Vanleigh RV Pinecrest reviews

I purchased this RV in Arizona in January and we drove to Alaska in March. We went through Canada and had some night time temperatures of 10 degrees. The unit was fantastic and we did not freeze up. The wet bay does get some heat from the propane furnace. The layout is very comfortable and quality is very good. Storage is very abundant to the point you might overload the trailer. There are so many electrical outlets (at least 12) I’m still finding some. One issue we had was the large pantry shelves they cheeped out on on they collapsed due to weight of some canned goods. I had to take them out and reinforce them. It would have been covered by warranty but won’t be near a dealer until October. Overall an amazing 5th wheel. This is my 4th one and this tows like a dream.

Purchased new from La Mesa rv in Fort Myers Fl. In May 2021, big mistake. Bad enough that it has issues but customer service from Van Leigh has been poor to say the least. We left on a 2month trip out west on June 24, on July 4 are refrigerator went out, it is an LG, started calling on 5th, no help from Van Leigh have to deal with LG . After numerous calls to there warranty dept. ( in the Philippines no one in states ) gave up had it fixed myself, had to purchase coolers and tons of ice on between, still waiting on call back from LG. Bedroom slide jams on every use and kitchen slide is making a banging noise, Van Leigh customer service provided some local numbers of Rv service in Michigan where we reside, but none of them do warranty work for Van Leigh. Van Leigh has not offered to reimbursed me if i have it repaired, so for 2 months i have to put up with these issues with no end in site. I have moldings falling off, drawers falling apart, staplers coming out of trim, exterior screw not completely in, some so crooked you can’t drive them flush. Waste handles are reversed, i had to completely rework basement walls, screws had missed structure on most, two screws holding items to ceiling in basement were to long and came up through flooring, one in bathroom, one in bedroom. Exterior of unit has excessive amounts of silicon around moldings which has attracted dirt, not attractive or easy to clean off. Kitchen layout allows refrigerator doors to make contact with cabinet handles so now i have dents in both refrigerator doors, I have never owned a 5th wheel but did have a class A Holiday Rambler, since we have been on this trip i have been looking at the exteriors of other brands of trailers, should have done that before i accepted this unit. Quality on this product is poor, workmanship is VERY poor.

I will share the good first. I love the floor plan, and I really love the sofa bed. It is not a jacknife, but a true bed. I love the placement of the tv and fireplace. The pantry is spacious. It has two air conditioners.I do wish the refrigerator was big. Now for the bad. We have had nothing but trouble with our slideouts in the living area. The one on the dining side had gaps in the bottom once it was out. We got that fixed. The slide on the tv/kitchen side is not in correctly. It comes out about 6 in. at the top when you make a right turn. We took it to have it fixed, but it is still a problem. We took our first long trip this month, and we had THREE separate blowouts. They have damaged the fenders and underside of the camper. This fifth wheel had less than 1,000 miles on it. I heard so much about Tiffen and Vanleigh. I was really excited about buying one, but I won't ever buy another one. This is our fourth rv, and it is the worse one based on quality.

After researching for several years, we selected the VanLeigh Pinecrest because it had the floorplan the worked for us. Very roomy with opposing slides, a very large shower, and residential size king bed and refrigerator. You can see and feel the quality difference when you walk in the unit. All of the cabinets have solid wood doors, no glued together saw dust. The light and bright interior is a plus. Everything works as advertised and we have had no service issues. The VanLeigh company's reputation for quality and service were important also.

We upgraded from an older Keystone Laredo after looking around for about a year. I love the floor plan and three slides in the Pinecrest. However, the quality between the two is 100% The Pinecrest is basically made with cheap partical board and everything is attached by staples. I wish I could post pictures to show how cheap the Pinecrest is put together. I didn't really appreciate the craftmanship of the Laredo until spending a week or so in the Pinecrest. We've had leaks in the kitchen sink and molding already coming off. Staples are starting to poke out. The laminate on the cabinets is already coming off. This was supposed to be our retirement RV, I doubt it will last.

Please be careful buying this 5th wheel. I purchased a new 2020 five days ago. On the second night of camping the large, kitchen slide refused to open. Lots of trouble shooting later, it appears that the worm drive (or whatever you call that thing) on the opposite side of the RV had detached from the I-Beam frame, so you can't even extend it with the manual crank. The RV is usable (if uncomfortable) with that slide not extended. You just can't open some cabinets or use the range/microwave/kitchen sink. Should be fun finishing my trip from Florida to Alaska with this slide non-operational. So much for thinking I'll avoid problems by buying brand new.