Initial Experience and Quality

[Calab]

I know this post is a bit on the old side... but...

We just picked up a 2016 Autumn Ridge 265RLS. We've had it out once and aren't impressed...

- Weather stripping falling out around one of the fixed windows on the slideout. This is the major issue - rest are minor.
- Glue and roof sealer splatter in various places on the outside of the trailer.
- Plastic rivets in the shower popping out.
- A/C can't keep up even in the slightest warm weather.
- Some screws pulled out on trim around the windows on the interior.
- No roof vent in the bedroom.
- Some light switches are upside-down.

This unit looks a lot nicer than the Keystone VR1 that we're coming from, but the quality seems to be a lot worse. Now we're wondering if we made a smart move moving to a new trailer.

[scottenj]

We are on our fourth trip with our unit.

The bathroom sink counter is delaminating badly with the back right corner curling up.

The bathroom AC duct is completely blocked. It looks like they started to drill the hole for it, then stopped and mounted the grill over a dead end.

Before the trip I was checking the propane when I realized the threaded rod that holds the tanks in place was completely unscrewed from the base. I have apparently been driving around with the tanks completely unsecured! I screwed it back in and added an aircraft nut to lock it in place and insure this doesn't happen again.

I have an appointment at the dealer next Thursday after I get back from the current trip.

[scottenj]

Seeing as it is 1-1/2 hours each way to my dealer I have started fixing some things myself.

1) The no propane flow to the grill was the back bumper quick disconnect, I replaced it with a new one and it works fine.
2) I found an un-calked place around the shower where a wood chip was sitting where is should have been calked. I fixed that and hopefully that will take care of the shower leak.
3) My unit bounces around a lot more than I like when it is set up. I installed a stabilizer system to hopefully fix that. While doing the install I found a loose bolt on one of the stabilizer jacks and when I went around to check all the other jacks, one bolt sheared off the second I put any torque on it.
4) While re-sanitizing my unit the other day I also found out that the sink in the rear outdoor kitchen actually drains into the black water tank, not the grey water tank. The manual says all sinks and the shower drain to grey water. The sink is behind the black water tank so they probably couldn't route the drain but the manual should be accurate. This is another example of Starcraft providing inaccurate information.

If you haven't crawled around under your unit yet I strongly urge you to do so. I found all the propane line clamp screws sheared off, a holding tank valve clamp screw sheared off, two stabilizer jacks not properly secured and a surprising amount of rust for a unit I got at the beginning on march. I think a wire brush and some under coating are going to become a twice yearly ritual for me.

[mcmahonm]

Folks I sorry to hear of the difficulties and issue syou ar are having, I guess I been really lucky the 2012 278BH has only had a few items. A loose screw in the dinette, and the tongue jack ate a gear after the first season, was replaced under warranty.

I wonder if the different models, have some level of issues. I do not see a lot of my model around, for a while I thought it was a one off

[CenOhio]

Ugg, I hate hearing about anybody having issues. Our experience with our 2014 (purchased in 2013) has been mostly positive. I'm not sure I can remember every last thing, but the major portion of our issues after 2 full camping seasons and over 8,000 miles towed so far:

When new:
These were all fixed in the fall once we were done camping for the year and we could let the dealer keep it as long as they wanted.

-One 120v electrical outlet did not work in the main slide.
-The black tank gauge always read empty.
-There were some very minor trim issues.

After one year:
(Again, I just waited until I was finished camping for the season, dropped it off and told them to call me when they were done.)
- The fasteners holding up the rear third of the underbelly started to fail and come loose. This started in the middle of a 2,500 mile round trip and I used gorilla tape to keep everything secured for that trip. It did well enough that I just left it that way till the fall.
- The outdoor faucet started leaking at the cold water connection. Found the connection was loose, tightened it up on my own. Leak gone. (Btw, if your water pump cycles for just a second every once in awhile - it's time to go leak hunting!)

This year, our third camping summer...
- on another 2,500 mile round trip at about mile 2,000 I had a wheel (as in the rim, not the tire) fail on me. I can't blame Starcraft for this one though. It was a tiny hairline fracture in the metal we had a hard time finding even at the tire shop...

So, that's our experience so far. Best of luck. I think these units are generally good. But, none of them are going to be 100% trouble free.

[scottenj]

I agree, the problem is I did that, they fixed all but one item that is waiting for parts and now new things are cropping up.

[jcarlilesiu]

This is a mess.

I really think your best bet is a long list of items to take to the dealer and tell them not to call back until its all fixed.

[scottenj]

Well this is going well. Our second trip with the camper and now:

1) As mentioned previously the shower is leaking.
2) We can't get gas to flow to the bumper grill.
3) The USB charging ports died.
4) The black water holding tank valve has always been difficult to operate but is now approaching impossible.

[scottenj]

Yeah and now my shower is leaking.

[jcarlilesiu]

Sorry you have had such bad luck.

Our starcraft has one or two small issues. One, the shower basin didn't seat well and is rubbing some trim work, and the kitchen faucet wasn't seated in the gasket correctly.

Everything else has been perfect.

Too bad that ones with issues get off the line without being caught.