Need a Dealer

[TexAndLinda]

We thought we had a dealer that would help us find what we want.

Products brought to his attention.
1. Residential Fridge, his comment:

"I would not sell you a trailer with one in it. Residential fridges are not designed for the movement of the trailer. The repair rate on them is higher then any other fridge."
​

2. Wood construction (Excel) vs Aluminum (Thor Industries/Heartland) his comment:

"Wood cost more and the industry builds products that save them money so you will see Heartland and others use aluminum for the cost value"
​

3. Formaldehyde from the use of wafer/particle board, his comment:

"Heartland does not use wafer or particle board."
​

4. Front Bathroom, his comment:

"Front bathrooms or kitchens is not reasonable because the trailers will not keep the water lines from freezing."
​

5. I communicate via emails mainly and send them out with questions, to this day I have not received a response to any sent to this dealer. When I asked him directly about them. his comment:

"We have a bad server and most of my stuff goes to trash folder, you need to call me."
​

I have worked for Comcast and AT&T for over 26 yrs, with the last half being a Network Engineer, I callxxxxxxxxx​

6. I brought up that Excel has a water manifold which means there are no connections or "T's" in the waterline except at the manifold in the utility box and at the faucet/end point, his comment:

"They place a $10-$20 item in there system, so they can charge the consumer an additional $100 - $200"
​

Here is a list of what we want to see:
Heartland:
Landmark
LM- Mesa Really interested in

Big Horn
BH- 3875FB Really interested in
BH- 3855FL
BH- 3455RL

DRV
Denver Really interested in
Dallas

We are open to whoever may be able to shed some light on what the difference is in the examples I gave above. We would like to have a residential fridge for the freezer purpose. Wood vs Aluminum, we want the best R-value for possible use in colder climates, a snowy Christmas. And the best constructed trailer for full timers. Formaldehyde Free as possible is what we want to breathe. The Water Manifold we have in our house is a blessing for maintenance and minimum repairs. The 3875 FB (Front Bath) Big Horn is one of the most important trailers we would like to see.
This forum has helped us in so many ways to get ideas and to know what we are doing before doing it and we thank everyone that makes this possible, I love the 21[SUP]st[/SUP] Centry!

 

[Westwind]

I don't profess to be an expert in fifth wheels but you are looking at different classes of products and comparing them. I would compare DRV & Excel, they are heavy trailers with heavy price tags. Next Landmark and Bighorn, I compared both when looking and came to the conclusion that I couldn't justify the added dollars for a Landmark when Bighorn gave me the same for less dollars I also at the back of my mind knew I was buying something that depreciated like a rock. We did have a budget and weight concerns because I was towing with a 3/4 ton diesel truck.
If your doing cold weather camping and $ and weight are not a concern I would stick with DRV and Excel because with what you are concerned with you would probably be happier. My advise is do your own research on owner forums and the internet. It is very difficult to find a dealer
who will be straight with you and won't just voice his opinion or in some cases take the time to help someone who might not end up a customer. The answers you have gotten have told you a lot of info about the source.

 

[danemayer]

We thought we had a dealer that would help us find what we want.

Products brought to his attention.
1. Residential Fridge, his comment:

"I would not sell you a trailer with one in it. Residential fridges are not designed for the movement of the trailer. The repair rate on them is higher then any other fridge."
​

2. Wood construction (Excel) vs Aluminum (Thor Industries/Heartland) his comment:

"Wood cost more and the industry builds products that save them money so you will see Heartland and others use aluminum for the cost value"
​

3. Formaldehyde from the use of wafer/particle board, his comment:

"Heartland does not use wafer or particle board."
​

4. Front Bathroom, his comment:

"Front bathrooms or kitchens is not reasonable because the trailers will not keep the water lines from freezing."
​

5. I communicate via emails mainly and send them out with questions, to this day I have not received a response to any sent to this dealer. When I asked him directly about them. his comment:

"We have a bad server and most of my stuff goes to trash folder, you need to call me."
​

I have worked for Comcast and AT&T for over 26 yrs, with the last half being a Network Engineer, I callxxxxxxxxx​

6. I brought up that Excel has a water manifold which means there are no connections or "T's" in the waterline except at the manifold in the utility box and at the faucet/end point, his comment:

"They place a $10-$20 item in there system, so they can charge the consumer an additional $100 - $200"
​

Hi Tex and Linda. It's difficult to get accurate answers on some things because there's just not a lot of hard data available.

For example, I'm doubtful that there's enough experience on residential refrigerators to answer authoritatively on reliability. But given the limitations that most of us experience with ammonia refrigerators, it does seem like it might be worth taking some risk if you're not boon docking.

The comment about front bathrooms/kitchens and freezing doesn't seem useful to me. We take extended ski trips to Breckenridge, CO every winter with overnight temps usually below zero (F) and sometimes as low as -30 (F). I've had to do things to keep water flowing at those temps and it wouldn't make any difference where the water lines were located.

Btw, it's pretty easy to keep the interior of our Landmark comfortable even at -30 (F).

I'd like to have a water manifold because I agree with you that it offers some advantages. But it does seem like the parts cost is north of $150 so I think perhaps the dealer is not fully informed on the subject.

Beyond the product attributes, we've got a great community of Heartland Owners participating on this forum to help one another, share what they've learned, and to socialize. The vast majority are very happy with their RVs and with Heartland. And Heartland provides quite a bit of support for our community and for our local, regional, and North American rallies.

If we can be helpful in answering your questions, please keep asking. You also might want to call the Landmark/Bighorn Brand Manager to talk through some of your questions. call Heartland Customer Service at 877-262-8032 / 574-262-8030. Identify yourself as a prospective customer and ask for the Landmark Brand Manager.

 

[mikeandconnie]

My 2009(Dometic) and 2013(Norcold) Landmark fridges cooling units only lasted a year before I had to replace them. My next rig will have a Residential Fridge. However, I will be waiting feedback from the forum on the new ones in the Landmarks.
We spend 10 months a year in our rig and the mini mega shower is why we traded up. It's a must have for us and we love it.

Mike

 

[TandT]

My 2009(Dometic) and 2013(Norcold) Landmark fridges cooling units only lasted a year before I had to replace them. My next rig will have a Residential Fridge. However, I will be waiting feedback from the forum on the new ones in the Landmarks.
We spend 10 months a year in our rig and the mini mega shower is why we traded up. It's a must have for us and we love it.

Mike

We have been in our current BH fulltime, for 2 1/2 years. My Dometic 1350 has been great. (knock on wood)

I personally like the option of being able to run my refer on propane, when needed, (as I have in all my RVs for 30 years). It makes the unit more completely self sufficient, IMHO.

With a residential refer you are at the mercy of batteries and inverter, a generator, or finding a place to plug in. Trace

 

[1Renee]

We have just purchased a 2012 BigHorn that was still new. It has a Dometic. Do you know if they have a bad history? Thanks!

 

[danemayer]

We have just purchased a 2012 BigHorn that was still new. It has a Dometic. Do you know if they have a bad history? Thanks!

Renee,

Dometic makes a lot of appliances that are found in our RVs, including refrigerators, air conditioners, toilets, and other stuff. Generally their products work pretty well. Are you having a specific problem with something?