Grand Design Transcend reviews

We really like the layout of the 27BHS and have owned it for about 3 months now. We are extremely (emphasis on extremely) disappointed in the quality of the camper. While towing the camper from the dealer back to our house, we had our first casualty. The propane hose that is clamped along the chassis to provide fuel for the outside kitchen stove broke away from the chassis and was dragged for several miles before a good samaritan pointed it out to us. Unfortunately the dragged hose wore through the fitting creating a leak, which we had to fix. Over the next two months, a dozen issues were discovered. 2. The outside door is extremely difficult to latch. We had to remove the strike plate to make it less difficult to latch the door. 3. The bathroom vanity wood frame around the lower cabinet is cracked. 4. The smoke detector in the kitchen alarms every time we use the inside stove. 5. One of the wall panels on the slide-out was cut too big and bowed out, separating from the wall studs 6. The door trim around the master bedroom door was also cut too big and bowed out, separating from the glue holding it in place. 7. The bracket on the wall below the master bedroom sliding door that keeps the door near the wall pulled out from the wall because it wasn't screwed into the wall stud. 8. The wall that the wall board mentioned in #5 screws into is also separating from the wall studs. 9. The fairing along the outside bottom of the camper is not properly secured because the screw was stripped on installation. 10. The pet bowl drawer below the frig is coming off it's slide because the screws are stripped. 11. The drip pan on the indoor stove pops up every time we travel. I am not sure how it is supposed to be secured, but it isn't secured properly. 12. The kitchen cabinet doors over the kitchen window do not close without significant rubbing between the doors. 13. The wallpaper covering on the walls has multiple glue stains from applying too much glue to the plywood when applying the wall paper. It's not something that sticks out right away in the showroom, but when you are living in the camper, they start to become more prominent. We have only owned the camper three months and have only towed it back from the dealer and taken it on one camping trip, so I don't know how many more issues we are going to uncover, but I am not confident that we have identified all the issues. We initially bought this camper as a place to live while we renovate our house, so we have not been able to schedule a time to repair all of these issues until we finish the house enough that we can move into it and move out of the camper. It is so disappointing to find so many manufacturing defects in a brand new camper. We have been told by many people that the RV industry as a whole does not produce first time quality campers and relies on warranty claims to address any quality issues rather than fixing the quality escapes at the source. VERY DISAPPOINTED!!!! We are optimistic that these issues will be properly addressed by the manufacturer and that this camper will stay together long enough to enjoy it for a few years...

I find the doors stick when the trailer is in the sun and the decal on front door melted to the door grab handle when it was folded closed. I contacted Grand Design and after sending photos and several e-mails I was told they did not have a fix for the problem. I read on a forum where numerous people are having same problems. I mentioned this to the Grand Design service rep and was told I would not have this issue in the winter as it was not hot outside. I also asked about a heat retardent and was told there was not one. I asked if the problem had been presented to the design team and was asked was I saying this was a Grand Design problem or Lippert Components as they manufactured the door. I sent a reply back asking about the air gap at bottom of door and the melted decal on bedroom door to see if they were going to do anything about this. Waiting for a reply. I purchased the Transcend after much research having owned other brands of travel trailers in the past. Ratings were very good on the Grand Design so I purchased that brand. Rating showed good quality and great customer service. Now I question my decision. Another issue the light over bed went out after a couple months (had trailer less than 6 months) took in to the dealer for repair and some other warranty adjustments, took over a month to get the light fixture. With all the individuals having the door expansion issue and not cooing the Travel Trailer, has anyone found a solution? I feel Grand Design should fix the issues with doors and cooling as they say they will resolve problems. To be told I will not have this problem in the winter makes me really question what kind of customer service Grand Design has. I would have some serious issues recommend this company for service and warranty. The layout for the Transcend is great just not sure how it will hold up.

This camper is junk!! Bought new at Cookeville RV. 2 Storage doors will not close properly, the awning leaks where attached to camper. The trim molding at the metal around exterior have all fallen off. The hot water heater access panel will not close. There is a leak at the underbelly approximately where hot water heater is. I am very disappointed in a camper we have only used 4 times!! We have 4 trips planned this year and I’m sure it will sit in the shop for weeks to get these things addressed. Not so Grand Design! Oh and interior sliding door has fallen off twice….

From the day we bought this unit there have been nothing but problems and recalls from the company. The dealership I purchased this unit from has a pathetic service department. We are retired and use our unit often. The factory contacts you about a defect and then wants you to pay the expense of parts and labor,provide photo documents to the fact and they determine if they reimburse you for the parts (that they say are knowingly defective) and they will not pay all the labor. The door of my trailer touts a big 3 year warranty promise but the factory has a different tune when they contact you. The list of defects is too numerous to list here but they include a defective inverter, ac (numerous times), refrigerator issues both propane and electric, battery charging issues galore, battery buddy issues, propane valve issues, axle bearings, leaking or rubbing thru of propane lines that are rubber not gas pipe, We chose this unit due to it having a large kitchen area and plenty of counter space. The layout of this unit is perfect for our needs as we spend large amounts of time in one place each summer. All the defects that are brought up require you to take the unit to a dealer and they will not give a for sure appointment you just have to leave the unit and they get to it at their convience. . This is our home for much of the year and this unit has spent many long periods at service centers awaiting basic simple repairs. I am a retired mechanic but the factory will not let me fix these problems myself. We have been an RV family for a lot of years and this unit was a retirement gift to my wife and I to enjoy our retirement. This unit has been a nightmare that don't seem to end. I certanly would not buy another Grand Design product and do not recommend them to anyone else. They are basically a rolling hunk of overpriced junk that the factory makes the sevice issue way more complicated than it has to be. I have a stack of service invoices and numerous emails to support every statement I've made here.

I called way before my warranty was out about a leak. We thought it was my hot water heater. Because one fitting that we tightened was loose. I ended up with a remained floor over it. And ended up since it was after a year figured out it was the water line to the outside shower behind the stairs to the bunkers that was leaking. With no access panel to get to it.... I ended up having to cut a access hole myself to get to it. So after a year of trying to figure this out. I have trim on my couch messed up and linoleum that needs to be replaced. And since the first initial call to grand design about this wad about the hot water heater and I did it my self instead of having someone come fix the wrong problem to begin with. They will not cover it under warranty. Grand design need to have access panels to all plumbing for people. And the books they give you with your new purchase are worthless.

After a little over 2 years of use I am still very happy with the build quality. What issues I did have were relatively minor and addressed immediately by Grand Design. The most impressive part of their customer service was demonstrated when my Thomas Payne theater seat sprung a spring and was poking me in the rear. Thomas Paine totally blew me off, but Grand Design stepped in and helped me with the cost of replacing the seats, even though it was not their product and out of warranty. That level of quality service is hard to find.

So let’s start by saying I am located in Phoenix Arizona and definitely not our first trailer. With that being said let’s start the review. We bought our 265bh in April and bought it for the floor plan. Overall it’s a decent trailer and a great floor plan with the kids. However, I wish they would build the unit to location it’s going to. Very hot inside even with a/c on high and doesn’t cool off master bed area hardly at all and nothing during the day time when it 110* outside. Can’t get a second a/c without moving things around on the roof and changing it to 50 amp or running a completely separate circuit. The trailer stinks whenever someone showers or flushes the toilet. And before anyone says “clean and flush the tanks” just know they are. Over and over and over again. The black tank does not stink (weird I know) but whenever the water is turned on the entire unit smells. When traveling it sways more than I believe it should (even with airbags and anti sway bar). Although the 265bh has a lot of good points, I would not suggest it.

We purchased are GD Transcend 265BH and tow with a Ford F-150. We have been all over the west in it from California to Montana to South Dakota and back to AZ. Overall has done great, except for two major issues. One is our problem with the tow vehicle, a modern half-ton can tow this with no power issues (been through the Rockies with out breaking a sweat) but it’s the fact you have a 5k lbs truck vs a 8k trailer. After taking this from AZ to CA in winds we decided to invest in the ProPride (game changer!) and that issue is resolved. The second issue was that our Furrion AC went out in SD during a heat wave. GD has been responsive but we are still waiting for the dealer to get the parts to fix the AC (2 months later). Overall great trailer, glad we went into it and enjoy the memories we are making with our boys.

This camper has been a nightmare sense we’ve had it.First the bathroom door came off the track,next the refrigerator didn’t switch to gas when the power went off when we were not there and didn’t go back to electric when that came back on had fly’s and maggots everywhere what a mess,next the microwave died had to replace that next they replaced refrigerator and the second one doesn’t drain water out the drain tube water overflows inside refrigerator next the bathroom faucet leaked all over underneath no caulking around it next the shower faucet also had no caulking around it water got behind wall water all over floor.Would I recommend this trailer to anyone heck NO very discussed with it totally!!!

This was our 2nd new camper in 12mo. I research my purchases thoroughly before making a purchase. We’re new to RVing but felt the Grand Design products were superior to what else is offered. We took our new Transcend Explore 221RB on a 4000 mile, two week trip to Rushmore/Devils Tower in June 2021. We had ZERO issues or regrets about our purchase. What we have learned, we’re far too spontaneous in our traveling habits to utilize our camper as we had hoped. A few more years before retirement may rectify our delima?