Landmark model change/floor plan introduction/etc.

[AWesdorp]

Good Friday afternoon everyone!
First off, I want to apologize for being absent on the forum lately. The last few months have been rather wild as we (a huge team effort) have completed model change across the board for all Heartland products. I am very proud of the entire squad but particularly jazzed up about the new Landmarks, Road Warriors and Edge toy haulers (my other 2 brands).

I have been very encouraged and appreciative of the majority of the forum feedback I've seen regarding model change. For those of you that haven't discovered the sneak peak on the HRV website, here is the Oshkosh (new slide in slide) photo gallery: http://www.heartlandrvs.com/brands/luxuryfw/landmark-365#&gid=1&pid=19. The other galleries will shortly be shot, cleaned up and posted online throughout October and November (1 photographer, 20+ brands!).

Here are some of what I think are big highlights for model change, most of which were pushed by you, the owners, so thank you for your feedback. We listened:
1. Bathroom--the huge mirror with sconce lights looked fantastic, but we lost more than a few sales because we didn't have either a medicine cabinet nor drawers in the vanity base. Now we have both.
2. Multi-plex lighting system--most of the interior lights are now controlled by backlit, labeled and dimmable touch-switches, some with 3-way connected switches.
3. Accent lighting--the new lit slide out fascia was incredibly well received last week at our Dealer Open House, as was the lit tile on the kitchen backsplash. It is subtle, not over-powering. The island is now edge-lit also.
4. Standards--we have simplified the buying/wondering process by making full body paint, dual pane windows, Dyson vac, fireplace, hi-rise coffee table and more standard.
5. Appliances--Furrion's new 3-burner gas cooktop and oven, both with auto ignition, are good looking and very functional. Finally an oven that looks good in an RV! Also, dealers liked the new sink with front apron.
6. Flooring--the carpet and lino are both new (and flow very well with the new solid surface tops), but most importantly, we listened to you and made the "max lino" downstairs standard.
7. Dinette--we eliminated the buffet table and went back to a well-appointed (full gas strut storage under) dinette table with leaf, accented on the wall by wooden wainscoting.
8. Dimension--the new fireplace has a gentle curve, the rear overhead cabinets are now angled out and the ceiling light fixtures now have new patterns. All compliment each other nicely.
9. Oshkosh--new floor plan, slide-in-slide bedroom, rear living room. 40'' TV and fireplace in bedroom. Great pantry downstairs.

Like I said, last week was our annual dealer open house. I was anxious and excited with this being my first go-around as GM. By the end of the day Thursday I was blown away with our results and you'll be seeing new product at dealerships in North America in October. Due to demand we do have a backlog at the paint shop which has slightly extended lead times, but we're doing our best to pull them through.

For those of you not happy with either the model year product changes or the elimination of floor plans, I have big shoulders and I have read your comments with an open mind. Thank you for your honest feedback and please, go see one in person this fall (or at the owners' rally!). Good news though---there are still a few Ashlands, Key Wests and Syracuses without the model changes that dealers are ready to unload. Please send me an email if you need help locating one.

All in all, we have ramped up production, I'm thrilled that model change is over so we can hit the road and start visiting dealers again, and I hope to see some of you on the road this fall. We will have 6 or 7 units at the Tampa show again this year. All systems are GO. I was so happy with our results from the Open House last week that my family and I did something crazy last weekend.....went camping! We have a 1977 VW Westfalia camper bus that happily sleeps 4!

Thanks to everyone for being part of a great owners' group, have a fun and safe weekend.
Andy Wesdorp, GM
andy.wesdorp@heartlandrvs.com

 

[RB2012]

Andy Iam saddened thst you have discontinued the option of the buffet table, we were going to trade our 2012 bighorn on the arlington but I hate hate hate the table and chairs so we are in dire straits, also since i am throwing in my 2 cents the farmers sink is ugly (just me I guess) Richard & Bonnie RB2012

 

[Rottiesmom]

Good Friday afternoon everyone!
First off, I want to apologize for being absent on the forum lately. The last few months have been rather wild as we (a huge team effort) have completed model change across the board for all Heartland products. I am very proud of the entire squad but particularly jazzed up about the new Landmarks, Road Warriors and Edge toy haulers (my other 2 brands).

I have been very encouraged and appreciative of the majority of the forum feedback I've seen regarding model change. For those of you that haven't discovered the sneak peak on the HRV website, here is the Oshkosh (new slide in slide) photo gallery: http://www.heartlandrvs.com/brands/luxuryfw/landmark-365#&gid=1&pid=19. The other galleries will shortly be shot, cleaned up and posted online throughout October and November (1 photographer, 20+ brands!).

Here are some of what I think are big highlights for model change, most of which were pushed by you, the owners, so thank you for your feedback. We listened:
1. Bathroom--the huge mirror with sconce lights looked fantastic, but we lost more than a few sales because we didn't have either a medicine cabinet nor drawers in the vanity base. Now we have both.
2. Multi-plex lighting system--most of the interior lights are now controlled by backlit, labeled and dimmable touch-switches, some with 3-way connected switches.
3. Accent lighting--the new lit slide out fascia was incredibly well received last week at our Dealer Open House, as was the lit tile on the kitchen backsplash. It is subtle, not over-powering. The island is now edge-lit also.
4. Standards--we have simplified the buying/wondering process by making full body paint, dual pane windows, Dyson vac, fireplace, hi-rise coffee table and more standard.
5. Appliances--Furrion's new 3-burner gas cooktop and oven, both with auto ignition, are good looking and very functional. Finally an oven that looks good in an RV! Also, dealers liked the new sink with front apron.
6. Flooring--the carpet and lino are both new (and flow very well with the new solid surface tops), but most importantly, we listened to you and made the "max lino" downstairs standard.
7. Dinette--we eliminated the buffet table and went back to a well-appointed (full gas strut storage under) dinette table with leaf, accented on the wall by wooden wainscoting.
8. Dimension--the new fireplace has a gentle curve, the rear overhead cabinets are now angled out and the ceiling light fixtures now have new patterns. All compliment each other nicely.
9. Oshkosh--new floor plan, slide-in-slide bedroom, rear living room. 40'' TV and fireplace in bedroom. Great pantry downstairs.

Like I said, last week was our annual dealer open house. I was anxious and excited with this being my first go-around as GM. By the end of the day Thursday I was blown away with our results and you'll be seeing new product at dealerships in North America in October. Due to demand we do have a backlog at the paint shop which has slightly extended lead times, but we're doing our best to pull them through.

For those of you not happy with either the model year product changes or the elimination of floor plans, I have big shoulders and I have read your comments with an open mind. Thank you for your honest feedback and please, go see one in person this fall (or at the owners' rally!). Good news though---there are still a few Ashlands, Key Wests and Syracuses without the model changes that dealers are ready to unload. Please send me an email if you need help locating one.

All in all, we have ramped up production, I'm thrilled that model change is over so we can hit the road and start visiting dealers again, and I hope to see some of you on the road this fall. We will have 6 or 7 units at the Tampa show again this year. All systems are GO. I was so happy with our results from the Open House last week that my family and I did something crazy last weekend.....went camping! We have a 1977 VW Westfalia camper bus that happily sleeps 4!

Thanks to everyone for being part of a great owners' group, have a fun and safe weekend.
Andy Wesdorp, GM
andy.wesdorp@heartlandrvs.com

Andy,

Thank you for your honesty and feedback and I as an owners appreciate you having an open mind but I have to say I think it's time you buy a heartland and enjoy what we all are LOL. Looking forward to meeting you down the road.

Again thank you for all your time and effort for building a product people will love.

 

[Bones]

Nice Job Andy. Keep up the good work.

 

[sengli]

My wife hates the farmers sink as well. She much prefers the dual stainless type sink configuration. Still love the ashland floor plan.

 

[jddelano]

Thanks for the update Andy: as a prospective Landmark owner, The LM is a wonderful design, I could spend several minutes telling you why I really like the LM, but it has some short comings for us (and yes, positives for others) and I hope you'd prefer to hear my wish list vice complements. You'll be busy in Vegas so you'll probably miss this post but here are some of my LM wish items:

1. Doesn't look like you have made any structural upgrades/options (e.g., better frame, insulation, CCW, or MorRyde IS and disc break factory option).
2. Removal of buffet table - non starter for us.
3. Moving outside TV to pass-thru: no go, takes precious pass-thru storage and reduces access. Would prefer the opposite (small outside kitchen and current sized outside TV).
4. Awful kitchen sink. Like others, we have always wanted a large 60/40 stainless bowl with cutting boards glued to covers.
5. Multi-plex lighting system: catches up to your competition, nice touch.
6. Love the back-lit back splash and thanks for keeping the two door refer (with ice in the door!) you got that one right so please resist the three door refer/freezer everyone else has.
7. Don't like the lit slide out fascia -- reminds me of the gaudiness of the Boston subway train lighting of years ago--the LM is a sophisticated home and in MHO, HL ruined the ambience with these lights--would never consider a coach with these lights; never, regardless of the floor plan!
8. Removal of two-way bedroom mirror almost made me resign from this forum (after some of my responses, some might be happy if I did!) -- seemingly small features matter
9. Would like to see a larger Inverter.
10. On-demand water heater solution.
11. Two furnaces (cross-connected).
12. Move the floor vents off the floor and into cabinetry.
13. More cell phone and USB charging/localized smaller Inverter solutions.
14. Roof solar prep option (combiner box, roof to garage conductor run, larger battery stowage accommodation)
15. Better water filtration solutions/options (e.g., osmosis).
16. Dovetail drawers!
17. Robust desk solution in place of a piece of furniture option (i.e., couch or buffet table). Would think this would have already been an option as some full timers and most younger RVs are replacing existing furniture after purchase and opting for a desk to perform work, VLOGing, video editing, etc. Perhaps combining a desk with an dinning table would be an eye catcher solution that would bring more buyers.
18. Better dump equipment storage solution.
19. Built-in adjustable water pressure regulator.
20. Factory installed 360 roof vents (vice a RV show discounted after market purchase) not a glitzy feature but educated buyers are paying attention to your quality/value.
21. Water manifold.
22. Replace Refer drain prior to factory refer install with quality drain hose solution.
23. Complete front cap insulation (too many owners finding absent all or most insulation).
24. Completely functioning AC duct work (doesn't require owner to fix)--22-23 are on HL!
25. More storage in bedroom (entire wall of drawers/hanging storage instead of a small dresser drawer cabinet).
26. Make for outside non-toy hauler storage (raise up the bed?) like Grand Design does?
27. Two 40 # LP tanks
28. Residential circuit breaker panel.
29. No cloth valence/curtain option (only wood valences with MCD side security panels).
30. 38' or 38'-6"' LM floor plan.
31. Fiberglass roof - this one is way overdue across the industry.
32. Finally, the Ashland is currently the only LM floorplan we will consider (better CCW than other FPs, two food pantries, sink in bedroom and split bath with non-corner shower).

Lack of an Ashland floor plan places LM 2nd or 3rd on our list with a new Augusta Ambition/Luxe (better value/construction) or a used DRV (better construction) at the top of our list in that order.

Will continue to watch the LM as we get closer to making our purchase and go full time--the LM a great platform to build a value-based home--it has no equal and there are only two better units at my price point and one you'll never exceed because it's now a HL product; so you have only one to equal or exceed to get my hard earned dollars.

Thanks.
Dave
Chesapeake, VA

 

[Cholo]

Good Friday afternoon everyone!
First off, I want to apologize for being absent on the forum lately. The last few months have been rather wild as we (a huge team effort) have completed model change across the board for all Heartland products. I am very proud of the entire squad but particularly jazzed up about the new Landmarks, Road Warriors and Edge toy haulers (my other 2 brands).

I have been very encouraged and appreciative of the majority of the forum feedback I've seen regarding model change. For those of you that haven't discovered the sneak peak on the HRV website, here is the Oshkosh (new slide in slide) photo gallery: http://www.heartlandrvs.com/brands/luxuryfw/landmark-365#&gid=1&pid=19. The other galleries will shortly be shot, cleaned up and posted online throughout October and November (1 photographer, 20+ brands!).

Here are some of what I think are big highlights for model change, most of which were pushed by you, the owners, so thank you for your feedback. We listened:
1. Bathroom--the huge mirror with sconce lights looked fantastic, but we lost more than a few sales because we didn't have either a medicine cabinet nor drawers in the vanity base. Now we have both.
2. Multi-plex lighting system--most of the interior lights are now controlled by backlit, labeled and dimmable touch-switches, some with 3-way connected switches.
3. Accent lighting--the new lit slide out fascia was incredibly well received last week at our Dealer Open House, as was the lit tile on the kitchen backsplash. It is subtle, not over-powering. The island is now edge-lit also.
4. Standards--we have simplified the buying/wondering process by making full body paint, dual pane windows, Dyson vac, fireplace, hi-rise coffee table and more standard.
5. Appliances--Furrion's new 3-burner gas cooktop and oven, both with auto ignition, are good looking and very functional. Finally an oven that looks good in an RV! Also, dealers liked the new sink with front apron.
6. Flooring--the carpet and lino are both new (and flow very well with the new solid surface tops), but most importantly, we listened to you and made the "max lino" downstairs standard.
7. Dinette--we eliminated the buffet table and went back to a well-appointed (full gas strut storage under) dinette table with leaf, accented on the wall by wooden wainscoting.
8. Dimension--the new fireplace has a gentle curve, the rear overhead cabinets are now angled out and the ceiling light fixtures now have new patterns. All compliment each other nicely.
9. Oshkosh--new floor plan, slide-in-slide bedroom, rear living room. 40'' TV and fireplace in bedroom. Great pantry downstairs.

Like I said, last week was our annual dealer open house. I was anxious and excited with this being my first go-around as GM. By the end of the day Thursday I was blown away with our results and you'll be seeing new product at dealerships in North America in October. Due to demand we do have a backlog at the paint shop which has slightly extended lead times, but we're doing our best to pull them through.

For those of you not happy with either the model year product changes or the elimination of floor plans, I have big shoulders and I have read your comments with an open mind. Thank you for your honest feedback and please, go see one in person this fall (or at the owners' rally!). Good news though---there are still a few Ashlands, Key Wests and Syracuses without the model changes that dealers are ready to unload. Please send me an email if you need help locating one.

All in all, we have ramped up production, I'm thrilled that model change is over so we can hit the road and start visiting dealers again, and I hope to see some of you on the road this fall. We will have 6 or 7 units at the Tampa show again this year. All systems are GO. I was so happy with our results from the Open House last week that my family and I did something crazy last weekend.....went camping! We have a 1977 VW Westfalia camper bus that happily sleeps 4!

Thanks to everyone for being part of a great owners' group, have a fun and safe weekend.
Andy Wesdorp, GM
andy.wesdorp@heartlandrvs.com

Mr. Wesdorp

Thank you for being a part of this forum. I ordered a new Newport and should have it by the end of the month. I have a few issues with some of the changes, but chose to order anyways. I do however, have some concerns about the whole thing that I would like to try explain in hopes you or other members can clarify for me.
First off, I ordered ours based on the models I saw, the great information posted on this forum, the Heartland website and, the list of changes, along with the hundreds of pictures posted on the internet. Having said that, there is still a lot of issues that are very confusing. The website has not been updated, (I know you mentioned it on your post). I have seen some pictures of the Oshkosh model with the new changes.

Finally a dealer posted over 50 pictures of the 2017 Newport, I was EXCITED!! While looking at the pictures, I noticed that this particular Newport only had some of the new features:
1) No Multi-Plex lighting system. (We liked that feature)
2) Rear and above TV cabinet doors are not Mullion. (Like without the change).
3) Bathroom closet doors not changed.
4) Kitchen sink changed to stainless but, no apron. (We like old sink look better)
5) Did not see trash can mounted in pull out cage. (We like this change)

It doess have the new table, TV in basement, (which is taking up valuable space and unprotected), the new lights on the kitchen and bedroom ceiling, plus a few more.

I could go on and on. My question is, which Newport am I going to get? Some people would say, "should have looked before you ordered". Even if we had looked at the Newport I saw on a dealers website, I still would not know which changes I would get and which I won't. Also, some comments from people who saw the "new" Landmark at the show mentioned other changes in construction that made me really rethink my choice! Changes that were not mentioned, I can only assume why.

Anyways, this is my rant and I hope you understand. Thanks again.

 

[mountainlovers76]

My wife hates the farmers sink as well. She much prefers the dual stainless type sink configuration.

Same with my wife also.

 

[rvmckee]

Have a question on the gas oven. Can we order an induction cooktop and a separate gas oven? If so, will it have to be manually lit or will it have knobs on it to be able to light it?
Love most of the new changes, but very disappointed that the buffet table is gone. It made the table area look so classy and you could have flowers or candles on the buffet instead of right on the table. Maybe you could make that as an option!

 

[danemayer]

Have a question on the gas oven. Can we order an induction cooktop and a separate gas oven? If so, will it have to be manually lit or will it have knobs on it to be able to light it?
Love most of the new changes, but very disappointed that the buffet table is gone. It made the table area look so classy and you could have flowers or candles on the buffet instead of right on the table. Maybe you could make that as an option!

The Landmark 365 now comes standard with the Furrion Gas cooktop; the induction cooktop is available as an option in place of the Furrion. A 2.4 Cu Ft. Furrion oven is optional as well. The Furrion cooktop has a battery powered igniter and I think the oven may have that as well.

 

[rvmckee]

Thanks so much for the info! We would like to see what the oven looks like before we buy, if we can I find a dealer nearby. Landmark dealers here in the Vancouver/Portland area are very scarce.

 

[Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn]

Andy Thanks for being on this forum...
You have a tough job and we know you can't make everyone happy. I'm just glad we got our 2015 LM 365 Ashland when we did. WE LOVE IT !!!!!!
I'm not a fan of most of your changes but there must be some out there that are. We looked at some of your new models in Vegas and really the only thing we liked was the new oven and cook top, nice improvement.
We love our buffet table and out side TV and that was a must have when we were shopping for new RV's over the last 4 years.
I know you have your work cut out for you and time will tell if sale rise or fall. Any time you want my .02 cents give me a call.

 

[Cholo]

Thanks so much for the info! We would like to see what the oven looks like before we buy, if we can I find a dealer nearby. Landmark dealers here in the Vancouver/Portland area are very scarce.

I found this picture of the new stove and oven:
This is from a Big Horn. I ordered a new Newport with the stove top and did not order the oven. The reason was for the extra cabinet space. I have not seen these in person yet. Mine should be here early November.

 

[rvmckee]

Thanks for the picture Cholo! Finally a nice looking oven and looks like you can ignite it from the top. Hope you have many wonderful years traveling in your new Landmark!!😊😊

 

[Hermes]

Andy Iam saddened thst you have discontinued the option of the buffet table, we were going to trade our 2012 bighorn on the arlington but I hate hate hate the table and chairs so we are in dire straits, also since i am throwing in my 2 cents the farmers sink is ugly (just me I guess) Richard & Bonnie RB2012

Me too, we are looking at both Landmark's & Bighorn's and really like the buffett table set-up.

 

[HOOKERUP]

We had new oven installed by dealer.Looks really nice adds class from old style. Direct spark ignition. We had installed in our Oshkosh.