BoAndRach wrote:

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Additionally, is it acceptable to include my direct email address in case folks aren't comfortable sharing on the forum?

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 I don't see why any comment on this should be "Secret". It'd be good info for all to know.

I would not see a problem asking brand specific questions.  Before asking you might do some searches on what brand you are thinking about, there is a lot of information already in the past posts on many brands.  That does not mean to not ask any questions you may have, people on here are very helpful.  Good luck with your research.

We have a 2011 Heartland Landmark, and have been living in it fulltime since December 2012. We have had great luck with our fiver. We had a couple minor warranty issues (slide adjustment and a couple wires that loosened from the junction box under the slide). That's not to say we've never had problems - leak that Harry fixed by replacing some piping in the basement), refrigerator went and was replaced under the manufacturer's warranty. Many of the issues Harry has dealt with himself. When it's not something he can fix on his own, we have always had good luck finding a repair person in the area. Also, Heartland is great to deal with while you're in the warranty period. They will authorize warranty work at independent repair places, which can come in very handy when traveling. The Heartland community has been awesome, and the forum has been a resource for us many times over the past four years. We are happy with the choice we made, and would make the same one again.

-- Edited by 2riker2go on Monday 25th of May 2015 03:08:21 PM

-- Edited by 2riker2go on Monday 25th of May 2015 03:09:01 PM

We actually only went in once during the actual warranty period - for the slide adjustment. Although when we bought the fiver, there was only a one year warranty and now they have upped it to two years. The junction box/loose wire issue we actually had an appointment to take it in for work, when Harry discovered where the wires were loose and fixed it himself. The fridge was the only other warranty issue, but it was manufacturers warranty, not Heartland. The cooling unit failed when we had had the fiver for a year and a half. We lived in NY at the time and had purchased our rig in TN, so being able to take it into another shop other than the one we bought it at was a big deal for us. We actually have had most of our work done at a small independent repair place.

I think the other thing that really helped us was buying the fiver at a place which was very reputable and did a great PDI. (RVs for Less in Knoxville TN) I think some of the reason we had such good luck was the fact that they go over each rig they sell with a fine toothed comb.

Jessica and Kelly, thank you so much for sharing your experiences. So glad to hear that they have been good. And glad to hear that the structural integrity is good.

We have definitely looked at the Landmark (we like the Newport), but we'll be traveling with mountain bikes and related gear so we really need a place to store all that equipment.

Looking forward to the day we make a decision and are one step closer to getting on the road.

Thank you again for sharing your stories!

Rachael

Hi Red,

Thank you for the info. We looked at the Grand Design Solitude before we realized we were wanted a toy hauler and we were impressed with the quality but the bunkhouse floor plan (which we thought we wanted at the time) didn't quite meet our needs. I think we may need to take a look at the Momentum!

With respect to the garage area, do you find its easy to control the temp, etc. In addition to hauling our mountain bikes/gear, I'll be using the garage as an office so that's going to be really important to me.

Thanks for your help.

Safe travels!

Rachael

-- Edited by BoAndRach on Tuesday 26th of May 2015 06:10:15 PM

BoAndRach wrote:

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Hi Red,

Thank you for the info. We looked at the Grand Design Solitude before we realized we were wanted a toy hauler and we were impressed with the quality but the bunkhouse floor plan (which we thought we wanted at the time) didn't quite meet our needs. I think we may need to take a look at the Momentum!

With respect to the garage area, do you find its easy to control the temp, etc. In addition to hauling our mountain bikes/gear, I'll be using the garage as an office so that's going to be really important to me.

Thanks for your help.

Safe travels!

Rachael

-- Edited by BoAndRach on Tuesday 26th of May 2015 06:10:15 PM

We have a 3rd AC, you can use our garage as a meat locker at the deer camp if you needed to.  We have the Momentum 380, it's the same as the Solitude 369 without the couch in the rear then add a garage.  To make room for the garage they shrink everything about 10% in the living, kitchen, bath and bedroom.

 

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We had a horrible experience with our Heartland. We had a 2013 Bighorn Silverado 37QB Marquis Edition(bought in October 2012). It looked great on paper and initial walk through.....but that's where it ended. We couldn't win for losing with that thing. We weren't in an area that had any authorized dealers so when it came to having it worked on under warranty....we were SOL. They paid for a repair ONE time in the very beginning when we didn't have hot water and it ended up being some wiring not hooked up in the basement area clear on the opposite side as the water heater. The guy was there for what seemed like an entire day trying to figure it out and I raised a huge stink about getting Heartland to pay for it. After that, they gave us the run around because they didn't understand why were always in the same remote area. Then they started questioning if we were full timing in it because then that would have voided the warranty. It was a mess. Our water heater never did work (except for about a 1 week period after the repair guy was there)on electric; the bedroom A/C always put out a toxic sewage smell when ran (we tried all sorts of options from venting on the roof to tearing apart the unit to clean ducts); ours was the bunkhouse model and seemed as though even though it was vented all the way through from the living room, no air or anything ever came out of those vents, making the roof stifling hot in the summer time; we had mother boards blow on our fridge; the black tank leaked causing the entire underbelly to start sagging(hubby finally had to drill holes in the sides of the "cardboard" underbelly part to let it drain before we got rid of it); the black tank valve snapped the cord and couldn't be shut; there was little to no insulation for the plumbing and we ended up having to replace the valves on the outside kitchen lines; water leaked under the kitchen sink soaking the floor all the way back to the wall where the other toilet was; tons of spots of trim on the interior popped off within the first month; the little bit of carpet had a bald spot just from vacuuming a handful of times because it was so cheap and had no backing or anything.......I could probably go on, but I think you get the idea. Most of these started happening fairly early, but because we were fulltiming, it was really hard to take it 2 hours away and leave it to get fixed. And even then we would have had to pay for our rooms and stuff while in the shop because we couldn't tell Heartland we fulltimed.
So, with all of that in mind, March 17, 2014, hubby and I attended an RV show and fell in love with our current rig. Smaller company but really liked what we saw and researched about them. We put in our down payment that day and haven't looked back. Of course we lost money on our awful but we didn't care just to see it gone. Our 2015 Open Range 3X378RLS ready for us May3, 2014 and we couldn't be happier. We have been in our unit since then and haven't looked back.
I understand your need for the extra room. Our Heartland had the bunkhouse with the extra 1/2 bath and an outside kitchen. We don't miss it a bit. Open Range was bought by Jayco since we purchased our rig and they are now known as Highland Ridge RV. I believe they have a toyhauler coming out soon if not already. Their 3X line is AMAZING! Customer service is great. I have heard great things about the warranty service, although no first hand experience really. We had one issue with our Dometic A/C in the bedroom but it got replaced and they sent us a check to refund the money we spent for the repair guy. The A/C was under warranty of course.
If you do choose Heartland, I hope you have better luck. We may have just gotten a rotten egg but you asked for past owners to share their experience, and that was mine. (We did look at a Cyclone 4000 when we were first wanting to get rid of our other one, but decided against Heartland all together after all the issues.)

As an FYI: Landmarks are ok for full-time use - Heartland knows we live in it. I am not sure about other lines.

We've owned three Heartland units, two Bighorns and now a Landmark, and had good luck with all. We have a 2011 Landmark Grand Canyon and have had no problems with it at all. Very easy to work with and they will allow another dealer-even a dealer that doesn't sell Heartland products-with prior approval-do work on your rig. The Heartland Owners Forum is a wealth of information. Many other owners are there to answer any questions for you.

We are not full-timing. We camp a lot (boondocking) during the summer and this will be out first year heading south for the winter 6-7 months. The garage was a huge deciding factor on this toy hauler. Two feet does make a lot of difference. Right now we have four wheelers and motorcycles but who knows we may end up with a UTV and some would not fit in a ten foot garage. We liked the separation between the garage and living areas so if we have guests they do have some privacy and it makes an awesome dining room! We have had the rig in for warranty work (small issues with water pressure and continuous running pump. Called the dealer, set up an appointment for a week later and we were in and out within a few hours. I do believe you get what you pay for. Our rig is what I would consider an entry level fifth wheel toy hauler but is so nice inside (friends gush and say this is nicer than some peoples homes) that we are very happy with it. We have seen some that was in the 75-100k range that were extremely nice and well built but I felt that what ours had to offer at the 50k point could not justify spending an extra 25-50k to have a dishwasher (don't use my home one) etc. Washer and dryer? quite content to use the resorts facilities where we will base out of next year. With this being said..I am youngerish (50) and things may change next year and will decide a different route but at this point having done motorhomes,bumper pull toy haulers, and now the fifth wheel hopefully this will be the solution for the direction we want to head. Whatever you decide to do will work for your life. Everyones needs and wants are different but I can say I have learned a tremendous amount from these type forums. (Hubby just looks at me and laughs when I pipe in with suggestions from info that I learned here and says "such a good idea")

Good Luck with your purchase!