Took delivery of my new Mt Rushmore today

The fiver came in Tuesday afternoon and I was in it Wed AM and probably the 2nd person to walk thru it. A little sawdust, etc., but really not too bad. The coach came in as ordered except for 2 items, and I think that was a dealer error. The stacking washer/dryer and 2nd heat pump were missing. The dealer will have to install those in a few weeks, when I have a chance to take it back. Aren't the two coiled hoses supposed to be there from the factory also? No hoses in mine. Brakes on the left 2 wheels way out of adjustment (no brakes), 1 Fantastic Fan will work on manual only, crank-up antenna will crank but not turn, and the shower valve was broken (looked like it was installed with an impact wrench--way overtightened). The frig is the 12 cu ft model w/icemaker, and we discovered that there was only 1 outlet installed, not a duplex, and the icemaker was plugged in. The frig plug was just laying there. You would think that someone would have thought that was an error. I have the island option and the table was installed too close and pushed against the island when that slide was closed. Most of these were easily repaired, or the parts were ordered. More things may come to light this weekend, but overall I'd say that this wasn't excessive. It sure is nice, and it was a very comfortable tow home. Now I'm going to spend the next couple of days enjoying it!

Congrats on the new rig.

Hey congrads, They forgot my second A/C also and when they installed it. They installed it backwards I was p----- off But after that its been great.
So get it rigged up and have fun.

QC Problems ?

Wow!I’m sorry for length and sentiment of this post. I hope it doesn’t get me kicked off this board, because there is a wealth of good information here. However after reading your post, Clark, I am a more than just a little apprehensive about the Bighorn that we have on order at the present time. Let me preface this by saying that I have worked for a large fortune 500 company for 26 years in their quality division, so I feel I know a little about QC. Some of the things you have listed MIGHT be considered minor. Yes, options that are missing MAY be the dealers oversight. But refrigerators that can’t be plugged in because there aren’t enough electrical outlets to allow it to be connected, and items that interfere with one another when the slides are closed sound like a design flaw that, in this day in age of computers and CAD packages, should have been caught before the unit was ever built. Fans that don’t function properly and antennas that only partially work is relatively minor, however they still point to a problem regarding QC at the factory. Last but not least BRAKES THAT DON’T FUNCTION PROPERLY is more than a minor flaw. This is downright dangerous. By the way, if I were you I would check for excessive wear on the side of the unit that the brakes did function, since they were undoubtedly taking more than their share of the load in stopping the trailer while in route to your dealer. I wasn’t aware of this board when we placed the order for our Bighorn, so I hadn’t had the opportunity to read about all the QC problems that appear to be abundant. Call it buyer’s remorse or whatever you will, I am a little more than just concerned. When a company has this much quality trouble with their flagship line, one has to figure that the lower level lines are equally or more problematic. Also, I feel it is a little more that normal to expect the delivering dealers to shoulder that responsibility of correcting this many problems for the factory. Over and extended period of time I am sure that they will become tired of doing the factory’s job. This does not bode well for the future of the dealer network. Just my 25 cents worth. The best of luck to you, Clark, on your new tow home. I hope all goes well for you in the future.Tom and Bobbi

Congrats Clark and Gail!

Sorry to hear about the issues your new baby has. I hope the dealer gets you all fixed up in short order.

Let us know how it all works out for you.

Happy camping (and come to the rally! - a couple spots left).

Jim

Yes, the brakes are a safety issue--but--that should have been checked by the dealer when they hooked up the fifth wheel. They were trying to accomodate my schedule. They already had 5 other RV's scheduled for delivery that day, and they squeezed mine in. As for the fridge, I think they can only put a single plug there to prevent someone from plugging into and overloading the circuit. Seems like it was a RVIA or UL requirement, or something to that effect. I'm sure that most of the fridges only require the 1 plug, but I agree that whoever plugged in the fridge should have caught that. The Fantastic Fan could have been working when it left the factory. If electronics are going to fail, they usually do it very early on. The shower valve should have been discovered also. So, even though there were several oversights on behalf of Heartland, I do not feel that their QC is severely lacking. It could definitely be improved, but it is probably symptomatic of the industry as a whole. I looked at these units a year ago and have seen a definite improvement in the fit and finish, both inside and out. I think they represent a very good value for the price paid, and perhaps they should add a few dollars to the invoice and put someone whose sole responsibility is a thorough checking of the units prior to shipping. The stack washer/dryer and second heatpump was strictly a dealer (salesman) problem. Having researched the product, and reading this forum, I knew far more than the salesman did. I even showed the service manager a few things he was unaware of. Having had these problems, if you were to ask Gail and I if we would have ordered, or would order again--the answer is yes.

Don't feel too good about this post myself having just ordered a Bighorn myself. If the high dollar Heartland Landmark arrives this way how can I expect my lowly Bighorn to arrive any better! Sure there are some dealer things that need attention but some of your factory misses are not acceptable!

Hey Bill .. Take heart.. most arrive with no or little adjustments .. My lowly Bighorn did !!

Just a comment about QC, if I might.

Before we purchased our Bighorn, we visited seven facilities in the Elkhart and surrounding area.

None of the seven practice QC the way that we in industry are familiar with. I asked each facility if they were ISO 9000 certified and drew blank stares at each.

The facilities visited were:
Heartland Bighorn
Carriage
Open Road
Cedar Creek
Jayco
Keystone Everest/Challenger
SunnyBrook

I felt that what I saw at Bighorn was in line with manufacturing practices at the other six. What swung me to Bighorn was its list of standard items (about equal to Open Road) and its engineering (second to none).

Now that I have first-hand experience dealing with Scott and Randy at Bighorn (after having had an accident that ripped the rear cap, I am very pleased with our decision.

Heartland does want to produce good units. Randy told me that they have quality meetings weekly with the staff and go over problems encountered so that they don't happen again.

Does this replace the QC that many of us are familiar with? No, but they are trying to build consistently good units.

Not sure where the smiley face came from in the previous post, but I can't seem to delete it. It should have said "N o n e".

ChopperBill when I picked up my GG the dealer had it clean and ready to go no problems. Your BH will be great and ready to go. If you have questions or concerns I would express them to the Service Manager.
PS Good Luck

Again, there were some problems, but when you look at the whole package--what you get with design, engineering, production, factory participation on this board, value, etc., a few glitches, while not acceptable on their own, are minor. These glitches are easily remedied, and I don't mind a few items like this in exchange for the product I got. You have to put it all in perspective, not just dwell on a few black marks. I too have gone thru a lot of the factories, but not Heartland, and what I saw turned me off on most of them.

When we went thru the sales paperwork last week for our new 3655RD the dealer added a charge of $399 for PDI- Pre Delivery Inspection. They said that they spend at least 6 hours going thru the unit and fixing everything they can find. All this before I go thru and inspect. So I have great expectations for my new coach.

I understand that every new RV will have some issues to contend with, but good QC should eliminate most problems.

Is a second AC unit a factory option or does the dealer add it? I would think they would add the washer/ dryer also?

Tony

Tony,
I would think that Heartland would pay for the PDI. They are fixing what was not done right in the first place! Heartland pays the bill when you take your unit back in for service! Just my two cents worth.
Ken

That seems quite reasonable that Heartland would pay for it, but Southwest RV is charging me for it. I mentioned to them that it seemed to be their job and shouldnt be an extra charge, but that didnt get me very far.

Tony

phranc said:

Hey Bill .. Take heart.. most arrive with no or little adjustments .. My lowly Bighorn did !!

Click to expand...

Now I feel better! When things go good you don't here too much about it. When things go sour the poop hits the fan and everyone knows about it.

Tony,
Just between you and I and everyone else who will see this, if they fix anything, you and Heartland will pay! That's the way some dealers make extra money. I would have told them to take it off or keep the trailer. It would have came off faster if you looked like you were ready to leave!

PDI fee, the factory pays it for the dealer to set up and inspect the unit after delivery to the dealer and before any customer see's the unit.

Hi Clark;
Congrats on the new "home". Hope that you get all of your issues straightened out soon and enjoy yours as much as we are enjoying ours. We are on the road now and won't be stationery for about two weeks. I'll be anxious to hear from you then.
John

Hi John-
Most of the issues were because of a rushed PDI by the dealer. I had a tight schedule and he was trying to accomodate me. The Landmark arrived a few days later than anticipated, which caused the shortage of time. I think the delay was because the body painting is outsourced, and even if done in-house it would add a few extra days. We were in it for 4 days and just love it. Take care.