Do not get me wrong, there are lots of things I do like about our 4000 but all the issues are really clouding the waters to enable us to say we are behind the camper 100%! To be honest I have to say we have had 3 Heartland Cyclones, a 2007 3795, at 2011 3812 and now the 2014 4000. Our experience is that the build quality of the Heartland Cyclone has dropped rather than improved over time. Both the materials and the workmanship are lower. This is a list of the issues we are going to our dealer with next week.
WARRANTY WORK
1.) Vacuum would not stop running. (Dave had to take apart the vacuum and hit on the relay switch to get it to turn off) this has happened twice and in an brand new unit this is not acceptable. Looked on the Heartland Forum for any others with this experience and here is a link (copy and paste into browser as I cannot force a link)
https://heartlandowners.org/showthr...on-t-shut-off?highlight=central+vac+wont+stop
2.)Kitchen sink was falling out of counter top, had XXXX XXXXXXX out to the campground to fix in July. They put additional brackets on for support and put caulking around sink. The caulking was 'everywhere' and applied to a wet sink with water between the under-mount and the sink so it didn't hold. We had to remove all the caulking and redo. The sink still is not secured tightly and needs to be tightened.
3.) Oven is not functional. In July when XXXX XXXXXXX was at the camper, the technician determined that it was not a thermal coupler, but a new 'valve' had to be ordered. When I followed up with XXX in September he was not sure if the valve had ever been ordered. Oven needs to be in working order.
4.)Propane regulator needs to be replaced. Stopped into XXXX XXXXXXX in August to follow up on the oven and spoke with XXX; told him the regulator indicator only showed 'black' not green or red. XXX said he would order a new regulator and replace it when the oven switch came in. Nothing was apparently ordered.
5.) Holding Tank Indicators. We KNOW these are not reliable, however before we EVER used the camper and the tanks should have been 100% empty the indicators were showing the black tank as FULL, gray tank 2 as 1/3 full, and gray tank 1 empty. The black tank ALWAYS shows full and the gray tank 2 ALWAYS shows as 1/3 full. We would expect this to eventually happen with use over time but not before there was ever a drop of waste entered into the tanks. The sensors need to be replaced.
6.) Fresh water tank fill is EXTREMELY SLOW and rather than having water come out an overflow indicating when full, there was water POURING out from under the steps area and into the basement. Did some online research and found this on the Heartland owners forum. (again copy and paste into browser)
https://heartlandowners.org/showthr...How-to-fill-fresh-water-tank?referrerid=16739
Also found a Youtube video of what someone else had happen that was just like our experience.
http://youtu.be/foGgRFz_Dls
The conclusion is the overflow hose is either not attached or that it is laying ontop of the chloroplast rather than extending through it. This needs to be fixed.
7.)The bottom of the paneling that curves around the kitchen sink counter is splitting along the bottom. It started out as just a tiny little split barely noticeable; however after only moving the camper to XXXXX and back (we were seasonal this year) the split has grown and over time is likely to split the entire height of the counter. This needs to be replaced. (We do NOT want it just to be stained as that will only reduce the appearance of the defect not fix it.)
8.) There is a LARGE defect in the bedroom wall paper. When we first saw it at the inspection, we were told it was just 'dirt' and could be washed off. I was not able to wash it off. This is very noticeable and not acceptable and needs to be replaced.
9.) The chair rail in the garage has warped and pulled away from the wall. This needs to be repaired.
10.) The inside base of BOTH long slides are warping and in some places are actually breaking. On the refrigerator slide you can see where it is actually warping under the weight of the refrigerator. See Picture:
We modified the pantry area and removed the outside refrigerator (so the weight is actually LESS on this slide area. We use the bottom of the pantry to store cereals in sealed plastic containers. You can actually feel the 'dip' in the bottom of the pantry floor where it does not have support.
The following picture is of the slide with the sectional couch. You can clearly see where the base of the interior of the slide is actually breaking at the point where two pieces of the sectional meet. We are normal sized people and the sectional has only had normal use so there is not any reason this should be breaking as indicated.
Picture 1 outer veneer paper is peeling away from where the under wood substructure is breaking.
Picture 2 Actual break at sectional pieces indicating the failure of the interior of the slide.
Outside inspection of the slides do not indicate any type of failure at this point. It is difficult to tell without removal of the furniture, etc to determine if the failure is do to a poor design of not enough slide rollers to support the structure or a poor design of the interior sub-floor of the slide. It is also possible that there have been substandard materials used in the construction of the interior slide floor as it appears to be possibly a 'pressed wood' product.
11.) The floor in the kitchen area appears to be 'crowned.' When a level is placed on the floor it dips on both sides to the outside of the frame. When you are at the sink or cooking at the stove, you have the impression of the slide falling out. If a marble is placed on the counter top it rolls directly to the wall even with the rig being level.
12.) In July had XXXX XXXXXXX work on the satellite coax cable as no signal was able to get into the camper. The cable for the satellite is grounded out somewhere along the line. The technician said that a staple apparently was shot through the cable someplace and that the camper would need to have entire new cable ran for the satellite connection. He did a temporary work around and we have left that hanging out of the ceiling in the bedroom. We will not accept any externally ran cables on the outside of the camper as a solution to this issue.
13.) The padding in the benches in the garage have deteriorated/compacted to the point you can feel the bars dig into your legs when you sit at the table. This unit has only been used for one season and should not have this issue.
This is not warranty work, rather a complaint on the design of the newer units. The entertainment system that is in the livingroom are of the coach is extremely cheap and substandard. The system only has 30 watt per channel speakers and the speakers of the television actually put out more sound than the 'surround sound system'! Junk! Then the idea that it was 'surround sound' is laughable as the placement of the speakers themselves was ridiculous! Two speakers were over the kitchen side couch and three located in the 'wall' above the TV while the subwoofer was located behind the fireplace in the basement. This 'well thought out placement' resulted in the sound being louder in the bathroom than it was in the living area! Needless to say we ripped out the hunk of junk and replaced it with a new bluray player system.
The entertainment system that is being installed into the garage area is about as awful! You no longer have actual switches to select the speakers you want to use, you have to use the unit itself to select 'balance' to have where you want the sound to come out. Sooooo many times our kids were watching movies at night and playing loudly to the entire campground as the outside speakers were playing as they sat blissfully unaware until the camphost banged on the door! Lovely. The location of the unit makes it difficult for anyone under 5'9" to be able to read the darn output screen to see what is even going on! (I am 5'4" so out comes the step stool, now visualize my 9 year old daughter trying to run this silly thing and see what the indicator screen says!)
WARRANTY WORK
1.) Vacuum would not stop running. (Dave had to take apart the vacuum and hit on the relay switch to get it to turn off) this has happened twice and in an brand new unit this is not acceptable. Looked on the Heartland Forum for any others with this experience and here is a link (copy and paste into browser as I cannot force a link)
https://heartlandowners.org/showthr...on-t-shut-off?highlight=central+vac+wont+stop
2.)Kitchen sink was falling out of counter top, had XXXX XXXXXXX out to the campground to fix in July. They put additional brackets on for support and put caulking around sink. The caulking was 'everywhere' and applied to a wet sink with water between the under-mount and the sink so it didn't hold. We had to remove all the caulking and redo. The sink still is not secured tightly and needs to be tightened.
3.) Oven is not functional. In July when XXXX XXXXXXX was at the camper, the technician determined that it was not a thermal coupler, but a new 'valve' had to be ordered. When I followed up with XXX in September he was not sure if the valve had ever been ordered. Oven needs to be in working order.
4.)Propane regulator needs to be replaced. Stopped into XXXX XXXXXXX in August to follow up on the oven and spoke with XXX; told him the regulator indicator only showed 'black' not green or red. XXX said he would order a new regulator and replace it when the oven switch came in. Nothing was apparently ordered.
5.) Holding Tank Indicators. We KNOW these are not reliable, however before we EVER used the camper and the tanks should have been 100% empty the indicators were showing the black tank as FULL, gray tank 2 as 1/3 full, and gray tank 1 empty. The black tank ALWAYS shows full and the gray tank 2 ALWAYS shows as 1/3 full. We would expect this to eventually happen with use over time but not before there was ever a drop of waste entered into the tanks. The sensors need to be replaced.
6.) Fresh water tank fill is EXTREMELY SLOW and rather than having water come out an overflow indicating when full, there was water POURING out from under the steps area and into the basement. Did some online research and found this on the Heartland owners forum. (again copy and paste into browser)
https://heartlandowners.org/showthr...How-to-fill-fresh-water-tank?referrerid=16739
Also found a Youtube video of what someone else had happen that was just like our experience.
http://youtu.be/foGgRFz_Dls
The conclusion is the overflow hose is either not attached or that it is laying ontop of the chloroplast rather than extending through it. This needs to be fixed.
7.)The bottom of the paneling that curves around the kitchen sink counter is splitting along the bottom. It started out as just a tiny little split barely noticeable; however after only moving the camper to XXXXX and back (we were seasonal this year) the split has grown and over time is likely to split the entire height of the counter. This needs to be replaced. (We do NOT want it just to be stained as that will only reduce the appearance of the defect not fix it.)
8.) There is a LARGE defect in the bedroom wall paper. When we first saw it at the inspection, we were told it was just 'dirt' and could be washed off. I was not able to wash it off. This is very noticeable and not acceptable and needs to be replaced.
9.) The chair rail in the garage has warped and pulled away from the wall. This needs to be repaired.
10.) The inside base of BOTH long slides are warping and in some places are actually breaking. On the refrigerator slide you can see where it is actually warping under the weight of the refrigerator. See Picture:
We modified the pantry area and removed the outside refrigerator (so the weight is actually LESS on this slide area. We use the bottom of the pantry to store cereals in sealed plastic containers. You can actually feel the 'dip' in the bottom of the pantry floor where it does not have support.
The following picture is of the slide with the sectional couch. You can clearly see where the base of the interior of the slide is actually breaking at the point where two pieces of the sectional meet. We are normal sized people and the sectional has only had normal use so there is not any reason this should be breaking as indicated.
Picture 1 outer veneer paper is peeling away from where the under wood substructure is breaking.
Picture 2 Actual break at sectional pieces indicating the failure of the interior of the slide.
Outside inspection of the slides do not indicate any type of failure at this point. It is difficult to tell without removal of the furniture, etc to determine if the failure is do to a poor design of not enough slide rollers to support the structure or a poor design of the interior sub-floor of the slide. It is also possible that there have been substandard materials used in the construction of the interior slide floor as it appears to be possibly a 'pressed wood' product.
11.) The floor in the kitchen area appears to be 'crowned.' When a level is placed on the floor it dips on both sides to the outside of the frame. When you are at the sink or cooking at the stove, you have the impression of the slide falling out. If a marble is placed on the counter top it rolls directly to the wall even with the rig being level.
12.) In July had XXXX XXXXXXX work on the satellite coax cable as no signal was able to get into the camper. The cable for the satellite is grounded out somewhere along the line. The technician said that a staple apparently was shot through the cable someplace and that the camper would need to have entire new cable ran for the satellite connection. He did a temporary work around and we have left that hanging out of the ceiling in the bedroom. We will not accept any externally ran cables on the outside of the camper as a solution to this issue.
13.) The padding in the benches in the garage have deteriorated/compacted to the point you can feel the bars dig into your legs when you sit at the table. This unit has only been used for one season and should not have this issue.
This is not warranty work, rather a complaint on the design of the newer units. The entertainment system that is in the livingroom are of the coach is extremely cheap and substandard. The system only has 30 watt per channel speakers and the speakers of the television actually put out more sound than the 'surround sound system'! Junk! Then the idea that it was 'surround sound' is laughable as the placement of the speakers themselves was ridiculous! Two speakers were over the kitchen side couch and three located in the 'wall' above the TV while the subwoofer was located behind the fireplace in the basement. This 'well thought out placement' resulted in the sound being louder in the bathroom than it was in the living area! Needless to say we ripped out the hunk of junk and replaced it with a new bluray player system.
The entertainment system that is being installed into the garage area is about as awful! You no longer have actual switches to select the speakers you want to use, you have to use the unit itself to select 'balance' to have where you want the sound to come out. Sooooo many times our kids were watching movies at night and playing loudly to the entire campground as the outside speakers were playing as they sat blissfully unaware until the camphost banged on the door! Lovely. The location of the unit makes it difficult for anyone under 5'9" to be able to read the darn output screen to see what is even going on! (I am 5'4" so out comes the step stool, now visualize my 9 year old daughter trying to run this silly thing and see what the indicator screen says!)
But the company name is HEARTLAND RECREATIONAL VEHICLES, LLC 
