Have spent the past month or so trying to decide on which RV to buy to fulltime with my wife. I have been looking at Excel, DRV, and did not focus on Landmark since in RV Consumer Group it was not listed as recommended for fulltiming. But after seeing the Monterey listed at a Camping World site that included a full-timers package - well obviously I checked out the Heartland site and now need a little more info since it has peaked my interest. My questions: (1) is the Landmark the "high-end" RV from Heartland and is Landmark the only brand recommended for full-timers? (2) I would like to visit Canada and Alaska eventually (Spring/Summer), how well does it handle the cold and of course the heat down here in Florida? (3) How is the service through Heartland if there are problems? Does Heartland assist if the dealer doesn't do their part? - The 2/5 warranty seems like they should. (4) at 16,500 GVWR I assume something in the line of a diesel F-350 dually would be enough power. I have never owned an RV before, but have been with family a few times in their RV, looking forward to joining the 1.3 million Americans full-timing. Thanks!
Looking to buy RV for fulltime
- Thread starter Seren
- Start date
danemayer
Well-known member
Hi Seren,
Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum. We have quite a few owners full-timing, especially in Landmarks, but also in Bighorns, Big Country and other brands in the Heartland lineup. Landmark, Bighorn and Big Country warranties specifically support full-timing. The Landmark is the top of the line but the Bighorn and Big Country are built on the same production line with the same construction. Most of the differences come down to options/standard equipment and decor.
My wife and I are halfway through our 2 month ski trip in Breckenridge, Colorado in our 2011 Landmark. This is our 4th extended ski trip and we've had temps down to -30F. We've always been comfortable, but our rig has options that include tank heaters, dual pane windows and fireplace. I've also installed heat tape on all the water lines to deal with the extreme temps. We've also spent quite a lot of time in summer temps over 100F and up to 108F in Moab, UT.
Heartland has always been supportive on our service issues and in fact has been very flexible. On several occasions they agreed to ship warranty parts for me to install without going through a dealer. They also intervened with Dometic on a thermostat issue where Dometic was insisting we tow 90 miles through snowy mountain roads to have a dealer replace the thermostat.
We tow our 16,200 Rushmore with a GMC 3500 SRW, but many people strongly recommend duallies.
I'm sure others will chime in shortly.
Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum. We have quite a few owners full-timing, especially in Landmarks, but also in Bighorns, Big Country and other brands in the Heartland lineup. Landmark, Bighorn and Big Country warranties specifically support full-timing. The Landmark is the top of the line but the Bighorn and Big Country are built on the same production line with the same construction. Most of the differences come down to options/standard equipment and decor.
My wife and I are halfway through our 2 month ski trip in Breckenridge, Colorado in our 2011 Landmark. This is our 4th extended ski trip and we've had temps down to -30F. We've always been comfortable, but our rig has options that include tank heaters, dual pane windows and fireplace. I've also installed heat tape on all the water lines to deal with the extreme temps. We've also spent quite a lot of time in summer temps over 100F and up to 108F in Moab, UT.
Heartland has always been supportive on our service issues and in fact has been very flexible. On several occasions they agreed to ship warranty parts for me to install without going through a dealer. They also intervened with Dometic on a thermostat issue where Dometic was insisting we tow 90 miles through snowy mountain roads to have a dealer replace the thermostat.
We tow our 16,200 Rushmore with a GMC 3500 SRW, but many people strongly recommend duallies.
I'm sure others will chime in shortly.
jimtoo
Moderator
Hi Seren,
Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and hopefully to the family. We have a great bunch of folks here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge when needed.
We have a lot of folks that are full timing in the Landmark, Big Horn and Big Country... also some in the Cyclone toy hauler. If you get the yettie or artic package it will be really good. I'm sure some of the folks that are in their's right now will jump in and help with more information.
The 1 ton dually diesel will be perfect for your tow vehicle.
Enjoy the forum.
Jim M
Dan types faster
Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and hopefully to the family. We have a great bunch of folks here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge when needed.
We have a lot of folks that are full timing in the Landmark, Big Horn and Big Country... also some in the Cyclone toy hauler. If you get the yettie or artic package it will be really good. I'm sure some of the folks that are in their's right now will jump in and help with more information.
The 1 ton dually diesel will be perfect for your tow vehicle.
Enjoy the forum.
Jim M
Dan types faster
kowAlski631
Well-known member
Welcome. We've been full timing in our Big Horn since April 2013. We don't stay parked & have comfortably traveled through over half of the lower 48 with temps from single digits to 115. We chose our BH over any other brand (& over a Landmark) because of its floorplan.
We did special order so we could insure we got all the features we wanted & none of those we didn't. We opted for the Yeti package & the dual paned windows & have not regretted our choices.
Just take your time, do research, & if you can, go to Elkhart to the Heartland factory. We think you'll see why we chose Heartland over the others.
Let everyone know what you get. Safe travels.
Martha
Paul & Martha
Life's too short. Live so you can say "Remember when" not "I wish I had".
We did special order so we could insure we got all the features we wanted & none of those we didn't. We opted for the Yeti package & the dual paned windows & have not regretted our choices.
Just take your time, do research, & if you can, go to Elkhart to the Heartland factory. We think you'll see why we chose Heartland over the others.
Let everyone know what you get. Safe travels.
Martha
Paul & Martha
Life's too short. Live so you can say "Remember when" not "I wish I had".
Well, that was quick. Thanks for the info so far, now that I am even more interested! I have an approved loan up to $85K good til late Mar, which would be difficult finding the Excel or DRV at that price, but you have given me some options to look into. Going to a couple of RV shows in the next few weeks so will hopefully look at some firsthand. We are very excited to see the county and visit friends and relatives.
Welcome to the forum! We have been fulltiming in our Landmark for 14 months now and have been very happy with our choice of rig. For our first month fulltime, we were up in upstate NY and were very comfortable down to temperatures of -17. Heartland was great to work with throughout the warranty period. We bought our rig out of state and needed to bring it to a local repair place for a slide adjustment - that was not a problem at all. We love our Rushmore, and expect to get another Landmark whenever we get to the point of wanting to trade it in.
We are on our 5th year full timing in our Landmark.We live in Eastern Canada in the summer and travel to Florida where we park four months in the winter.Have hauled the Landmark as far as South Texas without incident.Would travel more but we just want to stay in Florida and play golf.We haven't had any major issues and would highly recommend it for Full Timing.It is lighter than most full time units and can easily be handled with a 1 ton diesel dually.Many Excel and DRV models suitable for full timing are approaching 20000 lb and that will exceed many 1 ton truck capacities.
Seren,
Thank you for your interest in the Landmark product. It's an awesome platform for full-timing. I see you're from FL. Camping World and LeMesa RV to name two are Landmark dealers in FL. If you want to hear directly from the Heartland Landmark rep for that region, just let me know and I will ask Ron Dickeson to contact you.
Thank you for your interest in the Landmark product. It's an awesome platform for full-timing. I see you're from FL. Camping World and LeMesa RV to name two are Landmark dealers in FL. If you want to hear directly from the Heartland Landmark rep for that region, just let me know and I will ask Ron Dickeson to contact you.
kakampers
Past Heartland Ambassador
We fulltimed for six years in a 2008 Bighorn and now more than a year in a 2013 Landmark. Have experienced temps form -6 to 104 with NO issues!
Heartland is the best company we've EVER dealt with for customer service both during and after the warranty...bar none! You should have no problem finding a well equipped Landmark for your current budget...fact is, that is exactly why we chose Landmark over DRV and Excel...to get what we wanted in both of those we need 20-30K dollars more...Landmark was comparable in quality and appointments but was much more affordable, and we already knew how great the customer service was.
For us it was a no-brainer!!
P.S. Since you're gonna fulltime...I suggest you order your new coach...that way it's exactly the way you want it.
Heartland is the best company we've EVER dealt with for customer service both during and after the warranty...bar none! You should have no problem finding a well equipped Landmark for your current budget...fact is, that is exactly why we chose Landmark over DRV and Excel...to get what we wanted in both of those we need 20-30K dollars more...Landmark was comparable in quality and appointments but was much more affordable, and we already knew how great the customer service was.
For us it was a no-brainer!!
P.S. Since you're gonna fulltime...I suggest you order your new coach...that way it's exactly the way you want it.
Nabo
Southeast Region Director-Retired
Welcome Seren to the Forum and what great questions you are asking. As I tell everyone - do your research and ask lots of questions not only from dealerships but also from places like this. We have been Heartland owners for many years, starting off in a Sundance and now on our 3rd camper being a Big Country which we had full timed in for over 2 years, just now returning back to our home base because hubby's work assignment is completed.
You have asked about whether the Landmarks (LM) are the top of the line for Heartland products - yes. They are well equipped for both hot and cold weather with the insulation factors being one of the best in the industry. They are so well balanced that I even seen 3/4 ton truck pull them. There are a number of the Heartland Owner Club members who have taken their LM to Alaska and were very satisfied with their coaches on the Alaskan Highways.
As you are checking on pricing, look at RVs For Less (www.rvsforless.net) in Knoxville, TN. We have bought 3 coaches from them and were very satisfied with their service and their pricing just can't be beat. They are a family owned business with Christian values, and are the 5th largest seller in the nation being #1 in TN.
If you have any other question, please feel free to private message (PM) us. Happy hunting.
You have asked about whether the Landmarks (LM) are the top of the line for Heartland products - yes. They are well equipped for both hot and cold weather with the insulation factors being one of the best in the industry. They are so well balanced that I even seen 3/4 ton truck pull them. There are a number of the Heartland Owner Club members who have taken their LM to Alaska and were very satisfied with their coaches on the Alaskan Highways.
As you are checking on pricing, look at RVs For Less (www.rvsforless.net) in Knoxville, TN. We have bought 3 coaches from them and were very satisfied with their service and their pricing just can't be beat. They are a family owned business with Christian values, and are the 5th largest seller in the nation being #1 in TN.
If you have any other question, please feel free to private message (PM) us. Happy hunting.
Yes we have a Camping World here in Panama City, but since the Dothan Camping World in Al has the Monterey and Key Largo in stock we will go there today to see them first-hand. The only thing that we would probably add to the package (if we decided to purchase a Landmark) would be dual-pane glass windows and the Yeti package in addition to what options the Landmarks already has in Dothan. Will touch bas with the Camping World in Panama City this week.
We fulltimed for six years in a 2008 Bighorn and now more than a year in a 2013 Landmark. Have experienced temps form -6 to 104 with NO issues!
Heartland is the best company we've EVER dealt with for customer service both during and after the warranty...bar none! You should have no problem finding a well equipped Landmark for your current budget...fact is, that is exactly why we chose Landmark over DRV and Excel...to get what we wanted in both of those we need 20-30K dollars more...Landmark was comparable in quality and appointments but was much more affordable, and we already knew how great the customer service was.
For us it was a no-brainer!!
P.S. Since you're gonna fulltime...I suggest you order your new coach...that way it's exactly the way you want it.
I have not thought of ordering one, I assume we would go through a dealer. Do they do a certain % over MSRP or do we need to haggle? How long does it take? We have a loan approved to purchase an RV that ends on Mar 23rd, which I assume we could re-apply if needed.
We have ordered two Heartland products. You will need to order through a dealer.
The dealer will probably give you a price below MSRP, but depending on what his below MSRP pricing is you may be able to haggle a bit more.
Typical is 25%-40% below MSRP. It all depends on the current market conditions. Our first order was 40% off, the second order from the same dealer was just over 30%.
I think most dealers will say that from order to delivery is about 8 weeks. Again, this will depend on a number of things, such as volume of factory orders and transport availability.
Peace
Dave
The dealer will probably give you a price below MSRP, but depending on what his below MSRP pricing is you may be able to haggle a bit more.
Typical is 25%-40% below MSRP. It all depends on the current market conditions. Our first order was 40% off, the second order from the same dealer was just over 30%.
I think most dealers will say that from order to delivery is about 8 weeks. Again, this will depend on a number of things, such as volume of factory orders and transport availability.
Peace
Dave
kakampers
Past Heartland Ambassador
The dual panes and Yeti are factory only...they are not an aftermarket add-on...
Thanks, I looked at their site today and loved what I saw, everything I wanted at a price below the sale price at the Camping World I went to today and the Camping World did not have the upgrades that RVs for less had (Yeti package, full body paint, large refrig and dual pane windows)!
When we went to the Camping World at Dotan, Al today we loved the Landmarks especially the Key Largo. They will be getting some more units in for their RV show next month and said that there will be some with the Yeti package, and dual pane windows that we want. However, looked at RVs For Less and they had two Key Largos with everything we want and some we don't necessarily need including the 22 cf refrigerator, full-body paint and outdoor entertainment system and their "sale" price is $5K less than Camping World's sale price.
travlingman
Well-known member
I know you don't want or need the 22 CF fridge, full body paint or outdoor entertainment, but if you get them, you will not be sorry. The residential fridge is wonderful. No comparison to the normal rv fridge. Temperature stays the same after you set it. Besides looking better, my opinion, don't have to worry about graphics peeling. Outdoor entertainment, roll out the awning, turn the game on, drink of your choice, makes for a great afternoon of relaxing and enjoying life.
Also got ours at RVs for Less, and very pleased. If you buy from them, they want you to stay at their facility for a night or 2, get to know your rig, see if any problems so they can fix, answer all of your questions. Then they give you a 2 night stay at a local campground in Pigeon Forge. Very good people to deal with.
Yes, that is why we bought our Landmark there, even though we lived in NY at the time. We bought off the lot because they configure them with almost everything we wanted. And the service at RVs for Less is awesome - from everything I've heard about Camping World, there is just no comparison.
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