Considering buying a Dutchmen

[jcoulter]

Hello, new to the forum. Currently have a Grand Design TT and am wanting to trade up to a 5th wheel. Have located a new Dutchmen Astoria 3173 and really like it. Being a savvy buyer, I always do a lot of legwork before pulling the trigger on major purchases. I've done tons of research on the Dutchmen brand and the reviews come back okay.....about middle of the road. Of course, you can dig into each review and it always seems that you will find the horror stories. I have to take this with a grain of salt and a person is much more likely to submit a review based on a negative experience as opposed to a positive one. I signed up with this forum today to see if I could get some opinions on what you Dutchmen owners think about your rv's. So please let me know what everyone thinks about the Dutchmen brand. Thanks in advance. John

[franktafl]

Have you looked at the Solitude-S ?

[persistent]

I have a 2018 Dutchmen Kodiak Cub. My advice is to not buy Dutchmen, Keystone, or Voltage travel trailers. Some are built OK. Some are not. Some have design flaws. Advertising is sometimes false or miss-leading. Company support is designed to protect the company, not help the customer.

It is sometimes cheaper to pay more in the purchase price and pay less correcting problems the company refuses to address.

[andrew6704]

I have a 2022 Lantern and it has been in the shop for a month now. It's bad, about 12K to repair.

[sdw215]

Originally Posted by persistent

I have a 2018 Dutchmen Kodiak Cub. My advice is to not buy Dutchmen, Keystone, or Voltage travel trailers. Some are built OK. Some are not. Some have design flaws. Advertising is sometimes false or miss-leading. Company support is designed to protect the company, not help the customer.

It is sometimes cheaper to pay more in the purchase price and pay less correcting problems the company refuses to address.

Agreed! Quality control is non-existent, warranty is crap and frankly I’m tired of fixing/correcting things such as where the screen door latches to the door frame. I mean how difficult is it to actually CENTER the latch?!

I recommend you look elsewhere. I too thought I was buying a reputable brand. Sadly I was wrong.

[andrew6704]

Don't do it

[Jason B]

Originally Posted by jcoulter

Hello, new to the forum. Currently have a Grand Design TT and am wanting to trade up to a 5th wheel. Have located a new Dutchmen Astoria 3173 and really like it. Being a savvy buyer, I always do a lot of legwork before pulling the trigger on major purchases. I've done tons of research on the Dutchmen brand and the reviews come back okay.....about middle of the road. Of course, you can dig into each review and it always seems that you will find the horror stories. I have to take this with a grain of salt and a person is much more likely to submit a review based on a negative experience as opposed to a positive one. I signed up with this forum today to see if I could get some opinions on what you Dutchmen owners think about your rv's. So please let me know what everyone thinks about the Dutchmen brand. Thanks in advance. John

Forum newbie here. Hello all, This may be too late but i love my 2023 3173 RLP. With that said, an owner that dont know how to run a screwgun or a wrench, may complain a whole lot more than i will. With one year under my belt, no major issues with my camper. The first and only issue i had was my own fault. Too much water pressure comprimised my Thetford turliets seals. I upgraded it with the much better Dometic elongated model. I could have done the seals but i like the elongated one much better. Other than that no major issues with mine. With that said i have done quite a few upgrades. To be fair my camper has not moved since i bought it and parked it here brand new. I love it. I think most of all of these campers are cheaply built and are problematic. If your not handy enough to deal with simple issues and have some common sense, they will all be problematic for you. I love my 3173. This is my second camper ive lived in. My first was a 26ft TT. So i knew what i wanted in this one. It fits the bill. Its just myself. Again i have modified/upgrades quite a few things but for most part, i like it and life is good. If your handy and not a complete idiot...go for it. Then again there is always the chance that you get a lemon. Most of all of these campers are cheaply built. Good Luck.

[franktafl]

I purchased a Grand design Solitude-S class. I like it ALOT!

[Jason B]

I forgot about an issue i had with a leaky shower faucet. It was about 4 months in and it developed a trickle. A seal kit was easily and cheaply available and easily fixed. Simple enough for me, but some may blow these simple things out of proportion.

[Jason B]

Originally Posted by franktafl

I purchased a Grand design Solitude-S class. I like it ALOT!

I'd never even heard of grand design till I bought this one. I like the way they look. I have heard some negative things but I think they all have soms negative reviews. Good Luck!

[franktafl]

I have only had some very minor issues with mine. I would like to put a set of shocks on it.