Quailty is missing at heartland

We bought our bighorn in Jan and have used it only once. I went over it with a fine tooth comb in my walk thr and found many things wrong. Most of everything was fixed at the dealer,what wasn't fixed I fixed it, slide out gouged vinal floor wood shavings in chocking around all sinks. We are very disappointed with the quailty of this 5er. No brakes, water leaks referigator doesn't cool but frezzer works great. Heartland said its normal to have a 52 deg temp in the ref when its hot outside, so I guess we can only use it when its cold outside. waste tanks leak.. It was in the shop for over a month gettin the brakes fixed and the dealer finially did fix them, was charged 71.00 dollars on ref because it worked at the dealer and domintic wouldn't cover the labor. Now the waste tanks are leaking and pushing down on plastic skirt. Now it will go back to the dealer to be worked on and I will hear them say again AND WHERE DID YOU BUY IT AT. door knobs were on bad order for 3 weeks and it was going to take the dealer a week to put them on. I hope Heartland gets better inspectors to inspect the rigs before they ship them to the dealers. sorry if I mad anyone mad with this post.

Re: Quailty is missing at hearland

I hope they understand that we the owners and future owners listen to people like you. Good luck... "Word of mouth" is the best advertisement.

Again ...

Re: Quailty is missing at hearland

The poor quality experience I've had with my unit (2008 BH 3400RL), forces me to not consider Heartland products for future purchases.

CS

Re: Quailty is missing at hearland

I have to agree with you in the quality of the final product from Heartland. While everything we found after our first trip was fixed it was very hard to understand how the factory let the unit out the door.

Our slide buckled on one side breaking the molding on the inside, gas monitor had only one mounting screw holding it, ceiling fan/light fell, interior door frame buckled and popped, holding tank sensor (fresh water) did not work, tons of interior clean up of saw dust around walls, half the locks on exterior doors had to be replaced (did not work) is the list they fixed. The one item I had to pay for and am still upset about is that every lug nut had to be replaced. At the time I took the unit to a dealer for the above repairs the lug nut issue was found. Factory said they had to be damaged from beinging over torqued. Problem is, I never touched them with a wrench. Had to be damaged at the factory or the original dealer using a air gun. I still think Heartland owes me for the cost of the lug nuts.

Re: Quailty is missing at hearland

NCC1701e:
Your lug nuts might have been overtorqued by the contract trailer hauler who moved your rig from the factory to your dealer.

Re: Quailty is missing at hearland

I have to say having owned our Bighorn for just shy of a year now our experience has been quite positive. I've corrected a few minor cosmetic things, I had to adjust the brakes (as stated in the owners manual). We did brake a ceiling fan blade due to it coming loose in transit. I called Heartland customer service, we had a conference call with the fan supplier and I had three new blades inside of a week. A chapter does not make a book but so far we are thrilled with our Heartland.

Re: Quailty is missing at hearland

You said you didn't torque you lug nuts. I guess you are aware you are supposed to recheck them at 100 miles right after purchase and then again at 500 miles. Not doing so could be considered your fault.

Re: Quailty is missing at hearland

Can someone tell me if returning the RV back to the factory is an option, was told they do not have a service department and would only take it if bottom was literally falling out? My fresh water tank has leaked into the belly and all of the insulation is soaked, now starting to smell moldy and mildewish. I have allergy induced asthma which has been worse this year even before the problem with the leak. I have had this RV 6 months & this is "the straw that broke the camels back". Several problems fixed several more other than the leak to be taken care of as well as the frig not stying cool, or taking 3 days to cool down after defrosting. I did as someone suggested and turned it to gas which did shorten the cooling time, but now wonder why if gas works faster, why does frig temp up so high in transit?
I would also like some input regarding generators, gas versus propane, what size is best for 41' 5th wheel with two ac.
Appreciate any suggestions anyone has, preferrably from someone who has had or knows someone who has had experience with either,
Thanks

Re: Quailty is missing at hearland

bunnysue said:

Can someone tell me if returning the RV back to the factory is an option, was told they do not have a service department and would only take it if bottom was literally falling out? My fresh water tank has leaked into the belly and all of the insulation is soaked, now starting to smell moldy and mildewish. I have allergy induced asthma which has been worse this year even before the problem with the leak. I have had this RV 6 months & this is "the straw that broke the camels back". Several problems fixed several more other than the leak to be taken care of as well as the frig not stying cool, or taking 3 days to cool down after defrosting. I did as someone suggested and turned it to gas which did shorten the cooling time, but now wonder why if gas works faster, why does frig temp up so high in transit?
I would also like some input regarding generators, gas versus propane, what size is best for 41' 5th wheel with two ac.
Appreciate any suggestions anyone has, preferrably from someone who has had or knows someone who has had experience with either,
Thanks

Click to expand...

I sent you a private message.

Re: Quailty is missing at hearland

The problem as I see it is the method of construction and quality control. From a basic QC standpoint, you cannot inspect quality into anything, you HAVE TO build it in. If management is only concerned with production numbers, guess what the result is. Everybody pays lip service to quality but fewer actually follow through. Remember what happened to the US auto industry a few years ago when America discovered that Japenese cars were more trouble free that US made cars. They (The Japanese) made a commitment to quality. US manufacturers finally got the message but it took a rap to the side of the head with sales numbers. What would have happened if US manufacturers stuck to their guns and continued down the same worn path. Ford came out with "Job One". Where is Ford today. From and RV staqndpoint, just imagine if one company had good build quality and reasonable prices whereas another had slightly lower prices and crummy build quality. I am not talking about any one company. I have a Heartland and am happy with it. However, I have seen many examples of hurried manufacturing methods and practices.

Re: Quailty is missing at hearland

the wind is blowing out the pilot light as your moving down the road.

Re: Quailty is missing at hearland

Just so you understand "Mr Senior" member, we bought the trailer in IA, had it delivered to KY. The slide came apart in the drive while preparing the for our first outing. I contacted Heartland and took the trailer to their recommended repair facility. Which by the way was a five hour pull. The lug nuts were found there. In short, my only pull was for repairs. My fault, I do not think so.

Re: Quailty is missing at hearland

I'm listening. My wife and I are getting ready to make a new toy hauler and truck purchase this next year. I've been happy with the Cyclones I have seen on the lots but I am reading more and more and more about serious quality issues of late. I would NOT be happy if I spent 50-60k on garbage. I am not so sure about this. Don't know what other brands to consider though. Most of the other haulers we have seen on the lot look like junk. The Cyclone always seemed to be a cut above. But we want the unit to have fun with not to be annoyed by or spend all of our time taking it in for repairs.

Re: Quailty is missing at hearland

Just want to report on the other side. We took delivery of our 2011 North Trail 21 FBS on March 1st. The worst problem we had was the strut anchors on the up-swinging cabinet doors popped out. A drop of glue and a slightly longer screw fixed that. We are very happy with the way it tows and the way it was put together. Far better than our SOB of the same size. I think our dealer did a good job of checking everything before we got it.

Re: Quailty is missing at hearland

It concerned me when we got our 09 and we had it at the dealers several times the first 3 months we owned it. HL did help us out tho. We did have to miss 3 trips with friends due to several issue's to do with leaks. It bothers me to see the continued QC problems with HL. It was such a concern to my daughter and son-in-law that they went with and brand.

Re: Quailty is missing at hearland

Reading this thread and others about Heartland quality issues, not to mention issues raised with Lippert suspension components, has really made us question our choice of our Big Country. Hopefully ours will not include one or more of the problems discussed here.

Re: Quailty is missing at hearland

A couple of shifts ago we took a tour through the local high end auto repair shop. This was Ray Catena's Service center. This is a large, high end dealer in Edison, NJ.
Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover, Porsche - you get the picture. We're talking many cars that are priced well over the cost of a Landmark.

Several things stood out; the center is a very nice, clean modern facility, with a really nice customer waiting area.
The customer waiting ares was full, the shop was full, the parking lot was full.

Being a former auto tech I was surprised at what I saw in the shop. I counted at least 8 "crated" replacement engines around the shop and tons of other parts being replaced.
Out in the parking lot I counted 9 different M's and B's with flat tires, although the tire failures did not wipe out the side of the vehicle.

I was also surprised to see several cars that looked like they had obvious lot damage.

Quality control could be better in everything we buy, and some things we see here just make you say DOH!
But overall, even with some issues, I think we have a pretty good "bang for the buck" product.

My experience is with our 2010 3010 Cyclone.
Did have some minor issues, had most things taken care of right away, only a couple of minor things since then. We have 20+ trips since new and have pulled it over 10,000 as of the DE rally.

As was coined by someone else, these are "rolling earthquakes".

Re: Quailty is missing at hearland

I have had my 2011 Bighorn 3670 now for over a year. Yes I had some issues with the unit at first. Thats why we do the PDI when we pick them up. Where I have experienced problems is with our dealer and there work. Yes QC could be better for sure. But in all I would say that I am very happy with my BH as we live in it fulltime and have been for now over a year. After the intial problems were fixed I have not had an issue other than a few small water leaks from the convienience center area. I need to get one of them tools for crimping hoses. Regular hose clamps for some reason don't work all that good.

Just do a real good and percise PDI and be informed as to what to look for. If new at it, find a friend or family member that is cabable to help you go thru the unit when you purchase. That sets the works in motion right off the bat.

Dave

Re: Quailty is missing at hearland

akcycloners said:

I'm listening. My wife and I are getting ready to make a new toy hauler and truck purchase this next year. I've been happy with the Cyclones I have seen on the lots but I am reading more and more and more about serious quality issues of late. I would NOT be happy if I spent 50-60k on garbage. I am not so sure about this. Don't know what other brands to consider though. Most of the other haulers we have seen on the lot look like junk. The Cyclone always seemed to be a cut above. But we want the unit to have fun with not to be annoyed by or spend all of our time taking it in for repairs.

Click to expand...

The quality problems are NOT just "issues of late". My unit is a 2008 purchased in 2007 & I have been very disappointed in the units quality... cost me a lot of $$$$ to replace major components in the 2 years after warranty.

CS

Re: Quailty is missing at hearland

youWE just got back from a long long trip with our Landmark, we went to the Ontario rally then the North American rally in Indiana then we came home for a few days ( to fix the slide, my fault for not checking bolts) then went to oregon and tiured there for 5 weeks. Normally I would have been chomping at the bit to get back here after all that time, I could have stayed longer.

While fueling up at a place in Hinton alberta a guy with SOB pulled up opposite me and asked, "So what don't you like about your Landmark?" My resposne, Nothing!

We had some problems when we first got the trailer, we have had problems with every new trailer and vehicle we have ever purchased, once you work through these the rest is maintenance. That is why they have warranty. It never hurts to call (Heartland) when you have a problem. In my view, if you count the number of SERIOUS problems vs the number of units produced by heartland the ratio would be very low, if it wasn't we would be reading about Heartlands problems and their bankruptcy.

I work with some of my clients and their customer service agents, I always hear them talk about the CUTOMERS FROM ****, the ones where it is the end of the world and you have to do something you..........

If it was you on the receiving end how quickly would you like to assist this person. CS is a 2 way street.Remember, all customer service agents are not created equal meaning they are not all good at their jobs, if you encounter one that you feel dropped the ball, call them on it. If you don't get satisfaction, they always have managers, do not go to the CS manager go to the top or as high as you can go, I have found that this has always worked.

End of rant, In my view the small problems are just that, we bought our Landmark after being on this forum for 11 months and reading about the problems, I like to think I made an informed purchase.

My 2 cents