Thread: Atrium
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Old 08-16-2012, 10:24 AM   #8
melyash
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 2
Default Re: Atrium

The Atrium Windows are still selling rigs, they also have it in thier Enduramax 5th wheel Toy Hauler and we love the them. Ours is a 2011 and the styling is just teriffic. Since it is set up on the passenger side slideout, if it is too sunny we just put the awning out, and we are good to go. Other features we love are the Vapor wall that can be opened to allow one big 24' room from the back wall to the Fireplace and TV. We love our L shaped upstairs kitchen, which allows my wife to do her favorite thing, cook, while still being able to face and interact with our guests!

It does seem this owners forum seems mostly a place to air folks complaints, but I am a realist. As someone posted, these are houses you haul down the road, and sometimes pretty rough roads at that. Things are BOUND to break!!! How a dealer treats you, and how the factory has the dealer fix em, that is another story. Sure we have had some issues, all of which have been covered by warranty, and I expect to find more as time goes on. It is a fact of RV'ing that stuff is gonna break. A lot of people blow off the maint stuff, dont cover em in storage, and fail to winterize, fail to clean thier Frige burner, and Water Heater burners, Fail to drain thier HW Tank, etc.

I am a private pilot, a retired navy Combat Aircrewman, a scuba diver, and an RV'er and trust me, maint checks are ingrained in my way of life. Is GS any worse than any other MFR in building RV's? No, In fact I think they are pretty good. I will admit they could run a vacume thru the bottoms of some cabnets etc, but for the most part I am happy with the fit and finish, the hardwood cabnets, and the inovative features GS puts in thier rigs. I took a tour of the factory with Mike Spencer, Product Manager for GS's Towables, and saw the line and met the people who built my rig. Everybody from the guys who prep the frame and do the initial wiring and underfloor insulation, to the guys who build the one piece wall and then cut the slide walls and window from it (so the color always matches and it fits perfectly) to the peson who installs the sinks and plumbing using hardware that will not rattle loose and leak, all the way to the two gal's that put on the graphics on the outside.

Every person seemed like they cared about the product, and were genuinly interested in hearing my feedback on construction of RV's I have owned, and were knowledgeable in how thier units surpassed the competition, everything from the dual seals on every slide, to a person who took the time on every rig and throughly inspected the insulation at the front and rear before the caps went on to make sure there were no torn or missed spots even around the tail lights and window openings, and when he found them he corrected it before he would allow the caps to be fitted. These were people on the line, out there building em and yet they knew enough about their rigs and what sets em apart from the competition and were happy to tell me about it. Trust me they CARE about doing a good job.

Do they achieve perfection? No, this is an assembly line product, and things slip thru occasionally, but on the other hand neither do thier neighbors just down the road Newmar Coaches, but these are not million dollar rigs!! Newmar has a warranty service department too, and their customers expect everything to be right AND a cut above, because they paid for it!! My Toyhauler Listed for less than a 1/10th of that cost, (I know it is apples to oranges comparing Class A to 5er but bear with me). Sure a $1m class A is nice, and yet with the deal I got in this economy at 1/20th of that, (not a misprint) I have solid wood cabinets, beautiful Corian Style Counters, 3 slides and an 11' Ramp I can drop and put the screen down, and BAM I have a wonderful place to hang out or entertain new friends that is over 35' long and in some places 12' wide!!

On top of that I can haul anyting from 4 Sport Quads, (or 2 Full size Utility quads), or a Razor, or a Golf Cart, to all the scuba gear for a dive team of 10 and two deflated zodiac's and the 40hp motors to haul em, and when I get there I can FUEL EM ALL off my fueling station. AWESOME!! More importantly because I did not pay all that extra cash, I might just have the money to afford some of those toys in the back of the rig.

That GS is still in business even after other inovative companies like ALFA (who we thought was the cat's meow) have gone to the big RV Park in the sky tells me they are doing things right. Remember folks warranty service can't happen if there is no company behind it!
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