Any glaring issues with Mallard?

askibum02

Member
I'm interested in the Mallard M32, because I like the floor plan, and it is one of the few fiberglass sided travel trailers in my budget ($20K-25K). The one thing giving me pause, is that Mallard is only available from Camping World in my neck of the woods, NC/Southern VA. Any input?
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
Hello Askibum02 and welcome to this great forum. Lots of great information here about camping and your rig.
The Mallard is built by Heartland from specs of Camping World and sold only by Camping World.
I don't recall any glaring issues.
Hopefully some Mallard owners will chime in with their thoughts.

Peace
Dave
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Hey folks,

Just a kind reminder that disparaging remarks about our dealers is a no-no "on the forum". Please share this sort of commentary privately.

Thanks
 

Deaconi

Member
I purchased my Mallard M27 in Aug 2017. I am very satisfied with the TT. I didn’t have any problems with it.
 

spruce1.

Member
I have a 2017 M26 Mallard and love it. Have made three long trips to various states. We had a few issues at first but I understand most RVs have a few warranty issues at first. Love the bunk house floor plan and all the standard features for the money makes the Mallard a great value. Heartland has been great to work with when I have had questions - Patty
 

TeamReyn

Member
I just purchased a Mallard M32 this month. I haven't had a chance to take it out yet because of the weather so no advice there. I looked at Forest River, Coleman, and Pioneer. The m32 had everything I was looking for. It has bunk beds in the back for all my kids, lot of storage space, an awesome outdoor kitchen with grill and tv. The electric awning is great and the wife loves the built in vacuum cleaner and outside led lights. I'm excited about the Bluetooth outside speaker system. There are a couple of features I wish it did have like an electric tongue jack, a ladder inside the back room for kids, and some other small things. None of these were deal breakers and can be purchased later. It is observation/backup camera ready if you want to install one. I plan on it. I pulled it from Camping World to home with my 2007 Ford F-150 (2 hour drive). Dry weight is 6700 lbs which was important for me. I use the 10,000 lbs ezlift weight distribution kit with sway bar to transport it as well.
 

Silverado23

Iowa Chapter Leaders
In my shopping experience, the mallards are very similar to North trails. The major differences being floorplans are somewhat modified, Finish is somewhat different (fabric, colors, etc) and the availability of options tends to be limited based what the CW dealer is willing to stock on their lot. One dealer was willing to custom order but even then the options available was still limited compared to North Trail.

There may be some less visible differences but not sure it would be too much considering the extra engineering costs that may be involved.

The Mallards would have been an option for us if the western Iowa camping world would have been closer to us. Now we have three CW's in Iowa.
 
I am planning on buying a m32 Saturday in Raleigh nc. This will be my first new tt and need some pointers. I know that I get to do a walkthrough but no idea what to look for. Will they hook up water, test ac, fridge, water heater, greased axles? What do I need to be looking for! I want it right when I drive off the lot. Nervous!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Silverado23

Iowa Chapter Leaders
Plan to spend quite a bit of time inspecting your own unit.
Take a flashlight and maybe a screwdriver.
Notepad and pen/pencil

In the owners manual section there is an rv pdi check list by one of the members.
https://manuals.heartlandowners.org...n Checklist from Oregon_Camper 06-07-2017.pdf

Go through and test, inspect and view everything to your satisfaction.
Make sure that anything that needs repair is addressed to your satisfaction.

Be sure to test operation of water pumps, tanks, city water inlet etc.
Test any slide-outs and verify location of exterior circuit breakers usually near the battery and interior fuses and circuit breakers.

Test with and with out Shore power(AC) hooked up.
12v and propane systems should all work. Including Lights, refrigeration, stove, water heater, furnace, etc. Air conditioners will not work on 12v but nearly everything else should.

Verify that water heater has water in the tank prior to testing electric heating.

It may take several hours to test everything. If you don't know how something works, ask the dealer to show you.
 

dgfam4

Member
We just bought a new 2018 Mallard M26. We just realized that there is no outlet in the bottom bunk area like the video review shows.
Also our bathroom wall behind the toilet and shower wall is very flimsy, not solid. We went and looked at some others on another dealers lot and it has an outlet and a solid sturdy bathroom wall behind the toilet. We are disappointed that we paid full price for a brand new unit but these items are not right.
Anyone else have these issues??
 

RossRagan

Well-known member
We just bought a new 2018 Mallard M26. We just realized that there is no outlet in the bottom bunk area like the video review shows.
Also our bathroom wall behind the toilet and shower wall is very flimsy, not solid. We went and looked at some others on another dealers lot and it has an outlet and a solid sturdy bathroom wall behind the toilet. We are disappointed that we paid full price for a brand new unit but these items are not right.
Anyone else have these issues??

I noticed the bathroom wall in new M245 when I was doing the walk-through at the time of purchase. I asked the Tech about it and he told me that wall was hollow and not foam filled like exterior walls which is why it is so flimsy. I've been wondering if I could find a couple of inconspicuous locations to drill a couple of holes in it and pump it full of the expanding foam that you can buy at home improvement stores.
 

TravelTiger

Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
You don't have to go to Camping World for warranty or service.

True, but likely other dealers will not want to work on a unit that is a Camping World exclusive brand.

Talk to Heartland and ask them to direct you to an independent service center that can do warranty/repairs. You'll have a much better experience because independents aren't selling rigs, all they do it service and their business is very dependent on happy customers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

katmcd2

Member
True, but likely other dealers will not want to work on a unit that is a Camping World exclusive brand.

Talk to Heartland and ask them to direct you to an independent service center that can do warranty/repairs. You'll have a much better experience because independents aren't selling rigs, all they do it service and their business is very dependent on happy customers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
We have a 2017 Mallard M-26. Had to have water pump replaced, failed. Minor warantee fixes, but major one just before our warantee expired, thank goodness. Both axeles "twisted" & failed weld areas. Currently our independent RV techs are working with Heartland & Dexler to get 2 new axles. Taking time, but again thankful happened before warantee expired. Heartland has been great to work with & love our RV techs. Heartland had no problems working with them.

Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Tapatalk
 

jwelder3

Member
We've had our M26 for a year now and are pleased. The longest trips so far have been about 5 hrs. Only minor things like the cabinet doors needing adjusted so they close properly. Also, had a couple small leaks...one behind the toilet due to the water line union not being tightened properly and another under the kitchen sink. The P-trap drain wasnt tightened properly either. One thing I need to check is the air leak in our entertainment center cabinet. If you put your hand at the ceiling you can feel air blowing around the top of the cabinet. Not sure what this is, but was wandering if any others had this issue?
 
We purchased a 2018 M33 in June 2017. We took our first 2 week journey on the East Coast and, with consistent daily use, found the bench in the U-shaped dinette was becoming loose: It turns out they used only a few staples to hold the wood together, and they were coming out. Though it was an easily remedied situation, we hoped it was a glitch...an anomaly. Over the months following our purchase, we've been reading negative stories and reviews about the Camping-World sponsored Mallard, and were left wondering if there were any other lack-luster construction issues. Winter has come and gone, and we brought the RV out of storage in May. Still has that new RV smell...walking thru, everything seems to be in great shape. That is until this past week: We were shocked to find a puddle of water in the left corner of the bedroom. There seems to be a leak - either in the roof or from the window in the front bedroom. In addition, we see a couple places where the interior paneling appears to be separating from the wall. Ugh - not the one year RV anniversary we anticipated!

We will be contacting Heartland to find out where we can take it to be serviced. (We feel a bit reluctant about visiting a Camping World for service due to some of the stories we've been reading;regardless, we are hopeful our M33 is going to be alright and we will find a decent place to have our Mallard properly serviced.)
 

jerryjay11

Well-known member
We purchased a 2018 M33 in June 2017. We took our first 2 week journey on the East Coast and, with consistent daily use, found the bench in the U-shaped dinette was becoming loose: It turns out they used only a few staples to hold the wood together, and they were coming out. Though it was an easily remedied situation, we hoped it was a glitch...an anomaly. Over the months following our purchase, we've been reading negative stories and reviews about the Camping-World sponsored Mallard, and were left wondering if there were any other lack-luster construction issues. Winter has come and gone, and we brought the RV out of storage in May. Still has that new RV smell...walking thru, everything seems to be in great shape. That is until this past week: We were shocked to find a puddle of water in the left corner of the bedroom. There seems to be a leak - either in the roof or from the window in the front bedroom. In addition, we see a couple places where the interior paneling appears to be separating from the wall. Ugh - not the one year RV anniversary we anticipated!

We will be contacting Heartland to find out where we can take it to be serviced. (We feel a bit reluctant about visiting a Camping World for service due to some of the stories we've been reading;regardless, we are hopeful our M33 is going to be alright and we will find a decent place to have our Mallard properly serviced.)
When contacting Heartland tell them your concerns about CW and request another authorized RV repair center. They have already authorized me to use any service provider or if I do it myself to supply me with whatever part required to do the job. All you have to do is ask.
 
When contacting Heartland tell them your concerns about CW and request another authorized RV repair center. They have already authorized me to use any service provider or if I do it myself to supply me with whatever part required to do the job. All you have to do is ask.

Good to know...many thanks for the tip jerryjay11!
 

katmcd2

Member
Same here. Heartland had no problem doing warantee work with non-Camping World shop.

Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Tapatalk
 
Top