Help.....Considering a Bighorn 3055

[H82WORK]

We have made the decision to switch from a Claas A motorhome to a fifth wheel. We have narrowed down are search to 3 brands. They are NuWa, Americana, and a Heartland Bighorn. With a Bighorn, it appears we get the best value dollar wise.

When we have met Bighorn owners on the road, they all say they are very happy with their units. However, we have had dealers and owners of other brands caution us, particualrly with regards to electrical problems and sloppy fit and finish. I spoke to the Heartland service center, and they did not give the most enthusiastic endorsment of the product. Then again, they only see the problems.

Please help us. Are you 3055 owners happy with your unit. What have the problems been? Having owned an RV, I realize there will be issues. How is the warranty work from Heartland. Any and all comments would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!.......Tom

 

[SmokeyBare]

Tom,

I hope you spend time wandering through the many posts on this Owners Site. I bet you will come away with a little better understanding about the Product. Yes there are problems posted... and solutions offered... but if you look closely you'll soon see most everyone's problems are fixed.... and they more times than not brag how Heartland works hard to get those problems fixed.

I believe you need to take wary view of opinions given by Some Other Brand. The market for RV's probably has slowed down as our economy hits the brakes. Everyone does their best to sway your opinion and $$$ to their brand. They all want to be on top with their sales. Ask your self.... why would an owner of an Heartland RV give you bad information??? They gain nothing false information...

I know it's not always possible, but I would recommend a tour through Heartland's Plant. If a plant tour isn't possible... I'd next suggest finding a Dealer close by who has several models to walk through... Chase away the sales person and just spend a little time in each one. Many of your concerns probably will melt away as you see first hand the quality of Heartlands products.

We decided after our plant tour to order our 3400RL... and not the 3055RL as we first considered. Glad we did... We couldn't be happier with the purchase and our new Bighorn. We live full time in this RV... and have so very few problems, all of which were taken care of when we attended the Owners Rally in Elkhart last spring.

If your close to Yuma... drop me a line... I'll give you the Nickel Tour.

Good Luck with Your Next RV purchase...

 

[Barry & Alana]

hope this helps...

Hi, we have the 3055. I can tell you what problems we have had - recall from lipperts, problem with fridge no keeping cold which would be dometic problem, the strap under the slide broke -thats also from lippert.Awning had hole (factory ) .

We are very happy with it. In todays world perfection is non existant. I don't expect it. Over the years I've more grief with new trucks which cost a lot more money.. I also think you will find the Heartland group stands behind the products.

Perhaps the people(the ones you mention in your post) could define to you the differences bewteen the products. I find people that make general refrences talk without facts sometimes.
As well, I would spend time in the 3 lines you've picked, Theres always a comfort zone we looking for and thats sometimes what defines likes or dislikes.

Hope this helps a bit, contact me if you have questions.

A

 

[jimtoo]

Hi Tom,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum. The place of lots of information and for making new friends.

We have an 08 3055RL and really love it. We also owned a 06 3055, which we traded for the 08. We have had a few minor problems, nothing but small things which our dealer took care of right away. I don't think you will find any other manufacture that will stand behind their product as well as Heartland RVS. Dollar for dollar, I think you get more for your money in a Bighorn. Of course I am biased a little now, but I have had 2 other 5er's and 2 MH and a TT before that, so I have seen a few and we really shopped a lot before we settled on the Bighorn.

Jim

 

[seamo]

Heartland stands behind their product. This is our 2nd Landmark and I love it. True-we travel down the road and things happen yet they get fixed. Scott, Jim F and Steve are the best. If you get a chance come to a Heartland Rally and then you can see how they take care of us.

 

[boatdoc]

Check our recent thread. Darn GOOD customer service!!! It's not a perfect world but Heartland and a couple of dealers sure made it close this week.

 

[Bob&Patty]

What Me Worry??

Tom, Pat and I spent almost 3 years looking at every thing out there in a 5er. We would find a new dealer that had a differant brand and go check it out. Every time we would go back and compare notes on the the Big Horn. Fit and finish, extra goodies thrown in for less money than the other brands. last September we bought our Big Horn and have not be sorry at all. The Factory owner and others have contacted me personally to make sure the coach was repaired and that we were happy. You will not find that with any other coach manufacturer, period. We have had a lot of MH's,TT's, and this one is by far the best. Bob,Pat, and thecat

 

[cmart]

H82, We have a 08 3055RL and we love it. We did have some axle problems to start with along with some other minor problems. The problems we had upset me very much and I had just retired and wanted to camp and relax not spend all my time at the dealership. Heartland jumped in to make things happen that my dealer didn't. As a matter of fact I made a statement in one of the forums about a problem and the next day in my email I had a message from Jim Fenner helping me out. Hey, you won't get this kind of service from any other manufacturer. This is my fourth RV and its hard enough to contact the manufacturer, let lone have them call you. All I can say is go for it, I don't think you will be sorry in the long run. Its a great rig.

 

[trdeal]

h82WORK, We do not have the Bighorn, but do own a 2005 Landmark. We love it. We have had a few problems,none major and all were fixed. Some fixed after the warranty ran out. Have owned a pop up and other TT's but this is our first 5th wheel.So we were not real sure of what we wanted. We did know we wanted plenty of room. So we narrowed it down to the Landmark and the McKenzie. They were close but we liked the layout of the Landmark better and there was just something about it that spoke to us.The amount of basement storage,the enclosed hookups for water,cable etc.The fit and finish on the inside. We actually took a ruler and measured the space in the living room to see which had more. We took pictures and a lot of notes and made some salesmen mad,but we are very happy with our decision and would buy a Heartland product again. Good luck in your decision. It is alot of money and not an easy choice.But you will find some great info. here. Terry

 

[oppositelock]

Tom
You might notice in the replys that most were previous RV owners (many times) just like yourself and they spent a lot of time researching their purchase. I recently met some BH owners that had spent 3 years researching and they bought a BH 3055RL. My wife and I made our decision in about 4 months time, which could be considered impulse buying. What I'm getting at is; these people have done their homework and relying on their previous RV ownership experience, and they made the BH decision.

We recently spent 30 days traveling in our 3055RL and it worked great. Very comfortable, functional, and we stayed warm and dry. It tracks well behind our 3/4 ton Dodge and we could average 11.5 to 12 MPG while towing. No problems that would require a trip back to the dealer.

Good luck deciding on a trailer. Now about that tow vehicle....

Jim

 

[ccd001]

Hi Tom,
Having had nothing but trouble with our 2007 Dutchmen Colorado 31m5
5th wheel. We were looking for a coach with quality and I believe we found it with the 2008 BH 3055. I'm not sure why the other dealers
are saying the fit and finish is bad unless they are jealous. We have
been camping in our 3055 5 times since 09/2007 and I have yet to have
a problem with fit & finish, electrical, or any other issues. We have been
so impressed by this coach. Friends of ours bought a Forest River
product and you talked about poor fit & finish wow. I could go on & on
about this company and the Big Horn. I hope this helps.
Clay Dog
2007 Duramax/2008 BH 3055

 

[osims]

Tom- We have an 06 3055 and love it . I have pulled it over 17000 miles, all over this beautiful country of ours, with very few problems. When we trade in there is very little doubt it will be another Bighorn.

 

[kakampers]

Well I guess I'll chime in here too...We have the 3600RL Bighorn, and couldn't be happier. After a terrible 11 month experience with a brand new Holiday Rambler, we bought this unit. It hasn't been completely uneventful; we had some minor issues,immediately handled by Heartland, and one major issue, partially caused by the use of a MDT without benefit of any "air" between the hitch and pin. Again, the manufacturer took care of us completely, didn't lay blame, just took care of us!!!

Couldn't ask for more, and I gotta say Jim Fenner and Steve Kennel are fantastic...they did whatever was necessary and got us into the factory with one day's notice. Had us back on the road in 2.5 days. We fulltime so that kind of concern is most important to us. As long as the stay a wholly owned company, it will always be a Heartland...hope they never sell out to one of the big guns...like Monaco.

 

[Larryheadhunter]

We just bought a 2009 Big Horn 3400RE from Clovis RV in Central CA and will be picking it up in a couple of weeks as its in transit and the weather is bad. We are rookies and this is our first RV at all. We would just like to enjoy the lifestyle.

 

[jpmorgan37]

Larry and Debbi;

What an exciting time, with all the anticipation of the new rig coming. And you won't be rookies for long. Congratulations and enjoy,

John

 

[Larryheadhunter]

PDI Checklist and Extended Warranties Questions!

hey jp, thanks alot for your comments. We just got the news our rig is in, so we are going up to clovis next wednesday and sign papers, load the rig, and come back on valentines day for our PDI and off we go. Nice Valentines day present. We are going on to Avila Beach on the coast for our shakedown cruise, a week before the socal rally on feb 22. 2 questions, and jim and anyone else please make suggestions, as we are in a quandry. We have been offered 2 extended warranties, Easy Care or Phoenix American and we cant decide which to accept. The dealer only sent the first page of each policy so we don't know what the exclusions are, and the dealer is pressing us to pick one before we see all the pages. Second question, is I need a detailed PDI checklist, as I am totally mechanically and electrically inept so I have no clue what to look for during the walkthrough.
Thanks in advance.

 

[jpmorgan37]

Larry;

Here is one that has been around for awhile. It's not model specific, but covers most of the basics. PDI Checklist

Hope it helps,

John

 

[slmayor]

Larry, just as a comparison for you, we got an extended warranty quote for our 3370 from Good Sam continued service and it was only $440 per year. (multiple year policies were cheaper) I think it covers the same as what the others do at about 1/4 the price. At any rate, I know that the Good Sam info is available on their website. You will have a bumper-to-bumper warranty for the first year anyway, so you might want to take your time to look at the different plans. We're not doing anything until our 1 year is up. Remember that the dealers make money off the ones they sell. JMHO

 

[jfrench]

I know a dealer that had both nuwu and heartland and they drop nuwu if that tells you anything.