Heartland Workmanship (Prowler)

msdpok

Member
We purchased a new Prowler Lynx from a Camping World dealer in New York. After many years we finally worked our way up to a brand new unit after many years..... Right out of the gate we were disappointed. After days of paperwork and the usual Salesman backtracking The fact that our unit was never prepped or for that matter even cleaned! But we got past it.... The thing we can't get past is the lack of quality in the workmanship! One would expect a little more QUALITY for the money!


Just a few things we've noticed: spaces between the actual camper and door frame (door actually smaller than hole it was placed in)
light switches falling off the wall
outside kitchen door not properly aligned and bowed
paneling in outside kitchen not properly installed
shower faucet falling off the wall
cheap molding falling of the cabinets
cheap cardboard used to enclose the underside of the trailer
placement of the electric awning was aligned with the plastic downspout (fixed by Heartland after sufficient proof and photos)

We are so disappointed, that we are already considering taking a major financial hit and trading it in after owning it only 5 months.

Has anyone else had this happen to them??
 

Grey Ghost

Well-known member
Sorry to hear about all your problems, I feel your pain! We have a 2011 GreyStone and I would not own anything other than a Heartland 5ver. I've owned Keystones, Rocklands, Jayco and Alpha's in the past and can say I've been pretty happy with my Heartland. Sure we had some major/minor problems, like the rear end cap about to fall off as we traveled down the road and the front end cap faded beyond recognition but they are houses that travel down the road at 65mph, set in 120 degree temps in the sun all day get dragged around all over all sorts of roads. Put your house on a trailer and tow it down the road for a while and see how it holds together. Just be patient, work with the company, NOT the dealer, and they will take care of you. They want your return business and they know that good news crawls and bad news runs and they don't want bad news! Just contact the company and work with them on your problems. You know as well as I nothing is built like it used to be, Heartland is one of the better ones, trust me. I have friends that could tell you some fearful stories and they paid good money for their units also. Just hang in there and do your best to fix what you can, repair what they will allow and work patiently with the company. No I'm not getting paid by Heartland, although that is a great idea, I best pursue that further. Anyhow, good luck and hang in there, things will get better, I hope. Be careful out their and enjoy.
 

msdpok

Member
I hardly think pulling it 35 miles to a permanent site caused these problems! But I appreciate your response!!
Sorry to hear about all your problems, I feel your pain! We have a 2011 GreyStone and I would not own anything other than a Heartland 5ver. I've owned Keystones, Rocklands, Jayco and Alpha's in the past and can say I've been pretty happy with my Heartland. Sure we had some major/minor problems, like the rear end cap about to fall off as we traveled down the road and the front end cap faded beyond recognition but they are houses that travel down the road at 65mph, set in 120 degree temps in the sun all day get dragged around all over all sorts of roads. Put your house on a trailer and tow it down the road for a while and see how it holds together. Just be patient, work with the company, NOT the dealer, and they will take care of you. They want your return business and they know that good news crawls and bad news runs and they don't want bad news! Just contact the company and work with them on your problems. You know as well as I nothing is built like it used to be, Heartland is one of the better ones, trust me. I have friends that could tell you some fearful stories and they paid good money for their units also. Just hang in there and do your best to fix what you can, repair what they will allow and work patiently with the company. No I'm not getting paid by Heartland, although that is a great idea, I best pursue that further. Anyhow, good luck and hang in there, things will get better, I hope. Be careful out their and enjoy.
 

tott9713

Member
Im in your boat...2016 Prowler Lynx 272LX....first trip after having only owned it 30ish days we had a water leak in front bedroom area...noticed it while sleeping in a rain storm in OCMD. I was very hot. I contacted my dealer who is 3 hours away and they overnighted Dicor. After I crawled onto the roof I realized they never inspected the roof lap sealant seams before delivery. Was able to patch a few other spots which probably would've turned to leaks in a few months. Its evident when you tour the unit that these are entry level economy units where quality of products/materials are low end.

My next battle is the slide wiper seals. The upper left corner is already wearing out / cutting through where it contacts the top edge of the slide out. I contacted Heartland and they said it should not be doing that...next step is to get it back to the PA dealer for service probably in the off season. The local dealers / service centers are not cooperative.

Overall I still enjoy the unit but could see my disdain grow if things keep going wrong. This forum has helped ease my frustrations as it doesn't seem isolated or like I have a lemon.
 

JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...
I just had our dealership's mobile tech here at the house today (his third visit) to finish up on some warranty repairs on our Prowler, even though our warranty was up in May.

He also looked at our furnace, which quit on us last month while camping up in the mountains . . . turned out to be a loose wire.

While I was frustrated with the warranty problems we had, they really weren't with Heartland, but with our dealership.

But after going around with them a few times we got it all straightened out.

I will say that most of our issues were fairly minor in comparison to what many people experience, but still frustrating none the less.

Instead of throwing in the towel . . . just get these issues fixed and enjoy your new Prowlers.

Sometimes you have to get tough with the dealership to get the job done right!

After all . . . there was a reason you chose your Prowlers . . . most likely because you really liked them!

We love our Prowler and plan on keeping it for a long time!

And we are going to our Colorado Heartland Owner's Club Rally near Colorado Springs a week from today with our Prowler!
 

EXJAY

Member
We purchased a new Prowler Lynx from a Camping World dealer in New York. After many years we finally worked our way up to a brand new unit after many years..... Right out of the gate we were disappointed. After days of paperwork and the usual Salesman backtracking The fact that our unit was never prepped or for that matter even cleaned! But we got past it.... The thing we can't get past is the lack of quality in the workmanship! One would expect a little more QUALITY for the money!


Just a few things we've noticed: spaces between the actual camper and door frame (door actually smaller than hole it was placed in)
light switches falling off the wall
outside kitchen door not properly aligned and bowed
paneling in outside kitchen not properly installed
shower faucet falling off the wall
cheap molding falling of the cabinets
cheap cardboard used to enclose the underside of the trailer
placement of the electric awning was aligned with the plastic downspout (fixed by Heartland after sufficient proof and photos)

We are so disappointed, that we are already considering taking a major financial hit and trading it in after owning it only 5 months.

Has anyone else had this happen to them??

Thanks for the input and your experience. We're on the fence with 2 new campers after just selling our smaller Jayco. One is the 22lx Prowler and the other is from another mfg but seems to be really hard to find locally. The Prowler I looked at (2016 new) seemed OK for a 10 min walk through and pretty drawn towards it for the larger double bunks, size and price but really starting to wonder about construction on these units. Seems to be a pretty basic, no frills unit which I would expect for the price but dont want to end up with a new unit with known poor/cheap construction methods. Any addl experiences, suggestions weather to go/no-go with this unit?
 

captpfd

Active Member
It has been my experience after owning three different RV's over the last ten years that they are all problematic regardless of brand. Some parts and components are better than others but generally speaking manufacturers and dealers are profit-driven and they both will cut every corner they can to increase the bottom line. Cheap leaf-springs, cheap tires, loose wires, loose plumbing fittings, broken drawers parts, to name a few. I could provide a hugh list just with my latest trailer. If you bought a car and had this many problems with it you would call it a lemon. Be prepared for ongoing surprises and repairs is all I am saying.
 

tott9713

Member
It has been my experience after owning three different RV's over the last ten years that they are all problematic regardless of brand. Some parts and components are better than others but generally speaking manufacturers and dealers are profit-driven and they both will cut every corner they can to increase the bottom line. Cheap leaf-springs, cheap tires, loose wires, loose plumbing fittings, broken drawers parts, to name a few. I could provide a hugh list just with my latest trailer. If you bought a car and had this many problems with it you would call it a lemon. Be prepared for ongoing surprises and repairs is all I am saying.

Couldn't agree more...in addition to what I posted earlier had a leaking sink drank I stumbled upon after noticing water accumulating in the drawer below. Not major stuff and if you're slightly handy can be fixed easily. Its the nature of the beast with entry level/economy price trailers.
 
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