Poll: If in the Market, Would You Buy Another Heartland

[jnbhobe]

Well I wouldn't disagree with anything that has been said. I've had all the same little things as everyone else but I'm very handy and able to fix almost anything (or know someone who can). I do feel sorry for the people who can't (or won't) do their own repairs.Thats where a good dealer comes into the picture, but he sould also be paid for his work on things he did not overlook. All manufacturers expect the dealers to clean up their QC problems and If the dealer has only figured in xx-$$$$ for prep he wants to get paid in he does more. I've had units built by Heartland,Keystone,Sunline,Shasta,and FAME. They all came off an assembly line and had the same problems. The only exception was the 5 Fame trailers because they were all custom built to my specs. But I sure can't afford a custom built unit in this day and age.That said I'm happy with my Big Horn and I think its the best buy out there !! JON

 

[jpmorgan37]

I had to laugh when I saw this thread renewed, since it started in September of 2006. We are on our fifth rv. One that sticks in my mind is a Holiday Rambler that I was redoing and upgrading. I wrote the company and requested that they send me a decal for the front of the RV since it was 160 miles for me to get to the closest dealer. I received a very criptic response from them telling me that if I wanted the decal, I would have to go to the dealer. We have bought three fifth wheels since then and of all of them, I have never received the service or positive response that I have received from Heartland. Would I buy another Heartland product? Without question. They stand behind their products and I am very fortunate in having a dealer that is the best. RV's for Less in Knoxville, Tennessee. It is an outstanding combination.

JMHO

John

 

[vangoes]

In todays economic environment many of the higher priced manufacturers/dealers are now discounting their units to where they are now in line with what Heartland products are priced for. With this in mind and with the quality issues that I have experienced with my Heartland product, I probably would opt for SOB. In fact, we are currently looking at upgrading to a different floorplan and by comparison, Heartland is #4 out of 5 in the running with similar units. If I am looking at similar prices for similar units, quality rules.

 

[tmcran]

Humm, don't think I know yet. I will have to use it first. We have only had ours one month today. We have not spent one night in it,used the A/C,stove,microwave or camped anywhere. We have had to suspend two short trips due to the RV being at the dealer for warranty work. I'm like several others QC is very much lacking.
Our dealer has been very helpful trying to resolve the leaks,fit and finish,fill problems,shower that can't be sealed around the pan and now after having it back home one day its back with a major water leak around the slide in the BR. This should not have left the Heartland factory in this shape. The bottom sags when filling the fresh water tank. Not sure if that is normal or not. So right now I think I would take a refund and get my Prowler TT back. It was a 10 year old TT and we have only done regular up keep. No dips, no runs and no leaks. A good friend of mine interested in an RV ask yesterday if I liked my Heartland and I could only tell him how would I know.

 

[Bobby A]

I guess curosity killed the cat, got a B/H going into production next week. I should of never looked at this thread. But its the same on other manufacture forums, some better than others. I do agree with alot that has been said hear, hope the factory big dogs are listening. QC has to be inproved to survive in this ever competive market, cause if you snooze you will loose.

 

[KENNY COCHRAN]

I've had 5 rv's in the last 7 years or so. Moved up a notch in quality each time. Is heartland the best made rv on the market, no. Is it the best on the market for the money, yes i think so. Do they cut corners when they can, yes, they all do. Out of site of of mind so to say on the underneath parts, behind the walls, who knows what lurks there! I've had a few kinks to iron out, but so far i've been able to fix them easily. I did have a defective part, took pictures of it, sent it to heartland, they have a replacement already on the way. No questions asked, no having to bring it to a dealer for repair. Would i buy another one, yes. I've had this one about 3 weeks and am already thinking of how i'm going to have to get a bigger truck to haul the landmark one day. But that's another story.............

 

[Clyde396]

I joined this forum in hopes of finding a good dealer to buy my first Heartland toy hauler from. After reading both pros and cons, maybe I should just buy a used unit with all the bugs worked out. I owned a Keystone Raptor before the ground squirrels ate it this past winter. I really like the 88 degree turning radius idea. Thanks for your comments. Just reading for now.

 

[AL KADEY]

this is our 2nd Bighorn 09 3670RL, previous was 06 3600RL
Had issues with each ,nothing i was not able to handle on first one , as second owner there was no factory warrenty, but found Jim Fenner more than helpful with info requested, also M. locke at Lippert. the new unit had a few minor problems but have been adressed to our satisfaction by our dealer. (western R V Country Airdrie Ab Can )
Have travelled 90 plus days since Easter weekend so do use trailer lots, and have several companions with high end units that travel a great deal less and have had MANY more problems than we have encountered.
If i was to be in the market for another unit, Heartland would be my first consideration.
travel safe!!!
alleykat

 

[Big Al and Donna]

We have had 6 different rv's by 6 different manufactures. Then only one I would brag about is the Heartland. If I ever need another one it will be a Heartland.
We have had problems as all will pulling a house down these bumpy rough highways, but Heartland has always taken care of us.

 

[dbylinski]

Definately Heartland

We have been extremely happy with our 2009 Bighorn 3055RL. We had very minor problems (as we see them today) but at the time they turn your face purple. It seemed like the end of the world causing DH to throw the contents of the basement across our campsite. I guess we can attribute some of our luck to the dealership and a good PDI. Although, our PDI did not indicate the water problem as it took some time under pressure for the water to appear. I wholeheartedly agree with jnphobe, in that we can't be afraid to make minor repairs ourselves. As a matter of fact, our dealer repair order indicates "customer repair better than factory". This is due to replacing a plastic fitting with brass. We have owned numerous units from different manufacturers and every unit had issues, the Bighorn included! Minor tightening of the water and drain lines fixed everything. If we were in the market it would definately be Heartland. We have been given everything we asked for and more!

As a side note: Best friend ownes a 2009 top of the line SOB - It spends more time at the dealer than it does on the road! Their problems have been major ones and were not repaired the 1st time as the factory sent the wrong circuit board 3 times. This info is just to let you know "it's everywhere". But when it is time to stand behind their product (in my opinion) Heartland stands well above the other manufacturers.

 

[JohnDar]

We've gone from an "Amish" quality pop-up (junk), to a TT (fairly decent), to the 3670. In going to the 5'er, we looked at just about every brand we could. Beyond the shiny exteriors and fancy trim, I went inside the cabinets, examined the drawer construction, played with the doors, and got my hands on everything I could reach without tools. And I talked with other show goers about their rigs. Overall, I'd say the HL beat the common varieties you see at most shows. Has ours been perfect, nope, but so far this summer, nothing major has gone wrong. Owning one of these rigs, or any RV, requires you to be a bit of a general handyman. If you're not, you're at the mercy of dealers for every little annoyance. And that can be upsetting. If it's a true warranty issue, counting to 10 before calling HL or the supplier might get you a little further. Keep the shooting irons holstered until they try to give you the "bum's rush," then open fire. Anyone who's ever worked a service related job knows who gets the better service. It ain't the screamer.

So, to answer the question...yes, we would.

 

[kakampers]

"Anyone who's ever worked a service related job knows who gets the better service. It ain't the screamer."

BINGO!!...

 

[larneal]

Not what I expected.

We've owned our BH 3385RL for 3 months. The dealer we bought if from is 150 miles away. The closest dealer is about 100 miles so to take it back to the dealer for repairs is not an option. Besides, we plan on full-timing one of these days so I had better be able to do small repairs. It seems that everytime we go out camping something happens. The central vac hose came loose, one end of the day/night shades came out, there was a leak in the hot water tank hose, the awning is not lining up right on one side and now the city water check valve has unseated. Honestly my wife and I are disappointed in the quality of Heartland. On their behalf I will say that everytime I have called them they have sent me the part I needed to make the repair but I didn't think with a new trailer I would be having these issues. I sure hope it gets better because I plan on keeping this trailer for a while.

Larry & Gail Neal

 

[duganstravels]

Here is a list of what went wrong on our Cyclone so we finally traded it in for KZ which we have not had any problems with. We had our Cyclone for 10 months. It was in the shop for 8 months. Every time we took it anywhere something broke.

·Couch was hitting the island bar and was torn due to it. We waited many weeks to get a new couch which turned out to be the very same size and were told just to put a towel on it to prevent it from tearing again. The couch was also a totally different color and style than the other furniture. We complained and was told we could get the other furniture replaced to fix the issue. The new furniture was very hard to sit on compared to the original couch. It was uncomfortable to use. We had to put a towel on it so it would not tear. Took very long just to get Heartland to respond about the couch issue.

·On our race in May 2008, the jacks seized requiring us to hand crank the trailer for over an hour. We had blisters from it. Both landing gears were bent. Fuses were popping due to the load of the trailer.

·Electric beds stopped working in the garage. (TWICE)
·Molding came off several areas of the trailer.
·Panel by garage was loose.
·Bedroom door kept falling off the tracks when we moved the trailer. Pulled the attachment right out of the wall.(TWICE)
·Bed frame fell apart.
·Fuel station stopped working.
·Left jack motor quit working.
·Spare tire carrier broke while driving down the highway. Lost the tire as well as the boxes. The tire tore up the underside of the trailer. Not to mention the fact someone driving behind us could have been killed. Heartland denied our claim saying we did it but it was clear that the bolt sheered and the tire carrier broke loose. We could have faced a huge lawsuit if that tire and boxes hit someone on the highway.
·The cargo door began separating from the trailer and the walls were separating.
·Decals started falling off.
·Cover on hitch cracked.

We did try to get Heartland to help us. It would take weeks to get them to even respond to our warranty requests and many times we had to fight them on it to get it paid. Then shipping would take a really long time and they once closed for 2 weeks without sending our parts out first.

It was a brand new unit - it was not used. We did try to get help and when I finally had enough and sent a complaint letter - I got a call asking me to retract it because the person at Heartland got in trouble! Meanwhile the rv was sitting at the dealer waiting on parts.

I sent another complaint letter via fed ex and they never replied - no calls, no email, no letter back.

I can say that I finally got an email from them 6 months later and this is all it said:
Heartland is in receipt of your original letter. Per Heartland’s 1 year manufacturers limited warranty we are obligated to pay your dealership or service center for any repairs needed on the unit within the first year of ownership by the original retail purchaser. As with all manufacturers loss of use and the expenses incurred are not covered by this warranty. In reviewing your file there were 6 parts orders submitted by your service center between July 2008 and January 2009. The total accrued days between our receipt of these six orders and their ship date is 50 days. We apologize for any delays that occurred during the service process however, Heartland is not obligated to nor will we pay for the difference in your trade allowance.



So we spent $60,000 on a brand new rv that we couldn't use. And of course trading it in was a big loss but the good thing is we do have something that we can use since we bought a KZ. We have had it since January and it has been great.

I really hope your story is not like ours.. I feel horrible for you because I know the feeling of buying something and not being able to use it.

Jennifer

 

[KENNY COCHRAN]

I've had 5 rv's in the last 7-8 years and 2 more before that. Heartland (bighorn 3670rl, 2010) is by far the best of the bunch. It also costs more and i guess should be the best. Is it perfect, no. I've had minor problem and major problems with all of them. It is after all a moving house down the road with many bumps. Would i buy another one, yes. It has too many things i wanted and a great floor plan for us.

 

[kakampers]

Here is a list of what went wrong on our Cyclone so we finally traded it in for KZ which we have not had any problems with. We had our Cyclone for 10 months. It was in the shop for 8 months. Every time we took it anywhere something broke.

·Couch was hitting the island bar and was torn due to it. We waited many weeks to get a new couch which turned out to be the very same size and were told just to put a towel on it to prevent it from tearing again. The couch was also a totally different color and style than the other furniture. We complained and was told we could get the other furniture replaced to fix the issue. The new furniture was very hard to sit on compared to the original couch. It was uncomfortable to use. We had to put a towel on it so it would not tear. Took very long just to get Heartland to respond about the couch issue.

·On our race in May 2008, the jacks seized requiring us to hand crank the trailer for over an hour. We had blisters from it. Both landing gears were bent. Fuses were popping due to the load of the trailer.

·Electric beds stopped working in the garage. (TWICE)
·Molding came off several areas of the trailer.
·Panel by garage was loose.
·Bedroom door kept falling off the tracks when we moved the trailer. Pulled the attachment right out of the wall.(TWICE)
·Bed frame fell apart.
·Fuel station stopped working.
·Left jack motor quit working.
·Spare tire carrier broke while driving down the highway. Lost the tire as well as the boxes. The tire tore up the underside of the trailer. Not to mention the fact someone driving behind us could have been killed. Heartland denied our claim saying we did it but it was clear that the bolt sheered and the tire carrier broke loose. We could have faced a huge lawsuit if that tire and boxes hit someone on the highway.
·The cargo door began separating from the trailer and the walls were separating.
·Decals started falling off.
·Cover on hitch cracked.

We did try to get Heartland to help us. It would take weeks to get them to even respond to our warranty requests and many times we had to fight them on it to get it paid. Then shipping would take a really long time and they once closed for 2 weeks without sending our parts out first.

It was a brand new unit - it was not used. We did try to get help and when I finally had enough and sent a complaint letter - I got a call asking me to retract it because the person at Heartland got in trouble! Meanwhile the rv was sitting at the dealer waiting on parts.

I sent another complaint letter via fed ex and they never replied - no calls, no email, no letter back.

I can say that I finally got an email from them 6 months later and this is all it said:
Heartland is in receipt of your original letter. Per Heartland’s 1 year manufacturers limited warranty we are obligated to pay your dealership or service center for any repairs needed on the unit within the first year of ownership by the original retail purchaser. As with all manufacturers loss of use and the expenses incurred are not covered by this warranty. In reviewing your file there were 6 parts orders submitted by your service center between July 2008 and January 2009. The total accrued days between our receipt of these six orders and their ship date is 50 days. We apologize for any delays that occurred during the service process however, Heartland is not obligated to nor will we pay for the difference in your trade allowance.



So we spent $60,000 on a brand new rv that we couldn't use. And of course trading it in was a big loss but the good thing is we do have something that we can use since we bought a KZ. We have had it since January and it has been great.

I really hope your story is not like ours.. I feel horrible for you because I know the feeling of buying something and not being able to use it.

Jennifer

I really would like to hear the other side of this story....there always is one...

 

[lelandpa]

Our initial dealer experience left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth to the point that I couldn't even bring myself to like the Heartland at first. We owned 2 travel trailers prior to this and traded in a Sunline for the Heartland. I loved the Sunline for its quality, we just outgrew it and because Sunline is no longer in business we went looking for the next best thing. It happened to be the Heartland that I fell in love with because of that same quality. Now that our issues have been resolved and we have a trip under our belts, I would have to say yes, I would deffinetly buy another Heartland. Of course if Sunline were to open up again, that would be A tough choice.

 

[fishinrvr]

We have a 3055. Great floor plan, easy to tow and very comfortable to live in. We have owned ours for about a year and have used it about 70 nights. We only had a few minor problems, which were quickly taken care of. Overall we love our unit and would most definitely buy another.

 

[GETnBYE]

Can I reserve the right to answer this at a later date.

*It is a later date now and my answer is YES!
We are very happy with the customer service that we got from Heartland.
Nita

 

[vrugt]

I have not visited the forum for a while because everything was fine with the BH. We still like the RV. Just as with a new house some things need to be fixed or adjusted but compared to other RVs I've seen the BH is a real winner.

Except that I would like to meet the so-called "electrician" responsible for the ratsnest he or she "created". In my business he would have been able to do that only once before he was out on the street. I sincerely would like to punch him in the nose. This guy single-handedly ruins the image of HeartlandRVs.

Because of people like him (I can't imagining a she would be that sloppy) we need inspectors because this kind of so-called work, certainly creates a fire-hazard.

I've started to clean up the mesh but I gave it up: it's almost impossible without going through the effort to take out all of the wiring and start from scratch again.

SHAME ON YOU, whomever you are!

PS Suggestion for HeartlandRVs QC.
Publish the names of the people working on the construction of every individual RV on a plaque displayed in every RV.