Weitz & Luxenberg has filed a class action lawsuit against Winnebago Industries, Inc., and Grand Design RV, LLC, on behalf of thousands of people across the country. Our clients’ lives were upended due to defective Grand Design RV models, especially frame failure.
Our lawsuit claims the company not only knew its RVs were defective, but marketed them deceptively and aggressively. Our suit is seeking to compel a recall and requests both monetary compensation and punitive damages.
RV Company Took Advantage of Customers
“Many of our clients spent well over $100,000 dollars on what they thought would be homes they could travel in and move from one place to another. These were homes. Not an accessory for their home or an occasional camping trip,” emphasizes James Bilsborrow, W&L partner and consumer protection co-chair.
He stresses, “But what they found out is these RVs are structurally unsound and unreliable when moving from one place to another. That makes these RVs dangerous — not only for our clients — but also for anyone else who might be on the road at the same time. It’s a catastrophe waiting to happen.”
Mr. Bilsborrow continues. “Equally distressing is that just moving the Grand Design RV from one place to another can make it unlivable. In some cases, our clients were without their home for months. Their RVs needed to undergo significant repairs for frame failures that should never have happened. They were forced to stay with friends or family or live in hotels. This is absolutely outrageous.”
Grand Design Warranties Are Close to Worthless
Grand Design did everything it could legally to create warranty coverage that is “largely illusory to many customers.” According to Mr. Bilsborrow, “A warranty is useless unless it can be used.”
As stated in our lawsuit, “customers attempting to exercise the Warranty have faced a series of practical challenges, citing red-tape restrictions from the company that make it difficult to obtain the repairs within a reasonable time. Because consumers often must take their RV to Grand Design’s facility in Indiana to address frame failure, consumers who are unable to haul their towable to that destination are foreclosed from exercising their Warranty rights.”
Did you or someone you know purchase Reflection, Influence, Solitude, or Momentum RVs between 2020 and 2023? Call our lawyers today to get the help and support you need with a free consultation.
(917) LAWYERSLawsuit Targets Defective Grand Design RV Models
The W&L class action lawsuit refers to specific defective Grand Design RV models sold between 2020 and 2023:
- Reflection.
- Influence.
- Solitude.
- Momentum.
During the pandemic, “Defendants crafted targeted marketing campaigns that preyed on Americans’ dreams of starting a new life on the road and exploring the country safely in one of their very own Grand Design RVs, all in the midst of the once-in-a-century COVID pandemic.”
Unfortunately, “this dream would soon become a nightmare; the frame that was designed and installed on model year 2020-2023 Grand Design RVs was defective and not sufficiently capable of tolerating the weight and stress of typical RV use, diminishing the value of each RV it sold by at least tens of thousands of dollars and often rendering the RVs unusable and and/or uninhabitable.”
The defendants did not fix the problem. They continued selling. They didn’t issue a recall. They initiated a cover up. They didn’t protect their customers. They prioritized profit.
And their efforts worked exceedingly well. The “Defendants generated (and reaped the profits of) hundreds of millions” of dollars.
W&L Seeks Compensation for Intentional Deception
According to our class action complaint, if our clients knew the Grand Design RVs were built with defective frames, “they would not have purchased the Grand Design RVs.” In addition to a nationwide class, there are subclasses of our class action lawsuit:
- Arizona
- California
- Florida
- Illinois
- Minnesota
- New Hampshire
- Ohio
We believe the “Defendants participated in misleading, false, or deceptive acts that violated” state laws. “By systematically concealing the frame defect in Grand Design RVs, Defendants engaged in deceptive business practices.”
We believe the defendants are liable for “consumer fraud and false advertising, product defects, and violation of consumer protection statutes.”
Defects in the RV include the specific frame defect and the defective processes used to build the RVs. The process “included cost-cutting, minimizing the importance of safety issues, the failure to follow acceptable manufacturing processes and to design RV frames that were fit for purpose.”
We are asking for a jury trial and monetary and injunctive relief for our client.
Legal Resources for Purchasers of Grand Designs RVs
We invite anyone who bought these Grand Design RV models Reflection, Influence, Solitude, or Momentum between 2020 and 2023 to contact Weitz & Luxenberg at (917) LAWYERS for more information about your legal options.
You may be entitled to compensation. You may be able to join our class action lawsuit. Reach out to us so we can help you get the compensation you deserve.
