Need advise with on going issues on our brand new 2011 Big Country 3450TS

Hello all,

So my wife and I are in our late 20's early 30's and have 2 young kids and decided it was time to upgrade from our falling apart 2001 Montana 3670RL 5th wheel. After doing our homework and shopping around for just shy of a year we finally decided to pull the trigger on a brand new 2011 Heartland 3450ts Big Country. We bought our BC end of July 2011 and have used it on 3 trips. 2 small weekend trip and 1 just returning from big trip where we cover 8 states in 3 1/2 weeks traving across the USA. I am begging to wonder if we made a good decision and here is why. I just got off the phone making a 3rd appointment with the dealership we bought it from to get some issues fixed. I guess my real question is this was our 1st buying of a brand new 5th wheel. Prior to this we have always bought used and expected problems. However I did not expect to have had as many issues with our new BC as we have. The list keeps getting bigger. Problems range from cabinet hinges coming out of the hard wood, central vaccum not working, gas side of H2O heater not working (last trip had a small explosion due to a propane buid up and auto ingintion), door knobs litrally falling apart in your hands, front landing gear switch stopped working (both up & down), lower lock on front door stopped working ( you can turn the key 360 degrees and it will not lock), bed room slide seal is coming un-glued and I could keep going those are the most recent. Bare in mind this unit was brand new when we bought it and we have only used it 3 times in the last 3 months. Is this normal? I talked to several full timers on the road that said they had similar issues when they buy a new unit and its just part of working the kinks out and the issues will slowly work them selfs out. I guess it hard for me to except that when I paided so much for what I thought was a quality unit. The dealership has been great in fixing all the issues and infact I have been a bit off gaurd in that they don't question any of the repairs. I guess I was expecting them to say I can't belive this is all happing but they don't its almost like is normal to have this many issues with a new BC. I'm reaching out for some advise from all of you expericed heartland owners. Thanks for you time Nick.

Hi Nick,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and Family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge if needed.

It does sound like your having a lot of problems, mostly minor. But hang in there and work with your dealer to get things fixed. When you get all the bugs out I think you will be very happy with your Big Country. Almost all of us have been where you are now, unhappy and questioning your decision. But things will get better. Heartland really stands behind their product and tries to make everyone a happy owner.

Check out the rest of the forum and try to make a Heartland Owners Rally and join the club.

Jim M

Welcome to our club. We bought a NEW Cyclone and have a very long list of items, which need fixing. Unlike you, we do not have a dealer, which is readily working with us. We are "waiting" for Heartland headquarters to make a decision on how "they" are going to fix our problems.</SPAN>

I am finding that hearland does stand behind there products and I'm sure they will make it right. My biggest problem is that I feel I should not have to deal with things breaking all the time with a new unit.

Funny, but not ha-ha funny - Nick, I was just thinking this very same thing this very moment - hope we didn't make a mistake buying ours. We haven't had nearly the issues you've had with yours, but we've had some. This forum is a great place for support and advice, but it's also disconcerting to read about all the problems owners have. It's fine that these things will be fixed as they come up, but like you we didn't expect these "things" to come up, buying a brand new quality unit. And now it's a waiting-for-the-other-shoe(s)-to-drop kind of thing.

Do I have any advice for you? Well, I'm no more an experienced Heartland owner than you. Our is a BC 3450TS like yours, bought in June 2011 off the dealer lot, manufacturer build date December 2010. Jim M said it very well when he said that most of them have been where we are - unhappy and questioning our decision (buyers remorse?) - but that we'll be happy again once all the things are fixed. What is hard to take, I find, is that it's not a matter of all the things getting fixed and then being relatively trouble-free. You read on here about all these problems that keep cropping up 6 months, a year, two years down the road. I do the reading and try not to pass things on to my husband too much. He's a worrier and will take it personally that he made a wrong decision, when he's wanted a Big Country for years and years and was so proud and happy. I'm glad he doesn't read the postings here. We had an older other brand of fifth wheel and lived in it for a year and a half, and it was nothing but repair repair repair. We figured we might as well start putting all that repair money towards payments on a brand new quality one.

I'm starting to ramble again. Let's just say that since signing on as "twohappycampers" I've been wondering if there is a way to change it.

Well, a saying I've adopted recently is "it is what it is". I think we'd have as many issues and maybe more, whatever brand of rv we chose to buy and live in. And we definitely wanted this lifestyle. We knew that after testing the waters for a year and a half. And at this point we just need to remember what we loved about our BC when we first got it, and still do, and get things fixed as they come up. It may not be as we hoped it would be - our expectations were unrealistic, I realize that now. I remember the manager of the dealership saying to us, just as we were leaving after having bought - it's good that you're husband is handy with things, and also said something about hoping we had a lot of patience. I didn't question him then, but now I know what he was getting at

So, what can we do but carry on, right? Take good care - Lorna

Two happy campers,

Thank you for the reply it was a breath of fresh air to read that. You bring up agreat point in that much like you and your husband me and my wife still love walking into our BC. I just hope that we can get these issues ironed out and move on down the road with out any more. We are blessed in the fact that we can even afford such a camper and the fun and good memories that camping brings our family. Thanks for the advise and you never know we might meet on the road.

Remember the days when you brought a new car, you automactic knew would have to take it back to fix the bugs. Now nearly all new vehicles is built right the first time and its very rare that you have to take it back after purchase. However taht is not true for any RV, expect bugs and be prepared to take it back for repairs.

Hello!

Like you, we have a BC 3450TS. We researched for nearly a year, viewed many different rigs etc. Our rig was pretty much trouble free for the first year! Only minor things that go along with RV ownership and new rigs. To date, we have not had what I would call major issues but it seems the little ones started after the warranty period...e.g. bulkhead aluminum frame break, vinyl trim insert (screw cover) cracking and falling out, and the front storage bay wall rippled from looks like water instrusion although I don't know how.

Anyway, it is easy to second guess the purchase decision and begin to worry but as you read here, you need to read elsewhere to see that every other brand, some what I would call "top-of-the-line" rigs, also have similar issues with new units. The one thing that provides us with some piece of mind is the reputation of Heartland Customer Service. I am fairly confident if they feel something is not right with the product, they will make an attempt to remedy the situation if appropriate. I might end up eating my words but that is my current position and belief. Hopefully we will all get the first year or so bugs worked out and have many more trouble free!

Best Wishes!

I don't know what is the exception and what is the norm. We bought ours new from dealer stock and have been relatively problem free. We did have a squeak problem with the bedroom floor that required warranty work, and the electric awning motor died our first summer, but beyond that, it's just been very minor stuff that I easily fixed myself. And not too much of that, either.

What benefited me was having 5 months between purchase and possession. I also started shaking in my boots over buying the rig. But I learned by getting onto this forum about all of the little things that were causing others grief and set about looking for them, correcting them if needed, before they became big problems. If you scour the forums, you may find little things to look for now that you can correct before they become major ones.

If you buy one of these big rigs, it helps if you're handy with tools, though. Keeps you out of the dealership unless they're really needed. Should the rigs be perfect right from the gate? Absolutely. Will it ever happen? Not likely.

Whatever is happening with your rig, come here and ask about it. Most likely someone else has experienced it and figured out what to do.

ikl848 said:

Two happy campers,

Thank you for the reply it was a breath of fresh air to read that. You bring up agreat point in that much like you and your husband me and my wife still love walking into our BC. I just hope that we can get these issues ironed out and move on down the road with out any more. We are blessed in the fact that we can even afford such a camper and the fun and good memories that camping brings our family. Thanks for the advise and you never know we might meet on the road.

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Glad I could be of some help, Nick, if only a bit. I've been reading what others have written, and I agree for the most part. Thing is, we didn't expect to be taking on yet another project, we hoped to be relatively problem free. Doug works fulltime at a very physically demanding job, his body is breaking down, and he has another 5 years until retirement. We put so much time and energy and $$ into our old fifth wheel, and a big reason we bought new was because we needed a break from the breakdowns and repairs. Just live in it and enjoy it, you know? Just like a lot of people who vacation or travel just want to enjoy, and not have to worry and work on their rig before, during and after. Some people enjoy the diagnosing and figuring and working and tinkering, but not us, not now anyway. I know that in this day and age nothing's simple or problem-free or even of the best quality of the best build, but sure would like it to be When I let go of that particular illusion, I'll be a happier person!

QUOTE=twohappycampers;201419]
Jim M said it very well when he said that most of them have been where we are - unhappy and questioning our decision (buyers remorse?) - but that we'll be happy again once all the things are fixed. What is hard to take, I find, is that it's not a matter of all the things getting fixed and then being relatively trouble-free. You read on here about all these problems that keep cropping up 6 months, a year, two years down the road. I do the reading and try not to pass things on to my husband too much. He's a worrier and will take it personally that he made a wrong decision, when he's wanted a Big Country for years and years and was so proud and happy. I'm glad he doesn't read the postings here. [/QUOTE]

While it is very true that you read about many problems on here, there are many people who are totally enjoying their units without saying much on here about that. When we got ours in Aug '08, we had many problems. DW had a FIT when she came home to see an rv tech had taken the fireplace out due to the icemaker line leaking and fans were blowing to dry up the mess. I didn't mind so much when the tech told be how well built the unit is (despite the current problem). Since we are full timers, the problems were found relatively quickly, making us wonder about the unit as well. After the initial shock and repairs (which were all taken care of by Heartland with absolutely no problem), we have been very happy. It's been over 3 years now and the unit still looks great. Granted, we have had a few problems, mostly the refrigerator, but all in all we are very happy with our decision. I'm sure you will be too

Your buying used and expecting problems made me laugh. When we buy and RV we think just the opposite. We think if you buy new you will have to work out many 'bugs' and deal with that aggravation and if you buy used someone else will have the bugs worked out and you wont have to deal with so many issues. Welcome to the RV world where the quality of the build is questionable regardless of which brand you buy. You can buy the most inexpensive or the most expensive and still have to deal with the same issues. Part of the reason why is many of the items in the RVs are built by the same suppliers such as Dometic and Lippert. So you may have the same Dometic refrigerator in the cheap 5th wheel or the million dollar motor home. Guess that is the way it is and until the RV consumers demand a higher quality in their products we will just have to live with it.

We haven't had any major problems, just a few annoying small things here and there. I did expect with the price the Quality Control from the factory would have been better.

Luckily reading here before purchase prepared me somewhat.

I am an API Inspector doing QC and QA.

I have been in the repair business for 40 years, be it for my own stuff or the company's. So far I have not seen anything new that never needed proper attention. We expect to pay lots for something that will not need maintenance and we do get surprised when we need to take care of it. Its made by man and man has to maintain it.

My first trailer had a gas hot water tank and furnace and a 2 way fridge. Every thing lasted 14 years. After we had an other unit with the same option and an airconditioner. Again everything lasted 15 years with no problem.
Now we have the same with 4 slides, 2 Tv's, stereo, microwave, 3 computers, fireplace, 50 amp required to handle the electrcal load,full kitchen, loaded living room and super bedroom with a washing/drying machine. And like any trailer before it needs attention but the number of problems is now multiplied because its closer to being a house then a trailer. But now the size has to be so big that we are looking at units that are build with lighter materials and technologies developped on cost of manufacturing compared to quality. I still feel we get what we pay for, but if we want a castle we have to pay for it.
Look at a 50K SUV, and what do you get, It better be good and never need regular maintenance, but nothing lasts if its not maintained

For me it has been a carreer that I am proud to have been a part of.

caissiel said:

I have been in the repair business for 40 years, be it for my own stuff or the company's. So far I have not seen anything new that never needed proper attention. We expect to pay lots for something that will not need maintenance and we do get surprised when we need to take care of it. Its made by man and man has to maintain it.

My first trailer had a gas hot water tank and furnace and a 2 way fridge. Every thing lasted 14 years. After we had an other unit with the same option and an airconditioner. Again everything lasted 15 years with no problem.
Now we have the same with 4 slides, 2 Tv's, stereo, microwave, 3 computers, fireplace, 50 amp required to handle the electrcal load,full kitchen, loaded living room and super bedroom with a washing/drying machine. And like any trailer before it needs attention but the number of problems is now multiplied because its closer to being a house then a trailer. But now the size has to be so big that we are looking at units that are build with lighter materials and technologies developped on cost of manufacturing compared to quality. I still feel we get what we pay for, but if we want a castle we have to pay for it.
Look at a 50K SUV, and what do you get, It better be good and never need regular maintenance, but nothing lasts if its not maintained

For me it has been a carreer that I am proud to have been a part of.

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You said it best. Bigger rigs being built with lighter parts. Technology has gone pretty far, but the roads we drive are not so well maintained. Just as you said, we want a castle, we pay for it, & tow it along. Now we must give it maintenance.

Ivan

I purchased my 3450TS on Feb 2010 and I have two issues now.First of all my front cap is fading pretty badly and also I have noticed acrack on my street side of RV on external wall above the fridge. Here is myissue, I am taking it to a dealer to get it looked at and if Heartland doesn’tstand behind the camper I may have to find a way to get rid of this camper. Iam a full timer and can’t afford to live in this RV with this kind of issue.Has anybody else had this problem with the crack?<o></o>

Jason

dovjay76 said:

I purchased my 3450TS on Feb 2010 and I have two issues now.First of all my front cap is fading pretty badly and also I have noticed acrack on my street side of RV on external wall above the fridge. Here is myissue, I am taking it to a dealer to get it looked at and if Heartland doesn’tstand behind the camper I may have to find a way to get rid of this camper. Iam a full timer and can’t afford to live in this RV with this kind of issue.Has anybody else had this problem with the crack?<o></o

Jason

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Here is a link to a thread on the cracking issue (there may be others) and you will also find them on the fading cap. I would have the last 6 of my VIN ready and call Heartland customer service at 877-262-8032 / 574-262-8030. Good luck.

//heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/29265-ATF-Bighorn-cracked-fiberglass