DUTCHMEN LITE reviews

Hello. The review above had us worried about the unit. I wrote down the reported complaints item by item and looked for them in the 2020 unit we found at Camping World. This unit showed none of the reported problems - drawers at the door were properly mounted and worked smoothly, holes in baffles under sink were cleanly cut, cables were cleanly bundled, all the brake cables were attached and working, and so on. My conclusions are these (1) there are QC problems at the Dutchman factory (2) The worst of the problems occurred during the Covid year (2020-2021), and (3) there is nothing there that a careful inspection wouldn't reveal. We found a few minor issues (peeling wallpaper, break in exterior trim) and the dealer fixed them all before we picked up the unit. I agree that this travel trailer, and all the others we have looked at that are in our price range are deliberately built a bit flimsy to keep weight and price down. That being said, if you go into the deal with your eyes open and are willing to keep track of potential problems (furniture separating from wall, doors binding, weather-stripping comming loose) you can have a most rewarding experience. If you need a better build unit, or are not at least a bit handy, be prepared to pay twice as much. There is nothing wrong with the design of this unit - just be careful to do your own QC and keep track of problems before they creep up on you. (oh yes - the reviewer complained about inconsistencies in the specifications - it appears that the spec sheet he was looking at was prepared by an RV web site, not issued by the manufacturer, and was indeed inconsistent. Don't trust anything that doesn't come directly from the manufacturer. They are quite happy to answer questions) Show less

This has been such an amazing trailer! The amount of storage is crazy! Also, it has so much room with the huge slide out. Having 2 large grey tanks and 1 black was so nice as I didn't have to hook up very often. We love this trailer and highly suggest it! Show less

Overall best experience I have ever had in a camper. So many memories shared with my wife and 4 yr old son living full time no complaints whatsoever. My 4 yr old definitely put the camper to the test like a toddlers do and it is built tough. I absolutely love the hidden pantry out of sight behind the fireplace for 2 reasons the magnet is very strong to keep the little one from being able to get inside and secondly it’s an awesome talking piece when family and friends are over and see a door open they didn’t know existed. The bunk beds have more than enough space for a teenager to sleep on and the master bedroom is a perfect size. I’ve been full time living in this camper almost a year without a single appliance or material inside or outside the camper showing any sign of concern. If you’re looking for a camper that won’t break the budget that is built to last I would definitely consider the KODIAK ULTRA LITE 296BHSL. Show less

When my Dutchmen Kodiak 248BHSL trailer was manufactured the person installing the spare tire to the bumper over tightened it which slightly crushed the bumper. Enough that I can't use the bumper to store my sewer hose. I went back and forth with Keystone to have it covered under warranty. Their response was "it's built as designed". These trailers are cheaply made and I fixed several things myseft instead of dealing with warranty. I would recommend avoiding any Keystone products. Show less

We loved the layout of the RV. However that being said we have had nothing problems with it. Had to have a new air conditioner in it a month out of warranty. Heater had to worked on three times. Had to have new faucet on island because the original one kept falling off during travel. The contact paper ( yes I said contact paper)on cabinetry is coming off. The couch is awful. Had to have it redone a year into having it. Cushions at table had to be redone. This travel trailer has been climate kept. We purchased this when we retired brand new and it saddens us that this has been a constant nightmare. Although our previous travel trailer was 8 years old, it was a much better made and we never had one problem with it. This one has been a cash cow. Every time something went wrong we would get nothing but the run around. Now we are stuck with it because who would want to buy this? Show less

We have been camping/rving for many years. We have had campers from pop-ups, 5th wheels, class A and C motorhomes. We moved into a trailer trailer 2022 Dutchman Kodiak Ultra-lite 261 Rbsl for it meets our current priorities. All seasons, bedroom, large bath, lots of storage, large kitchen with big pantry, great refrigerator, and outdoor cooking grill and outdoor refrigerator. We have now used this camper 3 times and spent 10 days in it very recently. Everything has been very favorable. This was a perfect choice for us. Show less

We bought this at the Seattle RV show in 2020. We liked the floor plan and storage. Upon getting the trailer home and working on it I started to discover the total lack of pride of workmanship. The drawers next to door would not stay closed and the faces were damaged when they hit the steps. The drawer under the frig was not properly installed and the slide rails pulled loose from the cabinet framing and it would not stay closed. The bath fan fell apart on the way home. Handles on the closets pulled loose due to thread stripping in the handles. Holes for outlets were made with a hammer rather than a saw; holes were just ragged openings. When looking behind the drawers and power panel the wiring was just thrown in, no attempt to organize or put in wire bundles. No access to the by-pass valves for the water heater resulting in not being able to winterize the trailer without wasting gallons of antifreeze. TV, Panasonic 42 inch, was a home unit, not one designed to be in a trailer. The Furrion radio face was just blank, could not see what was on it. No manual with the trailer except for a generic one that applied to all Keystone/Dutchmen trailer; there were manufacturer manuals for specific items such as the microwave but not one for this model of trailer. When I asked specific questions of Dutchmen Support they could not answer them and just referred me to the dealer; as an example one question I asked concerned a switch on one panel that was labeled "Electric". Only after asking the question on the Dutchmen forum could I get an answer; customer support is a joke. It has taken over two months to get parts under warranty so the trailer has just been sitting there waiting. Our previous trailers, Forrest River, were much better made and their support was excellent. Show less

We purchased this TT to replace a smaller one. The workmanship is pathetic, drawers will not stay closed because the glides were not installed correctly, cabinet handles were stripped (not the screws but the handle itself) and come loose every time they are pulled on, vent handle in bath falls off due to thread stripping. The fresh water tank leaks, luckily under the floor and drains outside. The cold water plumbing under the sink has a "T" connection in the line with the branch going to an off/on valve the output of which is an open tube, not connected to anything. When looking inside the cabinets it looks like the installers used a hammer to create opening in walls to pass wires and plumbing through. The wiring is like spaghetti, just thrown in with no thought to organization. There is construction debri everywhere which should have been cleaned up. The water heater is supposed to have a bypass but there is no way to access it without tearing the cabinet apart or creating an opening in the exterior wall. There are no covers over the vents on the roof like quality trailers have. The thermostat is a really cheap one that costs less than $10 at WalMart, the kind that is spring loaded and would spring back to off after being set and it only operates the heater, not the A/C. The factory specifications indicate that a DVD player is standard but there is not one. The factory specifications state that the tires are 205/75R15 but the tires on the trailer are 205/75R14 and are an off brand that should not be driven over 50 MPH per their speed rating. The 12Vdc wiring is all 6 gauge whereas for the amp load in the trailer it should be 2 gauge. The shore power is 30 amp; the minimum wire size for 30 amp is 8 gauge which the factory used, however, because the A/C, microwave, refrigerator all require a higher amperage the wiring should be a larger gauge if multiple devices are running at the same time, at least 6 gauge in my opinion. Circuit breakers in the power panel were double taped when there are open circuit breaker locations on the bus. I weight 205 lbs and when I lay on the mattress it bottoms out so it is like laying directly on the plywood base. My impression is that the factory line workers did not give a (bleep) about quality nor pride of workmanship. Just crank the trailer out as fast as you can, just make it pretty on the surface. I contacted Keystone support with several questions; their only response was to contact the dealer we had bought from; seemed to me they did not know the answer and were not willing to ask anyone else. My recommendation after owning several trailers is to look at other manufacturers/brands. Our last trailer was a Forest River which I had no complaints about; it's quality was far superior to Keystone. Show less

Have owned this camper for only 1 year. So far the list seems endless with problems and they just continue to pile up. Circuit board on the heater had to be replaced. Thermostat had to be replaced. Roof on slide had to be repaired within the first week. All four jacks are completely rusted. Stairs had to be cut off and hinge had to be welded on because the hinge seized. Thumb latches on the doors rusted all out and had to be replaced. Screws were rusted on the outside. Connection to city water was not properly installed and leaked. The sliding barn door from the roof has no proper supports to hold it to the roof and there’s nothing to screw it into. Our black water tank has seized up on the outside and will not open. The list continues so go on. Don’t make the same mistake we did. Show less

We have been very disappointed in our new trailer. We purchased in Feb. 2019 and in June 2019, our refrigerator went when we were on a 9 day camping vacation. We lived 7 days out of coolers and friends refrigerators. We have had to work on just about every drawer in the trailer. After we would arrive at each destination, a drawer would need worked on as it came completely off the tracking or screws would come out of the floor, as the screws were not long enough to hold.In Sept. during a brief rainstorm, an awning arm snapped in half. The table was not designed to actually sit at and eat. We had to have a custom table made.The door separating the living space from the bedroom won't stay on the track, we had to put stoppers in. Show less