Do any other Sundance owners feel like they have a POS?

We bought a 2009 Sundance 2900 RK in mid June. Since that time, we have had one problem after the other. Both swivel rockers in the living room are broken. There's a water leak under the fridge when it rains. The seal inside the kitchen sink is already gone, so water leaks under. We had a water leak under the hot water heater that did a lot of damage to the wood paneling on the bigger slideout. This all happened with a pressure regulator on too, if you're wondering.The dining room table is so low and cramped that my husband, my 3 yr. old and myself cannot all sit there at once. The air mattress stopped holding air after about 3 uses. the kitchen faucet button to change the water flow stopped working after about a week. The stickers on the bathroom sink and shower will never come off (3 big ones). The wood inside the dresser drawers is so paper thin that one broke on the first day. Whenever we close the front door it looks like all the window on that side of the trailer will fall out.

I have finally decided to write about this because it is freezing cold where we are today and tried to use the heater for the first time. It work the first time, but wouldn't work for the rest of the day. We refilled the propane and tried to call the dealer, along with the manufacturer, but it's labor day and nothing is open. We had a Layton 5th wheel before this, and we thought we were upgrading with a bigger, newer, and much nicer trailer, but boy were we wrong.

I am just wondering has anyone else had these kinds of problems with their Sundance trailer, and if so, what do you do? It's not like we can return it, as much as we would love to.

Casmoqueen,

Sorry to hear about the issues you are having with your unit. Please follow-through on Tuesday with your dealer to make an appointment to get your unit in and get these things taken care of. Other than the table design, from what I read, it seems the balance of your issues should be covered by your warranty.

I don't have a Sundance but a thousand others do and I hope a few of them weigh in here on your question "Do any other Sundance owners feel like they have a POS?".

Jim

In short, no. We have had a couple of issues (leaks, torn window shade...) but all were promply taken care of by our dealer. Our dining room table is a little tight with all 4 of us sitting at it but thats to be expected in a camper. We have had our camper since june also and I think we got a well built unit at a bargain price. Make a list of problems and take it back to the dealer, you should be taken care of.

We too have a 09 Sundance 2900MK which we purchased in May, and have many of the very same problems plus a couple of other - like a broken landing jack, nearly a catastrophe but my husband was able to get the 5th wheel hooked back up to the pickup and then back to the dealer where they ordered another jack and had us back on the road in 2 weeks. we have had all the water leaks you mentioned, had to have the trim board on the slide by the ent center replaced as it had swelled up and split. our kitchen faucet broke, kitchen sink leaks, hot water connection under the kitchen sink leaked, hot water heater connection leaked my husband fixed these leaks at our own expense , and now the other end of the living room slide is leaking, carpet soaked again,trim board is swelled and cracking- and by the way when they replaced the trim board on the slide near the ent. center the wood was already moldy- we have another appt with dealer to try and get this newest water leak fixed. our furnace ran very noisey the first couple of times and then we heard this loud bang and it quited right down and it is now working fine. will keep you posted as to the latest developments as we hope to be out for a month after our appt to get the leak on the slide fixed. and you know, with all these annoyances we still like our rig as it has a lot of features we were looking for just hope all these things get fixed before the warranty runs out.

This is not good news. It is weird in our situation because for the last 30 days or so we sit and observe the forums EVERY NITE. It seems now that we have made a offer on a Sundance all the problems are coming out of the woodwork. We won't be discouraged that easy but we will keep an eye on this post.

Hi casmoqueen, We have a 2007 sundance 3300sk and enjoy it very much. Have had little problems like broken cabinet door and up grade wheels and tires, but so far so good .We are starting to go fulltime with it this Oct and have faith in it after the problems were fixed. The dealer was also good [General RV] with repairing the repairs under warranty We have put about 8,000 miles on it so far and everything operating good so far. I hope you get your problems resolved soon,so your can enjoy it. and hope the next time I read your,artical it says how much you are enjoying your sundance. give it a chance to get all the problems worked out, It's a good thing you are under warranty with the problems. TRAVELER07

We have a 2009, 3012RE that we had a number of the same problems with, the Kitchen sink leaked, as did the hot water tank and the shower. I managed to fix them all myself by tightening the fittings. We also had problems with all the bolts coming loose in our slides which thanks to this forum I was able to correct before any damage was done.

We've had a 2800RLS since May and have had it out 3 times - the last time was for 10 days and 1000 miles. I have had very few problems:

Shower access port cover was loose and leaking - tightened it myself
Sink drain worked lose and leaked water into the cabinet below - tightened it myself
Screen door latch barely caught. adjusted that myself

So far I've been very happy with the quality and construction of my Sundance. I am sorry to hear of others with so many problems.

-steve

We bought our sundance 3200 bhs about 18 months ago it is a 2007 bought it used and it was only 2 months used and camped in one time. We were pleased with this unit when we bought it and have gone on numerous short trips and just got back from a 7000 mile trip out west. With that being said I too have had some of these same problems In Arizona we could not get the the living room slide to open tried the manual crank to open it and it broke cheap thin metal on the crank rod, so I had to call a mobil rv repair man finally got that fixed by removing the motor and cranking it out that way only cost 300.00 In oklahoma the bedroom slide on the outside bottom has a severe amount of wood rot keep in mind this is a 2007. Also this is starting on the main slide and I am a fanatic on maintance. Problem is this is a QC problem with Heartland we looked at other dealers on 2009 units and I could see the same thing starting to happen on these units soft wood on the bottom of these slides look close atthe screws running up and down on the sides and you will notice rust on them there is a leak on the top and water is running down the seam what else would cause wood rot. Sundance is a nice unit but I would not buy another. Heartland should really look close at these problems and think of we the consumer.. I am looking at a 3400RE that is built alot better I just wish Heratland would look at my problems and everyone elses from our eyes. Possibly they should extend their warrenty to two years instead of one it would be a great selling point. I am still a believer in this company just not the Sundance. Big Horn here I come. Hope you get your problems resolved.

I got a big horn...and there are some of the same problems with it as are on the Sundance.

The kitchen sink being one of them. I fixed it myself and it was no biggy..but, I can understand the frustration.

I would not go as far and call our unit a POS because there is a lot that goes into building an RV and I consider myself a reasonable person, but the quality and workmanship is certainly lacking and not as advertised and rest assured, we are not happy campers.

We were fulltimers for over 2 years and owned a 2004 Jayco Designer Legacy 3610 RLS - we had a couple minor issues as all rvs do but nothing major throughout those over 2 years of everyday use except for the 2 rockers and loveseat (the material was balling up) and Jayco delivered new replacement furniture to our home in canada while we were wintering in Texas. Everything else, all appliances, all water electrical and heating systems all performed as expected, and nothing leaked anywhere.

We used our sundance for only 5 days !!! (as opposed to approximately 840 days in our Jayco) and it seems that what ever could go wrong did. Needless to say I'm afraid we still haven't found all the problems in that short period of use and may be paying the price once the warranty expires. And, who knows what may happen after we use it for 10 days !!!

See our post here:
//heartlandowners.org/showthread.php?t=6952

We must be an exception.

I am truly sorry to hear of the problems my fellow Sundance owners are having with their rigs. We bought our 2998RB exactly one year ago this month and other than initial issues found during PDI, we have had little to no problems with it. I do have to admit, I munched the rear bath door opening the main slide but that's another story in itself. We couldn't be more pleased our Sundance. I will say though following this forum both before and after our purchase, I've learned to be proactive about watching for potential problems and staying on top of maintenence.

I hope that Heartland comes through to resolve your issues and I wish you the best outcome possible.

Frank

We bought our 3300 BHS in March 2008. Overall, we are very pleased with our unit.

Heartland does seem to have some quality control problems before they leave the factory. Almost every water line leaked upon delivery. Dealer fixed some the day after we bought it while we waited. But, our dealer was not very proactive, so I fixed all the other leaks myself. Had a few minor problems that I took it back for and the dealer fixed.

The newest problem I have is the underbelly. It was about a 1/4 inch too short. Water was rolling in under the rear underbelly. I fixed it myself by in stalling a 4 inch piece of sheetmetal in order to tuck the rear underbelly under something so it would not catch water running down the rear of the coach. And 90% of the underbelly screws were broke, barely holding the underbelly up. It seems they overtorqued the screws when self drilling them in. I have now replaced all my underbelly screws with new ones.

I had a 2002 Keystone Montana before this, and everyone told me what a POS those were. It never had any problems and still today does not leak anywhere.

But overall I would not say our Sundance is a POS. We really like our layout and design and would buy it again. I would just do a better PDI than I did with the dealer, knowing what I know now. I do hope the factory reads these posts. They just need some quality control improvements. Especially in the water lines department.

my .02

red

well I am glad these people have steped up when they have. We made a offer on a Sundance on friday. We have not heard if they accept or not but now I am glad they have not. We really need to do some soul searching on the Sundance. We were so exicted but now not so much. The plumbing seems to doom all the Sundances. I would rather camp at campgrounds not the dealer. Oh well back to the drawing board. Thx for the heads up.

Hi Casmoqueen, we have a 2008 2900MK we have not had the extinsive amount of problems but did have a few minor ones, the most severe was the kitchen faucet broke while we were away and gave the inside a complete bath, we had water runing out of the unit and a good neighbor shut off the water and we were contacted, it warped some of the cabinets a door and vent cover. I contacted our dealer and he assured me it would be repaired to our satisfaction, he contacted Heartland and they made a note in our file and told our dealer that if we ever had a problem with warping of floors that it would be handled in the same professional way. Our dealer and Heartland worked great together to get our problem fixed in a timely manner. We have hadd a few minor problems that I just tackled myself, not because I didn't trust my dealer or Heartland to do a good job but because at the time our dealer is almost 200 miles away. I have to say if your dealer is worth his salt and most of the Heartland dealers are, then you will be taken care of to your satisfaction. Just my opinion, just hang in there it will be better. I would absolutely purchase another Heartland product.

AS7074 said:

well I am glad these people have steped up when they have. We made a offer on a Sundance on friday. We have not heard if they accept or not but now I am glad they have not. We really need to do some soul searching on the Sundance. We were so exicted but now not so much. The plumbing seems to doom all the Sundances. I would rather camp at campgrounds not the dealer. Oh well back to the drawing board. Thx for the heads up.

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I think you are letting one thread lead you in the wrong direction,most owners don't come here to tell how great their units are or that we have had no problems.If you really take a look at some of the problems stated they are easily fixed with a good PDI or some preventive maintance.I am so glad I found the Sundance before I made a poor decision to go with SOB,I have not had any problems so far and have been out 3 weekends with it including a 1350 round trip in 3 days.

I'm sure you have been inside a Sundance,if you can find a nicer quality coach in this price range I would love to see it,if money and towing capabilites aren't an issue then I would suggest a BH.

Am I biased? yes Do I wish everyone could have trouble free ownership? of course. but in this day and age it is finally nice to find a product that imo lives up to thier reputation.

Mike,

Very Very true. Believe me I basically live in the one at our dealer. There is NO other 5er out there that would that fit us more than the one we are looking at. That is one of the reasons we are spending so much time looking at this one. But if what's behind the walls are inferior floor plan takes back seat. My wife and I have been chatting tonight and we still are interested and will go with our unit. I like everyone else is not looking forward to all the problems. Believe me the dealer is having to sell themselves to me not the camper.

We have had our Big Country since June. Bathroom sink leaked on delivery. Easy fix, just tightened all the joints. No problems until this weekend, kitchen sink leaked. Again same problem. Tightend all the connections and everything is fine. I'm sure towing the 5er vibrated the connection loose some. After spending months reading the forums, I had a good idea what to look and watch for. This has helped elevate many issues. I have had not other issues and couldn't be happier with the Big Country. I will be testing the furnace in the next few weeks tho!!

AS7074 said:

Mike,

Very Very true. Believe me I basically live in the one at our dealer. There is NO other 5er out there that would that fit us more than the one we are looking at. That is one of the reasons we are spending so much time looking at this one. But if what's behind the walls are inferior floor plan takes back seat. My wife and I have been chatting tonight and we still are interested and will go with our unit. I like everyone else is not looking forward to all the problems. Believe me the dealer is having to sell themselves to me not the camper.

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I have the exact RV you are looking to buy. I have only had 3 very minor issues. The dealer fixed one I fixed the rest just because it was easier. I had a shower leak that just needed a little bit of silicone around the door base. A small leak under the kitchen sink. And a blown fuse in the front landing gear. Otherwise I have stayed over 30 days in it now and have traveled a couple thousand miles with no more issues. On rainy days the floor plan is priceless for the kids. You can put them in the rear with a video game or movies and never hear another word. I would definitly buy it over again.

casmoqueen, your concerns with your Sundance has been e-mailed to the department heads and we are wanting to get you taken care of - Jim Fenner (service@heartlandrvs.com) is our Customer Service Manager and would like for you to e-mail him with the last 5 digits of your vin so we can track any and all parts and service that needs to be done to your coach and make it right again.

John Leonard, Sundance Brand Manager
jleonard@heartlandrvs.com