaked under the sinks.i dont use the ladder on the back except for a clothes drying rack (seems all of the heartland trailers in are park are bent down from people using them.) the caulking on the south facing side had to be relplaced after one season. we now have a leak between the front and back slide when it rains hard that is causing delamination....added a topper to bedroom slide and have checked seals that appear to be good ,but water still backs up behind it and runs down and in on bad rains... even though the bedroom slide is about 2 foot shorter than the living room slide it looks like the seal rubber isn't as big as the living room seal, might be the cause .replaced the bed ...the mattress sucks .the theater seating started to breakdown in the fist season so replaced that crap with good home theater seating. fantastic fan electronics failed and replaced under ex. warranty ... my advice is keep a close eye on everything and get a good extended warranty they are getting fed up with my claims....and try not to pull it anymore than you have to

 

[katkens-DW]

Our 07 Bighorn 3055 RL is 10 years old ! We still love it . We have not had to many problems with most of which we have caused . Slides and doors don't go well . Heartland has been good to us when we need something they are very good at helping us get it being so old some things are harder to get. We got ours in September of 06 still going strong!!

 

[padre44]

We researched Montana and BigHorn. Owners forums were big help. Went with BigHorn - 2016 3570. Its the best RV we've owned. So far this year, 2 long trips with no problems. Time will tell in the long haul. A dealer is perhaps the most important decision in which unit you get. Will they take care of you or not? Some travel long distances to save money then wonder why a local dealer is less willing to take care of them in a crunch. Another poster mentioned that the RV industry in general needs to improve quality control. I wonder if the Japanese began importing or building RV's here with better quality like they did with cars, the American RV industry would have to improve or go out of business?

 

[kowAlski631]

We've been very pleased with ours and our dealings with Heartland have been great. Warranty issues seem to track back to dealer involvement. Some dealers are great after the sale - others forget your name when you walk out the door. But Heartland will authorize independent RV services to address you warranty items when you call Heartland - that's a different approach than others. We would buy Heartland again - no two ways about it.

 

[John_n_Genny]

Thanks for the replies everyone. It was good to see most of the replies in the positive, but I appreciate the posts from those who were not happy as well. I think in any RV, there is always a chance that warranty work might be necessary and you have to make sure your dealer will stand behind you when that time comes. Unfortunately, we don't have many choices for BigHorn dealers here in Eastern Washington, just RnR RV. We have dealt with them in the past and they seem like fairly decent dealers. One thing you can be sure of, both the wife will spend most of the day if necessary going over the trailer with a fine tooth comb for our part of the PDI.

Although we haven't made our final decision yet, we are leaning towards the BH 3160EL. The wife loves the large windows, pantry, and full shower. The only thing it doesn't have is the King Bed option. There is the new BH 3575 that combines the best of both worlds but we are not sure if we could pull that thing with my 2500HD Duramax Diesel (Allison with Z71 tow package). Although I'm sure the 3160 wouldn't be a problem, the 3575 might put it right at the limit. Anyone have any thoughts on that or is actually pulling a 3575 with a 3/4 ton diesel?

 

[Bob&Patty]

John, what year is your 2500?? Read the owners manual carefully, make sure you read the specs on YOUR truck's combinations (equipment). Make sure you check the GCVW for the truck and trailer, rear axle weight rating and the GVW of the trailer.

 

[brianlajoie]

We researched Montana and BigHorn. Owners forums were big help. Went with BigHorn - 2016 3570. Its the best RV we've owned. So far this year, 2 long trips with no problems. Time will tell in the long haul. A dealer is perhaps the most important decision in which unit you get. Will they take care of you or not? Some travel long distances to save money then wonder why a local dealer is less willing to take care of them in a crunch. Another poster mentioned that the RV industry in general needs to improve quality control. I wonder if the Japanese began importing or building RV's here with better quality like they did with cars, the American RV industry would have to improve or go out of business?

We took 3 years to find our 2013 BH. In my opinion, I would look for a trailer closer to the manufacturer as I've seen how they are transported. It's a process of discovering what works for you. This is more important that picking the dealer in my opinion. There are currently 17 3160's on the net. We traveled a thousand miles and saved considerable amount of money. As for dealers, I have never contacted the dealer we bought the trailer from. The trailer has also never been to a dealer and I plan to never use one. For the few warranty items I had, I used a certified RVDA/RVIA mobile tech. I perform the maintenance myself so I can see the condition of the trailer.

Make sure your PDI is very thorough. Ours was 7 pages and we took 5 hours going through the trailer. After the inspection, you should have a good idea of the build quality. The comparison to the automotive industry is brought up on the forum from time to time, but in my opinion there is no comparison. If you had a Japanese build their top 3 cars by hand in a single small building, then that would be a better comparison of quality. One manufacturer is over 3 million units a year. All trailers sales by all manufacturers were about 300k. Trailers change all the time and do no lend themselves to much automation.

Good luck finding your trailer and safe travels.

 

[danemayer]

I wonder how difficult it would be to build a high-quality dealer network to provide high-quality service all across the U.S. and Canada for those Japanese built RVs. I'd guess that a higher training/certification level for techs would be part of the equation.

 

['Lil Guy']

It's our 1st year anniversary with our BH 3270RS. Just returned from a 3 month, 6K mile trip with zero issues. Just coming out of warranty. Before we started the trip, I noticed a small hairline crack in the gel coat on the door side slide. Knowing we might be out of warranty when we returned and wanting to make the trip without tying the rig up at a dealer for months, I called HL with the issue. Was told to take a pic, email him with it and let him see the issue. He was more concerned with the issue than I was. He told me he had it on record in our file and to go ahead and enjoy our trip and he would take care of it when we got back. I'd have to say that is good CS. The Sailum tires that came on our rig held up great. No air loss on trip and they still look good. We love our Bighorn and the Heartland family. Really nice stopping at 2 HL rallies while on our trip. Nice visiting with friends and making new ones. The truth is, I was getting a little tired of just talking and looking at DW for that long of a period in close quarters.lol
This is our 3rd HL product and we loved all 3. This is the longest we've kept one due to the moving up 1 foot at a time problem I have. Everytime I go to the dealer, my salesman just laughs when I walk in. He tried to tell me about this problem on our 1st rig.

I don't think you could go wrong with a BH. Met lots of Montana owners on trip who really liked our rig. If you do your part, I'm sure HL will do their part in helping you maintain that home on wheels. I know they've been good for us. Debbie and I would never buy outside the Heartland family which is the best reason to own a Heartland product.

 

[avvidclif]

Thanks for the replies everyone. It was good to see most of the replies in the positive, but I appreciate the posts from those who were not happy as well. I think in any RV, there is always a chance that warranty work might be necessary and you have to make sure your dealer will stand behind you when that time comes. Unfortunately, we don't have many choices for BigHorn dealers here in Eastern Washington, just RnR RV. We have dealt with them in the past and they seem like fairly decent dealers. One thing you can be sure of, both the wife will spend most of the day if necessary going over the trailer with a fine tooth comb for our part of the PDI.

Although we haven't made our final decision yet, we are leaning towards the BH 3160EL. The wife loves the large windows, pantry, and full shower. The only thing it doesn't have is the King Bed option. There is the new BH 3575 that combines the best of both worlds but we are not sure if we could pull that thing with my 2500HD Duramax Diesel (Allison with Z71 tow package). Although I'm sure the 3160 wouldn't be a problem, the 3575 might put it right at the limit. Anyone have any thoughts on that or is actually pulling a 3575 with a 3/4 ton diesel?

That 3160 is going to be all your 3/4t wants at 15,500 GVWR