Couple of questions, for someone considering the purchase of a Landmark 365

[JENDAVE]

Hello All!!

First let me begin by thanking you for being so helpful in my previous post about tow vehicles - your responses have been very helpful!!

As the possible purchaser of a Landmark 365 (we're considering the Madison (we love the forward living room) or Newport (for the two baths). I have more questions to which I hope you'll share your knowledge and experience.

First, and this may be a bit of a dumb question - When towing a 5th wheel, what do you do with the tailgate? Is it removed? Lowered? Can the stock tailgate remain in the closed position? Or is a modified tailgate required?

My second question is regarding solar power. I would think this would be a great option for obvious reasons - how many of you have modified your rigs for solar? Can the panels be stowed on the roof then deployed when parked?

In watching the RV shows on TV, I see some pretty neat outdoor furniture - chairs, picnic tables, etc. Are there stores that sell RV specific furniture? Obviously weight and compactness are quite important - so I'm wondering if there are rv specific furniture stores?

Thanks in advance for your replies!

Silverado333

Your questions have been answered with expertise regarding tailgates and solar panels, so I will give my two cents on the fifth wheel itself. My husband and I purchased a new Madison last fall. We loved the floor plan! We have been having several annoying issues including the residential fridge not maintaining it's temperature( second technician visit tomorrow). I love the floor plan, but I'm so over the issues we are having. The good news is Heartland is very responsive to these issues, but the contractors ( Camping World) could care less in most cases and the wait times are ridiculous.


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[Oregon_Camper]

Your questions have been answered with expertise regarding tailgates and solar panels, so I will give my two cents on the fifth wheel itself. My husband and I purchased a new Madison last fall. We loved the floor plan! We have been having several annoying issues including the residential fridge not maintaining it's temperature( second technician visit tomorrow). I love the floor plan, but I'm so over the issues we are having. The good news is Heartland is very responsive to these issues, but the contractors ( Camping World) could care less in most cases and the wait times are ridiculous.

I think it is time you take your RV somewhere other than Camping World. Clearly they are incompetent and you are "paying the price" by not having your RV repaired quickly and having to wait for something to be fixed that should not take that long.

When you call Heartland...ask for another approved repair facility. I've even heard of them automatizing a someone to come to your h

 

[JENDAVE]

I think it is time you take your RV somewhere other than Camping World. Clearly they are incompetent and you are "paying the price" by not having your RV repaired quickly and having to wait for something to be fixed that should not take that long.

When you call Heartland...ask for another approved repair facility. I've even heard of them automatizing a someone to come to your h

That was decided long ago, and I have already requested to use our long time RV repair guy, and they were very receptive to it. The problem now is we are on a seasonal site and I'm staying in it while working at a nearby hospital. Taking it off the site to take it in for repairs results in a three hour commute for me, not ideal after a 12 hour+ night shift. We are done with Camping World, for any repairs in the future. Mobile repair work is hard to come by in the area, but the fridge repair guy is coming out again today, hopefully this will be the last time for that, but I'm starting to get discouraged. We traded a 10 year old Newmar, with no problems for a brand new unit that just keeps throwing new problems out. Like I said Heartland has been great to deal with, but getting things fixed in our area is a slow process. Would love to just pack up and head to Indiana and have them go through the whole trailer and fix everything, but that's not in the cards right now.


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[JNS]

That was decided long ago, and I have already requested to use our long time RV repair guy, and they were very receptive to it. The problem now is we are on a seasonal site and I'm staying in it while working at a nearby hospital. Taking it off the site to take it in for repairs results in a three hour commute for me, not ideal after a 12 hour+ night shift. We are done with Camping World, for any repairs in the future. Mobile repair work is hard to come by in the area, but the fridge repair guy is coming out again today, hopefully this will be the last time for that, but I'm starting to get discouraged. We traded a 10 year old Newmar, with no problems for a brand new unit that just keeps throwing new problems out. Like I said Heartland has been great to deal with, but getting things fixed in our area is a slow process. Would love to just pack up and head to Indiana and have them go through the whole trailer and fix everything, but that's not in the cards right now.


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Sorry to hear you are having all these issues, we can totally relate though.. we traded in our 12yr 5th wheel for our brand new 2016 Landmark and we are full timers thinking after making a move across country to Florida and living temporally in our older unit we wanted to continue to live the RV way and bought a new one instead of purchasing a house etc. Thinking now it was a big mistake, nothing but problems with our unit as well.. already had fridge fixed by mobile Frigidaire guy (that still took 2 days), 3 out of 5 slides are out of adjustment and water is leaking though one of them and now inside trim all around slide is warped cause of water. Water is leaking through both doors, power recliners stopped working, fiberglass is cracking all over.. and other items as well.. We are taking into Lazy Days RV Center on the 21st for the Warranty work and my husband will be living in it there (while still going to work during the day) at the RV Center to try to make sure this work is being done, and I will have to move in with my mother-in-law for that time... We for sure WILL NOT take it back to where we bought it General RV as they also don't care about the service work after they have sold the unit! We also would like to take it back to Indiana and ask What the Heck! But when talking to Heartland they said there facility where they build them does not have a service center. We really did not anticipate all these issues, the water issue is worse cause that leads to so many other issues... Sorry don't mean to ramble on but after reading your story I felt I should chime in and let you know you are not the only one... Good Luck, keep posting your progress if you can!

 

[danemayer]

We also would like to take it back to Indiana and ask What the Heck! But when talking to Heartland they said there facility where they build them does not have a service center.

Someone got their wires crossed when they told you there was no service center. Heartland has a first class service center 4 blocks from Plant 2 where your Landmark 365 was built. There are very nice full hookup sites behind the facility and an outstanding lounge area. They've got very experienced people working in the center and every comment I've ever seen is that the work done there is excellent. If there's a difficulty, it's in getting scheduled into the center.

You should call back. Call Heartland Customer Service at 877-262-8032 / 574-262-8030. Have your VIN # ready.

 

[rblack22]

Someone got their wires crossed when they told you there was no service center. Heartland has a first class service center 4 blocks from Plant 2 where your Landmark 365 was built. There are very nice full hookup sites behind the facility and an outstanding lounge area. They've got very experienced people working in the center and every comment I've ever seen is that the work done there is excellent. If there's a difficulty, it's in getting scheduled into the center.

You should call back. Call Heartland Customer Service at 877-262-8032 / 574-262-8030. Have your VIN # ready.

Keeping this gem


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[JNS]

Someone got their wires crossed when they told you there was no service center. Heartland has a first class service center 4 blocks from Plant 2 where your Landmark 365 was built. There are very nice full hookup sites behind the facility and an outstanding lounge area. They've got very experienced people working in the center and every comment I've ever seen is that the work done there is excellent. If there's a difficulty, it's in getting scheduled into the center.

You should call back. Call Heartland Customer Service at 877-262-8032 / 574-262-8030. Have your VIN # ready.

Golden information, thank you for that clarification!


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[Paradise2]

As like everyone else...Our's have been in for warranty work the last two months since we purchased it in March...used it one time. We took it to a very thorough and efficient place and warranty has done nothing but fight them on paying the bill. Everything is Heartland is a battle. We had screws left in it and when we opened it up a second time it totally ripped our lineolium, all the coax for the tv and satellite system had crimps in them and the belly had to be dropped. 55" TV was totally crooked....mounts uneven, bathroom door would not stay closed, refrigerator froze up, radio kept going in/out wouldn't stay on. Had to turn volume down to turn off and turn way up before turning on....crazy....I could go on and on.....we are so dissatisfied with Heartland and you pay a good price for these units and have to put up with this. Hubby said he would never purchase another heartland after fighting so hard with warranty work.

 

[meagle]

I have a 2014 Landmark Grand Canyon. For the first year it sat in a shop for half of the time due to major problems. For the most part Heartland was good to deal with except for one big issue that I had to fix myself. I have had RV's for the past 30 years and can say that I've had more problems with this one than any of the others. I can also say that I really like the unit, except for the problems, and for the last year I've had very few issues. I am wary though. When it comes time to purchase another RV I will certainly look at other units as well as another Landmark. If I were you I would look at a couple of other manufacturers as well as the Landmark e.g., DRV or Augusta Luxe

 

[Mburtsvt]

Well I’m out! After 15 months of ownership, 4 of it in the “shop” I sold my Landmark Madison. Message received RV industry, lesson learned. It would not be right for me to single out Heartland in particular. This is an on going industry issues. I have been spoiled by the service I get from my Lexus dealer. Clean waiting area, pick up service, fancy coffee, all add up to a positive user experience. Selecting a Landmark I guess I set my expectations too high.

I’m not going to go into the individual issues with the product, but the combination of all things made my decision to cut my losses easy. At the end of the day expectations were not meet.

I did have positive experiences when I had to deal with Heartland direct, but it was over shadowed by HAVING to deal with Heartland at all.

 

[DirtyMax88]

Well I’m out! After 15 months of ownership, 4 of it in the “shop” I sold my Landmark Madison. Message received RV industry, lesson learned. It would not be right for me to single out Heartland in particular. This is an on going industry issues. I have been spoiled by the service I get from my Lexus dealer. Clean waiting area, pick up service, fancy coffee, all add up to a positive user experience. Selecting a Landmark I guess I set my expectations too high.

I’m not going to go into the individual issues with the product, but the combination of all things made my decision to cut my losses easy. At the end of the day expectations were not meet.

I did have positive experiences when I had to deal with Heartland direct, but it was over shadowed by HAVING to deal with Heartland at all.

That is terrible to hear, sorry you decided to get rid of your LM Madison. We haven't had many serious issues with our LM, and we are going on the 3rd season with it. I think our biggest complaint (like most) was the service center/dealership, not fixing the problems correctly the 1st or even 2nd time.